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COPYRIGHT DEPOBR 






THE BUILDERS OF THE NATION. 





COPVRiaHT, ■•S3, OV J*H(I 



THE 

BTJILDEES OF THE NATION. 



A 



HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, 



INCLUDING 



POETRAITS AND BIOGRAPHIES OF PRESIDENTS, CABINET 

OEFICERS, STATESMEN, LEGISLATORS, JURISTS, 

EDUCATORS, AUTHORS, EDITORS, 

AND DIVINES. 



COMPILED PROM 

THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 







NEW YORK: 

THE STANLEY-BRADLEY PUBLISHING CO. 

1893. 



-h- 



Copyright, 1892, 
By JAMES T. WHITE & CO. 

[All riffhts reserved.] 



FItOM THE PRESS OF 

PANiraJ 0. p. CLASS, 

NJ£W VDRK. 



PEEFACE. 



It is the purpose of this work to give to a busy age an epitome of the nation's 
life compressed into one volume. The National Cyclopedia of American Biog- 
raphy, from which this matter is drawn, presents the history of the country in its 
wide and varied aspects, and to sucli a length that it necessarily limits its circulation 
to a privileged few. It is aimed in this work to collect into a single volume, which 
can be placed in every hand, the main facts, and the great characters of our nation's life. 

Biography is the basis of all history. It is the "home aspect of history," and 
through it only do we gain a knowledge of the causes, motives, and ideals that insjiire 
and lead up to the events which mark its epochs. 

The importance of presenting to the world comprehensive biographical sketches 
and truthful likenesses of the men wlio have been foremost in projecting, advancing, 
and crystallizing the national government, is unquestioned. From Washington to the 
present administration, the men who have been called by the people to occupy the 
executive oifices of the government, the opposing candidates presented by the minority 
party, the members of the judicial branch of the government, appointed by the execu- 
tives, and the advisers called to their cabinets, represent the factors potential in ad- 
vancing the prosperity, maintaining the honor, and holding in check the radicalism of 
the people. In the lives of these men the student of history of the country can read- 
ily discover the high purposes of its founders, the patriotic impulses of its defenders, 
and the virtue of its people. The lives of these builders show the processes of build- 
ing, and disclose to view the edifice as it stands in all the beauty of its perfection ; 
the work of but four generations, and tlie workmen our own fathers. 

As literature, art, education, the pulpit, and the press have helped along the prog- 
ress of the country, keeping pace with its civic life, the men prominent in these de- 
partments of activity are rightly classed as builders of tlie nation. 

It is one of the chief aims of this work to group these biographies with reference 
to events and movements, so that the student is ijresented with the means for sys- 
tematic study as well as for biographical reference. 

The value of biography as a study for the young has never been fully appreciated. 
The tendency in the past has been to direct our youth to the lives of Plutarch, rather than 
to the achievements of men of our own time. The imparting of moral force, which is the 
peculiar advantage of the study of biography, is lost by the purely ideal aspect in which 
the youtliful imagination contemplates a Grecian sage, or a Roman hero. The sjjheres 
of distinction, in which they were illustrious, were so different from those to which 
men are now attracted that very little of wholesome incentive or needed encouragement 
can be derived from them. We behold them to admire, not to imitate. Therefore, in 
full harmony with the spirit of the age, as well as the wants of our nature, we offer 
these biographies of the builders of this newest and greatest of nations as exemplars of 
ideals which we can understand, and which will encourage old and young to better 
citizenship and sturdier faithfulness to our great heritage. 

For the average general reader to own the parent work, in its dozen imperial 
volumes, is beyond present hope. We have culled from its pages the roll of the 
master-builders, and present them at tlieir work, showing its process, progress, and 
perfection. AVhen this book is digested, tlie desire to add to this knowledge of the 
master-builders the minor and multi])lied experiences of the twenty thousand, as ear- 
nest if not 80 conspicuous, workmen, will make the value of the parent Cyclopjedia appre- 
ciated, and create a desire for its possession. 

THE PUBLISIIEKS. 



Extract from a Letter of Thomas Carlyle, addressed to David Laing, of Edinburgh, 
on the proposed National Exhibition of Scottish Portraits : 

First of all, then, I have to tell you, as a fact of personal experience, that in all my poor historical 
Investigations it has been, and always is, one of the most primary wants to procure a bodily likeness of the 
personage inquired after; a good portrait, if such exists; failing that, even an indifferent, if sincere one. 
In short, any representation, made by a faithful human creature, of that face 
and figure which he saw with his eyes, and which I can never see with mine, 
is now valuable to me, and much belter than none at all. This, which is my 
own deep experience, I believe to be, in a deeper or less deep degree, the uni- 
versal one; and that every student and reader of history, who strives earnest- 
ly to conceive for himself what manner of fact and mun this or the other 
vague historical name can have been, will, as the first and directest indication 
of all, search eagerly for a portrait, for all the reasonable portraits there are; 
and never rest till he have made out, if possible, what the man's natural face 
was like. OfUn I have found a portrait superior in real instruction to half-a- 
dozen written "Biographies," as biographies are written; or rather, let me 
I. , say, I have found that the portrait was as a small lighted candle by teliich 

lU.■<n■\.^^C\ .\-A>-kU_^ the biographies could for the first time be read, and some human interpreta- 
tion be made of them. 
******** 
It has always struck me that historical portrait-galleries far transcend in worth all other kinds of 
national collections of pictures whatever; that, in fact, they ought to exist (for many reasons, of all 
degrees of weight) in every country, as among the most popular and cherished national possessions; 
and it is not a joyful reflection, but an extremely mournful one, that in no country is there at present 
such a thing to be found. 




IITTRODUCTIOI^. 



The National CyclopjEdia of American Biography has been undertaken to 
provide a biographical record of the United States worthy to rank with the great Nation- 
al Biographies of Europe. It embraces the biographical sketches of all persons prom- 
inently connected with tlie history of the nation. Not only do rulers, statesmen, soldiers, 
persons noteworthy in the church, at the bar, in literature, art, science, and the jiro- 
fessions find place, but also those who have contributed to the industrial and commer- 
cial progress and growth of the country. The aim of the work is to exemplify and 
perpetuate, in tlie broadest sense, American civilization through its cliief personalities. 

Such a work of historical biography has never before been attempted. Previous 
works have either excluded the living, or limited them to a well-known few in the cen- 
tres of activity. But this Cyclopasdia is unique. It has been prepared upon new lines 
which insure its being the biographical authority of tlie century. It is intended to 
make this Cyclopasdia National, representing the entire Republic, and reflecting the 
spirit, genius and life of each section. 

It is acknowledged that the great forces which to-day contribute most largely to 
the growth of the country are the men who have develojDed its industrial and com- 
mercial resources, and it is believed that, while literary workers should be accorded 
ample representation, those who contribute so much to the material and physical wel- 
fare of the country deserve and command fuller recognition than has before been ac- 
corded them in works of this character. Achievements in engineering, electricity, or 
architecture; improvements in locomotives, looms or ploughs, contribute as much to 
the advancement of civilization as an epic poem or an Oxford tract; and the factors 
in these achievements are to be sought out, and given to the world through the pages 
of this Cyclopedia. 

In the United States there is neither a Nobility, nor an Aristocracy, nor is there 
a Landed Gentry, as these classes are understood in Europe. But there are, in tlie 
United States, numerous Families which have ancient lineage and records, and other 
families, founded in the soil, so to sjjeak, destined to become the ancestry of the future. 
Tliere is every reason why the genealogy and history of these families should be re- 
corded and perpetuated. No native of any other land has reason to be prouder of 
his country than an American whose family name represents either direct descent 
from the early colonists or Revolutionary ancestors, or marked prosperity and success 
through intelligent, arduous, and faithful labor for the benefit of his country and the 
advancement of his race. One of the objects of the National Cyclopedia is to fulfill 
for the United States this purpose, and supply an invaluable and useful means for 
establishing identity, relationship, birth, death, ottieial position, and otiier imjiortant 
data which are necessary to the making up of such family history. 

In the gathering of material for this work there has been inaugurated a system 
of local contributions from every section of the country, by which are secured the facts 
in reference to those persons who have heretofore been omitted from biographical 
notice. Our American annals are full of characters worthy of the emulation of pos- 
terity; but their story will perish, bearing no fruit, if it be not gathered up, and pre- 
served by some such method of extended research as has been adopted by the Pub- 
lishers of this work. 

The rapidity of the Nation's growth makes it impossible for each section to be 
acquainted with the other, and up to this time it is only the most conspicuous person- 
ages in any part of the country who are known beyond their locality. In the "West 
there are men with rough exteriors who have done more for the prosperity and growth of 



INTKODUCTIOIT. 

their communities than has been done by many more noted personages in the East. It is 
one of the aims of the National Cyclopaedia to introduce to their fellow-men of the en- 
tire country these Nation-Builders, heretofore unknown to fame beyond the limits of 
their own neighborhood. And one will be surprised to discover liow many, tliought 
to be on lower pinnacles of fame than those whose deeds embellish the pages of fa- 
miliar history or biography, are shown by this record to be the peers of their more 
celebrated contemporaries. 

Instead of devoting large space to the men of pre-Eevolutionary times, it is in- 
tended to make this a live Cycloptedia, which, while it preserves all that is valuable in 
the past, will include the men and women who are doing the work and moulding the 
thouglit of the present time. The principal growth of this country really began with 
the invention of the telegrapli in 1S44, which placed in touch the states which were 
before but provinces, and made thought, sympathy, and patriotism national. It is the 
period beginning with 1850, therefore, which ought chiefly to be embraced in a work 
whicli is to cover the great development of the country. 

The history of the past has been the history of the few, wlio, by reason of a spe- 
cial ability to plan, intrigue, and make war, or by accident of birth, were lifted into 
prominence, and so became the objects of observation and the subjects of historical 
treatment. But the history of tlie present and the future must be a history of the 
many, who, by head and hand, or by force of character or high attainment, have made 
themselves the centres and sources of influence in their respective localities. 

As works of this magnitude can be published only once in a generation, it has 
been thought wise to include in the National Cyclopfedia some of the younger men, 
and others, possi1)ly not yet kno'w-n, who give promise of being notable and representa- 
tive in the future; so that when they suddenly spring into prominence, as is so frequently 
the case, this Cyclopedia Avill contain information of their lives, which will show the 
groundwork of their characters and their claim upon the expectations of the future. 
The ideal of a biographical cyclopaedia is one which anticipates the information de- 
manded about new men as they come into prominence. 

It is aimed to have these biographies include all the facts worthy of mention, 
and, taken together, they make a complete history of the United States, political, 
social, commercial, and industrial. 

It is intended to make each character sketch a likeness which will be iinniediately 
recognized ; one which will give tlie underlying motive to individual endeavor, the se- 
cret of success, the method and means of progress, the aim and aspiration of thought, 
and which, by the abandonment of the usual abbreviated cyclojjwdic style, becomes as 
readable as a tale of adventure or travel. It is aimed, moreover, to render the Cyclo- 
pedia educational as well as entertaining, by making the. lives of important men illus- 
trate noteworthy epochs of national history. 

A new feature in the National Cyclopaedia is the grouping of individuals with 
reference to their work and its results. Arranging the presidents of a college, the 
governors of a state, the bishops of a diocese, etc., so as to present a progressive narrative 
gives an historical character to tlie work, which is of unique and unusual value. 
Groupings are also made with reference to important events and prominent movements : 
for instance, the American Revolution, the Abolition Movement, the Geneva Arbitration, 
and the Pan-American Congress. Especially are they made in connection with great in- 
dustrial developments, as the telegraph, ironclads, cotton, steel, and petroleum; so that 
this work furnishes the means for the systematic study of the history and growth of 
the country, as well as for biograjdiical reference. 

This grouping of biographies necessitates the abandonment of the alphabetical ar- 
rangement, which, though an innovation, is one of tlie mo.-it valuable and approved 
features of the work. In these days the utility of Indexes is becoming more and more 
acknowledged by scholars and literary workers ; and general Cyclopa>dias, which are 



INTRODUCTION. 

constructed in alphabetical order, are supplemented by an Index. With such an Index. 
however, the ali^habetical order of arrangement becomes entirely unnecessary. More- 
over, in preparing this work, requiring such extensive research, it is manifestly impossi- 
ble to issue it in alphabetical order until the entire compilation is completed, and being 
laid aside during all these years of preparation, much of this information necessarily 
becomes old and unreliable. But biography embracing men of the time demands 
immediate publication. Upon the appearance of a recent biographical work it was 
found that there were over two thousand omissions, caused by the information com- 
ing to hand after the alphabetical jslace had been closed, which necessitated the 
addition of an Appendix. It is well known that every imjjortaut biographical work 
heretofore published in successive volumes has at least one Appendix, which becomes 
so much a necessity in order to include the omissions, as to compel its publication with 
the last volume of the work. This at once destroys any alphabetical arrangement, 
makes it of no value for reference, and compels a reliance upon the Index. 

In view of the grave disadvantages of the alphabetical method, the Publishers are 
convinced that in a work of tlie magnitude of tlie National Cyclopajdia, simple tradi- 
tional precedent for such an arrangement should not be allowed to destroy freshness 
of material, or stand in the way of the manifest improvement, which grouping makes 
possiljle. They have, therefore, disregarded the alphabetical order in favor of grouping 
the biographies, and will place in each successive volume a full, analvtical Index, cov- 
ering all the preceding volumes, which will make its vast information immediately and 
conveniently accessible, besides enabling its publication years before it would be possi- 
ble under the former conventional method. The Publishers have been confirmed in their 
judgment by the approval and endorsement of the leading librarians, editors, and liter- 
ary workers of the country. 

Pictures of home surroundings add so much interest to biographj', that it has been 
deemed desirable to insert views of residences, which give to the work a new fea- 
ture — the portrayal of dwelling-jjlaces, which, in the future, will become the ancestral 
homes of America. 

As portraiture is the demand of the time and contributes so much to the under- 
standing of biography, it has been made a prominent feature of the Natio7ial Cyclo- 
pasdia to have every sketch, as far as possible, embellished with a portrait. Great- 
pains have been taken to secure from the families or descendants the best likenesses, 
which are engraved under their sujjerintendence and ajDproval, and, in a large number of 
instances, are given to the world for the first time through the pages of this work. 

Never before has such a collection of authentic portraits been made. If done in 
oil and hung upon walls, they would constitute the Historical Portrait Gallery, which 
Carlyle insisted ought to have jilace in every country, as among the most popular and cher- 
ished National possessions. But these engi-aved portraits, gathered into the convenient and 
accessible form here presented, none the less realize Carlyle's idea of a National Gallery, 
for in this manner there is made accessible to the world, as could not be done in any 
other way, a collection so complete and representative, that it may be truly called the 
National Portrait Gallery of America. 

To be published in Twelve Royal Octavo Volumes. 

A " Gene.\logy and AuTOGBAi'H " EDITION, l»'in() the First Imjyression from the 
Original Ploles, and limited to advance subucrilms hacinq Portraits in tlie Work, is print- 
ed on large pa/ier, and specially prepared until White's Genealogical Chart and Fam- 
ily Register, together with extra autograph pages for continuing the printed biograph- 
ical record. This edition is hound in Half Russia. Price, Ten Dollars per volume. 

JAMES T. WHITE & CO., Publishers, New York. 



THE I^ATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



PROMINENT CONTRIBUTORS AND RE\T:SERS. 



Abbott, Lyman, D. D., LL. D., 

Pastor of I'lvmnuth Church, and Editor of "The 
Christian Union." 

Adams, Charles Follen, 

Aullior of •■ I)i:ili-ot Halhuls." 

Adams, Charles Kendall, LL. D., 

Prt'^idt-nt of C'ornrll University. 
Alexander, Hon. E. P., 

E.\-<ifiMTal Southern C()nfederacy. 
Alger, Rev. William Rounseville, 

.\ntliol'. 

Andrews, Elisha B., D. D., LL. D., 

Presiilfiit of Brown University. 

Avery, Col. Isaac W. , 

Aullior " History of Georgia." 

Ballantine, William G., D. D., 

President Oberlin Collet,'e. 

Eaird, Henry Martyn, 

University City of New York. 

Bartlett, Samuel C, D. D., LL. D., 

Piesuient of Ilartnioutli Collej^e. 

Battle, Hon. Kemp P., 

Late President of University of N. C. 
Blake, Lillie Devereaux, 

Aullior. 
Bolton, Sarah Knowles, 

Autlior. 
Bowker, B. R., 

\Vriter and Eeononiist. 

Brainard, Ezra, LL. B., 

President of Middlrbury College, Vt. 

Brean, Hon. Joseph A., 

Su|>t. Publie Iiistruelion, Louisiana. 

Brooks, Noah, 

.Journalist and ,\nthor. 

Brown, John Henry, 

Historical Writer. 

Brown, Col. John Mason, 

Author " History of Kentucky." 

Burr, A. E., 

Editor " Hartford Times." 

Burroughs, John, 

Autlior. 

Candler, W. A., D. D., 

President Emory College, Ga. 

Capen, Elmer H. , D. D., 

President Tufts College. 

Carter, Franklin, Ph. D., LL. D., 

F^resident Williams Colle;,'e. 

Cattell, William C, D. D., LL. D., 

Ex-President Lafayette College. 
Clapp, W. W., 

Formerly Editor "Boston Journal." 
Clarke, Richard H., LL. D., 

President New York Catlioli<- Protectory. 

Coan, Titus Munson, M. D., 

Author. 
Cooley, Hon. Thomas M., LL. D., 

Presulcnt Interstate Commerce Commission. 

Cravath, E. M., D. D., 

President Kisk University. 

Crawford, Edward F. , 

Stair " New York Tribune." 



Curtis, George Ticknor, LL. D., 

Author and .lurist. 

Deming, Clarence, 

Autlior. 

De Peyster, Gen. J. Watts, 

Historian. 

Dix, Morgan, D. D., LL. D., 

Rcclor Trinity Church. 

Dreher, Julius D., Ph. D., 

President Roanoke College. 

Donnelly, Hon. Ignatius, 

.\utlior. 

Douglass, Hon. Frederick W. 
Dudley, Richard M., D. D., 

President (ieorgetown College, Ky, 

Dunlap, Joseph R. , 

Editor " Chicago Times." 

Durrett, Col. R. T., 

Historian of the West. 

Dwight, Timothy, D. D., LL. D., 

I'resident Yale University. 

Eagle, James P., 

Governor of .Arkansas. 
Eggleston, George Cary, 

Author aii.l Editor. 

Eliot, Charles W., LL. D., 

President Har\ard Universit\'. 

Fetterolf, A. H., LL. D., Ph. D., 

President (liraid College. 

Field, Henry Martyn, D. D., 

Editor "New York Evangelist." 

Fisher, Prof. George P., D. D., LL. D., 

Professor of Divinn,\'. Yule University. 

Garrison, Wendell Phillips, 

" Evening Post." 

Gates, Merrill E., Ph. D., LL. D., 

President ..Vmherst College. 

Gilman, Daniel C, LL. D. , 

President Johns Ho[)kins College. 

Greeley, Gen. A. W. , 

United States Signal .Service and Explorer. 
Hadley, Arthur T. , M. A. , 

Professor Yale University. 

Hale, Edward Everett, S. T. D., 

.\uthor. 

Hamm, Mile. Margherita A., 

.h'lirnahst, 

Hammond, J. D., D. D. , 

l*resideiil Central College. 

Harding, W. G., 

Of the " Philadelphia Inquirer." 
Harper, W. R., 

President ITiiiversity of Chicago. 

Harris, Joel Chandler (Uncle Remus), 

Author. 

Harris, Hon. William T., 

United States Conimissioner of Education. 
Hart, Samuel, D. D., 

Professor Trinity College. 
Haskins, Charles H., 

Professor University of Wisconsin. 

Higginson, Col. Thomas Wentworth, 

Author. 



PKOMINENT CO^TUUiUTOKS AND REVISERS. 



Hurst, John F., D. D., 

Bishop of the M. E. Church. 

Hutchins, Stilson, 

1)1' thf " WashiiiLTliiTl P.ist." 

Hyde, WiUiain De Witt, D. D., 

Presidi-nt Bowil.iiii Cullou;.-. 

Irons, John D., D. D., 

Presiilont Muskiiiu'uni Collei^e. 

Jackson, James McCauley, 

Author aiul Editor. 

Johnson, Oliver, 

Author aiul Editor. 

Johnson, R. Underwood, 

As.sistant Editor " C'futury.'' 

Kell, Thomas, 

Pre.sidfut St. John College. 

Kennan, George, 

Russian Traveler. 

Kimball, Richard B., LL. D., 

Autlior. 
Kingsley, "William !■., LL. D., 

Editor ■■ New Eni^lauder and Yale Review." 

Kip, Rt. Rev. William Ingraham, 

Bisho|i of C'alirornia. 

Kirkland, Major Joseph, 

Literary Editor "Chica^^o Tribune." 
Knox, Thomas W., ' 

Author and Traveler. 

Lamb, Martha J., 

Editor ■' Mai^axiue of .\ineriean History." 

Langford, Laura C. HoUoway, 

Editor and Histor-ieal Writer. 

Le Conte, Joseph, LL. B. , 

Protessor in University of California. 

Lindsley, J. Berrien, M. D., 

state Board of Health of Tennessee. 

Lockwood, Mrs. Mary S., 

Historieal Writer. 

Lodge, Hon. Henry Cabot, 

Author. 

Longfellow, Rev. Samuel, 

Author. 

MacCracken, H. M., D. D., LL. D., 

Chaneelloi- of rni\'ersit\- of the City of New York. 

McClure, Col. Alexander K., 

Editoi- ■■ Pliiiadelphia Times." 

McCray, D. 0., 

Historical Writer. 

McElroy, George B., D. D., Ph. D., F. S., 

President Adrian Collece. 

Mcllwaine, Richard, D. D., 

President HanipdenSidney Collej^e. 

McKnight, H. W., D. D., 

President Pennsylvania College. 
Morse, John T., Jr., 

.-Vutlnu- " Life of John .Adams." etc. 

Newton, Richard Heber, D. D., 

Cleri.'\'nian and .Author. 

NichoUs, Miss B. B., 

Biof^raphioal and Historical Writer. 

Northrup, Cyrus, LL. D., 

President Universitj' of Minnesota. 
Olson. Julius E., 

Professoi' L'niversity of Wisconsin. 

Packard, Alpheus S., 

Professor Brown University. 

Page, Thomas Nelson, 

Author. 

Parton, James, 

.\uthor. 

Patton, Francis L., D. D., LL. D., 

I'residenI I'rineeton Collet,'e. 

Peabody, Andrew P., D. D., LL. D., 

Harvard University. 

Pepper, William, M. D., LL. D., 

Provost University of Pennsylvania. 



Porter, Noah, D. D., LL. D., 

Ex-president of Yale University. 

Potter, Eliphalet N., D. D., LL. D., 

President Hobart College. 

Powderly, T. V., 

Master W<n-kiuan, Knivchts of Labor. 

Prime, Edward D. G., D. D., 

Editor " New York Observer." 

Prince, L. Bradford, 

G<»vernor New Me.\ieo. 

Prowell, George R. , 

Historical Writer. 

Ryder, Rev. Charles J., 

Secretary of American Missionary SocietJT. 
Sanborn, Frank B. , 

Author. 

Schaff, Philip, D. D., LL. D., 

Author. 

Sharpless, Isaac, Sc. D. , 

President Haverford College. 

Stott, W. T., D. D., 

Presiilent Franklin College. 

Shearer, Rev. J. B., D. D., 

president Davidson College, N. C. 

Small, Albion W., Ph. D., 

President Colh_\- L^iiiversity. 

Smith, Charles H. (Bill Arp), 

Author. 

Smith, George Williamson, D. D., LL. D., 

President Trinity College. 
Smith, William W. , LL. D. , 

i'resident Randoljth.Maeon College. 

Snow, Louis Franklin, 

Professor Brown University. 

Stockton, Frank R., 

Author. 

Sumner, William G., 

Professor Political Economy, Yale. 

Super, Charles W., A. M., Ph. D., 

President </)hio University. 

Swank, James W. , 

Secretary American Iron and Steel Association. 

Tanner, Edward A., D. D., 

President I linois College. 

Taylor, James M., D. D., 

President Vassar College. 

Thurston, Robert H. , 

Director Sibley College. 
Thwing, Charles F., D. D., 

President Western Reserve University. 

Tuttle, Herbert, LL. D., 

Professor Cornell University. 
Tyler, Lyon G. , 

President College of William and Marj*. 

Venable, W. H., LL. D., 

.\ntlior. 

Walworth, Jeannette H., 

Author. 

Warren, William F., S. T. D., LL. D., 

President Boston University. 

Watterson, Henry, 

Editor " Louisville Conner-Journal." 

Webb, Gen. Alexander S., LL. D., 

President College of the City of New York. 

Weidemeyer, John William, 

Historical Writer. 

Wheeler, David H., D. D., 

President Allegliany College. 

Winchell, Alexander, 

Late Protessor Univei-sity of Michigan. 

Wise, John S., 

E.\-Congressman from Virginia. 

Wright, Marcus J., 

Historian ami Custodian of Confederate Records 
in UuiteU States War Department. 



GrE^ERAL CoiTTEXTS. 



FAOS 

George ■VVasiiinoton, nis Cabinet Officers, his Generals and Compatriots, 

i;?;? portraits ami illustrations I 

CniEP Justices of tiik St'i'Ki-:>iE Court of the United States, 

19 portraits and illustrations 20 

Justices of the Supiikmk Court of the United States, 

31 portraits aucl illustrations 467 and 33 

John Adams and ms Cabinet Officers, 

17 portraits and illustrations 105 

Thomas Jeffkuson and his ("ahinkt Officers. 

15 portraits and illustrations, ...... .... 119 

Benjamin Franklin, 

14 portraits and illustrations, 130 

James Madison and his Caiunet Officers, 

13 portraits and illustrations, 147 

James Monroe and his Cabinet Officers, 

11 portraits and illustrations, 155 

John Quincy Adams and his Cabinet Officers, 

15 portraits and illustrations, 165 

Andrew Jackson and his Cabinet Officers, 

16 portraits and illustrations 179 

M.\RTIN Van Huren and his Cabinet Officers, 

14 portraits and illustrations 191 

William Henry IlAHiiisoN and his Cabinet Officers, 

13 portraits and illuslratious, 199 

John Tyler and his Cabinet Officers, 

11 portraits and illustrations 211 

James Knox Polk and his Cabinet Officers, 

11 portraits and illustrations 319 

Zacuary Taylor and his Cabinet Officers, 

9 portraits and illustrations, 227 

Millard Fillmore and his Cabinet Officers, 

13 iiortraits and illustrations 231 

Franklin I'ikuce and his Cabinet Officers, 

15 portraits and illustrations, 245 

James Buchanan and his Cabinet Officers, 

25 portraits and illustrations 257 

Abraham Lincoln, his Cabinet Officers and Contempor.^ries, 

Cabinet Group, and 59 portraits and illustrations, 273 

Admirals op the United States Navy, 

19 portraits and illustrations 311 

Andrew Johnson and his Cabinet Officers, 

8 portraits and illustrations, 325 

Ulysses S. Grant and his Cabinet Officers, 

30 portraits and illustrations, . 331 

Rutherford 15. Hayes and his Cabinet Officers, 

Cabinet Group and 17 portraits and illustrations 353 

James A. Garfield and his Cabinet Officers, 

13 portraits and illustrations 367 

Chester A. Arthur and his Cabinet Officers, 

15 portraits and illustrations, 375 

Grover Cleveland and his Cabinet Officers. 

Cabinet Group and 18 portraits and illustrations 383 

Benjamin Harrison and his Cabinet Officers, 

Cabinet Group and 33 portraits and illustrations, 397 

BioGRAniicAL Sketches of Posts, Authors, Educators, Editors, Publishers, Merchants, 

AND Manufacturers. 

Embellished wilh 1.58 portraits and illustrations, 421 



LIST or FULL-PAGE PORTEAITS. 



PAGE 

Abbott, Lyman, 

Cler^'viiiaii ami Editor 519 

Adams, John, 

Secoiul I'ivsiilent 105 

Adams, John Q,ulncy, 

Sixth Pivskleiit 165 

Arthur, Chester A., 

Tw.-iity -lirst Pivsulent 375 

Bancroft, George, 

Histuriuii 432 

Blaine, James G., 

Stati-smaii 403 

Boutwell, George S. , 

( 'aliiiK-t OllictM- 343 

Brooks, Phillips, 

Protestant Episcopal Bishop of Mass 520 

Buchanan, James, 

Fil't eent h President 257 

Cass, Lewis, 

Caliinot Officer 261 

Calhoun, John C, 

Vicc-Prosidciit 157 

Chase, Salmon P., 

Cliicf Justice Supreme Court 28 

Childs, George W., 

Pliilaiitlin.pist and Editor 440 

Clay, Henry, 

Cabinet Officer 171 

Cleveland, Grover, 

Twcnt \ -Seconil President 383 

Davis, Jefferson, 

Cabinet i>ffleer 248 

Douglas, Stephen A., 

Statesman 300 

Durrett, Reuben T., 

n ist oriau 450 

Ellsworth, Oliver, 

Cliief .lust ice of Supreme Court 22 

Everett, Edward, 

Stalcsnian ami Orator 237 

Farragut, David G. , 

Adnnral 311 

Fillmore, Millard, 

Tl)irl ccnl li President 2^33 

Franklin, Benjamin, 

statesman and Pliilosoplicr 130 

Fuller, Melville W., 

t'liief Justice of Supreme Court 33 

Garfield, James A., 

Twent let h President 367 

Gibbons, James, 

Ronnin Catliolic Cardinal 488 

Grant, TJlysses S., 

Eisititeent li President Sil 

Hamilton, Alexander, 

Statesnum 11 

Harrison, Benjamin, 

Twenty-third President 307 

Harrison, William Henry, 

Ninth President 193 



PAGS 

Hayes, Rutherford B. , 

Ninetcent li President 353 

Holland, Josiah G. 

Autlnir and Editor 425 

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 

Poet and Pliysician 454 

Jackson, Andrew, 

Seventli President 179 

Jefferson, Thomas, 

Tlurd President 119 

Jefferson, Joseph, 

Aclcir and Autlior 460 

Johnson, Andrew, 

Sevcntccntli Pr.'sidcnt 325 

Lafayette, Marquis de. 

Patriot 63 

Lincoln, Abraham, 

Sixteenth President 273 

Longfellow, Henry W. , 

Poet 418 

Lowell, James Russell, 

p. let and Crit ic 435 

Madison, James, 

Fi lurt li President 147 

Marshall, John, 

Cliief Justice Supreme Court 25 

Monroe, James, 

Fifth Presiilcnt 155 

Pierce, Franklin, 

Foin-tccntli President 245 

Polk, James Knox, 

Eleventh President 219 

Putnam, Israel, 

Revolutionary Soldier 87 

Reid, Whitelaw, 

Edit or 417 

Schuyler, Philip J., 

Kevolutionary Soldier 97 

Seward, William H., 

St at esman 289 

Stevenson, Adlai E. , 

Vice Piesideut 392 

Taylor, Zachary, 

Twelfth President 227 

Tyler, John, 

Tenth President 211 

Van Buren, Martin, 

Eit,-hth President 191 

Washington, George, 

First President 1 

Webster, Daniel, 

statesman 203 

Willard, Frances E., 

Reformer 493 

Whitman, Walt, 

Poet 431 

Whittier, John G., 

Poet 535 



AND OVER SEVEN HUNDRED MARGINAL VIGNETTE 
PORTRAITS AND ILLUSTRATIONS. 



INDOESEME^TS. 



Messrs. James T. WmTE & Co. 

Gentlemen : The proposition to abandon the stereotyped and traditional use of alphabetical arrange- 
ment in your forthcoming N.\tional Cyclop^di.\ of A.\iekican BiodiiArnv, and tu publish with each 
succeeding volume a full analytical inde.x, covering all preceding volumes, meets our approval, as it will 
in no way, in our opinion, impair its value as a book of reference. 

AVithout the restriclion of so arbitrary a rule, you can give the public the information as gathered, 
without destroying its freshness and value as contemporaneous information by awaiting its place in an 
alphabetical order. (Signed) 



Frederick Saunders, Librarian Astor Library. 
"W. T, Peoples, Librarian Mercantile Library. 
W. A, Bardwell, Librarian Broolilyn Library. 
Geo. H, Hepworth, Editor N. Y. " Herald." — "Tliecliange 
proposed seems to me in every way admirable." 

B. B. Poole, Librarian V. M. C. A., New York. 

Xjmian Abbott, Editor "Cliristian Union" and Pastor of 
Plymoutli Cliureli. — "Tlie judgment of the Librari- 
ans wliicli you have already obtained is far more 
woijihty than mine could be, and outweighs mine." 

W. S. Butler, Librarian N. Y. Society Library. 

W. T. Harris, U. S. Com. of Education, Washington. 

Thomas Addison Emmett, Historical Writer, New York. 

R. U. Johnson, Editor of " Century," New York. 

Walter H. Page, Editor 

Isaac R. Pennypacker, Editor- I>liil:idelpliia " Enquirer." 

Wm. H. Egle, .Slatc Librarian, Harrisburg, Pa. 

Frances E. WiUard, Temperance Lecturer and Writer. 

Alexander Burgess, Bishop of Quincy, 111. 

Frederick Bancroft, Librarian Department of State, Wash- 
ington. 

Charles F. Deems, Pastor Church of the Strangers, New 
Y'ork. 

M. J. Savage, Unitarian Divine, Boston, 3Iass. 

M. R. Hamilton, state Librarian, Trenton, N. J. 

H. E. Webster, Picsident Union College. 

Francis A. Nichols, Litei ary Editor Boston "Globe." 

S. M. Watson, I.ilu-arian Portland Public Library. 

John Vance Cheney, Librarian Public Library, San Fran- 
cisco. 

A. W. Greeley, Chief of Signal OfHce. 

John Russell Young, Late U. S. Minister to China. 

S. S. Knabenshue, Editor Toledo " Blade." 

M, M. Beardshear, President Iowa State Agricultural Col- 
lege. 

Noah Brooks, Editor Newark " Enquirer." 

Thomas B. Preston, New York " Herald." 

C. W. Fisk, Managing Editor Brooklyn "Citizen."— "The 

man in a hurry will bless you." 
Alex. S. Webb, President College City of New Y'ork. 
Edwin Fleming, EiJitor Buffalo "Courier." 
David S, Jordan, President Lelaiu) Stanford. Jr., University. 
J. N. Lamed, Superintendent Public Library, Bull'alo. 
N. G, Osborn, Editor New Haven " Register." 



A. W. Whelpley, Librarian Public Library, Cincinnati. 
F. M. Crunden, Librarian Public Library, St. Louis. 
Horace Kephart, Librarian Mercantile Library, St. Louis. 

F. W. Bicord, Librarian New Jersey Historical Society. 
£. P. Duval, State Librarian, Annapolis. 

John C. Tuthill, State Librarian, Columbus. 

M. C. Calhoun, State Librarian, Lansing. 

N. M Utley, Librarian Public Library, Detroit. 

Reuben A. Guild. Librarian Brown University. 

John McElroy, Editor "National Tribune," Washington. 

Wm. Morton Payne, Editor " Evening Journal," Chicago. 

S. E. Morss, E<iitor Indianapolis " Sentinel." 

J. L. Hodgers, Editor Columbus " Dispatch." 

C. H. Jones, Editor St. Louis " Republic." 
W. S. Furay, Editor "Ohio State Journal." 
Eugene H. Perdue, Manager Cleveland " Leader." 
Alexander Black, Editor Brooklyn "Times." 
Samuel G. Green, Librarian Public Library, Worcester,' 
Adolph S. Ochs, Editor Chattanooga " Times." 
William Rice, Librarian City Library, Springfield, Mass. 
W. B. Hoar, Manager Burlington " Free Press." 

D. F. Secomb, Librarian Public Library, Concord. 
J. M. Taylor, President Vassar College. 

E. H. Capen, President Tufts College. 

N. L. Andrews, Dean Colgate University. 
Edward H. Magill, Ex-president Swarthmore College. 
J. D. Moffat, President Washington and Jeirerson Col- 
lege. 
E. S. Frisbee, President Wells College. 
E. M. Cravath, President Fisk University. 
Thomas Fell, President St. John's College. 

G. P. Putnam's Sons, Publishers. 

Albert B. Prescott, Univereity of Michigan. 

R. B. Gelatt, Editor Detroit " Tribune." 

P. J. Quigley, JIanager " Telegraph," Dubuque, Iowa. 

J. S. McLain, Editor Minneapolis " Journal. " 

James E. Boyd, Omalia. 

Chas, A. Edwards, Editor " Statesman," Austin, Te.\a£. 

W. W. Screws, Editor Montgomery " Advertiser." 

M. H. de Young, San Francisco " Chronicle." 

Clarkson Bros., Iowa State "Register." 

Geo. Thompson, Editor St. Paul " Despatch." 

Dudley M, Holman, Editor Portland "Evening Express." 

S. J. Barrows, Editor " Christian Register," Boston, 



AND HUNDREDS OF OTHERS. 




WASHINGTON, George, first president of the 
United States, -svas Ixn'u Feb. 2'2, 17:e, at the family 
homestead near Uridges Creek, Westmoreland Co., 
Va., the son of Augustine Washington, born 169-t, 
died 1743, and his second wife Marj' Ball, born 1T04, 
died 1789, who were married March 6, 1730. Augus- 
tine at the time of his marriage was a man of thirty- 
six, of good position, sterling character, considerable 
property, with a line open countenance, tall, com- 
manding figure and many personal attractions. His 
first wife, Jane Butler, had left him four motherless 
children, two of whom, Lawrence and Augu.stiue, 
lived to reach maturity. Mary 
Ball, daughter of Joseph Ball 
of Epping Forest, Va., was 
known as the " Rose of Ep- 
ping Forest " and esteemed the 
belle of all that region, and as 
a bride of twenty-si.x she is 
said to have been exceedingly 
beautiful, yet no authentic por- 
trait of her is known to exist. 
Conjectural or fancy pictures 
have been in more than one 
instance published, but much 
as the people of this covmtry 
would like to preserve the 
likeness of the mother of Wash- 
ington it is undesirable to re- 
produce pictures where proof 
is wanting of their truth, as all 
such portraiture is misleading. 
The American ancestry of George AVashiugton is 
very clearly established, and the mooted points in 
his English ancestry which have led to the recent 
scholarly researches by Henry F. Waters, A.M., 
are now practically settled. The father of Augus- 
tine was Lawrence, born in Virginia, whose wife 
was Jlildred Warner; the father of LawTence was 
John who emigrated to Virginia about 1G57, aged 
twenty-four, and became a prosperous planter in 
Korthern Neck, between the Potomac and Rappa- 
hannock rivers, and a resolute colonel in expeditions 
against tlie Indians. His second wife, the mother 
of Lawrence, w:is Ann, daughter of Nathaniel 
Pope, of the family which gave the name to Pope 
creek. This John was accompanied to America bj' 
Lis brother Lawrence, aged twent^--two, who 
foimded another branch of the Washington family 
in Virginia. The errors of writers and genealogists 
■which caused the confusion in relation to the 




iZ^iCi^^^e'i^'K 



parents of these emigrants came through constant 
repetition of the names John and Lawrence in all 
the generations of the Washingtons for centuries. 
The two Virginia settlers were supposed to belong 
to the next generation be\'ond where they are 
actually found by Mr. Waters, whose discovery 
establishes the true lineage of George Washington. 
These young men who landed on this continent in 
1057 wei'e sons of Lawrence Washington, 3LA., 
rector of Purleigh in Essex Co., England, a fellow 
of Brasenose College, Oxford, and in 1G31 proctor 
of the L'niversitj- of Oxford, whose wife was 
Amphillis Roades, and who was the son of Lawrence 
AVashiugton of Sulgrave and Brington, and ^larga- 
ret Butler; his two elder brothers, both knighted, 
were Sir William Washington of Packingham, who 
married Anne, daughter of Sir George Villiers, 
knight, and half-sister of the Duke of Buckingham; 
and Sir John Washington, of Thrapston, whose 
wife was Jlary, daughter of Philip Curtis of Islip. 
Sir Williani's son Henry was a colonel in the royal- 
ist army aud governor of Worcester. A younger 
brother of Sir William and the rector of Purleigh, 
Thomas, born about 1G05, died at Madrid 1623, is 
Ijelieved to be the one mentioned by Sir Edmund 
Verney as a page in the service of Prince Charles. It 
would seem from the evidence now available that 
the Washington family were royalists in every 
branch, with no sympathy for Cromwell and his 
adherents. Lawreiice, the royalist clergyman, went 
into retirement, and his death occurred about 165.5, 
his wife having died a few months earlier. Crom- 
well was then tirmly .seated in his protectorate and 
the orphaned sons unable to make headway again.st 
the current of affairs in their own coinUr\- naturally 
turned their faces to Virginia, the rcfvige of so many 
defeated royalists. Tracing the ancestry in the 
direct line we learn that the father of Lawrence 
Wa.shingfon, of Sulgrave and Brington, who died in 
1616, was Robert of Sulgrave, who lived until 1620. 
The father of Robert of Sulgrave was Lawrence 
Washington, mayor of Northampton, whose fatlicr 
was John Washington of Warlini, whose father was 
Robert Washington of Warton, who.se father was 
John Washington of Whitfield, in the time of 
Richard III. 

The ancestry of Mary Ball is quite as interesting 
as that of the AVashingtons; it has been traced to 
William Ball, lord of the manor of Barkham, 
Berks, England, who died 1480. His son Robert, of 
Barkham, died 1543, whose son AVilliam died 1550, 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOP/EDIA 




bad 



whose son John died 1599, whose son John died 
lfi2N. whose son William, of Lincoln's Inn, was the 
father of Col. William Hall, who emigrated to Vir- 
ginia about 1().")() anil founded Millenbeck on the 
Happaliannoek in the parish of tSl. -Marys, While 
CliMpil. He was llie grandfather of t'ol. Jo.seph 
the lather of Mary, whose son Joseph, Marys 
brother, was educated in England, became a lawyer, 
married Frances, daughter of Thomas Kaven.scroft, 
of London, and resided at Stralfordby-How. It is 
thought Mary paid him a visit in England a few 
years before her marriug(^ 
The home to which she went 
as a bride in 173(1 was one of 
the best of the ^'irgiuia farm- 
houses of the period: it Inid 
four rooms and a spacious at- 
tic, a piazza on the river front, 
and two chimneys in the olden 
slyle one at each end of the 
stniclure. She found there 
quite a small army of men and 
women servants. The planta- 
tion other husband embraced 
upwards of a thousand acres, 
which with careful manage- 
ment rajiidly increased, soon 
taking in with ollu'r lands an 
estate in Slalford county oj)- 
jiosite Fredericksburg which 
house npon it of precisely the .same archi- 
tectural pattern as that in which they were liv- 
ing and to which the family removed in ITIi.T on 
the burning of their pleasant home — the birth- 
place of George. The new residence was on the 
brow of a steep slope of the left bank of the 
Ka]ipaliannock in siglil of the town, and here the 
boyhood of our first president was passed. In 17-li! 
Augustine Washinglmi suddenly dii'd, leaving his 
willow with five children under eleven years of age, 
of whom George was the eldest. The jiroperty was 
ample lor their support, and the bereaved family 
was virlually indepeudent. Each son, including 
the step-suns of Mary Wa.-ihingtun. Lawrence and 
Augustine, iulierited a valuable lanilcd estate. The 
luiitlier was equal to the ililHculties and the res])on- 
.sibililies of the situation in which she found herself. 
She was a woman of rare administrative ability, 
with a vigorous grasj) of every detail of busines"s, 
.sensible, self-respecting; a Cliristian of fervent 
]>iety, exercising constant charily to the jioor, ener- 
getic, lar-seeing and of inlle\ible linnness wherever 
liriiiciple was involved. Slie hail the power of 
aiquiring and maintaining great inlluence over her 
f;nnily and associates, a trait e.vceplioually conspie- 
tnius in her distinguished son. She ruled her housc'- 
hold with dignity, taught her children ol)edience, 
industry, honesty and economy, and directed much 
of their education willi the aid of private tutors. 
Her stepsons looked toiler reverently for counsel 
and advice. Lawrence, who look .-i loviii;:. parental 
interest in George and his alTairs during his minor- 
ity, once said: "Of the mother I was more afraid 
than of my own parents; she awed me in the midst 
of her kindness." The "Father of his Country" 
bore eiuplnitic testimony on numberless occasions to 
the birce and loveliness of characler. and the noble 
life of his mill her. allribuling his suciTssfiil career 
Id the moral. intelleilu:il and iihysical training that 
he received from her. He was ever iiroiid to do her 
honor. America owes her a debt of gralitude. and 
her memory will ever be cherished as a precious 
h?gaey. The StatTord Inmie of the Wa.shingtons 
was near one of the chapels of the iiarish" the 
.sexliin of whicli, M;islcr Hobby, was the tir.st school- 
teacher of young ticorge, the lad obtaining the rudi- 
ments of his education in the "old field" school- 



house, where he learned rending, writing and 
ciphering, and where also he took plea.sure in dis- 
playing the martiid spirit which was so predominant 
in his character: thus his .schoolmates all liecaine 
soldiers, and had jiarades, reviews and sham tights, 
George being commander-in-chief of the forces. He 
possessed a warm teniiier, and his disjiosition was 
conunaiKling as was also his stature. Even at the 
age of thirteen his frame was large and powerful 
and he h.ad a reputation for agility, strength and 
horsemanship which was nuecinalcil in his neigh- 
borhood. He pracliced all sorts of athletic e.xer- 
ci.ses — running, wrestling, leaping, pit<-hing quoits 
and tossing iron bars — and many anecdotes are 
related of his remarkable strength and his achieve- 
ments in athletic exercises. He .studied whenever 
he had opportunity, and thus])ieked up some book- 
keejiing and a knowledge of land-surveying. The 
latter was, indeed, in great requisition at this time 
on account of the eonslaut allotment and liuying 
and selling of land. So it haiipened that just ;ifter 
completing his sixteenth year, in company with 
(ieorge William Fairfax, Wa.^hington went out 
beyond the Blue Hidge and undertook the sur- 
vey of the lands of Lord Fairfa.x. being thus 
occupied for about three years. The boy had 
already been offered a position as luidshipmaii 
on his brother's (Capt. Lawrence Washiuglon) 
shi]i in the expedition then going on under Ad- 
miral Vernon against Carlhagena; in fact, the 
residenc<' on the Potomac was called Mt. Vernon iu 
honor of this commander. George would glailly 
have accepted the position, and would then jjroba- 
bly have followed a naval life, but for the remon- 
slrances of his mother whom he dearly loved and 
who was decidedly ojiiiosed to tlii' ])lan. The riv.ul 
claims of the French and Engli.sh to the Oliia 
valley brought Jibout considenilile feud, and Wa.sh- 
ington, although but nineleen years old. was 
ai)poinled district !iltorney-general and by his intel- 
ligence and knowledge, .showed himself worthy of 
the position. He was also aiipointed adjutant of 
a provincial troop, with the rank of major. In 
]T.")1, he made a trip to Barbadoes. which proved to 
be his oidy sea viiyage. as the death of his brulher 
Lawrence occurring soon after, left George W'usU- 
ington heir to his estates at 
^It. Vernon. In October, 1753, 
Gov. r)inwidilie sent Wash- 
ington, then twenty-two yeiirs 
of age, on a hazardous exjie- 
dition to aseert.Min the imm- 
ber and force of the French 
stationi'd on the Ohio and vi- 
cinity, the iirobabililics of their 
receiving reinforcements from 
Canada, the luuuber, location 
and garri.sons of their forts and 
so forth, and to deliver his 
credentials and a Idler from 
llie governor to the French 
commander, ilemandiug an an- 
swer in the name of his Hri- 

taniiic majesty, and upon re- 

ceiving it to request a sulli- 

cienl escort to protect him on his return. In 
|iursiiit of this mission Wiishington encountered 
nuich sulTering. )irivalii>n and delay, but on De- 
cember isith he iiresented his creiienlials to the 
French commander, who was stationed lifleen miles 
from Lake Erie, on Freiu h creek, and on Jan. Kith 
delivered to (Jov. Dinwiddie the reply of the French 
oHicer. On May 10. XI'm. Washington was appointed 
aide-de-camp to Gen. Braddock. He was present 
wilh the two regiments of ri'gnlars. which were led 
against Fort Duquesne by Gen. Braddock. and in 
encountering the disastrous aiubuscadu of July 9^ 




'r-v 



OF AMKRICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



1755, he liml four l)ull(is tlirousli liis font iind two 
horsi's shut iiiulcr him, whik- lie was tlie (inly aide 
not killed iir wmiiided. It was here that he olilaiiied 
fniiii the Indians the reinilation ^>( liavinjj,aeliariiied 
life, while his eiiuntrviiieii were iiniiiil of his cdur- 
Uiiv and already lie,i;an tci Imld liini in lii,i;li esteem. 
Sodii after this eaiii|iai;;ii Washinu'ldri relumed Id 
JIl. Veriuin in a dispirited niddd. In a letter Id his 
brdlher ho writes: " I was employed to go a journey 
in the winter, which I belic\c "few or none would 
have undertaken, and what did I get by it ? My 
expenses liorne. I was then appoinled with tritling 
pay tdediiduet a handful of men to the Ohio. What 
did 1 gel by that ? Why, after imtting myself to a 
fdiisideralile expense in e(]iiii)iiiiig and prdviding 
necessities fdr the cdiiipany, I went out, was suundly 
bealen and lost all, came in and had my cdmmi.ssion 
taken from me; or, in other words, my cdiumand 
rerlueed under a pretense of an order from home 
(Kngland). I then went out a volunteer with Gen. 
Braildoek and lost all my hoi'.ses, and many other 
tilings. I have been on the liising order ever 
since I entered the service nearly two years since." 
In the meantime 2,000 men were raised, and the 
Assembly of Virginia promptly voted .£40,001), 
while on Aug. 14, 1755, Washington was appointed 
to the command of this body of men by Gov. Diii- 
widdie. Jleanwhile a clergyman, the Kev. Samuel 
Davis, in a sermon cited Washington as "that 
heroic youth. Col. Washington, whom I cannot but 
hope Providence has hilherto preserved in .so signal 
a manner for some imjiortant service to his eouii- 
try." The reduclidn iif Fort Duquesne practically 
terminated the campaign. The French domination 
of the Ohio was at an end. The Indians paid hom- 
age to the British as the coiupiering power, and a 
treaty of peace was concluded with all the tribes 
between Ihc Ohio and the Lakes. For the time the 
military career of Washington was closed. He 
relircd from the service, and in 1750 married Jlrs. 
Martha C'u.stis, the ceremony being celebrated on 
Jan. (ith at the residence of the bride. Three 
months later Washinglcin took his .sent in the Iiou.se 
of burgesses at Williamsburg, Va., and he remained 
a inember of that assembly for some years. In the 
meantime he was engaged in the improvement of 
his cslates, raised cro])s of wheat and tobacco, and 
carried on brick-yards and fisheries. In the legisla- 
tive halls of Virginia Wasliingtdu spoke but .seldom, 
anil always brietly and to the point; but Patrick 
Henry said of him that he was "for .solid informa- 
tion and sound judgment unquestionably the 
greatest man in the a.ssembly." The discontent 
against (Jreat Britain grew rapidly among the 
colonics. England's pdlicy tdwards them was from 
the lirst purely Cdmmercial and wlnilly restrict- 
ive. The navigation laws shut their ports against 
foreign vessels and obliged them to export tlieir 
productions only to countries belonging to the 
English crown and subjected their trade lietween the 
colonics to duties. Wa.sliington was in the house of 
liurgcsscs when the .stamp act became the suliject 
of di.sciission. Up to this period his correspondence 
and all his conduct had shown a loyal devotion to 
the crown as well as patriotic attachment to his 
country It was .seen that the stump act was so 
olinoxious that in March, 176G, it was rejiealed and 
matters went on as before until the Grafton ministry 
resigned in 1770 and the reins df pdwer in ICnglaml 
pa.ssed into the hands of Lord North. An act was 
lia.ssed revoking all duties in the colonies excepting 
that on tea, hut this iiarticular tax was the most ob- 
noxious of all, and when in December, 1773, several 
ships freighted with tea arrived some of them were 
sent back as they were. At Clnirleston the lea was 
unloaded and .stowed away in cellars where it rotteii, 
while at Boston as is well-known a jiarly of men 



disguised as Indians boarded the ships on the night 
of Dec. ISth, broke open all the chests and emptied 
their contents into the waters of the harbor. This 
act so arou.scd the wrath of the British government 
that in the following .June llie harbor of Boston was 
closed and all business ceased. This act caused 
jia.ssionate excitement throughout the colonics and a 
general congress being calh'd, to which Washingtou 
was a delegate, it as.sembled in Philadel]ihia Sept. .5, 
1774. Asecond Virginiaconvention washehl at Kich- 
mond in the spring of 1775 and measures were ad- 
vocated for arming and di.seiplining the military 
force and providing for the defense of the colony. 







V:iSf^ii 



ie5j,9i,artcr.s-val'y 



The following month occurred the liattle of Lexing- 
ton, and on .Tune 15, 1775, Washinglon was elected 
commander-in-chief of the army at a salary of $500 a 
month. He received his commission from the 
president of congress on June 30th and arrived at 
the headquarters of the army at C'aiubridge on 
July 2d. Meanwhile the English troops had been 
reinforced by Gens. Howe, Biirgoyne and Sir Henry 
Clintim. The first battle of the Hevolution, that of 
Bunker Hill, had been fought and now upon 
AV'ashington fell the conttdence ami dependence of 
the entire Continental army. This consisted on 
Jiilv i!, 1775, when Washington took foi'm:.il com- 
mand of it, of about 14,000 iiieii, 9,000 of whom be- 
longed to Massachusetts; the whole body being dis- 
tributed in a .semi-circular line eight or nine miles in 
extent within which were concenlrated the British 
forces. Works were put up by Washington's army 
preparatory to the bombardment of Boston. The 
siege of the city continued through the winter willi- 
out any striking incident until J\Iarch4. 1770, when 
a movement was made for the occupation of Dor- 
chester Heights. It became necessary to disloilgo 
tlie rebels from this point or for the British to 
evacuate Boston. Gen. Howe finding the works 
w^hich had been put up too strong to be easily 
carried, beat a retreat, which called forth the 
remark of Washingtou that it "was precipitate 
beyond anything I could have conceived." The 
troops driven out of Boston .sailed for New York 
and with other arrivals swelled the number of 
ships in that port to one hundred and thirty men-of- 
war and transports. Washington arrived near New 
YorJv on April 18th and there underlook the direc- 
tion of the campaign against Canada. On .luly 
4th llic Declaration of Independenee was adopted 
at Philadelphia. On .Vug. 27lh the battle of Long 
Island was fouglit and Washington was oliliged to 
retreat and cross with liis troojis to tlie mainland 
near the city. This ditlicull and dangerous feat was 
accom])lislied with entire success. In September 
Washington's headquarters were moving about 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



l)Ctwcen Kingsbridie and White Plnins ami on 
Nov. 12th he crosswl the Hudson to Fort Lee. but 
found the enemy under Lord Cornwnllis in posses- 
sion and then continue<l liis retreat iuto New Jersey, 
reaching Trenton on Dec. 22d and at once conveyed 
his bafTfiage and stores across tlie Delaware. On 
Dec. 2iith he recrossed the Delaware, and on the 
following day fought the battle of Trenton and 
captured nearly one thousand ]>risoners with their 
arlillerv. Just at this time congress invested him 
■with su])reme military power. The enemy seemed 
lianicstricken and on June 37, 1777, evacuated the 
Jerseys. In August the Hrilish army imder (Jen. 
Howe made a movement against Philadelnhia, 
whereiipon the American army retreated and Corn- 
wallis took po.ssession of the city, the main body of 
Ills army being encamped at (iermantowu. Here 
Washington made an attack in October, but was re- 
])ulsed with considerable loss and on Dec. 17th went 
into winter quarters at Valley Forge. The suffer- 
ings borne by the American troops, badly clothed 
and eciuipped and insufficiently provisioned, have 
gone iuto liistory. The British evacuated Phila- 
delphia in Jime, 177S, and being pursued by W.-ish- 
ington's army they were defeated in the battle of 
Jloumouth Court House, but etfcctcd their escape. 
This was the principal action during that year, 
and at the beginning of December Washington's 
army went inlo winter quarters his line extend- 
ing from Long Island sound to the Delaware. 
The war now maiidy went on in 
the South. Cornwallis defeated 
Gates and Sumter, but was him- 
self defeated in the battle of the 
Cowpens, Jan. 17, 17S;i. In May 
following Lafayette with his force 
at Hichmond, Va., was dislodged, 
and Cornwallis [jroceeded to York- 
town where he designed to es- 
tablish a iiermaneiit jiost. lie was 
closely walclu'd and followed by 
Ijafayette, while Washington was 
hurrying to the aid of the latter. On Sept. 28th 
the combined armies marched from Williamsburg 
towards Yorktown and at night encamped within 
two miles of that point. On Oct. 11th. a general 
assault was made by the American force, and soon 
Lord Cornwidlis, finding that through the severity 
of the attac"k his hopes of retaining the position 
were in vain, dispatched a flag with a letter to 
Washington, proposing a cessation of hostilities for 
twentv four hours and that then terms should be 
arranged for the surrender of the )xists of Y'ork 
and Glo\icestei', and which were later in accordance 
with terms agreed upon, duly surrendered to Gen. 
Washington as commanderin-chief of the combined 
armies. The mnnbcr of jirisoners who caiiitulated 
was 7.(17;3. The surrender of Cornwallis gave a 
death-blow to the war and in November Washing- 
ton went to Philadelphia where he was received 
by congress with distinguished honors. In the 
meantime a general treaty of jieace was imder 
consideration in Paris, and on Jan. 30, 1783, its 
execution was ])roclaimed by congress. On June 
8tli in th.al year Wasliinglon addressed a letter to 
the governors of the several states in which he dis- 
cussed with ability and eloquence those ideas which 
he considered would prove essential to the well- 
being, and even to the existence of the United 
States as an independent power. On Nov. 2d he 
delivered his parting addres,s.lo the army; on Nov. 
^')[h New York was evacuated by the lirilish. and 
on Dec. 4th he bade his i)atlietic and alVeclionate 
farewell to his ollicers. He resigned his commissiim 
on tlie 23(1 of the same month with a note whose 
closing words were: " Having now finished the 
work assigned me I retire from the held of action. 




'£?r i 7 uAas^ tp^ C^Q(i> 




bidding an affectionate farewell to this august 
body under whose orders I have long acted. 
I here offer my commission and take my leave 
of all the employments of iiublic life." In a 
letter to Gov. Clinton he said: "The .scene is 
at last clo.sed. I feel my.self ea.sed of a load of pub- 
lie care. I hope to s|)end the remainder of my tlays 
in cultivating the alTeclion of gooil men. and in the 
|iractice of the domestic virtues." How little \\';isli- 
ington foresaw the importance of his future career 
as a statesman can be juflged from these expressions, 

A brief summary of the 
qualifications which Washing- 
ton had exhibited up to this 
point in his life ajipears in the 
admirable and iihilosophical 
estimate formed regarding him 
by Kdward Everett, who says 
of him, in reference to his pre- 
])aration forihe earlier and mil- 
itary part of his public services: 
" But military command was but one part of the 
career which awaited Washington. Almo.st all the 
duties of government centered in his hands under 
the inellicient iidniinisti-ation of the old congress. 
A merely military education would have furnished 
no adecjuate preparation for the duties to be per- 
formed Ijy him. It was accordingly a most aus]ii- 
cious circnm.stauce that from the year HoO to the 
Revolution he passed lifteen years as a member of 
the house of burgesses where he acqinred a familiar 
knowledge of civil affairs and of |iolitics. The 
ordinary legislation of a leading colonial govern- 
ment like that of Virginia was no mean school of 
political experience, and the state of affairs at the 
time was such as to expand and elevate the minds 
of men. Everything was inspired with an uncon- 
sciously developed but not the less stirring revo- 
lutionary energy, and many of his associates were 
men of large views and strenuous character. 
"While his public duties, civil and military, pre- 
]iared him in this way for the position he was to till 
in war and in peace, ihe fifteen years xvhich he jiasscd 
in the iiersonal management of a large landed estate 
and the care of an ample fortune, furiushed abun- 
dant occasion for the formation of the economical 
side of his character, and gave a thorougluiess to 
his administrative haljits which h;is not been wit- 
nessed in the career of many very eminent public 
men in Europe or America. It will not be easy to 
tind another instance of a great military and politi- 
cal leader who to the same degree has beiai eijind 
to the formal icm and execution of the boldest plans, 
and to the control of the mo.st ]icrplexed combina- 
tions of affairs, and yet not above the mo.st ordinary 
details of business nor negli- 
gent of minute economies; 
but it was precisely this 
union of seemingly incon.si.s- 
tent qualities of mind and 
character which was most 
needed from the time he took 
canmanil of the revolution- 
ary army to the close of his 
])residential service. ' The |)e- 
riod succeeding the peace of 
1783 up to the adoption of the constitution 
United States in 1788 was peculiarly critical 
United States just formed was without a govern- 
ment — unaldeto command respect abroad ortoslart 
upon a career of ])ros|)erous growth and development 
at home. The country was e.vhausled Iiy the war, 
there were no m;uiu factories, very little conunerce, 
a considerable foreign debt and Inirdly any revenue. 
Some organization of a |)ermanent character, and 
some source of legitimate and acceptable taxation 
for the purpose of revenue were obviously essentiul. 




of the 
The 



OF AMERICAN HKXiUAlMI Y. 



Acoordinffly the body now known as the " Federal 
■Convention" assembled in Philadel|>lii:i on .May "J, 
17ST, Washington being tniaiiiinously elected its 
president. .Tared Sparks, in his " Life of Washing- 
ton," both in reference to this convention, and Wasli- 
ington's views regarding its import.mee and the 
duties of its members, .says: " He read tlic history 
and examined the principles of the ancient and 
modern confederacies. There is a iiaper in his 
liandwriting which contains an abstract of each, and 
in which arc noted in a nictlmdieal oriler their chief 
ch.nracteristics, kinds of authority they pos.se.ssed, 
their modes of operation and their defects. The con- 
federacies analyzed in this paper are the Lycian, Am- 
pliictyonic. Achivan Helvetic, Hclgic and Germanic. " 
In the convention, while Washington did not take 
an active part in the debates which were principally 
had in committee of the whole, his powerful inllii- 
euce was steadily exerted in the direction of an 
eflicient central government. The convention re- 
mained in session about four months and on Sejit. 
17th, 1T87, the result of their labors as embodied in 
the jiresent constitution of the United States, was 
communicated to the Federal congress. Mr. George 
Ticknor Curtis, in his valuable " History of the 
Constitution," writes: "There is a tradition that 
when Washington was .about to sign the instrument, 
he rose from his seat and, holding the jien in his 
hand, after a short pause pronoiincefl these words: 
■ Should the states reject this excellent constitution 
the probability is that an opportiuiity \\\\\ never 
again be offered to cancel another in peace — the 
next will be drawn in blood.'" While the consti- 
tution was before the dilTerent slates for action, 
'Washington did not eea«' to employ his influence 
efficiently through the medium of his correspond- 
ents to prociu'c its adoption. It was didy ratified 
and in accordance with its provisions, a president 
and vice-president of the United States of America 
were duly voted for, the number of electoral votes 
given in "this first election being but fiO, all of which 
were for Gen. Washington. Thirty-four voti's were 
given to John Adams, and the remainder being 
scattered among other candidates. George Washing- 
ton and .lohn Adams were duly ele<-ted the first 
president and vice-president of the United States. 
That Washington shrunk from assuming his high 
ottice with genuine reluctance his jirivate and con- 
fideiitial correspondence shows. He was proliably 
the only president ever called to the atTairs of state 
without having desired and probably exerted him- 
self to oliiain the nomination. Washington re- 
ceived the otticial notification of his election at Jit. 
Vernon on April 14, 1789. and started immediately 
for tlie seat of government, which was for the first 
two years at New York. His journey through the 
states of Jlaryland, Pennsylvania and New .bTsey 
was a triumphal procession. He took the oath pre- 
scribed by the cou.stitution on .\pril :!tl. 178!). At 
tlie time of entering upon his ollice Washington was 
fifty-.seven years of age. His frame natur.ally vigor- 
ous and athletic presented a most dignified appear- 
ance, but its strength had nnfortunately been .some- 
what impaired by the labors and exposures of two 
wars and by repeated severe attacks of disease. 
Soon after his arrival in New York Washington was 
taken very sick, his siilTerings were iiUense and his 
recovery was slow, and while he was still in ;i stale 
of convalescence, he received news of the <leath of 
his mother on Aug. 25, 178!), at the advanced age 
of eiirhty-two. On recovering Ins liealth Washing- 
ton entered upon the duties and labors of his ollice. 
"While lie stood alone in the estimate of tlie entire 
people whose government he was called upon to 
administer he soon found his position surrounded 
by difiicullies. Inexperienced in civil admiiustra- 
tion, he was to inaugurate a new and untried system 



received the 




^f^wJOy ;5^,„ 



of government, a new experiment to which some 
looked forward with buoyant confidence, many with 
doubt and apiireheiisiou. On Sept. 11, 1789, 
Washington nominated Gen. Kno.x for secre- 
tary of war, auil about a week later he named 
Alexander Hamilton as secretary of the treas- 
ury. On Sept. 27th he wrote unofficially to 
Edmund Randolph, of Virginia, offering him the 
nomination of attorney -general of the United 
States. John Jay, of ISfew York, 
iijipointment of chief justice , 
of the supreme court of the 
United States, his a.ssociate jus- 
tices being John Rutledgc. of 
SoiUh Carolina; James Wil- 
sim. of Pennsylvania; William 
Cusliing, of Massachusetts; 
John Blair, of Virginia, and 
James Iredell, of North Caro- 
lina. Thomas JelTerson, at 
that time minister to the coiu-t 
of Versailles, was nominateil 
by Washington as secretary of 
state. The question about the 
permanent location of the seat 
of government, which was 
one of the topics over which 
there were violent contests, was compromised, 
it being agreed that congress should continue 
for ten years to hold its sessions in Philadelphia, 
during which time public buildings shotild be 
erected to which the government shoidd remove at 
the expiration of the term to the territory, ten miles 
square, selected for the jiuriiose on the confines of 
Slaryland and Virginia and ceded by those states 
to the United States and ilesignated as the Dis- 
trict of Columbia. Washington now determined 
to examine with his own eyes the condition 
of the country, and to learn more accurately 
the disposition of the people. Having already 
made a tour of the eastern states he set out 
in March, 1701, on a tour through the southern 
states. This journey he made witli one set of 
horses over a distance of 1,887 miles, returning to 
Philadelphia on the 6th of July. Congress assem- 
bled at Philadelphia on Oct. 24, 1791, and as in the 
course of the session Washington vetoed the appor- 
tionment bill great feeling was manifcste<l in the 
debates throughout the ses.sion. At this time Wash- 
ington observed with pain the political divisions 
which were growing up in the country, and the 
charge of the government was becoming intolerably 
irksome to him. So much so that he longed to be 
relieved from it. It was after a 
long and painful conflict of feel- 
ings that Washington consented 
to be a candidate for re-election. 
There was no opposition on the 
part of the public, iind the vote 
for him in the electoral college 
was unanimous. John Adaiiis 
was re-elected vice-president by 
a majority of twenty-seven votes 
over Gen. Clinton. In his open- 
ing address after expressing his 
deep iind respectful sense of the 
renewed testimony of jniblic ap- /s.-,-.; ««./« 

probation manifested in his re- 
election, Washington |)ro(eeded to state the 
measines he bad taken in consequence of the 
war in Europe to protect the rights and 
interests of the United States and maintain 
peaceful relations with the belligerent parties. 
While ]iressing upon congress the necessity of i>lac- 
ing the country in a condition of etlieient def<'nse he 
said: " There is a rank due the United Slates among 
nations which will be withheld if not absolutely lost 




THE NATIONAL CTCLOI'.EUI A 



by the repntation of vrcnknoss. 
avdid insult wo iiuist lie iil)l<' 
desire to secure peace it tiiust be 
at all times rcaily lor wnr." 

The second term of Wasliintrt 
■was Inirdensomc to an exlraon 
sensions in the cabinet and in c 
arisimr from the necessity for n 
neutrality in Kurop<'an alTairs. 
internal dissensions told heavil 
parties among the people were 
other on the main points of the 



If we desire to 
to repel! it; if we 
known that wo are 

on's administration 
linary doicree; (lis- 
ouL'ress. difficulties 
lainlaininy: a strict 

insurrections and 
y upon him; two 
' ojiposed to each 

xovernmeut. The 




constitution had lieen adojited in the most impor- 
tiint states liy slender majorities and in the face of 
strong opposition, the latter being, generally speak- 
ing, on the iiart of persons who regarded a strong 
central government with apprehension as dan- 
gerous to the prcrog.atives of the state govern- 
ments and the liberties of the people. Of these 
two parties. Mr. Hamilton and Mr. Jefferson 
■were respectively the acknowledged representa- 
tives. Naturally tlic diverse opinions of such 
men coming uji in caliinct discussions aron.sed a 
good deal of irritation, whicli was treated by Gen. 
Washington with untiring patience, he seeking to 
conciliate opposite ojiinions so far as it was pos.sible. 
In the matter of tlie funding system, the assump- 
tion of the revolutionary debts of the several states 
and the est;d)lishnient of a national bank the mem- 
bers of his first cabinet had been divided. Soon 
after the commencement of his second term. Mr. 
Jefferson and Mr. Hamilton retired from the 
cabinet, but their withdiawal in.stead of relieving 
Washington from the cmliarrassmonts arising from 
their hostile relations to each other, was, in fact, 
the signal for a stricter organization in congress and 
throughout tlie country of the jiartios of whidi they 
were severally the le.'iders. Washington still stood 
before the covintry with unshaken jiersonal popu- 
larity in a relation unshared and. indeed, unap- 
proached by any other individual. The war 
between France and England following after 
the French revohition and tlie Keign of Terror 
greatly eml)arrassed the government of the United 
States, since the general sympathies of Amer- 
icans were strongly with France, while the 
course pursued by Great Britain towards the United 
States since the peace of 17s:i ha<l been productive 
of extreme irritation. WashiiiL'ton. liowever. being 
determined to maintain the neutrality of the coun- 
try, had a proclamation to that effect issued, which 
was drafted by Jlr. Jefferson and unanimously 
adopted by the cabinet. Tlie appointment by 
Washington of John Jay. chief justice of the United 
States, as a s])ocial minister to England, was a move- 
ment that was violently assailed by the opjiositicm 
party, and which barely jiassed the senate. He 
succeeded in negotiating a treaty by which the 
princiiial jioints in controversy liefween the two 
governments were settled. Vet this treaty it.self 
■was vigorously opposed in the United States, and 
■was barely adopted liythe constifvuional majority — 
fwo-thirds — of the scn.ate. .V town meeting was 
held in Boston where resolutions strongly eondi'mn- 
ing the treaty were adopted, and ordered to be 
transmitted to the president. He had. however, 
made up his mind that the public interest required 
the confirmation of the treaty and returned to tlie 
Boston n'lnonslranls a dispassionate answer to that 
effect. But this unfortunate affair did not end here. 
" The mission of Jay," says Chief Justice Marshall, 



in his " Life of Washington." " visibly affected the 
decorum which bad been iisuidly observed towards 
him and the ratilicalion of the "treaty brought into 
open view feelings which had long been ill-concealed. 
In equal virulence the militaryand political char- 
acter of the president was attacked, anil he was 
averred to be totally desiitule of merit either as a 
soldier or a statesnnin. The calumnies with which 
he was assailed were not confined to his public con- 
duet. Even his (|ualilies as a man were the subject 
of detraction. That he had violated the constitu- 
tion in negotiating a treaty ■svithout the i)revioiis 
advice of llu! senate, and in embracing within that 
treaty sulgecls belonging exclusively to the legisla- 
ture, was openly made plain, for which an impeach- 
ment was publicly suggested, anil that he had 
drawn U])on the treasury for his priv;ite use more 
than the salary annexed to his office was ludiliish- 
in.gly asserted." Such was the nature of party ani- 
mosity and party frenzy in those early days. The 
instances aillitted Waslungton but they diil not 
cause him to swerve a hair's-breadtb from his cour.se. 
During Washingtcm's second administratiim an 
attemjit which proved to be rather formidable was 
made to resist the levying of an uniiopular tax on 
di.stilled spirits. This occurred particularly in west- 
ern Pennsylvania, where the payment of the duty 
was in many cases refused, the tax gatherers anil 
other oflieers crt' the United States insulleil. meetings 
to op|iose the law held and at lengtli |ireparations 
made for organized forcible resistance. These pro- 
ceedings became so bold that in 1794 it became 
necessary to iidopt decisive mea.sures. the militia of 
the neighboring states of New Jersey. Maryland and 
Virginia were called out in aid of the militia of 
Pennsylvania to the amount, in the ■whole, of L-i.tldO 
troops, while the presiilent avowed his intention of 
taking the field in person. These denion.strations 
Iiroduced the desired effect and the insurrection 
known as the " Whiskey Kebellion " sub.sided. 
During the last year of Gen. AVashington's sec- 
ond term of otlice suggestions were made to him 
by his friends looking to a re-election, but nothing 
could now shake his jnirpose to retire and he deter- 
mined to put all dcjubis on that subject at rest I)y a 
very formal annoiuicement of his purpo.se. Having 
this immediate object in view and at the same time 
feeling an almost parental interest in the welfare, 







present and future, of his countrymen, he deter- 
mined ujioii issuing a farewell address to his fellow- 
citizens cndiodying his last counsels for their 
instruction and guidance. It had been liis design to 
lireparc such a Jiajier .at the close of his first term 
but being induced at that time to relinquish his 
intention of retiring the act was postponed. During 
the early j)art of ITDIi. Washington was engaged in 
preparing with the as.si.stance of Alexander Hamil- 
ton and using in part a jiaper which had been pre- 
pared four years before by Madison the document 
now known as the Farewell Address. Of this, the 



OF AMKlUCA?f BIOGRAPHY. 



two oritrinal papers — 'Waslungton's first roiij;!! draft 
anil Hiimilton's revision of it — have ilisajipeared 
from tlie archives, Vnit the original nianuscrij)! of 
the farewell address, from which it was printed is 
in existence and is wholly in the handwriting of 
Washington, being in fact in tlie possession of the 
Lenox library in New York, having lieen pur- 
chased for $2,500 by Jan\es Lenox, Ksi|., and by him 
presented to that institution. Tlie address was 
published and pro(Uice<i a marked sen.satiou 
throughout the country. Several of the state legis- 
latures ordered it to be spread upon their records. 
On Dec. 7, 1796, Washington met the two houses 
of congress for the last time and addressed them 
■with congratulations upon the success of the ex- 
periment of a republican form of government 
as illustrated hy the case of the United States. 
Immediately after retiring from the ])resideutial 
office, Washington proceeded to Mt. Vernon, where 
he trusted to pass quietly and serenely the remain- 
der of his days. On the appearance of a danger of 
■war with France he was asked to again take charge 
of the army of the United States, but fortiuiately 
the difficulties between the two counlrics were 
settled without an appeal to arms. Washington 
continued to reside at Mt. Vernon, oc- 
cupying himself with the management of 
his large estate, and formulating a com- 
plete system on which it was to have 
been carried on for a series of years. For 
three years he continued to thus manage 
and arrange his affairs, enjoying good 
SI) health anif occupying himself vigorou.sly 

jil and actively in personally supervising 

■ffl his farming and other business matters. 

On December 10th, 1799, he was appar- 
ently in perfect health. The afternoon 
of the day became lowering and on 
the llth the-n-eather was boisterous, rainy, 
and at night, says his own diarv, " There 
■n-as a large circle on the moon." The 
morning of the 13th was overca.st and 
Washington wrote his last letter, which 
■was to Hamilton and principally on the 
subject of a military academy. That morn- 
ing he rode out as usmd over his farms, 
f£■^ remaining in the .saddle live hours and 
mucli of the time in a storm of snow, hail 
and rain. During tliat evening the general 
appeared as well as usual, but on the 
morning of the 13th, which was Friday, 
_>^5^ - /. there being a heavy fall of snow and as 
'*""'"' he complained somewhat of a sore throat, 
the result of his exposure the day before, he omitted 
his u.sual morning ride. The weather clearing up in 
the afternoon he -nent out about the grounds for a 
time, but experienced considerable hoarseness. Be- 
tween two and three o'clock in the morning of Satur- 
day the 14lh Gen. Washington a-vvoke with a chill. 
He could then scarcely speak and breathed with dif- 
ficulty. His physician, Dr. Craik, who lived in 
Alexandria, was sent for, but in the meantime he 
■was bled by one of the overseers and various ctTorts 
■n-ere made to relieve the pain in his throat and diffi- 
culty in swallowing. His physician arrived and 
twodther medical men ■nere called in for con- 
Bultatiou, but the patient grew no belter .'ind be- 
tween ten and eleven o'clock on the night of 
Dec. 14, 1799, he breathed his la.st. 

General Wa.shingt(in died from what is now 
technically called acute laryngitis. On Dec. 18th 
Ills mortal remains were deposited in the family 
vaidt at Mt. Vernon. 

Beyondany man of his time.Wa.sliington attracted 
the interest of the civilized world, and was in conse- 
quence the victim of artists wlio Hocked to America 
to ask the privilege of portraying the greatest per- 



sonage of the age. With characteristic courtesy 
Washington gave sittings to all apjilicants, the re- 
sult being a variety of alleged portraits, almost as 
dissimilar as if they had had ililTercnt originals. The 
most popular portrait (see fidl-page etching) is that 
made by Gilbert Stuart, which is but 
oneof several mailc by the same artist, 
who tried many times before produc- 
ing one that satistied liini. That his 
work has been accepted as the real 
Washington is probably due to the 
fact that, being an American, he made 
his subject an American, just as the 
foreigner made him a countryman of 
his own, so that we have French, 
Scotch and Italian Washingtons. The 
same artist's tnitinished portrait of 
JIartha Washington, shown in the vig- 
nette, is accepted as the typical rep- 
resentation of the first lady of the 
White House. The other vignettes 
are from paintings by Robertson, 







Wright and Rogers, whose work was 
done on ivory. The artistic book of 
E. B. Johnson "Original Portraits of 
Washington," (folioT Boston, 1882), 
and "Character Portraits of Washing- 
ton," by W. S. Baker (Phila<lelphia, 1887), give 
full descriptions of the various portraits and 
memorials. Attractive as the subject was to art- 
ists, it was of even greater interest to writers, 
until a list of titles alone require many pages in the 
library catalogues. Much of the matter is worth- 
less, particularly that which relates to his ancestry, 
one fanciful biographer tracing his descent from 
Thor of the Scandinavian mythology. All on this 
point that is authentic and reliable is found in 
"Washington's Ancestry," by Henry F. Waters, 
A. M. (Painph., Boston, "l889),'who has straightened 
out the uncertainty concerning his English connec- 
tions beyond the possibility of a doul)t. Elaborate 
lives have been written b_y"Chief .lustice Marshall, 
from the original papers (5 vols., 1804), Jared 
Sparks (13 vols.. 1834), and Washington Irving (5 
vols., 1855). This last has been revised and con- 
densed by John Fiske (New- 
York, 1888). Among other au- 
horities are : Aaron Bancroft, J. 
Curry, George Gibbs, Joel T. 
Heaillev, Caroline M. Kirkland, 
E. C. "ilcGuire, Jas. K. Paul- 
ding, David Ramsay, R. Rush, 
Chas. W. Asham, Mason L. 
Weems. Edward Everett's ar- 
ticle in the " Encyclopa>dia Bri- 
tannica," reprinted in one vol- 
nme. and his series of articles in 
the New York "Ledger," are 
sources of valuable information. 
The numerous collections of jia- 
pers and selections from Wash- 
ington's works are superseded 
by the edition in fourteen volumes, no-w in course 
of iniblication, printed from the original papers 
and eiiited by W. C. Ford (New York, 1889-91). 
Among more recent writings are the "Life" by 
Henry Cabot Lodge in American statesmen series 
(3 vois., Boston, 1889), and the ten scholarly [lapers 
by Jlrs. Jlartha J. Lamb, published in the " Maga- 
zine of .Vmerie.-in Historv." during the vear 1889. 

■WASHINGTON. Martha, wife "of George 
Washington, was born in the county of New Kent, 
Va.. in May, 1732. Her maiden name was Dan- 
dridge and she was descended from a highly re- 
s))ected Welsh clergyman who had been among the 
early settlers of Virginia. Her youth had every 
advantage that comes from good birth, high posi- 




MjAn^/iny /fo/Xi/-, 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA OF 



tion. ami intfrroiirse with refined soeiety. and slie 
was earefully trained in all the aeccMnplislinients 
comniun to yimiiir ladies of the jieriixl. It may 
be questioned, howe^'er. whether her intellec- 
tual ae<)iiirenients would eouieuptothe standard 
of culture requireil in the modern clnnviiivr-rooni. for 
domestic instruction was at that time the chief 
branch in the education of vouul' women who were 
expecte<l to have the care of a planter's household 
aiul his numerous "family of slaves." She bad an 
agreeable person, a refined face and winning man- 
ners ; and she attracted numerous admirers, among 
whom was Daniel Parke Custis, a .son of the Hon. 
John Custis. of Arlington, Va., to w liom she wa.s 
married in her seventeenth year. It was a match of 
affection, though it is .saiil to have been at first op- 
posed by the groom's father, who li.id higher aspi- 
rations for his son. The young couple went to 
reside at a plantation known asthe " White House." 
on the I'amunkey river, in the brides native coun- 
ty. The management of such a plantation was no 
trivial undertaking, but the young mistress brought 
to its direction a wise economy. goo<l order and reg- 
ularity, which were remarkaliic for one of her years, 
and which could have resulted only from an excel- 
lent early training. Three children were here boru 
to the ji.iir, and the eldest — a son — gave promise of 
brilliant intellectual powers, and was the pride of 
botli his jiaients. Their happiness seemed to be un- 
alloyed, but in a few years this son was stricken 
with a mortal disease and soon his fatlier followed 
him to the grave, leaving his widow to rear and 
educate his two remaining children. His entire 
property — consisting of large landed estates iu New 
Kent comity and £45.0(10 in money, was left to her 
management. One-third of this estate was to be 
hers in her own right, the remainder to be held by 
her as guardian until her children should arrive sit 
legal age. when it was to be divided equally Ix'lwcen 
them. This disposition of his properly shows the 
affection and confidence which Mr. Custis reposed 



-^^^%kS^l 



(> — 




feflf'f" 4 kf 



in his wife, and inasmuch as he has been neglected 
by the biographers, it inay be here remarked that he 
was ;in excellent specimen of the old-time Virginia 
gentleman — kind and considerate of his inferiors, an<l 
courteous and lu'ighborly to those of his own rank 
in life. The order and system wliieh his widow ob- 
served to the latest day of her life, she may have 
partly derived from him. for with Mr. Custis they 
extended to the smallest transactions. It is related 
of him that on his death-lied he sent for a tenant to 
whom in some settlement he was indebted a shil- 
ling. The tenant .assured him that the matter had 
l)een forgotten, and begged him not to coniern him- 
self at such a time about so small a trifle. But Mr, 
Custis lianded him the coin which had been placed 
beside him on his pillow .saying. " Now my accounts 
are all clo.sed with this world." Soon afterwards he 
breathed his last. The young widow managed the 




the Potomac, an es- 



cstate with surprising ability, making loans on 
mortgage of theni<meys : and. through lierstewards 
and agents, conducting the sale or exportation of the 
crops to the best jxhssilile advantage. Her widowed 
life was at first pa.ssed in seclusion, but gr.idually, 
with the subsidence of her grief, she returned to the 
society of the large circle of friends and visitors who 
had previously made the ■ White House "a scene uf 
the famous old-time Virginia hospitality. She was 
.still young, beautiful and known to be of great 
wealth, and she natiually had a multitude of admir- 
ers. She, however, seemed in 
no haste to change her con- 
dition, till, when her husband 
had been three years dead, she 
met George Washington, who 
had already won "that re- 
nown so ennobling in the eyes 
of woman." Their nuitual 
ailmiration resulted in mar- 
riage on Jan. 6. IToH. the 
ceremony being jierformed, 
says 'Washington Irving, at 
"the residence of the bride 
in the good old hospitable 
style of Virginia, amid a joy- 
ous assemblage of relations 
and friends." Soon after- 
wards the newly married pair 
removed to Mount Vernon on 
tate wiiic-h had been be(iueathed to 'Washington by 
his eliler brother I.tiwrence The house at .Mount 
Vernon was not then the spacious mansion it is now. 
It consisted of only the central portion of the 
present building — four rooms on a Boor — and it thus 
remained for fifteen years, until just before Wash- 
ington took command of the army in 1775. There 
w.is not space in it for a multitude of gtiests. but the 
life there was a pleasant round of social and domes- 
tic duties, varied by frequent journeyings and en- 
livened by the younger members of the household — 
John and Martha Custis. the two children of Mrs. 
Washington, to whom Washington soon became 
much attached. But JIartha Custis did not live to 
full womanhood. At the age of .seventeen shedied, 
and tlii'ii it is .said that Washington, "tho\igh not 
given to bursts of sensibility, evinced the deepest 
atiliction," The mother's sorrows for the loss other 
daughter had (pnly grown a little less keen when she 
had to submit to the iirolonged absence of her hus- 
band who in. lime, 177o, was called to the command of 
the army of the united colonies in tlie struggle with 
Great Britain. Puriug the years of the revolution- 
ary war, it was the custom of Mrs. Washington to 
pass the winters with her husband at bis headquar- 
ters, and in the summer months when hostilities 
were progressing to retire to -Mount V<-riion, where, 
we are told, her whole life and domestic arrange- 
ments "were thoroughly adapti'd to the exigencies 
of the times and eminently calculated as an exam- 
pie most beneficially to infiuence others." Her 
dress during this ])eriod is said to have been remark- 
able for its simplicity, being conqio.sed almost en- 
tirely of home-made materials. ;is wasthe clothing of 
her numiTous domestics. She has herself somewhere 
.stated that sixteen spinning-wheels were kept in con- 
stant motion at Jlount Vernon; and on one occa- 
sion she displayeil two dresses of cottonstriped with 
silk, explaining that the stripes were woven from 
"the ravelings of brown silk stockings and old 
crimson damask chair covers." Her chief occujia- 
tion when with the army was care for thewclfare of 
the soldiers, and in this employment she was an ex- 
ample to the wives of other oHicers who like herself 
shared in winter the camp of their husbands. Her 
principal occupation at such times was attendance 
upon the sick and the suffering, but her presence 





COrrOIOHT, IMt, OV J*H(( T, WHiT 



OF AMERICAN BIOGKAI'lIY. 



was a help to the soldier on duty, for her unwearied 
patience and steaiilast eournne ijave I'ailli and hope 
ti) many a .sinking- spirit amid I lie liense irlooui nl' 
West Point, Morristown and Valley Por^e. She 
often reniariied in her later years that it had been 
lier fortune to be at the openinj; ami tlie close of all 
the campaigns of the revolutionary war. 

The war over, both husliand and wife resumed the 
peaceful round of their life al Mount Vernon ; and 
they continued there until he was called lo the chief 
mai;istracy of the country in ITSlt. Of the years in 
which they tigured. he as the adniinislr.alive, she as 
the social head of the nation, it is needless lo speak, 
for it is an oft-told tale, and the old-time, elegant 
simplicity of its public entertainments and the stilT 
stateline-ss of its social life, are familiar to all. It 
was a relief to both Washington and his wife to re- 
turn lo ^Moiint Vernon and there resume Iheoccuiia- 
tions of their earlier married lile. There Lady 
Wasliinglon. as she was universally styled, passed 
the renuiinder of her life in a cheerful round of so- 
cial life and domestic employment, .saddened only 
by the death of her son, who had served in the war 
and died just at its close ; and then sixteen years 
later by the death of Washington himself. She 
survived him but two years, dying in liSOl. Her 
body was laid by the side of his in the family vault 
at Mount Vernon. 

HAMILTON, Alexander, statesman, and first 
secretary of the trcasiuv of the United States, was 
born at Nevis, an island in the We.st Indies, Jan. 11, 
1757. On bis father's side Hamilton's ancestors were 
Scotch and are said to haxc been connected with 
the great clan of the Hamillons, which was no im- 
imiiortant factor in Scottish history. His father was 
trained in Scotland in mercantile pursuits, and 
when quite young removed to St. Christopher's 
T\-liere he engaged in business. Hamilton's mother 
■was of French extraclion ami is said to have de- 
scended from an old Huguenot family, a member of 
•which after the revocation of the edict of Nantes 
by Louis XIV. in 108.") removed to the West Indies. 
She is said to have been a woman of extraordinary 
intelligence and remarkable beauty. When very 
young, under the intiuenceof herfannly and against 
her own wishes, she married a wealthy Dane named 
Lavine, but they were totally uncongenial and 
eventually she obtained a divorce. She then re- 
moved lo St. C'hristo]iher's, where she afterwards 
married .lames Hamilton. Unfortunately for her 
son she died when he was very young, and as his 
father w.as impoverished he was confided to the 
care of his mother's relatives. As soon as he learned 
bis lellers the boy appears to have devoted himself 
to study, which he prose<'Uted with intelligence and 
earnestness imtil he was ten years old. when he en- 
tered a counting-house at S;inta Cruz. Here he 
showed great acutencss in grasping the details of 
business and soon won the conti<lence of his em- 
])loyer. .so much so th.-it on the occasion of the latter 
visiting the United States, young Hamilton, then 
only fourteen years of age, was left in charge of his 
e.stabli.shment. Jleanwhile he devoted liim.self to 
study to as great a degree as was iiossible under the 
circumstances of his mode of life and speedily 
jicquired a general knowledge of malhemalics. 
chemi.slry, history and literature. Wh.it seems to 
have been the actual beginning of Hamilton's re- 
markable career was the occurrence of a hurricane 
■nhieh swept over St. Cliristoplier's in August, 1772, 
a description of which Hamilton sent lo the local 
newspaper and which attracted so nuich attention 
that his friends iletermined lo supply him witli a 
belter education than he could obtain in I he West 
Indies. He was ai-cordingly sent to the United 
States and tirst began his studies at a grammar 
school in Elizabethiown, N, J. From there he en 



lered King's College (now Columbia), New York, 
wiih Ihe design of studying medicine and making 
that his profession. 

At this period of his life young Hamilton is said 
to have been of a remarkably religious turn of mind, 
jiraying regularly twice a day, and writing verse of 
a religious character. While he was still in college 
Ihe ditticulties beUvcen Kngland and her colonies 
were rapidly developing and young Hamilton be- 
came deeply inlcrcsled in the ([Uestions .-it issui' and 
longed for an opportunity lo connect liimsclf with 
the impending struggle. Su<'h an opportunity came 
to him in the summer of 1774 when a pvdjlic meet- 
ing was held in the suburbs of New York. On this 
occasion Alexander Hamilton, at this time only 
sevenleeu years of age. bad the courage to step for- 
ward and address Ihe assembled nndtitude. AU 
there was known alioul him was his recognilion asa 
collegian, but presently the eloquence which he 
displayed, the judgment of the arguments be ad- 
vanced and the lucidily peculiar to his oratory 
forced the crowd to the perception that they had 
before them a young man of surpassing uatur.-d 
ability. During the year the political excitement in 
New York, a.s elsewhere in thecolonies, increased and 
became more and moreinlensitied. Hamiltcm, how- 
ever, remained in college, but 
nevertheless ke|it his altention 
fixed on Ihe condition of affairs 
while noticing Ihe fact that 
the community was being di- 
vided into parlies for or against 
the home government. It was 
the era of iiamphletsand every- 
body who had anything to sa_y 
about colonial affairs said it in 
that form. Among the rest 
Hamilton appeared with a 
]).-imiihlet describeil in a very 
long title and "printed by 
James Livingston, 1774." 

This brochure was followed 
by another and the public at- 
tention was at once directed 
towards them on account of 
their admirable .style and the 
force of their reasoning. They were attributed to 
Gov. Livingston and even to .lohn .Jay. but when it 
was proven that Hamilton was their author he was 
looked upon as an intellectual iirodigy. tmd on ac- 
cotmt of Ihe character of his ]iublished views was 
termed Ihe "Vindicator of the Congress." In 
.lune, 1775, Hamilton ]iubli.shed another impor- 
tant pamphlet entitled " Kemarks on the Quebec 
Bill," an attack on the British ministry, which .still 
further added to his fame asa writer and a patriot. 
He now took part in all the public nie<'tings held in 
New York, and on the appeal from congress to the 
cohinies for military support he began to .study mili- 
tary tactics, and in .January. 1771!. joined an arlillery 
company. In September of the stune year he first saw 
active .service on Long Island, and later held a portion 
of the line at Harlem after Washington had moved 
his army across the river. It was at this time that 
the great commander first made llie ac(|uainlauce 
of Hamilton, of whom he heard so nnich that he 
invited Ihe yovmg olHccr to visit him and thus 
began the faithful juid important friendship which 
conlinued .so long between llnvse two disling\iislied 
men. The immediate result of Hamilton's intro- 
duction to Washington was the offer of a i>lace 
on the hitter's staff, which he aeee|ited and in 
which iiosilion his ability and facility as a writer 
soon niiide him exceedingly valnalile lo the general. 
In Ihe s|iring of 1777. Hamilton was aide-de-camp 
and private secretary to Washington with the rank 
of lieuteuant-coloncl. The high estimate of his 




10 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 




abilities formed by ■Washinjrton soon iiulnccd him to 
consult Hamilton wliin ananginir the plans of his 
campaijrns and coneeining means for tlie concen- 
tration, increase and support of the army. On all 
such matters the intelligence, .sagacity and integ- 
ritv of ilaniilton reeonimendcd him in the highest 
degree to tlie full contidene<> of the eoinniiiiider-in- 
chief. One writer says of him: " The pen of our army 
■was held by Hamilton and for dignity of manner. 
pith of mailer and elegance of style. (Jen. Wash- 
ington's letters are unrivaled in military annals." 
His position so rapidly increasing in intluence 
naturally brought him" into contact and eorre- 
Sliondence with the most prominent jiatriols in the 
country, who manife.sted great anxiety to obtain 
Hamilton's advice and suggestions on all matters 
in which they were interested. In battle Ham- 
ilton was dasiiing and aggressive. He was pres- 
ent and distinguished himself at the battle of 
the Hrandywine and also at (iermantown. At 
the time when a faction headed by Gen. Gates 
was opposing Washingtcm, both openly and in 
the most nnilerhand manner. Hsunillon proved of 
the greatest service. Heing sent liy Gen. Wash- 
ington lo .\lbany where Gates was encamped, he 
obtained a considerable portion of the hitler's army 
for tlie reinforcement of the main body encamped 
near I'hiladclphia. a very delicate duty under the 
circumstances, but in which he aecomiilisbed the 
purposes of the commander-in-chief, to his cimi- 
plete satisfaction. At .Monmouth Ilamillon so 
conducted himself as to receive from the comman- 
der-in-chief in a dis]i:ilch to congress the liighest cu- 
logiuni. It «as in 17N0 that Hamilton tirst began to 
exhibit to his fellow-countrymen the extraordinary 
tin;uiiial ability which was thereafter to be the 
foundalion-slone of the economic strnclure of the 
government. The war between the colonies and 
ilie mother country had by this lime reached a 
point when it became simply a question of financial 
resources. At this juncture Ilamillon anony- 
UHiusly brought forwtud his jilan of the I'nited 
Stales bank, which was practically adopted, the 
main |iurpose of the institution being to furnish 
to the army a supply of jirovisions and ammu- 
nition. Soon after ibis occurred the treason of 
Benedict Arnold, when Hamilton exerted his 
ittmost <'lTorts to save the gallant and unforlnnate 
young British otticer. Maj. Andre, who was Arnold's 
victim. Karly in ITSl Hamilton had a disaiireement 
^vilh W.ashinglon. which resulted in his resignation 
from the laller's stall though he continued to remain 
in the army and exhibited great bravery at York- 
town. 

While in Albany conducting his mission to 
Gen. Gates, Hamilton hail made the aci|uaint- 
ance of Miss Elizabeth Schuyler, the daughter of 
Gen. Philip Schuyler, a lady of splendid charac- 
ter and tine jiersonality, and whom he married on 
Dec. 14, 1780. It is to Mrs. Hamilton that the 
first orphan asylum in New Yink was directly 
due. She was present at the tiflielh anniversary of 
its foiuidation when a memorial service w.as held 
in the church of the Eiiiph.any in Washington 
■wIktc Mis. Ilamillon was (lassing the winter, 
and she died there in that yi'ar. In writing to 
this lady, at the time Jlis.s" Elizabeth Schuyler, 
Hamilton described the execution of Andre and 
wrote thus: " Poor Andre sutTers to-day. Every- 
thing that is amiable in virtue, in fortitude, in 
delicate sentiment and accomplished manners, 
pleads for him, but haril-hearled policy calls 
for a sacrilice. He nuist die. I send you my 
account of Arnold's alTair and lo .inslify myself to 
your sentiment I inusl inform you that I urged a 
compliance with Andre's request to be shot, and I 
do not think it would have had an ill effect, but 



some people arc oidy sensible to motivp.s of policy 
and sometimes from a narrow disposition, mistake 
it." Having given publicity to his views on the sub- 
ject of the immediate tinancial neces.sitics of the 
colonies, and the best way to meet them, Hanulton 
now turned his altention lo the form of government 
which sliould take the place of tlu' one under which 
the coUmies had up to this jierioil been living, and 
as on other occasions he |iro.secuted this task anony- 
mously, in a series of masterly es.says whiili tiret 
began to appear in July, ITXI. In "these essays he 
considered the defects of the existing confeileracv, 
recomnieiided a strong centralized government aiid 
generally began to propound those views which 
afterwards made him the most di.slinguished of the 
federalisls. There is something astounding in 
the rellcclion that at this time when hi' was set- 
ting forth the most i>idnounced o])inions on the 
most vital subjects in connection with the existence 
of the forlhcoming republic. Alexander Hamilton 
was a young m.-ui only twenty-four years of age. 
In the meantime the unjilea.sant situation be- 
tween AVashington and Hamilton had i)raclically 
ceased to exist, and on the arrival of the French 
.squadron under the Count de Grasse. Hamilton 
was invited by the commander-in-chief to be 
present at an imiiortant council of war. The 
Battle of Yorktowu closing the long struggle 
left Hamilton free and he .-iccordingly withdrew 
from active service and set up his residence at 
Albany where he began to study law. While of 
cour.se this study was vastly moic sim|ile at that 
time and in ibe colonies than ever since, consistinsj 
inactically of the apiilication of the common law 
of England, still it was remarkable that in the luief 
l)eriod of four months. Hamilton was able to pre- 
pare him.self for admission to jiractice at the bar 
and that he was liceu.sed so to jiractice at tlie end of 
that time. Not only that, but while ]irosccuting 
his studies he preiiaied a " ^lamial on iIk' Piactice 
of the Law " which was acknowledged at the time 
to po.s.sess sui>erior nu'rit. and which served as an in- 
structive gramnnir for fiiture students and became 
the groundwork of sid)sequent enlarged i)raclical 
treatises. 

In November. 17S2, Hamilton took his seat in 
congress anmng the most dislinguisbed men of the 
day. In reference to this action. Washington wrote 
to Gen. Sullivan: "1 can venture to advance 
from a thorough knowledge of him that there are 
few men to be found at his age who have more 
general knowledge than he )iossesses. and none 
whose soul is more tirndy engaged in the cause, or 
who exceeds him in probity or in sterling virtue." 
In congress H.amilton devoted himself mainly to 
financial subjects an<l t<i the jiurpose of estal)lisiung 
a ]iermanent national revenue. lint he was also 
thoroughly convinced that the abandonnurit of the 
existing con federal ion .and the eslablisbment in its 
place of a linn centralized government were essen- 
tial to the future well-being, if not the existence, of 
the republic, and finding that he could do nothing 
in congress in regard to pressing this importtint 
question he very gladly witlidrew .and resumed the 
practice of bis profession. At this tinu- he wrote 
to Washington ; " I have an indillerent opinion of 
the honesty of this coimtry and ill forebodings of 
its future .sy.stem. Y(nir excellency will perceive 
I have written with .sensations of chagrin and will 
make allowance for coloring, but the general pict- 
ure is too true, (bid send us all more wi.sdom." 
It appears that on retiring from congress dis- 
gusted with the condition of public affairs Hamil- 
ton bad ilelermineil to abandon jiolitical life alto- 
gether and devote him.self to the law. He did con- 
tinue this course until ITSti when a convention 
which had all along been his great idea t s a prim- 



OF AMERICAN BlOtiH APIIY. 



11 



ary move in a change from the existing eoiifederaej' 
was called to take place at Aiinapolis, "SUl. At this 
convention nothing especial was done except that 
Hamilton drew up an adilress to the people and 
that a new convention was called for the following 
year. During the period bet ween these two meetings 
Hamilton started "The Federalist." of whose pajiers 
he wrote the greater [lorlion. iiraelically fnrnishing 
the weapons lor those who were inclined to think as 
lie did on jiolitical snbjeets. Working day and night, 
in every way which he thouglil advisable or likely to 
he productive of good. Hamilton more than any other 
succeeded in procnrlng the adoption of the constlt\i- 
tion. On the inauguration of Washintitonasiiresidcnt 
in April, ITSil. it became at oiu'c obvious that tlie 
most needed adndnistrative dciiartment of the gov- 
ernment was that of the treasury, and when this 
was org.-mized in the early autumn, the presi- 
dent invited Hamilton to lake control of it. 
He entered upon the performance of his new 
duties with the industry, sagacity and skill which 
had hitherto characterized him. One of his tir.st 
important acts was to make a report lo congress 
concerning the financial sitnafion. with the recom- 
mendation that certain slate debts should be 
assumed by the federal government : that a loan 
should be opened to the full amount of the liabili- 
ties of the states and the general govermncnt, and 
that there should be an increase of duties on im- 
ported wines, spirits, tea and eolfee, and a tax on 
Lome-made spirits. This rcjiort created great ex- 
citement in congress and thnaighout the country. 
The assumption of state debts by the general gov- 
onmient was opposed savagely, first as lieingtuicou- 
.stitulional and next as tending towards centraliza- 
tiou — that bugliear of the democratic class among 
the founders of the republic. Hamillijn, now- 
cver, succeeded in obtaiinng a trial of his plans, 
which proved on execution to be completely 
successful as a tinancial policy. While in the 
cabinet Hamilton wao consulted constantly by 
"Washington, and this course the latter con- 
tinued after Hamilton had retired. Thus he 
furnished to the president rough drafts and sugges- 
tions for many of his messages and speeches, be- 
sides taking a large share in the actual preparation 
of "Washington's farewell address. At the election 
of 17!Mi Hamilton s\i]iporlcd John Adams, who 
was consiih-red the leader of his party. Their rela- 
tions were not cordial, however, althougli Adams 
gave Hamilton the ]iost of inspector-general in the 
army, influenced therein by' Wasliington. In this 
de|iarlmenl of duty Hamilton displ.iyed a wonder- 
ful talent for organization amounting to natural 
military genius. The election of .letferson as Presi- 
dent widened the breach bclwccn Hamilton .-ind 
the government, .letferson was ]iartial to France 
while all Hanu'lton's tendencies were toward Kng- 
land. After "Washington's death Hamilton .settled in 
New York, devoting hlms<-lf to his professional lift; 
and without any intention of meddling with politi 
cal alTairs. The federal party was iiractic.ally 
crushed through the exceedingly luipopular ailniin- 
istration of John Adams; but unfortiuiately for 
Hamilton's intention he became involved in state 
politics tlinmgh the candidacy of his connection. 
Gen. Schuyler, for the governorship. This with 
other political conditions broUi;ht him into contiict 
with Aaron Uurr.who wasat Ihisiimea thelieighlof 
his fame and in the fulness (>i his influence and his 
jiowcrs. The election of Jefferson as |)resident and 
of Hurr as vice-president brought forth the (|uestion 
of the integrity of both, and, though Hamillon look 
no jiarl in the accusations against Biur, his enemies 
did not cease lo calunuiiate him. anil he was even 
charged with the design to establish a monarchy iu 
the United States on the ruins of flic federal govern- 



ment. In 1W04. Burr was nominated for governor of 
the slate of New York, and an exciting cam|)aign 
followed. Hamilton opposed Burrby every means in 
his power, and his activity and influence did more 
to accomplish Burr's defeat lluin any other o])posi- 
tion there was to him. There h;id in fact been 
for years a certain rivalry between Burr and Ham- 
ilton, and on the part of the former a degree of 
hostility which his defeat rendered .savage and im- 
placalile. The result of these conditions was the 
tragic event which put an end to the life of Alexan- 
der Hamilton. Being challenged by Burr on some 
pretext easy to arrange, he accepted the challenge, 
and the meeting took placi' at ^Veehawken, on the 
bank of the Tludson river, July 11, 1S(I4. Ham- 
ilton fell mortally wounded at the first tire, and 
being taken acro.ss the river into the house of a 
friend, the surgeons in attendance at once stated 
that the case was hopeless. The feeling through- 
out the conntrv at the sudden and cruel taking- 
o£f of Hamilton was inten.se, and exhibited the 
real position which he had gained in the affections 
as well as in the respect of his fellow-count rvmen. 
Hamilton is described as having been a small, 
lithe figiu'c, active and seemingly instinct with 
life. He was erect and steady in his gait, always 
exhibiting a military presence, while his general 
address was graceful and nervous. His complexion 
was bright and ruddy; his hair light-coloreil, his 




•^r-rj/ 



mouth full of expression and liis eyes lustrous with 
dee]) mi'aning and rcHcclion, while'his countenance 
showed lre(pient flashes of humor and pleasantry. 
He was a welcome guest .and a cheery companion in 
every household. Even his enemies admitted the 
irre.sistil)lc cliarm of his manner and conversation. 
Sometimes, though, it is .said that moods of enirross- 
ing thought catne upon him as he trod the crowded 
streets when his ]iace would beecmie slower, his 
head be slightly bent downward, and as. with liands 
joined together behind, he wended his way through 
the crowd, his lips often moved in concert with the 
tlioughts forming in his mind. This habit and 
attitude became involuntary with him as he grew 
in years. 

Hamilton was jirobablv the most consummate 
statesman among the band of eminent men wlm had 
been acti\c in ihe revolution and who afterwards 
labored lo convert a loose confederation of stales 
into a national L'overnment. To him more than to 
all others was due the final framework of govern- 
ment adopted, and to him more than to all others 
should be given the credit for Ihe political leuden- 



12 



THE XATIOX.VL CVCLOP.EDIA 



cies which have steadily carricil the policy of the 
Union forward on the lines wliieh lie originated 
and first laid down. The '■Federalist" wliich 
remains Hamilton's greatest single monument, 
is a compilation of papers written in advocacy 
of his views, mainly in favor of a jiowerful 
and intiiiential centralized <roveriiment, and were 
published in 178T-8S in a New York news|)aper 
over the signature of " Fublius." Of these papers, 
John Jay wrote five, James Madison fourteen, and 
Hamilton tiftv-one, out of the eighty-five that there 
are in all. 'The remaining jiapers are variously 
attributed to Mjidi.Min and Hamilton 

Alexander Hamilton lies buried in Trinity church- 
yard, Xew York, and upon his tomb is the following 
inscription : 

"TUB PATKIOT OP INCORntTTinLE INTEGRITY, 

THE SOLDI EK OF .\Pl'KOVEI> VALOR, 

THE STATESMAN OF CONSU.MMATE WISDOM, 

WHOSE TALENTS AND VIRTl'ES WILL BE REMEM- 

UKRKD liY 

A GRATEKIT, POSTERITY 

LONG AFTER THIS .MAKIiLE SHALL HAVE MOULDERED 

INTO DUST. 

HE DIED JULY 13, 1804, AGED 47." 

The life of Hamilton has l)een written l)y his son, 
John ('. Hamilton, by Henry 15. Kenwick. Samuel 
M. Smucker and others, perhaps the best being by 
Henry Gabot Lodge, in the "American Statesmen 
Series." 

RANDOLPH, Edmund, secretary of state 
and allorney-geiieral, was Ijorn at 'Williamsburg, 
Va., Aug. 'l6, 1753, the son of John Kandoliih, 
king's attorney for Virginia. He 
attend<'(l Wiliiam and JIaty Col- 
lege, studied law. and had just 
liegun its (iracl ice when the hos- 
tilities of the revoUitiou broke 
out. l"])on the dejiarture of his 
father for Englanil in August, 
1 175, the .son became an aide-de- 
camp to Washington, but after a 
brief taste of military life he re- 
turned to Virginia to talie, so far 
as his youth might permit, the 
place his family had long filled 
in i)ul)lic alTnirs, now left vacant 
by llie dcalli of his uncle Peyton. 
lie became mayor of WHliams- 
Imrg in 177(i, took part in fram- 
ing the Virginia constitution, 
was first attorney-.neneral of the state, a mem- 
ber of congress i77!t-S3, and governor 178G-88. 
He marricMl n daughli'rof K C. Xieholas.and refused 
to sell Ills slaves, though his jiropcrty came to him 
heavily burdened No man was more iirominent in 
the convention which framed the federal constitu- 
tion. He took a peculiar course, objecting to many 
of the provisions adopted in the way of compromise, 
and to some which met general approval, favoring a 
second convention to revise th<' docuiMcnt after dis- 
cussicai and ,-i brief trial His own scheme was 
found in G ^lason's papers a hundred years later 
He secured the omission of the word slavery, and 
would have done away with the thing if he could. 
He did not sign nor approve the constitution as 
adopted, but urged its acceptance by his state on 
the ground that the I'luon was a necessity at al- 
most any terms, anil that amendments could be 
worked for wilhm the Union beller lliait without. 
An independent and philosophic demiierat, never 
able to follow entirely the lines of any party, 
his influence at home was great, and his services 
in securing ratification against strong opposition 
very memorable In 1788 he entered the as.sera- 
bly serving on the committee to codify the Vir- 
giiiia laws. He was the leader in this work, which 




W &^~..cU4l/ 



was finished in 1794. In September, 1789, President 
Washington apiioinled hiui attorney -general in 
which position he made a report on the judiciary 
system, defending the riuht of foreigners to bring 
action against a state. In January, 1794, he became 
secretaiT of slate, sneeeeding Jefierson, who urged 
his appointment. That ofiice then involved a bur- 
den of personal and financial responsibility for offi- 
cial acts which was probably the cause of Jefferson's 
witlidrawal from the post, and proved ruinous to 
Ills successor. The times were trying and danger- 
ous; the relations of the administration with Urance 
and Knglaiid. with public opiiiimi at home, vio- 
lently divided and bitterly excited on many sub- 
jects, gave rise to the greatest an.xiety ; the con- 
timied existence of the nation seemed at stake In 
liursuing Washington's policy, the secretary was 
inevitably involved in secret and tortuous negotia- 
tions with Faucliet, the French minister, a needv 
and iidroil intriguer. A dispatch from this man to his 
government, rellecting on l^andolph's honor, was 
taken at sea and sent to tlie British minisler. Ham- 
mond ; he handed it to tlie [iresideiit, who kept "it 
secret for ten days, and during this interval took 
every me.ms of shewing his regard for his secretary 
of state. The [luljlic situation was desperate, in- 
volving the near prospect of civil as well as foreign 
war. 'Washington niiglit have sacrificed himself 
and the interest committed to him in a vain effort to 
save a faithful servant as he was strongly tempted 
to do. l$ut |)ublie duty triumphed over personal 
feeling; he saw no better way than to sign Jay's 
treaty with Kngland. wliich, under the secretary's 
advice, he had agreed not to sign until the obnoxious 
claii.se continuing the Hrilish right of .search of neu- 
tral vessels was removed. Kaiidolph now stood 
alone, with all the cabinet against him. On the 
pidduilion of Faueliets disinilch he denied the 
guilt imputed to him, and resigned under a cloud of 
obloquy which almost to this day has covered the 
fame of one of the ablest and most distinguished 
public servants of his time His " Vindicalioii," 
1795, was disregarded , liis estate was swept away 
by an unjust decision of the comptroller of the 
treasurv ; ami his name still stands on the records of 
government as that of a defauller. But his memory 
has been rehabilitated by Mr. M. D. t'onway, whose 
patient researches brought to light the main facts- 
of one of the most painful incidents in our political 
history, in an article. "A Suppressed Statesman" in 
" Lipi"iincotl's Magazine" for September, 18S7, and 
in a ■' Life of Kaiuloliih." 1888. Tlie .scapegoat re- 
turned to Virginia, where he was still held in honor, 
and spent his later years, not without distinction, in 
legal practice, but to regain hts former position in 
the general eye was impossible. He wrote pamph- 
lets on " Democratic Societies." 1795, and " Politi- 
cal Truth, " )79(i, besides a history of Virginia which 
lias never been published. See 'Wirt's "British 
Siiy." 180:), and 51. D. Conway's "Omitted Chapters 
of 'ilistorv," 1H88. He died iii Clarke county, Va., 
Sept. l:!. 'isl:!. 

PICKERING, Timothy, secretary of state, 
was born at Salem, Ma^s , July 17, 1745. He 
was the great-great-grandson of John Pickering, !V 
carpenter, who came to New England in ll>:ib. and 
died at Salem in 1()57. Timothy entered Harvard, 
where he was graduated in 17(i3, and in 17(18 he 
was admltled to the bar. He did not obtain much 
reputation as a lawyer, but is described as having 
been more interested in studying the art of war Ho 
held for a time the a|ipointment of register of deeds 
for Essex county In Klili. he entered the militia 
service, was cimimisssioncd lieutenant, and in 1775 
was elected colonel On the day of the battle of 
Lexington he is .said to have marched with his men 
to iledford in order to intercept the enemy, but 



OF AMERICAN BlOLillAl'IIY. 



13 




was not in time to participate in tlic tight. In 
September, 1775, Col. Pielvering wa.s appointed 
judge of the court of common pleas for Esse.\ and 
of the maritime court for tlie district including 
Boston and Salem. In that 
year he ]iul)lislu'd a little book 
entitled " Au Kasy ri.-iu of Dis- 
cipline for the ililitia," which 
was adopted by Massachusetts 
and was indeed used for some 
time by the Continental army. 
In May, 1770, Pickering was a 
representative to the general 
court; the following Decemlier 
he commanded the Ksse.v regi- 
ment of 700 men and joined 
Washington's army at Morris 
town in February, 1777. The 
commander-in-chief being fa- 
vorablj' impressed with him 
(.tl'cred him the |iositiiin of adju 
tant-general, which he accepted. 
He "marched with the army 
through Penn.sylvaiiia, was present at the battles of 
the Brandy wine and Germautown and when the board 
of war was organized, was made a memlier of it. 
In August, 17W), he succeeded Gen. Greene in the 
otlice of quartermaster-general and discharged its 
arduous and complicated duties with tidelily and 
skill. Indeed, it i.s related as a matter of credit to 
Col. Pickering that he managed his department so 
wisdv that Washington was enabled to make his 
extraordinary march from the Hudson river to 
Chesapeake "bay without being at any poiut de- 
tained for lack of supplies. Col. Pickering was 
^.resent at Yorktown on the occasion of the sur- 
render of Cornwallis. He resigned the othce of 
ipnirteriviastcr-gcneral in 1785, when, as a matter of 
fact, the position was abolished. In tiial year, he set 
tied for a time in Philadeljihia ami C(md\icted a com 
mission busii\ess, but he became restless, and two 
years later removed with liis family to the Wyoming 
valley Here he became involved in a local insur 
rection and liad great ditflculty in escaping with his 
life. Indeed, in" 1788 he was captmed liy masked 
men and kept pri.soner for three weeks, but was linally 
set free. A great deal of disorder existed in \Vy 
oming for a munljer of years, and it is related that 
Col. Pickering succeeded in remedying it. In 178!) 
he was a member of the Pennsylvania constitutional 
convention, and in the latter part of 17itO Washing- 
ton began to employ him in negotiations with the 
Imliau tribes, in the course of which he success 
fully concluded a treaty between the United 
States and the six nations in 1791. He was a 
favorite of the Indians and was invariably suc- 
cessful in quieting them whenever they W(U'e 
aroused to overt action. From 171(1 to 17!I5, Col. 
Pickering held the position of po.stmasler-geuenil. 
On Jan. 2, 1795, he succeeded Gen. Knox as sec- 
retary of war, in which position he had charge of 
the inilian department and also of the navy. He 
was prominent in organizing the military academy 
at West Point, anil he personally directed the build 
ing of the three frigates Constitution, Constellation 
and United States. In August. 1795, on the resigna 
tionof.Iohn Randolph, Col. Pickering was placed 
tiMuporarily in charge of the departnu'Ut of stale, 
and in the following neceinber he was appointi'd 
to that othce, which he continued to hold until re- 
nn>ved by Presidtnt Adams in May, 1800. an act 
which was maudy occtsioned by Mr Pickering'.^ 
adhesion to the principles of Hamilton On being 
removed from otlice. >Ir. Pickering found himself 
heavily in debt, but the owner of some land in the 
l)ackw()ods of Pennsylvania, whither lie went ac- 
companied by his son and a few laborers and there 



cleared several acres and built a log h\it for his 
family. His native state had always urged upon 
him a return to his original allegiance, and when 
he left the army had ollered him the appoinlntent 
of associate justice of the state supreme court, 
which he declined, giving as a reason his incapacity 
to htly occupy the position. Now, in his extremity, 
his JIassachusetts friends came forward and pur- 
chased -some of his lauds and with the money thus 
obtained, he paid off his debts and found himself 
with nearly ,f 15,000 balance in hand. He accord- 
ingly settled in Dauvers, Mass., where he hired a 
small farm, which he cultivated with ins own 
hands. In 1802, he was ai>pointe(l chief justice of 
the court of common pleas at Essex, and in 180ii 
was elected U. S. senator. He continued to hold 
his seat in the upper house until 1811, being promi- 
nent in the discussion of all public alfairs as an ex 
treme federalist He became so uiipojiular by his 
oppo.sition to certain public acts, that in 1809 a Phil- 
adeliihia mob hanged him in ethgy and various 
charges were made again.sl him with the design of 
ruining him, but without success. He retired from 
the senate in 1812 and for a time lived on a farm 
which he had purchased in Wentham, Ma.ss. In 
1814, he was a member of congress and in 1817 of the 
Massachusetts executive council He married, April 
8, 177(5, Rebecca White, au English lady, who died 
a year before himself. Col. Pickering was one of 
those New England leaders who were conspicuous in 
politics in the early part of the century for their ex- 
tremist views, amounting for some time to an inten- 
tion to cause the secession of New England from the 
Union. The.se opinions brought about the cele- 
brated Hartford convention, whicli Pickering 
favored, although he was not present during its ses- 
sion. Col. Pickering's life was written by his son, 
Octavi\is Pickering, completed after the hitter's 
death by Charles W. Upham and published in four 
volumes in Boston, 18()7-73. Col. Pickering died 
in Salem, .Tan. 29. 1829. 

McHENRY, James, secretary of war, was born in 
Ireland, Nov. 10. I75a. Being well-to-do, he secured 
an excellent classical education in Dublin, when, his 
health breakingdown, he deter- 
mined to visit America, and ac- 
cordingly, about 1771. sailed for 
Philadelphia ; after his arrival, 
being pleased with the country, 
he induced his father to follow. 
For a time, he was in Newark, 
Del , contiuiiing his studies, but 
afterwards went into the othce 
of the celebrated Dr. Benjamin 
Rush, in Philadelphia, where 
be .studied medicine On the 
outbreak of the war he went 
with Washington to the Conti- 
nental headquarters at Cam 
bridge, and in .lanuary, 1776, 
volunteered in the army, was 
appoiiiled assistant surgeon and 
soon after medical director and then surgeon to the 
5th Pennsylvania battalion McIIenry was with the 
army at New York and was made pri.soner at Fort 
Washington and was not exchanged until 1778. On 
May 15th of that year. Washington appointed him 
his secretary, and from th.at time he held tlie closest 
rel;ilinns with Wasliiiigtoii. He continued to he 
secretary until 1 7St), wlieii he became a member of 
the staff of Lafayette, with whom he remained until 
thecloseof the war In 17Sl-S(i, he was a member 
of the Maryland senate, being also apiioinled to con 
gress in 1783, and holding both ottices dm-ing the 
next three years. In 17S7. Mr. Millenry was a. 
member of the United States cniistitutional conven- 
tion !is a delegate fri'in Marvland. He took little 




acuyyUyj-i-td^^-c^ 



^7- 



14 



TIIK NATIONAL CYCLOIM-|)IA 



part in the debates, but attended the sessions regular- 
ly; lie was in favor of the constitution as eslablislied 
by this convention and used all his intluence to have 
it ratified. McHenry was frequently a member of 
the Maryland legislature, and in January, 1791), was 
appointed secretary of war by President \Vashington 
iu place of Timothy Pickerinjr, who took the posi- 
tion of secretary of state. McHenry continued to 
hold this po.sition through the administrations of 
AVashington and John Adams, until ISOl, when he 
retired into private life. Fort McIIenry was named 
after him. lie died in Baltimore, Md., May 3, 
ISKJ. 

BRADFORD, William, attorney-general of the 
L'nited States, was born in I'liiladelphia. Fa.. Se]it. 
14. 175.5. lie was the sou of C'i>l. William Bradford, 
a printer, and soldier in the revolution, and great- 
grandson of the first printer in Philadelphia. The 
boy was early placed under the care of a respectable 
clergynuuia few miles from Philadelphia; his father 
being at the time engaged in marine insurance and 
designing to train the boy for work iu his own 
office. The latter, hov.ever. had an ambition to ac- 
quire a liberal education, and was at length sent to 
Princeton College, where he was graduated iu 1773 
with high honors. He continued at Princeton until 
the following year, attending lectures on theology 
by Dr. Witheispooii. He now began the study of 
law under Edward Sliippen ; but in the spring of 
1770 was chosen major of a brig.-ide in the Penn.syl- 
vauia militia, and on the expiration of his term ac- 
cepted a company in Col. Hampton's regiment of 
regular troops, lie v.-a.s promoted to the rank of 
lieutcuaut-eolonel and made deputy quarlernuister- 
general. He reniaiiu'd in the service about two 
years, when his health broke dowu and he was ob- 
liged toresign and return home. He reconuuenced the 
study of law, and in Septemlier. 1779, was admilled 
to the bar of the supreme eourl. In the following 
August he was appointed attorney general of Penn- 
sylvania. In 1784 Mr. Bradford nuirried the daugh- 
ter of Elias Boudinot, of New Jersey. In xVugust, 
1791, on the re-formaliou of the courts of instice, 
under the new constitution of Pemisylvania, he was 
commissioned by Gov. Mitlliii a .I'lulge of the supreme 
court. In this high position his iudefatigable in- 
dustry, his integrity and his correct judgment enab- 
led him to give general .satisfaction. In this oflice 
he.suppo.sed he would pa.ss the mo.st of his life. But 
on the promotion of Ednumd Handolph to the posi- 
tion of secretary of state, Jlr. Bradford was urged 
to accept the othce of attorney-general of the United 
Stales, and received his appointment Jan. :2s, 1794. 
His early death, however, left him only about a 
year and a half in that iio.sition. Jlr. Bradford was 
a man greatly admired and esteemed. His manners 
were unas.suming but <lignitied and coinleous, while 
his temper was mild and amiable. As a speaker he 
was persuasive and ct)nvincing. He was eloquent, 
and his language was |)ure and .sententious. Pos- 
sessing great firmness of oiiiiiion. he was yet remark- 
able for modesty and caution in the delivery of 
bis sentiments; comliining a ipiick and retentive 
memory and excellent judgmeiu with great equa- 
nimity and steadiness iu his conduct and a pleas- 
ing deportment ; he gained the respect and 
altection of everyone who knew hiiu. In his early 
life Mr. Bradford showed siuue ability as a Jioet. 
and certain of his poetic-il productions of a pastoral 
character were piddished in tlic Pliiliideljihia niag;i- 
zines. Iu 179;! Mr. Bnidlnnl pulilished ''An In- 
quiry How Far the PunishmeiU of Death is Neces- 
sary iu Pennsylvania." a reiiort which was written 
at the request of Gov. Jlitllin for the use of the 
legislature. It had imich infiuence in anu-liorating 
the condition of the criminal laws, and hastening 
the almost entire abolition of capital punishment. 



He died Aug. 23, 1795, and was buried by the side 
of his parents in the burial ground of the Second 
Presbyterian church in Philadelphia. 

Ii££, Charles, attorney-general, was born in 
Fauipiier couuty, Va., in Juh-'l75!!f. He was the son 
of Henry Lee and Mary Gryines. the lady for whom 
Washington is said to "have had an unrequited affec- 
tion in his youthful days. Charles was luver as 
noted as his more distinguished soldier-brother 
Henry, such renown as he gained coming from civil 
pursuits rather than military service, "lie studied 
law under the instruction "of Jared IngersoU in 
Philadelphia, and was in course of time'admitted 
to the bar, where he gained a fair luactice. He 
served for several terms in the Virginia a.ssembly, 
and after the constitution was adopted, held the 
position of naval orticerof the Potomac district untU 
December, 1795, when Washington appointed him 
attorney-general of the L'nited States. This olilce he 
held during the remainder of Washington's .second 
term and throughout the whole of John Adams's 
administration, being succeeded by Benj. Lincoln, 
Jetferson's appointee, in 18(11. Presideni JelVersou 
subsequently offered Lee the chief-justiceshi)) of the 
supreme court, but he would not accept. He died 
June-J4. 181"). 

KNOX, Henry, .soldier and .secretary of war. was 
born in Boston, JIass.. July 25. 1750. His |)aternal 
ancestors were from the Li.. viands of Scotland, but 
the tradition is that those of them 
who first settled in America came 
from the vicinity of Belfa.st, Ire- 
land, to Bostcm, 5Ia.ss., in 1729 ; 
although William Knox, his 
father, wasa native of St. Eiislatia, 
one of the West Indian islanils. 
Kiu)x's mother was !Mary, daugh- 
ter of Koliert Cam])l)eli, of Bos- 
ton. The father was a shipmaster 
and owned a wharf anil small 
estate on Sea street, near Sununer 
street, which he was compelled by 
misfoitime to relinquish, and in 
1759 he went to St. Eustatia. where 
he died in 17(J2. at the age of fifty; 
his wife dying in Boston in 1771. 
at the age of fifty-three. Henry 
Kno.x was the seventh of ten .sons. 
The house in which he was born 
was standing in 1873. After the 
decease of his father young Knox was em)iloved by 
Wharton it Barnes, book.sellers. on Cornhill in Bos- 
ton. Of a robust and athletic frauu- and of resolute 
character, he was foremost in the contests between 
the north and south ends, the rival sections of the 
city, to the latter of which he belonged, and it is re- 
lated that once during the celebration of " I'ope's 
Night." the wheel of the carriage which sustained 
the pageant giving way. Knox, to prevent the dis- 
grace siu'e to result from its n(>n-a|ipear;uu'e. and 
the consecpU'iU, triumph of the adverse p.-uly substi- 
tuted his own shoulder, and bore tlie vehicle with- 
out Interruption through theconrtiel. When he was 
eighteen years old Knox joined a nulitary company, 
and when the Boston grenadier corps was organized 
by Capt. Joseph Pierce he was second in conuuand. 
Conver.sing with British olliccrs who frequented his 
book-store and by study of military authors .-uid by 
careful observation . f the soldiers in Boston, he soon 
attained proficiency in the theory ■■uid practice of the 
military art. When he rea( hed his majority. Knox 
began bu.siness on his own account, as a bookseller, 
opposite Williams court in Cornhill. Boston, and 
his store became a great resort for British olliccrs 
and for tory ladies, who were the ion of that period. 
But the bookseller himself was thoroughly iden- 
tified with the "Sons of Liberty." His business 




OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



15 



throve iiutil the gathering stonn of the American 
revohitiou, and in particular tlie Boston port bill, 
put a stop alike to the prosperity of the town and of 
the young merchant. Subsequently, while he was 
with tlie American army wliich liesieged Boston, 
his store was robbed and pillaged. This, witli cur- 
rent indebtedness for stock at the time of the out- 
break of hostilities, was the source t)f pecuniary 
embarrassment of which Knox was not full)- re- 
lieved at his death, although long after the war he 
paid the hou.se of Longmans, Green & Co., of Lon- 
don, more than £1,000 on the old account. By the 
bursting of his fowling-piece, July 24, 1773, while 
on a gunning excursion, he lost the two smaller 
fingers of his left hand, and about a month after 
this occurrence in a military parade where he ap- 
peared with the wound handsomely bandaged with 
a scarf, he attracted the attention of his future wife. 
Miss Flucker, whose father was an aristocratic loj'al- 
ist of great family pretensions and secretary of the 
province of Massachusetts Bay. She visited his 
book-store, acquaintance ripened intoiiitimac_v, inti- 
macy into love, and although their union was 
opposed by her family, love triumphed over all 
obstacles, and Knox and his fiancen were married at 
Boston, June 16, 1774. A year later Knox quitted 
Boston in disguise (his departure luiving Ix'cn inter- 
dicted by Gage, the British general) accomjianied 
by his wife, wdio had quiued into the lining of her 
cioak the sword with which her husband was to 
carve out a successful military career. Large 
promises had been held out to Knox to induce him 
to follow the royal .standard, but he did not hesitate 
for a moment to embark heart and hand in the 
patriot cause. Forthwith, at the headquarters of 
Gen. Ward, he was actively engaged in recruiting 
service and upon his rejiorts the American gen- 
eral's orders for the battle of Bunker Hill were 
issued. His wife was safely bestowed at Worcester, 
Mass.. and he then lent his aid in placing anil con- 
structing works of defense for the various camps 
around the beleaguered town of Boston. This lasted 
for months, and in this work he acquired skill as an 
artillerist. Knox had previously attracted the at- 
tention of .John Adams who now wrote to him re- 
questing his opinion upon a jilan for the reor- 
g;ini/.;ition of the army. Other correspondence with 
Adams ensued; he had become familiar with Gen. 
Wa.shington and on Xov. 17. 177.i, was appointed 
by the Continental congress as colonel of its one 
artillery regiment. He received his conunission 
when he returned to the army around Boston from 
his successful journey to Fort Ticonderoga. in Xew 
York, bringing to Boston heavy cannon and stores 
to be used by the Americans in their operations 
again.st that city. A memorable incident of this 
journey was Knox's encounter with (he brave but 
unfortunate Andre, of the British army, who had 
been taken prisoner by Gen. ilontgoincry at St. 
Johns, and was then on his way to tiie southward, 
to l)e exchanged. Their short acquaintance was 
mutually delightful, but a few years afterwanls 
Knox was called to the painful duly of silting in 
judgment upon .Vnilre as one of the military triliu- 
nal which coudenmed the latter to death. When the 
city of Boston was evacuated by the British, Knox's 
engineering talents were called into play in Connec- 
ticut and Rhode Island. At Xew York city in the 
summer of 177(i his quarters were at the Battery, 
near those of Washington, with whom he crossed to 
Long Island daily, prior to the di-sastrous eng.-ige- 
nient on the 27111 of .Vugust. His regiment was in 
the action, but on that (lay, he himself was "obliged 
to wait on my Lord Howe and the navy gentry who 
threatened to pay us a visit." In the reireat of the 
American forces from Xew York to Xew Jersey Knox 
narrowly escaped capture. At this time he wrote to 




his brother that his constant fatigue 
and aiiplication to business wa.s 
such that he had not had his clothes 
off once for more than forty days. 
His letters are tilled at this date 
with appreciative praise of Wash- 
ington with whom his relations '^ "' 
were more and more close, and with pronounced criti- 
cism of the little ability shown by most of the officers 
with whom he was associated, on accotint of their 
extreme lack of military training and knowledge. 
In the critical monu'nts after the lo.ss of Fort Wa.sh- 
ington (Nov. 1.5, 177(i) and the withdrawal of the 
American forces into New Jersey Knox was one of 
those who strengthened AVashington's hands and 
encouraged his lieart. His friendship with Gen. 
Nathanael Greene had by this time become most 
cordial. Knox superintended the crossing of the 
Delaware river by the Americans before the battle of 
Trenton, N. J. (Dec. 2(5. 1776), his .stentorian voice 
making andible the orders of Iiis chief above the 
fury of the winter blast. He participated as well in 
the battle of Princeton, N. J.. January, 1777, and 
after it urged upon Washington that the armv go into 
winter quarters at Morristown, N. J. T'his was 
done, and the artillery-colonel was then sent east- 
ward to see to the casting of cannfai and the estab- 
lishment of laboratories, and recommended Spring- 
tield, Jlass.. as the |ilace where these ought to be 
set up. In Jlay, 1777. he was associated with Gen. 
Greene in planning the defenses of the Hudson river. 
In the operations of the American army by which 
Gen. Washington sought to prevent the Briti.sh oc- 
cupation of Philadelphia, Knox had his full share 
of activity. In the battle of the Brandywine his 
regiment was noted for its coolness and intrepidity. 
He was in camp at Valley Forge, Pa., during the 
winter of 1777-78, and also in the eastern states on 
the business of his department. At the battle of 
Monmouth, N. .1., he reconnoitered in front, rallied 
the retreats and brought up the rear with a brisk fire 
from a battery planted in the night. Of the ser- 
vices of this arm Washington in general orders 
said that he could with pleasure inform Gen. Knox 
and the officers of the artillery that the enemy had 
done them the justice to acknowledge that no artil- 
lery could have been served better than the Ameri- 
can. In January, 1781. Washington sent him to 
the eastern .states to represent the suffering condition 
of the American troops, and while there wrote to 
him to "procure the articles necessary to a capital 
operation against New York, or other large cities 
which were then occupied by the British." It having 




been decided to operate against Lord Cornwallis in 
Virginia (fall of 1781) Knox's .skill and energy in 
providing and forwarding heavy caunon for the 



16 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



siege of Yorktown caused "Wasliington to report to 
the president of cougress tliat "the resources of his 
genius supplied the delicit of iiuans." The Freuch- 
man, De Chastellax, in his "Travels in North 
America," declared of him : "Tlie artillery was al- 
ways very well served, the general (Knox) inces- 
santly directing it, and often himself pointing the 
mortars; seldom did he leave the batteries. . . . 
The English marveled at the exact fire and the ter- 
rible execution of the French artillery, and we mar- 
veled no less at the extraordiuarj- progress of the 
American artillery, and at the capacity and instruc- 
tion of the officers. As to Gen. Knox but one-half 
has been said in commending his military genius. 
He is a man of talent, well instructed, of a buoyant 
disposition, ingenuous and true; it is imi)ossible 
to know him without esteeming and loving him." 
Washington also prai.sed Knox highly for ability 
shown in arranging the cartel for a general ex- 
change of prisoners in connection with Gov. Jlorris 
at the close of the war, and he was made major- 
general March 22, 1782, to date from Nov. 15, 1781. 
In December, 1782, he was chairman of a commit- 
tee of officers to draft a petition to congress, 
which stated the amounts of i)ay then due them, 
made a proposal that the half-pay for life should 
be commuted for a sjiecilic sum, and lequested 
that .security be given them by the govcinmcnt 
for the fulfillment of its engagements. The failure 
of congress to make satisfactory reply to this com- 
munication produced the famous " Newljurg Ad- 
dresses," by which the otlicers' feelings were 
wrought up to the higlu'sl pitch. At this imirit Knox 
joined with Washington in comiiosing tlie discon- 
tented and mutinous spirit which had appeared. 
The subject of the officers' complaints was again 
considered in congress, and the comnnitation and 
other provisions asked for in the memorial were 
granted. In order to perpetuate the friendships 
formed with each other by the officers of the army, 
Knox founded the Society of the Cincinnati, which 
came into being in Jlay, i7Kli. He was its secretary 
untU 1801), and in ISO.") lici-iune its vice-president. In 
1783 he was al.so vice-president of its JIassachu.setts 
branch. He entered New York city Nov. 25, 1783, 
at the head of the American troops upon its evacu- 
ation by the British. Dec. 4 ( 1 788) at Fauuce's tavern 
in New York, the principal officers met to take a final 
leave of their beloved general. Washington entered 
the room and taking a glass of wine in his hand with 
a few words of farewell, continued: "I cannot 
come to each of yoii to take my leave but shall be 
obliged to you if each will come and take me by 
the hand." Knox, who stood nearest to him, turned 
and grasped his hand; and while tears flowed down 
the cheeks of each, the commander-in-chief kissed 
him. This he did to each of his officers, while tears 
and sobs stifled utterance. In January, 1794, Knox 
arrived at Bo.ston, Jlass., and took up his residence 
at Dorchester. lie discharged some civil duties 
thereafter, in his native state, but on March 8, 
1785, was elected by congress secretarv of war with 
a salary of $2,450. In May, 178!), on "the foi'mation 
of the United States government he was continued in 
this office. In connection with Thomas .TetTcr.son, a 
fellow cabinet-otficer, he brought about the estab- 
lishment of the United States navy, in 1794. Dei'cm- 
ber 28tli of the same year he resigned his secretariat 
for private reasons, and spent the closing jears of 
his life in Maine, in the cultivation and improve- 
ment of an extensive tract of land, ])art of which 
IMrs. Knox had inherited from her grandlatlier, and 
the residue of which he had bought from the other 
heirs. Here he dispeii.sed a cliarmin<; hospitality, 
and was measurably successful in the |ii'euiiiai'y 
management of his enterprise, which. in<leed. cre- 
ated and built up the town of Thomaston. He 




had here a fine private library, part of it in the 
French language. Mrs. Knox, who had been 
a brilliant leader in society in official circles at 
Washington. I). C, and elsewhere, died June 24, 
1824. Gen. Knox was a large man, above middle 
stature, his forehead low, his face large and full be- 
low, his eyes small, gray and brilliant — the facial 
expression altogether a fine one. At West Point, 
N. Y., in AugiTst, 1783. he weighed 2H0 pounds. lie 
was a firm believer in the truths of Christianity, was 
a man of great jiublic s])irit and of nnich lilierality. 
His "Life and Correspondence," by F. S.Drake 
(Boston, 1873), has been freely used in the prepa- 
ration of this sketch. He died at home Oct. 21, 
1806, in consequence of having swallowed a chicken- 
bone. 

IiANGDOX, John, first president of the senate 
and governor of N<'W Hampshire, was born in 
Port.smouth, N. H., June 25. 1741, the son of John 
Langdon, a farmer of Portsmouth. His early edu- 
cation was gained at the granunar 
school of his neighborhood, at that 
time conducted by the celebrated 
Maj. Hale. He was afterwards ajv 
prenticed to a merchant, Danie 
Rindge by name, and at the expira- 
tion of his apprenticeship made sev- 
eral sea voyages, first as supercargo 
and afterwards in charge of a vessel 
of his own. He followed mercantile 
pursuits until the outbreak of the 
revolutionary war, when he was 
chosen a representative to the gen- 
eral court. In 1774 he was one of 
the party which removed the pow- 
der and military stores from Fort 
William and JIary to Newcastle. 
In 1775 and 1770 he was a delegate 
to congress, and for a w hile served 
in Vermont and Rhode Island 
of a company of volunteers. In 
Continental agent for the navy, and 
ships of war were built under his inspectidn includ 
ing the Raleigh, the Hanger, the America (a .seven- 
ty-four-gun siii])), and the Portsmouth. He after- 
wards commanded an independent comjiany with 
the rank of colonel. In 1777 Col. Langdon was 
speaker of the assembly of New Hamii.shire, and 
when means were wanted to supjiort a regiment to 
repel an anticipated invasion of the enemy, he made 
a remarkable sjieech. in which the foll(')wiMg lan- 
guage occurs : "I have three thousand dollars in 
hard money. I will pledge my iilate for three 
thousand more; I have seventy hogsheads of Tobago 
rum, which shall be sold for the inost it will bring 
— these are at the service of the slate. If we succeed 
in defending our firesides and homes, I may be re- 
mmierated; if we do not, the jiroperly will be of no 
value to me. Our old friend J-^lark.wlio so noblj- 
maintained the honor of our state at Bunker's Hill, 
m.ay be safely intrusted with the conduct of the en- 
terprise, and we will check the ]u-ogress of Bur- 
goyne." This patriotic sjieech roused the assembly 
to such a pitch of enthusia.sm that a brigade was 
raised, with which (ien. Stark achieved the memor- 
able victory of Beiniington. Col. Langdon was him- 
self a volunteer in the army that captiuvd Bur- 
goyne, and was engaged in the expedition against 
Rhode Island in 1778, and continued in the army 
\intil the close of the war. On June 13, 1783, he 
was again ajipoinled a delegate to congress and 
thereafter was repeatedly a member of the legisla- 
ture and s])eaker. In 1787 he was a delegate from 
New Hampshire to the convention which framed 
the federal constitution ami the following year he 
was elected governor of New Hampshire, and at the 
close of that year one of the first U. S. senators from 



f^f^^rt^ 0<^»'^Sr<:fitt\^ 



in command 
1776 he was 
a niunber of 



OF AMEKICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



17 



^ 



that state. At the time when the votes for the first 
presiiieut of the United States were to be counted, 
Col. Liingdon was appointed president of the senate 
'pro tern. His letter to Gen. Washington, informing 
him of the result is as follows: 

New York, April 6, 1789. 
Siu: I have the honor to transmit to your Excel- 
lency the information of your uuaniniou.s election 
to the office of President of the United States of 
America. Suffer me, sir, to indulge the liojie that 
so ausi)icio\is a mark of public confidence will meet 
your approbation and be considered as a pledge of 
the alTection and support you are to expect from a 
free and enlightened people. I am, sir, with senti- 
ments of respect, etc., John L.\N(iDON. 

Col. Langdon was still president of the senate at 
the inauguration of Washington and Adams, and he 
remained a member of that l)ody for twelve years. 
In 1801 he was offered by President Jefferson the 
position of secretary of the navy, which he declined, 
as also the nomination for vice-president in 1813. 
In 1805 and 1810 he was again elected governor of 
New Hampshire. Col. Langdon died at Ports- 
mouth, N. H., Sept. 18, 1819. 

MUHLENBERG, Frederick Augustus Con- 
rad, speaker of the house, was born at Trappe, Pa., 
Jan. 1, 17.50, the second son of Henry Melchior 
Muhlenberg (q. v.), who sent his three sons to 
Halle, Germany, to be educated. Returning to 
America in the latter part of 1770, he was ordained 
to the ministry of the German Lutheran chiu'ch, 
and became his father's assistant. For three years, 
after 1773, he was pa.stor of Chri.st Church, in New 
York city, but his outspoken .sympathies with the 
patriots during the revolutionary war, obliged him 
to leave the city, and he returned to Pennsylvania. 
In 1777 he had several small pastoral charges in liis 
father's district, being persecuted all the while be- 
cause of his adherence to the American cause. In 
August, 1779, he retired from the ministry and en- 
tered the Contineiital eongre.ss as the representative 
of the Pennsylvania Germans, a position for which he 
was peculiarly fitted. He continued in the pviblic 
service luitil the close of his life, his high character 
and judicial firnmess giving him the position of pre- 
siding officer of the assembly in his own state, and 
of speaker <if the first and third congresses. He 
died June 4, 1801. 

DAYTON, Jonathan, speaker of the house 
and senator, was born at Elizabethtown, N. J., 
Oct. 10, 1700. His father was Gen. Elias Dayton, 
a revolutionary officer who was in active service 
throughout the entire con- 
flict and was made a brig- 
adier in 1783. After the 
war, he became a major-gen- 
eral in the New Jersey 
militia, and served during 
several terms as member of 
the state legislature. He 
was the first president of 
the New Jersey branch of 
the Society of the Cincin- 
nati. His son, Jonathan, 
was graduated from Prince- 
ton in 1770. and at once 
became jiaymaster in his 
father's regiment, served 
with Lafayette in the York- 
town cam])aign, and after- 
wards studied law and was 
admitted to the bar. In 1787 he was one of the New 
Jersey members of the constitutional convention, 
and in 1791 was elected to congress, serving until 
1799, and acting with the feder.-il jiarty. He was 
speaker of the fourth and fifth congressas, resigning 
this position to enter the U. S. senate, where he 




l^ru)c; jQay\^/<r?T^ 



yoyy/ 




^f f.^.^ 



y^Ch^Jn^ 6^ I 



served one term. Dayton was accused of being 
connected with the Burr conspiracy, and in 1807 
was arrested, but never brought to trial. This ac- 
cusation caused him to retire from political life, and 
he no more took a prominent part in affairs. Prince- 
ton gave him the degree of LL.D. in 1798. He died 
at Elizabethtown Oct. 9, 1824. 

OTIS, James, revolutionary statesman, was 
b(3rn at Great jMarshes or West Barnsdale, Feb. 5, 
172.5. He was the son of James Otis, who died in 
1778, and was descended from 
John Otis, who emigrated from 
Hingliam, England, in 103.5 and 
with others founded the town 
in Massachusetts which was also 
called Hingham. After due jjrep- 
aration, the subject of this sketch 
was sent to Harvard College, 
where he was graduated in 1743. 
Having determined to devote 
himself to the law. he entered 
the office of Jeremiah Gridley, 
the first lawyer and civilian of 
his time, and when only twenty- 
one years of age began jn'actice 
at Plymouth. Mass. ' In 1750, he 
removed from that town to 
Boston, where he soon gained so 
high a reputation for integrity and 
tarent that his services came" into demand in connec- 
tion with the mo.st important causes of the time. 
Being a fine classical scholar he prejiared and pub- 
lished in 1700 a work entitled " Kudiraents of Latin 
Prosody," which became a text-book in Harvard 
College. The questions which arose between the 
colonies and the mother country made an impres- 
sion upon James Otis much earlier than upon others 
who afterwards became equally zealous leaders in 
the revohuionary cau.se. In 1761, he argued before 
the judges of the siqireme court against what was 
known as "writs of assistance," ai>]ilied for by the 
otticersof the customs, his antagonist beingJIr. Grid- 
ley, in whose office curious enough he had learned 
his profession. Of his speech on this occasion, 
John Adams said: " Otis was a flame of fire, with a 
promptitude of classical allusions, a depth of re- 
search, a rapid summary of historical events and 
dates, a profusion of legal authorities, a iiroplietic 
glance of his eyes into futurity, and a rapid torrent 
of impetuous eloquence, lie hurried away all Iiefore 
him. American independence was then and there 
born. Every man in that crowded audience ap- 
peared to me to go away, as I did, ready to take up 
arms against writs of assistance." The immediate 
effect of liis indignant and fiery eloquence was to 
sus])end judgment upon the question in order to get 
information from England, and such writs were never 
afterwards executed. The iiniiorlance of this de- 
cision will be understood when it is .stated that these 
writs of assistance were peculiarly obnoxious search- 
warrants permitting the custom-hou.se officers to 
enter an}' house whatever, and to search for what- 
ever they saw fit, without even describing the goods 
beforehand. At the election a few months after, 
jNIr. Otis was chosen a reprcseutalive, and as such 
at once took the strongest grovuid in ii|iposilion to 
the stamp act of 1705. He was one of the delegates 
to the ('ongress held that year in New York, and 
liaving )niblished a itamphlet entitled "The Bights 
of the ('olonies Vindicated," which appeared in 
London, he was threatened with arrest for the bold- 
ness with which he expressed his opinions. At the 
New York congress, which was called for the con- 
•sideralion of the stamp act, he was one of the com- 
mittee which (lrafle<l the address to i>arliament on 
th.'il subject. In 1707. he resigned the office of 
judge advocate which he then filled, and further 



18 



THE NATIO?fAL CYCLOP.EDIA 



renounced all employment under the administration, 
■which he held had encroaelied upon the liberties of 
bis country. A man of strong passions and daunt- 
less courage, he had no hesitation in expressing his 
opinions clearly and frankly, no matter what the 
risk to himself. He was a hard tighter, and when 
attacked in the public press answered without much 
regard to tlie elegance of language he used. On 
Sept. 5. 1709, in consequence of a newspaper con- 
troversy with the commissioners of the customs, he 
•was attacked by one of those officials aided by a 
number of military and naval officers and was left 
badly beaten and even cut on the head with swords. 
This" brutal assault wa.s such an injury to Jlr. Otis's 
brain that he never after regained full control of it. 
His public career was now practically closed and he 
■was never after able to take part in affairs. He lived 
on for nearly ten years, however, hopelessly insane 
though perfectly harmless. A remarkable and pa- 
thetic event oerurred on .J\me, 17, 1775, which woidd 
seem to show that he had a temporary lucid interval. 
Hearing the talk of the coming battle at Breed's 
Hill, he succeeiled in obtaining po.sse.ssion of a 
musket, marched with the volunteers who were on 
their way to the tight and actually did good service 
in the battle. His death was as dramatic as his 
career had been. He was living in Andover at the 
time and was standing, leaning on his cane by the 
door of the house of a friend, when he was struck 
to the ground by a tia.sh of lightning. Mr. Otis 
married in 175.5. Huth Cunningham, of Boston. He 
■was a man highly distinguished for his genius, 
his eloquence and learning. Unfortunatelj- few of 
his rhetorical productions are now extant. None of 
his speeches were fully recorded, and inasmuch as 
he was cut off from active life before the revolution 
actually begun, his name is connected with none of 
the public documents of the nation. His memorials 
as an orator therefore an? rather traditionary than 
actual and we are compelled to estimate his merits 
chiefly by the boundless admiration of the imper- 
fect descriptions of his lime. According to these 
his eloquence was bold, ■svitty, pungent and prac- 
tical, erudite and yet original. Courteous in his 
deference to the opinions of others, he was at the 
same time daring in his own investigations and in 
the presence of arrogance ami oppression, stubborn 
as a rock. The wit exemplitied liy Mr, Otis in de- 
bate was often keen, but unlike that of John Ran- 
dolph, it was never malignant. It is said of him 
that as he prognosticated the coming tempest and 
comprehended its fearful issue he became trans- 
formed in aspect like one inspired, and that his list- 
eners became rajit and impassioned like the speaker, 
till their very breath forsook them. His eloquence 
did not possess the classic tirmuess of Samuel 
Adams, nor the intense brilliancy and exquisite 
taste of the younger Quinc}-, nor the philosophical 
depth of John Adams, nor the rugged and over- 
■n'helming energy of Patrick Henry, though Otis, 
more than all Americans, is said to have most re- 
sembled the last. Besides the works already named, 
he wrote one on the "Power of Harmony in I'nisuii 
Composition." His life was written by William 
Tudor and published in Boston in 1.S23. He died 
May 23. 17S3. 

OSGOOD, Samuel, statesman and ])ostmaster-gen- 
eral, waslmrn at Andover, Mass., Feb. 14. 174S. He 
■n-as liftli in descent from John Osgood, of Andover, 
England, who came to jNIassachusetts about 1(530, 
and gave its name to the town of Andover. He was 
graduated from Harvard, in 1770, and studied 
theology, but, losing his health, became a mer- 
chant. In 1774 he was a delegate to the Essex 
county convention, and was repeatedly a member 
of the JIassachusetts legislature. He served on 
many important committees in the Massachusetts 




provincial congress : was a captain at Lexington 
and at Cambridge, Mass., in April. 1775: and then 
in 1775 and 1776 aide-de-camp to Gen. Ward of the 
American army, with the rank of colonel. He waa 
also a member of the Massachusetts 
board of war. leaving the army, in ^ 

1776, with the rank of colonel and 
assistant commissary. Then he sat 
in the JIassachnsetts house until 1780 
when he entered the state senate; 
from 1780 to 1784 he was a Jlassa- 
chusetts delegate to the Continental 
congress. In 1782 he was chairman 
of a delegation sent to Rhode Island 
to urge assent to Alexander Ham- 
ilton's resolution concerning the 
dutj' on imports. From 1785 to 1789 
he was first commissioner of the 
I'. S. treasury, ami from 1789 to 
1791 the first postmaster-general. 
AVhen the United Slates government 
was removed to Philadeljihia in 
1791 he continued his residence 
at New York city, whence he was subsequently sent 
to the state legislature, where he became lis speaker. 
From 1801 to 1803 he was a supervisor of New 'i'ork 
city, and from that time until his death in New 
Ydrk, was U. S. naval officer of the port. He pub- 
lished several volumes on religious subjects and 
one im the sulijeet of chronology. His correspond- 
ence with eminent men was extensive : he was well 
versed in science and literature, and was distin- 
guished for integrity, public spirh and piety. His 
iiouse in New York was in Franklin square and 
was AVashinirlon's hea<lquarters when he reached 
thecitv. Heilieil Aug. 12. 1813. 

HABEBSHAM, Joseph, soldier and postmaster- 
general, wa> Imum in Sav.iiiiiah, Ga.. .July 2S. 1751. 
His latlier, .lames, came fiom England to Savannah 
with Whitefielil, the English evangelist, in 1738. and 
taught school for some years 
near that city, but became a 
merchant in 1744. and was sub- 
sequently prominent in civil af- 
fairs. He raised the first cotton 
in the state, and .sent the first 
few bales of cott(m to England 
that went out from Georgia. 
Three of his sons were zealous 
patriots, and Joseiih was a mem- 
ber of the first committee ap- 
pointed by the friends of liberty 
in his native colonv, in July. 

1774. In 1775 (June 11). with 
others, he seized the jiowder in 
the arsenal at Savannah, for the 
use of the colonists. During the 
same month he was made a 
n\eml)er of the Georgia com- 
mittee! of safety. In July of 
that year he conunanded a party which captured 
a British government vessel, having on board 15,000 
piMuids oi' powder. Duringthe following January, 
and while a member of the colonial assembly, he 
raised a party of volurUeers, which look Gov. 
■Wright a prisoner, and confined him to bis house 
under guard. A])|iointe<l (Feb. 4. 17711) major of 
the 1st "Georgia battery, he defended Savannah from 
a naval att;iek early in March. In the winter of 

1775. after the caiitiire of Savannah by the British, 
he removed his family to Virginia, but iiarlicipated 
in the unsuccessful attack upon that city while it was 
in the hands of the British in September, 1779. He 
was lieutenant-colonel at the dose of the war. In 
178.5-.'^<i he was a delegate from Georgia to the Con- 
tinental congress, and speaker of the state a.ssembly 
in 1785, and in 1790. President Washington ap- 




J/t/- //a^^ryJa^^o 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY 



19 



pointed him U. S. postmaster-general in 1795, and 
he was continued in office by Presideuls Joliu 
Adams and Jefferson until IMOl. when he resigned 
the position to become president (1^02) of the United 
States Branch Bank at Savannah, which presidency 
he lield until his death at Savannah Nov. 17, 1815. 
A county of his native state bears his name. 

ftUINCY, Josiah, revolutionary i)atriot, was 
born in Boston Jan. 23, 1744. He acquired the 
rudiments of a classical education at Braintree, and 
in 17o9 entered Harvard Collej^e, where he distin- 
guished himself for u]3right conduct and bright 
scholarship, anfl whence he was graduated in 1763. 
It is .said tliat his compositions during his college 
period showed that he was even then conversant with 
the liest writers of the French and English schools. 
He read law in the office of O.xeubridge Thatcher, 
an eminent Boston lawyer, who was associated with 
James Otis in the celebrated argument against the 
" writsof as.sistance." By the death of ^Mr. Thatcher 
before Quincy had completed his legal studies, leav- 
ing the charge of the business of the office in the 
latter's hands, he succeeded to an e.xtensive and 
lucrative practice. He early made himself conspicu- 
ous by the ardor with which lie wrote and spoke 
against the encroachments of the mother covu\tiT, 
and only twenty days previous to the " Boston Alas- 
sacre." in 1770, in answer to the question, " What 
end is the non-importation agreement to answer '! " 
said: "From a conviction in my own mind that 
America is now the slave of Britain; from a sense 
that we are every day more and more in danger of 
an increase in our burdens and a fastening of our 
shackles, I wish to see my countrymen break off — 
off forever — all social intercourse with those whose 
commerce contaminates, who.se lu.xuries poison, 
whose avarice is insatiable, and wliose unnatural 
oppressions are not to be borne. That Americans well 
know their rights, that they will resume, assert, and 
defend them, are matters of which I harbor no 
doubt. "Whether the arts of policy or the arts of war 
will decide the contest, are problems that we will 
solve at a more convenient season. He whose heart 
is enamored with the refinements of political artifice 
and finesse, will seek one mode of relief; he wliose 
heart is free, honest and intrepid, will pursue 
another, a bolder and a more noble mode of 
redress." One of the most extraordinary episodes 
in the historj' of the revolution, and one which 
■brought the absolutely just character of Mr. Quincy 
to the notice both of his own time and of posterity, 
was connected with the " Bo.ston Massacre" of 
March 5, 1770, in which live citizens were killed by 
the British soldiers. C'apt. Preston and the eight 
British troopers who were tried for this offense 
■were defended by Mr. Quincy and John Adams, the 
former opening and the latter closing the argument. 
The resuH was that C'apt. Preston and si.\ soldiers 
were acquitted, while two were convicted of man- 
slaughter only. Such an administration of justice 
in the midst of an e.xcited and furious people was at 
once startling and sublime. Tlirough 1771 and 1772 
Mr. Quincy continued his professional and political 
labors with industry and zeal, l)ut in February, 
1773, he was obliged to take a voyage to Carolina 
for the preservation of his life, which was threatened 
by a pulmonary complaint. In Charleston, and on 
his return through New York and Philadelphia, he 
made acquaintance with the eminent lawyers and 
patriots of the day. Sept. 28, 1774, he sailed from 
Salem, !Mass., on a special mission to London in 
behalf of his country. In London he had a confer- 
ence with Lord North, who seemed more anxious to 
intimidate him by reference to the inexhaustible 
resources of Great Britain than to placate those in 
whose behalf he came. Meanwhile, however, lie 
found himself sustained in his views and his efforts 



by the great Lord Chatham, by Lord Camden, Sel- 
den, and others whose influence in the British coun- 
cils seemed to be strong. Jlr. Quincy returned to 
America, by the advice of his friends, in the spring 
of 1775 in declining health. In an interview with 
Dr. Franklin, just before he left London, the latter 
said to him: "New England alone could hold out 
for ages against Great Britain, and if they were firm 
and united in seven years would conquer." After 
being at sea a few weeks Mr. Quincy became con- 
vinced, as his condition grew worse, that death wag 
inevitable. April 21st he dictated his last letter, and 
his last recorded words. Referring to the sentiments 
of many learned and eminent friends of America 
whom he had met in England, he said: " To com- 
mit their sentiments to writing is neither practicable 
nor prudent at this time. To the bosom of a friend 
they could entrust what might be of great advant- 
age to my country. To me that trust was com- 
mitted and I was. immediately on my arrival, to 
assemble certain persons to whom I was to commu- 
nicate my trust, and had God spared my life it seems 
it wouldhave been of great service to my country; 
had Pro\idence been pleased that I should have 
reached America six days ago I should have been 
able to converse with my friends. I am persuaded 
tliat this voyage and passage are the instruments to 
put an end to my being. His holy will be done." 
He died when the vessel was in 
sight of land, and his remains 
were afterwards removed to 
Braintree. His life by his son, 
Jo.siah Quincy, late president of 
Harvard College, was jiublished 
in 1855. He possessed the power 
to seize boldly upon the attention 
of an audience, and in his jiopu- 
lar harangues it was his custom 
to produce the results of his ex- 
tensive reading in a simple and 
forcible manner; he was familiar 
with the best writers in poetry 
and prose, especially the English 
dramatists, and frequently quoted 
from them. On the. arrival of 
the obnoxious tea in Boston 
harbor, in November, 1773, a 
town meeting was held and reso- 
lutions were pa.ssed calling on the 
consignees not to receive it. 
jNIr. Quincy spoke on this occasion in the following 
language : " It is not, Mr. Moderator, the spirit 
that vapors within these walls that must stand us 
in .stead. The exertions of this day will call forth 
events that will make a very different spirit neces- 
sary for our own salvation. Whoever sujiposes 
shouts and hosannahs will terminate the trials of to- 
day entertains a childish fancy. We must be 
grossly ignorant of the importance and value of 
the prize for wliich we contend ; we must be 
equally ignorant of the power of those combined 
against us ; we must be blind to that malice, invet- 
eracy and insatiable revenge which actuate our en- 
emies, public and ]irivate, abroad and in our bosom 
— to hope that we .shall end this controversy without 
the sharpest conflicts, to flatter ourselves that [popu- 
lar resolves, popular harangues, poinilar acclama- 
tions and jiopular va]ior will van(|uish our foes. 
Let us con,sider the issue, let us look to the end. 
Let us weigh and consider before we advance In 
those measures which must bring on the most try- 
ing and terrible struggle this country ever .saw." 
Mr.Quuicy possessed tliose attributes of voice, figure 
and action which are essential to complete the charm 
of ehxiueuce. His face is said to have been instinct 
with expression and his eye in iiarticular glowed 
with intellectual splendor. He died April 26, 1775. 




iirlu-^o^t.-i*y*t^^ 



20 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



A^^i^ 




JAY, John, first chief justice of the U. S. su- 
prciiu' ciiuit. was Ixn'ii ill Xcw York city Dec. 12, 
174.">. His fiilhiT was I'ctir .lay. a West Iiiilian iiier- 
chanl and sun of a Iluiriu'iiot rcfup'c wlin si-ttled in 
New York in lljsii. wlicrc lie niarried Anna IJayard, 
descendant of aiidllier Fivncli I'luleslant exile. Hi.s 
nuitlier was a daiifrliter of .lacobiis 
Van Conrllandt, and of ei^lit 
j;reat • j^randparenls not one was 
En^lisli, tliicc bcinir Kienoh and 
live Diileli. Tlic entire absence of 
Eiiulisli blood in liis veins was a 
fact es|ie(ially eniphasi/.ed by him, 
in snbs((ivient years, in reply to 
the attacks of political opponents. 
John Jay's childhood was pa.s.sed 
at his father's countrv seat near 
Kye, AA'estchester Co.'N. Y. The 
house was a loiii;. low Imildinsf. 
OIK' room deep, by some eighty feet 
/f in leuirth. At ten years of age John 

//V^ /^ was sent to a boarding-school at 
y C^Y^ j^p^^. Rof.iiL.iie. N. Y., kept by the 
I pastor of the French Huguenot 

church. Fiench was spoken generally, not only at 
the jiarsonage. but by the villiiger.s, who were 
chiefly descendants of Huguenots, and to these 
associations was due the mastery of the French 
language, which Mr. Jay afterward found .so 
serviceable in the discharge of his dijiloniatic func 
tions. In ITfiO he entered King's (now (Columbia) 
College in New York city ; was graduateil in lT(i4, 
and was then accejited as law student in the otliee 
of Heiijamin Kis.sani, in consideration of the pay 
ment of £'.3011 colonial currency, eiiual to about 
$.")()(). The term of legal apprenticeship was five 
years, but young Jay was admitted to the bar at 
the end of four years, and devoted himself assid 
uously to the practice of his profession. His first 
partner was Roliert R. Livingston, afterward 
chancellor of New York and U. S. secretary of 
foreign affairs. In the s]iring of 1774 he married 
Sarali. youngest daughter of William Livingston. 
who was soon to be the revolutionaiy governor of 
New Jcu'.sey. Up to the time of thi^ imposition of 
taxes by the British government in 1773, Mr. .lay 
had been a steadfast loyalist, but he was one of the 
New York delegates to the congress which convened 
hi Fhiladelpbia. in September, 1774. Of the three 
addres.sc.s voted by this congress — one to the king, 
one to the jieople of Hriti.sh America, and one to the 
people of (4reat Britain — the last was written by 
Mr. Jay Thomas .lefferson declarcfl it a production 
of the first pen in America. In November. 177.5, as a 
member of the .second Continental congress. Mr. Jay 
was ap|iointed one of the secret committee of that 
body to corre.spoml with friends in Great Britain, 
Ireland, and other parts of the world, and in that 
capacity had several interviews with the first of the 
secret einis.saries of the F'reneh court In Jan 
uary, 1771), he was recalled from I'liiladeliUiia to 
become a delegate to the New York provincial con 
gress. where he was to render a service of super 
lative im))ortanee to his own state. .Vsch.-iirman of 
a committee of this congress he prepared a plan for 
the orgaiii/.'ition of a new form of govermni-nt. 
siniullaneously with his discharge of the duties 
wliich devolved upon him as the cliairinan of a 
secret committee of safety. Near the end of March. 
1777, he presented, in his own handwriting, the 
draft of a state constitution which was adopted 
with but few nmdifieafions, and remained the organic 
law of New York, until it was revised by a con 
stitutional convention in 1823. This constitution 
was not sutimitled to the people, but was read in 
front of the court house at Kingston. N. Y., and 
went into operation some months thereafter. Dur 



ing the interval Mr. Jay was not only chief justice 
pro tempore, but. as a member of the "newly created 
council of safety, shared in the e.\ercise ofsupreme 
executive power. As the jurisdiction of the chief 
justice under the newly framed patriot con.stituiioii 
was limited to that part of the New York prov- 
ince lying outside of its four richest and most 
populous counties (New York, Westi-hester. Hich- 
niond and Long Island), these counties being in 
posses-sion of tlie British, the New York legislature 
resolved that Jlr. Jay might be a|ipoiiiled to the 
Continental congress, as a memlier from New York, 
without vacating his .seat on the slate bench. Soon 
after he entered the Continental body he wa.s chosen 
its president, and thenceforward, until he was sent 
to Spain as U. S. minister Se])t. 27, 1778, his biog- 
raphy is part of the history of the country. He 
forthwith procured the passage of resolutions by 
congress, submitting the disputed boimdaries of the 
New Ham]).shire grants (now the state of Vermont) 
to arliifration, but the controversy remained o])en 
because the congress had no ])owers of coercion. In 
pursuance of his mission to Sjiaiii. he sailed with 
Jlrs. Jay, and disembarked at Cadiz, Jan. 22, 1780. 
He received no olHcial recognition there, but did 
find, upon his arrival, that the -Vmericau congress 
had drawn on him for .^1(1(1,00(1, to provide for the 
payment of which caused him endless inoititicatiou 
and anxiety, for he was without letters of credit, 
"and witliout any mone)' except what he borrowed 
from a fellow-passenger." Ue finally met the drafts 
with money procurecl from 
Fiance. In the spring of 
1782 he was .summoned to 
Paris to CO operate with 
Benjamin Franklin in ne- 
gotiations for peace be- 
tween England and Amer- 
ica. There is litfU' if any 
doubt that John .lay and 
.lolm Adams, rather than 
Benjamin Franklin, are to 
be credited with securing, 
independent of France, 
a treaty with Great Brit- 
ain so favorable that, in the opinion of the French 
minister, "the English had rather bought a iieace 
than made one." Mr. Adams wrote of Jay, when 
the latter left Paris for home in :\ray, 1784": " Our 
worthy friend, Mr. Jay. returns to his country, 
like a bee to his hive, loaded with meat .-iiid honor." 
When he reached New York (July. 17.'S4) he found 
that two months previously he had been electcil 
by congress .secretary of foreign affairs, and he re- 
tained this oflice until the articles of confedera- 
tion were sujierseded by the constitution of the 
I'nited States. He was not a member of the con- 
vention called to frame the constitution, liut he had 
a large share in procuring its ado|)tion by the New 
York .state convention which met to consider it. 
yix. Jay was one of the originators of the " Fe<ler- 
ali-st," writing live of the weightiest of those influen- 
tial essays. On the organization of the federal 
government President Washington offered to Mr. Jay 
his choice of the federal offices. He selected the chief 
justiceship of the su]ireiiie court, and held it until 
17!l.">. In 17SI2, while in that ]iosition, he \v;is nomi- 
nated by file federalists of the .state of New York 
for governor, in opposition to George Clinton, but 
the votes of three counties (Ot.sego, Tioga and Clin- 
ton) being thrown out on technical grounds by a 
returning board the majority of which were Clin- 
toiiians, he failed of election. The wrong done to 
Jay was not forgotten by the ])eople, who. three 
years .■ifterward. during his absence from the 
countrv. elected him governor, and again in 17!t8, 
re-elected hira by a large majority. In 1794 Mr. 




//S"/(/d/'/ A3" 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



21 



Jay went to Enfjland at the instanrc (if Pn'siilcnt 
Wasliington to avert war. if ]uissililc. by an adjust- 
ment of boundaries and the eonelusion of a eotn- 
niereial treaty. The work wliich lie aeeoniplishcd 
In the diseharge of this mission sulijeeled him, as 
he had fully antieipated, to a storm of erilieism at 
home. What the English thoughl of il. however, 
was e.\iires.sed by Lord Shellield when, at the break 
ing out of the war of \SVi. he said ; " We have 
now an opportunity of getting rid of that most 
imjiolitie treaty of ITW. when Lord (Jrenville was 
so pert'eetly duped liy Jay." Good judges have 
deelared that the temporary loss of ]H)pvdarity in 
the United States, experieneed by Mr. .lay by 
reason of his eonneetion with this treaty, prevented 
the federalists from making him, iitstead of John 
Adams, their candidate for president in 1797. During 
the six years in which he tilled the ofliee of governor, 
it is stated that not one individual was dismissed 
from olliee by him on account of his politics. At the 
clo.sc of his second term as governor he was ear- 
nestly solicited to accept another renominalion, and 
at this time (181)1) he was al.so renominated and 
reconfirmed as chief justice of the V. S. supreme 
court, but he declined to stand again for governor, 
and declined also the chief justiceship, having 
determined to retire from pid>lic life. This he did. 
spending the closing twenty-eight years of his career 
at his country-seaf at Bedford. Westchester Co.. 
N. Y. His last public office was the ]iresidency of 
the American Bible Society. The facts jMesented 
in this sketch fi.x his place in the hi.story of the 
country. As to his personal character and the 
means for deciding on it, it has been said : " It is 
hard to distinguish the real features of .some of his 
comemiioraries through the mist of legend. No 
myths have grown arovuid John Jay. He lives in 
our memories a tiawless .statue, whose noble linea- 
ments have everything to gain from the clear 
lirfit of history ; '' and" Daniel Webster deelared ; 
"When the spotless ermine of the judicial robe 
fell on John Jay. it touched nothing less spotless 
than itself," He died May 17. 1829. at his hrime in 
Bedforil, now the summer home of his grandson, 
John Jav. 

RUTLEDGE, Jolin, chief justice of the U. S. 
supreme court, was born in Charleston, S. C. in 1739. 
His father. Dr. John Rutledire. came to Charleston 
from England in 1735 and married Sarah Hext, an 
heiress of .sreat beauty and 
supenor attainments, wlio was 
a motherat fifteen years of age, 
and a widow with .seven chil 
dren at twenty-six. So well 
was the exalted character of 
this woman recognized, that 
on the occupation of Charles 
ton by the British, she was 
remove<l from her country res- 
idence and coiitined within the 
city limits, on the ;;rouiid that 
from such a character much 
was to be apprehended. Her 
eldest son, .John Kutledge, 

/' ^ x'^/' P-Zi-^y after completing liis earlv 
» //Cty^'-^^f'^'^ education, was sent to En.g- 
^-^ land to study law. There 

he finished his course in the Temple, and being 
admitteil to the bar. returned lo Charleston and 
began practice in 1701, attaining prominence with 
his first ea.se. In 17fi'2 he was elected to the pro 
vincial as.s(inbly, and "kindled a spark which has 
never since been extinguished. ' in rousing that body 
and the ]ieople lo resist the unwarranlal)le interfer 
ence of the royal governor in matters of election. 
From September, 1764,to June. 176.i. he was attorney- 
general pro tempore of South Carolina, being sent, in 





Corner %/ Litr4r/ 



the latter year, as a delegate to the colonial congress 
which had assembled upon the passagi^ of the stamp 
act. The bold and leading position as.sumed by 
him and his colleagues won for his ccildny .a consid- 
eration never before .accorded to il, and although he 
himself was the youngest member of the congress, 
he was made chairman of the committee that pre- 
pared the memorial and petition to the house of 
lords. In 1774 he was a delegate to the first Con- 
tinental congress, and in 1775 was, with John Adam.:, 
among the first to advocat<' an entire 
separation from the molhcr-co\mtrv. 
By Patrick Henry he was declared 
by far the greatest orator in the 
body. JIareh, 1776, he was chosen 
president of South Carolina under 
the independent constitution, and 
upon the approach of the British 
forces rallied 0,000 men and erected 
Fort Moultrie, termed a slaughter- 
pen bv Lee. To its commander, how- 
ever, he wrote: " General Lee wishes 
you to evacuate the fort. Y'ou wil 
not do so without an order from me. 
I woidd sooner cut off my hand than 
write one." It was the gallant de- 
fense of this fort, June 28lli, that 
saved, for a time, the state. Kefus- 
ing to ratify the new con.stitution of South Carolina 
after the declaration of independence, he resigned 
his otlice in JIareh, 1778, but was recalled and in- 
vested with plenary powers, Febniary, 1779, upon 
the second invasion of the English. During the 
period in which the state was overrim by the enemy, 
his iron will held the army together. Jlorc than 
once he implored, in person, assistance from congress, 
continuing to keep ward over the state, muil the 
liattle of Eutaw Springs, at which he was present, 
finally overthrew British dominion. Calling the 
assembly together, immediately after, he ordered 
twelve barrels of rice for the jiuritose of feasting the 
legislators. When his term of office had expired, 
since he was by law ineli.gible for re-eli'ction, he was 
again .sent to congress in January, 1782. In June he 
was chosen to uVge the southern .states to coin]ily 
with the recpiisitions of congress, in order to speedily 
terminate the war. and in congress he was foremost in 
opposing the exchange of Lord Cornwallis. and in 
causing the repeal of the resolution to investigate the 
conduct of Gen. Gates. He supiiorted the course of 
the commissioners in framing the treaty with Great 
]5ritain, taking an active part in all proceedings until 
his retirement" in 17^3. In 1784 he was made chan- 
cellor of South Carolina, but in 17f<5 he declined the 
appointment of judge of the federal court to decide 
controversies between New York and Massachusetts, 
as well as the mis.sion to the United Netherlands. 
In 1787 he was a mcnd)cr of the convention that 
framed the federal constitution, exercising in its 
deliberations an influence excelled by few, in ]iar- 
licular opjiosing the jiroposition to prevent the impor- 
tation of slaves into the states, as virtually excluding 
the Carolinas and Georgia from the Union, but 
agreeing lo the limit of "twenty-one years for such 
importation. In the organization of the govern- 
ment, he was appointed first of the five associate 
justices of the supreme court, though he was not 
present at the first term of the court in New York in 
1790, and resigned the office in 1791, to beeimie chief 
justice of his state. On the retirement of Chief 
.lust ice Jay he was appointed by Washington. July 
1, 179.5, to s\icceed him, and he jiresided for a time 
in thai capacity but his confirmation was refused by 
the .senate in December of the same year, in conse- 
(|uence of his atlitude toward the Jay treaty. This 
blow completed the dis.soluliou of his brilliant inlel-, 
lect, upon which inroads liad been previously made 






22 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



bj' disease. His jmivc is iu St. ^Ilcliacrs tliiircliy.ircl, 
Charlcstou. In 17<i;j lie inarried Elizabclli Grinilvi', 
wlio died in 17'.I2, bv whom he had six .sons and two 
daim'hters. He died .lulv IH, ISdO. 

ELIiSWOKTH, Oliver, chief justice of llie 
IT. S. supreme couit. was |]orn at Windsor, Conn., 
Apr ",'!). 174.'), liis ancestor, Jiisiah Ellsworth, liav- 
ing emii^raled to this town from VorUsiiire, Imi;;., 
iu IG.jU. Oliver's early life was spent ujion his 
father's farm, and at ,sevenleen he entered \n\c 
College, but in two years he left it for Princeton 
College, from which he was sraduated iu 17(iG. re- 
ceiving the degree of .MA. It was the wish of his 
father that he should stuily for the ministry, but Ills 
own predilections leading him to the law, he finally 
iindertook this profession and was admitted to the 
bar in 1771. ]?efore entering on iiractice, he cut 
and tloated to Hartford sutlicient hnnber to pay the 
debts incurred in gaining his education. Having 
married iMiss Abig.iil Wolcott. he took the lease of 
a small uncultivated farm, which he fenced in with 
his own hands. For three j-ears, during wliich in 
the court .season, he walked ten miles to Hartford, 
daily, his receipts as a lawyer were but Ci per 
annum, Connecticut money. At length, having 
been successful in a c.-i.sc of prominence, he obtained 
a large and lucrative jjraeticc. and removing to 
Hartford was ajipointcd .•Utorncygeneral of the 
state. As an advocate, he stood ai the liead of the 
Connecticut l)ar, his docket, 
according to Xoah Web.stcr, 
who was a student iu his olfice. 
frc(|ucntlv numbcrimr from 
1,(10(1 to 1, .")(!(» cases. In 1773 
he was a member of the gen- 
eral asseml)ly, whiih met a few 
days after the battle of Lexing- 
ton, serving on the " i)ay-table" 
or committee of military ac- 
counts. In 1777 he was elect- 
ed to congress, which he at- 
tended at intervals during six 
years, serving on the marine 
committee, the committee on 
ajipeals (from admiralty courts 
in the states), the committee 
whii-li regulated the su])plies 
to be furnishcil by the states 
for the support of the army, and the committee that 
called on the president of Pennsylvania to siipi)rcss 
the mutiny of troops which forced the a<ljournment 
of congress to Princeton. From 17H0 to 1784 he 
was a member of the governor's council of Con- 
necticut, exercising a strong influence over his col 
leagues, and fron> the last-named year u?itil 1789 he 
was one of the judges of the .supreme coiu't of the 
state. In 1787 he was a mendier of the federal 
convention, and to him, with Koger fsherman and 
Paterson, of New Jersey, it is owing mainly — to 
quote from John C. Calhoun — "in honor of New 
England and the northern states. . , . that we have a 
federal instead of a national govertnnent " He pro- 
posed the name of "the government of the United 
States," and it was his wish that the constitution 
should go forth as an amendment of the articles of 
confederation, to be ratitied by the legislatures of 
the states, rather than by conventions. Among the 
most earnest as well as the ablest advocates of .state 
rights, he contended for the cipiality of state repre- 
sentation in the senate, asking his two famous (pies 
tions of Mr. Wilson and Mr. ^Madison, "whether a 
good measure had ever been seen to fm'l in congress 
for want of a majority of states in its favor V " and, 
"whether a negative lo<lgcd with a majority of states, 
even the smallest, could lie more dangcroiis than the 
qualified negative jiroposed to be lodged in a .single 
executive magistrate, who must be taken from .some 




one state? " With slavery he declined to meddle, be- 
lieving that the decision of llie morality of the insti- 
tution, as well as the question of the iinporlation of 
slaves, .shoidd be left to the .southern stales. In the 
Connecticut ratifying convention of 1788 he made 
two speeches, one on the jiroposed scheme of govern- 
ment and the other on the power of congress to lay 
taxes, both of which have been so misunderstood 
that he has been credited with the opposites of the 
ideas cxpressi'd therein. In particular he denied the 
power of congress to coerce a stale. As one of the 
first senators fiom Couneelicut under the constitu- 
tion, he was chairman of the commitlee which 
brought in the bill lo organize the judiiiary of the 
Uniled States, the draft of whiel. is <xtaiil. in his 
own handwriting, and which pa."^i'd with but little 
alteration. He was an earnest suppoilcr of the Jay 
treaty, securing its appriiv;d in the senate, althou'.;h 
the house rejected it. lie sujiiiorlcd Hamilton s plan 
of assunu'ng the .state debts, though objecting to some 
of its details; was in favor of the crc.-ilion of ;i na- 
tional bank, as well as of the lax on ardent spirits, and 
in his cordial sujiixirl of the government, after its 
establishment, tx'camc. what John Adam^ declared 
him. "the lirmcst pillar of Washington's whole 
administration in the senate." From a private letter 
lo a friend, it is inferred thai he was the author 
of the "pretty bold measure in congress" which 
brought Rhode Island at length into the Tnion, on 
the threat of jircvcnting the importation of her 
"goods, wares an<l merchandises, " and demanding 
ing a siun of money. His first term of two years 
having expired, he was again elected to the senate, 
and in the severe study which he gave to ipiestions 
of constitutional law. dis|ilayed sucli powers of mind 
and acquired such intluence. that Aaron Burr re- 
marked "if he should chance to spell the name of 
the Deity with two </'«. it would take the senate 
three weeks to expunire the .suiicrtluons letter." He 
was also known as the " Cerberus of the Treasury." 
March 4. 17!>(j. lie was ajipointed chief justice of the 
United States, an oliice he aceciited with character- 
istic modesty and <listrust of his qualiticalions, but 
which he disdicirged until 18(10 with a dignity, 
purity and imparli.-ility which were never sulijccted 
to suspicion. Feb. 'iit. 1799. he was sent as en- 
voy extraordinary to France, with Wm. I{. Davie 
— in place of Patrick Henry, who declined llie ap- 
]iointment on account of age — anil Wm. \'ans Mur- 
ray, After the successful conclusion of his negotia- 
tions, carried on under the sufl'erings of disease, he 
spent the winterin England. Returning to his home 
the following spring, lie was again made a member 
of the governor's council, becoming thereby, exojfieio, 
a member of the board of fellows of Y;de College. 
In May. 1807. he was olVcred the oliice of chief jus- 
tice of his state, but was obliged to decline it owing 
lo the condition of his health. In his own estimate 
of his intellect he was devoid of imagination, but 
"for strength of reason, for sagacity, wisdom and 
sound good sense in the eonijuc't of atl'airs, for 
modemiion of tcm])er and general ability, it may 
be doubted if New England has yet produced his 
.superior." He received the degree of I.I.D. from 
Yale in 1790, and in 1797 both Dartmontli and Prince- 
ton gave him the same hiinor. lie died Nov, id. 1807. 
■WILSON, James, associate justice of the U. S. 
supreme cuurt. and signer of the declaration of inde- 
pendence, was born near .Si. .Vndrcws. Scotland. Sept. 
14, 174'.2. his father being a farmcrof that district. He 
studied at the universities of St. Andrews. (JIasgow 
and p^ilinburi;h. and at the last-named was one of 
Hugh Blair's tirst pupils in rhetoric. Emigrating to 
America about 17li:i. he was for a time tutor in the 
Collc.ueof Philadelphia, then studied law under John 
Dickinson, and was admitted lo the bar in 17(17. 
After brief terms of |)ractice at Riailing and Car- 




(H<^ cm (AHo^'i/(s^ 



COi>»lllGMT. 1993. BY JAMrS T. WMITf « CO 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



23 




^'^w .^^^^' 



lisle, Pa., he returned to Philadelphia, where his suc- 
cess was rapid and brilliant. His tiist piililie.ations 
■were "The Visitant " (ITlill), written eimjointly with 
W. White, afterward bisluip, and a mueh-admired 
pamphlet on the ■' Authority of the British Parlia- 
ment" (17T4). In ITT'J he married a dauahter of 
AVilliam Bird, of Birdsboroiiiih, Berks Co., Pa. In 
January, 1775, he was a member of the eonvenliou 
of the province, and in May of the Continental con- 
gress, in which he sat till the end of 1777 as a very 
prominent tiuiire. .Vt first, with 
Dickinson and others, he fa- 
vored liberty, but not a breach 
with Enijlaud. Feb. i;!, 1776, 
he otTered an address to the 
people, discussing: the idea of 
separation; it was received 
coldly, and not brou-ibt to 
vote. Three days later he pro- 
po.sed to open the ports. In 
May he opposed the [ireamble 
to the declaration, and in .lune 
the body of that docum<'nt. 
Yielding' .slowly to the sjiirit 
of the time, however, and to 
the altered instructions of the 
Pennsylvania convention, he 
voted for indeiiendenee July 
1st, and was among the first signers of the declaration. 
In the same month he attempted to lay a ta.\ on the 
slaves. He was active both as a speaker and as a 
member of committees, and outside tlie congress was 
for a time colonel of militia and commissioner to 
treat with the Indians. Olleiuled at Ills relegation 
to private life in 1777, he went to Annapolis, but re- 
turned a year later, soon earning the haticd of the 
fierce patriots by his defence of certain tories, and of 
tradesmen who refused to obey local laws as to the 
price of articles in common use. Oct. 4, 1770. a mob 
with cannon attacked his liouse, thence called Fort 
Wilson; he and his friends defended it, the city 
troop came to the rescue, and s(>veral of the assailants 
were killed or wounded. In .lune, 177!t, he became 
advocate-general of the French nation in the United 
States; this appointment, made by the Minister Ge- 
rard, being confirmed by the king in 8e]iteniber, and 
again in February, 1781. The duties of the po.st were 
so lieavy, and the pay so poor that he resigned it in 
1781, continuing to give advice for two years more. 
In December, 1781, lie was made a directcjr of the 
Bank of North America; his " C<aisi(leration " upon 
the bank appeared in 178.5. In Jlay, 1782, he be- 
came a hiigadier ■ general of militia, and in June 
was counsel for the state in tlie dispute with Con- 
necticut as to the Wj'oming lands, wiiming tlie 
case five months later. His most eminent gifts 
were, ]ierhaiis, those of an advocate, and he was 
long at tli(! head of the Philadelphia bar. The 
Manpiis of Chastellux, when in the city, won- 
dered at the extent of his library .and the wide 
range of liis learning. He was again in congress 
in 1788, and in 1780-87, and as active as before. 
In tlic convention which framed the federal con- 
stitution he was "the best-read lawyer," and chair- 
man of the eonunittee which reported the first draft 
of th.at insirument, Aug. li, 17.'^7. No friend of state 
rights, he olijected to the iirojiosed eipializ:Uion of 
state representation, preferring direct popular suf- 
frage. Once framed, liowever, no man did more 
than he to explain and defend the dociunent. In the 
state convention he urged its ratitication as " thi' best 
form of government ever olTcred to the world," and 
in th<' celebration of its adoption at I'biladclpliia, 
July 4, n.ss, lie delivered a memorable oration. 
Party spirit now ran as high as ten years liefore, and 
Wilson, as a leading federalist and an alleged aris- 
tocrat, was much berated by the writers of tlie oppo- 



sition, who ridiculed his "lofty strut," and de- 
nounced him as " never on the popular side." Yet 
in the .state convention of 1789-flO, to bring the Penn- 
sylvania constitution into harmony witli that of the 
Union, he opposed the plan of choosing state sena- 
tors through electors, and urged their election by 
popular vote. The charge that he was hostile to 
AV'ashington issutficiently refuted liy his appointment 
in October, 178!!, :is one of the first justices of the 
U. S. su[ireme court, a jiost which he held till his 
death, though his talents were thought to shine les.s 
brilliantly on the bench than at the bar. In 1790 he 
received the degree of LL. D. from the City College; 
and became its first professor of law, continuing to 
act for a time in this capacity after the fusion of this 
college with the Universilj' of Penn.sylvania, In 
March, 17!tl, the lower house of the legislature ap- 
pointed him to revise and digest the state laws: he 
oll'ered an elab(n'ate plan in August, an<l, the senate 
not concurring, carried on the work, though not to 
completion, as a private and gratuitous task. In 1793 
he published " Commentaries on tlie Constitution." 
In a case against Georgia he decided that the states 
were not sovereign, the chief justice and two others 
agreeing. In his later years, like other eminent men 
of that time, he fell into difficulties through specu- 
lations in laud, and, to avoid arrest, was obliged to 
exchange circuits with his colleague. Judge Ire- 
dell. His works, including the law lectures and 
some other matter, were eolleetetl by his son in 
three volumes, 1803-4. He died at Edenton, Chow- 
an Co,, N. C, Aug. 28, 1798, still fearing prosecu- 
tion and pursuit. 

BLiAIR, John, associate justice of the U. S. 
supreme court, was born at Williamsburg, Va., in 
1733. He was graduated from AVilliam and Jlary 
College, Va., and then studied law at the Temple in 
London, Eng, On his return to America he took a 
hfgli stand as a lawyer. In 176.5 he was a member 
of the \'irginia house of burgesses. In 1769, with 
other Virginians, he signed the nou-imiiortation 
agreement, so called after the adoption, by the Brit- 
ish parliament, of ta.x- meas- 
ures severely oppressive to the 
American colonists. In June, 
1776, he was one of a commit- 
tee which drew uji a plan of 
government for Virginia, and 
was chosen to its council. The 
next year he became a judge 
of its court of appeals, then 
chief justice, and in 1780 jvidge 
of the high court of chancery. 
He strenuously opiiosetl the act 
of the Virginia legislature, by 
which the judges of the court 
of appeals were directed to 
serve as judges of the circuit 
courts, on the ground of its 
unconstitutionality. He sat in 
the convention which framed 
the federal con.stitution. and voted for its adoption 
with George AVashington and James Madison. In 
September, 1789, he was appointed a justice of the 
V . S. sujireme court by President Washington, 
and belli the position uniil 1796, when he resigned 
his .seat. He died at Williamsburg, Va., Aug. 31, 
1800. 

IREDELL, James, associate justice of the 
U. S. supreme court, was born at Lewes. Eng., Oct. 
.5, 17.50, His father, who was a Bristol merchant, 
.sent his son at.seventeen years of age to North Caro- 
lina, where he was aiipointed deiiuty collector of 
the port. The subject of this sketch married at the 
age of twenty-three; .studied law with Samuel John- 
ston, his brother-in-law; was admitted to the bar iu 
1775, and speedily acquired a successful practice. 




J^if^^- 



24 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPJIDIA 



When the American revolution broke out he re- 
sicned tlie office of collector of customs to which ho 
had liccn aiipointcd in 1774, juiii by cspoiisiiii; tlic 
American ciuise with heartiness, alienated the re- 
gard of a wealthy uncle in the West Indies, from 
whom he would otherwise have obtained a laiire 
fortune. In December, 1777. he wa.s chosen judire 
of the superior court of the slate of North Carolin.i. 
iind two years later he was appointed state altonicy- 
jrcneral by Gov. Caswell. The latter otlice. how- 
ever, he soon resifrned. He was made a commis- 
sioner for the revision and codification of the statutes 
of the state by the leirislature in 1787, his work, 
which was pulilishcd in 17!n. l>eing known as "Ire- 
dell's Revisal." ,Iud<;e Iredell led the federal i)arty 
in North Carolina, laborinji sirenuously Ihoujih un- 
succes-sfully in the state convention (1788) to .secure 
the adojition of the federal constitution. In that 
vear tlie cniuily of Iredell. N. ('.. received his name, 
t'eb. 10. 17!H). he received his appointment from 
President Wasliinsiton, as associate ju.stice of the 
supreme court of the United States. His "Life 
and Correspondence" by Grillith J. !McRees. was 
published in New York citv in 1837. He died at 
E<lenloii. N. ('.. Oct. 20. 179it. 

PATERSON, William, associate justice of the 
V. 8. supreme court, was born at sea in 1745. He 
entered Princeton College, where he was jxradu- 
ated in 17(iH. after which he studied law and w.is 
admitted to the bar. He was a member of the con- 
vention of 1787, which framed the constitution of 
the United States, his name appearinjr amoiii;: the 
delegates from New Jersey. 
His influence in the conven- 
tion was of paramount impcirt- 
ance. as he was a leader among 
those who preferred a weak 
rather than a strong central 
government, a difference of 
oi>iniou which gave rise to one 
of the great comiiromises of the 
constitution. In 17S!I. Jlr. Pat- 
erson was a member of the 
senate from New Jersey. In 
1791), he was chosen governor 
of that state as the successor of 
Mr, Livingston. Three years 
later Washington appointed 
him a ju.stice of the U. S. su- 
preme court, and he contiiuied to hold this post 
until his death. As a recognition of his work in tlie 
line of his profession. Harvard conferred upon him 
the degree of LL.I). in 18()(). He died in Albany, 
N. Y.,"Sept. 9. lS()(i, while on a visit to his daugh- 
ter, the wife of (Jen. Stephen Van Rensselaer. 

JOHNSON, Thomas, associate justice of the 
IT. S. supreme court, was born in Calvert county, 
Md., Nov. 4. 17;!2. He studied for the bar and be- 
came a ]>ractising lawyer in ^Maryland. For ten 
years he re]iresenled his county in the house of dele 
gates, where he was [ironouneed in his opposition to 
the stamp act. and in 177"i. as deputy from JIary 
laud to the congri'.ss at Philadelphia, he nominated 
George Washington as conuuander-in-chief of the 
army. He was for several years a memlier of con 
gress, held high military jiositions in ^Maryland, was 
the first governor of that state, continuing in ollie(> 
during 1777-78 and 1779. was a menil)er of the 
Maryland house of dele.ir.ates in 1780 and 1781, and 
from the latter year to 1787 a member of the Con- 
tinental congress. As an ardent federalist, he sup- 
ported the U. S. constitution in the Jlaryland con- 
vention of 1789. After having been chief judge of 
the general court of JIaryland, he was ajipointed, 
Nov. 2. 1791, one of tlie justices of the V. .S. 
supreme court, and when ('hi<'r Justice Rulledge re- 
signed, President Washington ollered Judge johu- 





.^i^S- 



£«-*»<-*<-v^^ 



fe 



son the chief justiceship. This he declined. He 
resigned from the supreme court bench in 1793. and 
two years later was tendered the ap|)nintment of 
secretary of state, which he also (lecliucd. He 
finally, however, became one of the conuuissioners 
to lav out the citv of Washington. He died at Rose 
Hill," Frederick ('o.. Md., Oct. 25, 1819. 

CHASE, Samuel, a.s.sociate justice of the U. S. 
supreme court, and signer of the declaration of 
independence, was born in Somerset couiuv. Md., 
Apr. 17. 1741. His father. Rev. Thoma.s Chase, a 
Protestant Ei)iscopal clergyman, removed to Balti- 
more two years later to become 
pastor of St. Paul's church. 
Educated by his father, he was 
sent to Auiiapolis at eighteen 
years of age to commence the 
study of law. settling in that 
city after his admission to the 
bar. He became a member of 
the colonial k'gi.slatiu-c. distin- 
guished for his oi)iiosition to 
the royal governor and the 
court iiarly. and voting, on one 
occasion, for a mea.siue %\hieh 
reduced the income of his fath- 
er, as a clergyman, one half. In 
the riots caused by the "stamp 
act " he gloried in bearing a 
cons|)icuous part, and in 1774 he was sent as a dele- 
gate to the first Continental congress. In 1775-76 
he anticipated the declaration of independence by 
declaring that "by the (Jod in heaven he owed no 
allegiance to the king of Great Britain." Being, 
with the other delegates from Jlarvland. hampered 
b_V injunctions against voting for .separation friau 
the mother-country, he returned to liis .stale after 
going on the mission to Canada with Franklin .and 
Carroll, and denouncing and putting to fliglit Dr. 
Zubly, the treacherous delegate from Georu-ia. and 
by a vigorous canvass of the <-ounties .secured a 
vote of the convention for indeiiemlenec. Tlii'n, 
.eoing jio.st - haste to Philadelphia, he .signed the 
declaration of independence o:i Jidy 4lh. In 1778 
he drew up the address, publislicd by congress and 
orilered to be read in the chiu'ches, to counteract the 
rei)orl of conciliatory bills to l>e pas.sed by the Brit- 
ish parliament, and in 1783 he was sent to England 
to recover moneys belonging to the state of Mary- 
huid, amounting "in all to iS;!!.")!!, ( 10(1, In nstihe rv- 
moved from .\imapolis to Baltimore, and in 1788 
was made jiresiding judge of the new criminal court 
for the city and county. In 1791 he became chief 
justice of the general court of the state. He was a 
member of the convention that ratified the fed<'ral 
eon.slilution, being a federalist in iiolitics. though 
vehemently democratic in his sentiments. His firm- 
ness was eharacteristically displayed in 1794. when 
he orilered the arrest of two popular ringleaders in a 
riot, otl'ering to serve, himself, as pause comitiitits to 
the .sheriff, in default of any one el.se. though warned 
that he was'lheieliy endangering his life and jirop- 
erty. He was afterward |)reseuted by the graud 
jury for holding a place in two courts at the same 
time, when he ])romptly ordered that flay con- 
fine themselves to their proper ,s|ihere. In 1796 
he was appointed associate justice of the ,supreme 
court of the United Slates, by Washington, Later, 
in 1804, he was impeached, at the instance of John 
Randolph, on charges to which the lalter's jiarly 
zeal gave rise, but was acipiitted ^larcli 5, 1805. 
He was an ardent lover of liberty, and has been 
described as " the torch that lighted up the revolu- 
tionaiy flame in M.irylaud. ' He w:is twice m.arried, 
lirsl to Ann Baldwin, by whom he had two ,sons and 
two daughters, and to Hamiah Kitty Giles, of Kent- 
bury, Eiig, He died June 19, 1811. 



"7 





COPVUIOHT. 199!. BV JAMES T WM'TF t .'O 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



25 



MARSHALL, John, chief justice of the U. S. 

RupieiiK' t-ourl. was boiii at Gorniiintowii, Fauquier 
Co., Va., Si'pt. ~4, 1755. His liiriliplacc is now 
kuowu as Midlands, and is a station on tliu Virginia 
Midland railroad. He was the eldest son of 
Thomas Marshall, whose grandfather, a enjitaiii of 
cavalry iu the .service of Charles I., eniigrateii to 
Virginia about 1650, became a planter and the 
head of the Marshall family of Virginia and Ken- 
tucky. Thomas Marshall was a soldier, w ho fought 
in the French and Indian war and was with llie 
expedition of Geu. Braddock. He also fought in 
the rcvolutionaiy war and was with Washington at 
Valle.v Forge. Late iu life he removi^d with his 
family to Kentucky, where he was one of the dele- 
gates to the conveution called together to consider 
tlie constructiou of that state out of Virginia. 'l"hc 
mother of John Marshall was Mary Isham Keith, 
whose father was an Episcopal minister. She hail 
fifteen children, seven sons and eight daughters, and 
succeeded iu raising them all. The boy John, 
whose life we are considering, was the firstborn of 
all these children. His early education, with that of 
his brothers, was conducted by a private tutor from 
the old country, who resided in the Thomas Mar- 
.shall family from the time wlu'U .lolm was a boy 
of twelve. At that age, the latter had reail widely 
iu English literature, aud had a remarkable eap.'icity 
for committing to memorj-, being, in that w%-iy, 
fajniliar with the great Engli.sh authors of the six- 
teenth and .seventeenth cen 
turies. When fourteen years 
of age, he was sent into West- 
moreland county, where he 
entered an academy iu which 
Geu. Washington had been a 
pupil, and where one of his 
fellow - studeuts was James 
Monroe. The hoy studied 
Latin at home with his old 
Scotch preceiitor, after leav- 
ing the academy, but at the 
age of twenty, the war be- 
tween Great Britain and the 
American colonics breaking 
out, he joined a volunteer mil- 
itary com]iany. One is so ac- 
customed to connect the life 
of Marshall with his ability 
^- and renown as a jurist, as 
chief justice and as the au 
thor of the " Life of Washing 
ton " that it is difficult at first to contemplate liiiu 
in the attitude of a soldier: yet it is to be remem- 
bered that for 21)0 years his" family had furnished 
soldiers whenever required. At the age of twenty, 
he is described as being about six feet higii, 
straight and rather slender, with a dark conqilex- 
iou, a round and full face and eyes dark, .strong 
anil jienctrating. These, combined with a low 
straight forehead and raven-black hair, maiie him 
altogether an imposing figure. His temper was 
genial .and kindly, and at the period spoken of he 
appeared a model soldier .and patriot. A reg- 
iment of minute -men was formed, in one of the 
conqianies of which Jlarshall was a first lieuten.anl, 
and he first saw service near Xorfolk, when his 
regiment drove the enemy out of that locality with 
heavy loss. Later, they joined the army of Wash- 
ington in New Jer.sey, a'nil then followed those days 
of profound gloom, when jiatienee and endurance 
were the qii.alities chiefiy ncc<'s,sary in the soldier. 
In 1T7T Lieut. Marshall was promoted to a captaincy, 
and he was personally engaged in the battles of the 
Brandywine, tJermantown and Mnnmonth. He was 
also with \Vayne at the assault on Stony Point, in 
1779. Wheu the term of enlistment of Marshall's 




corps expired, he was anxious to raise another, and 
went to William.sburg, Va., where, while he was 
waiting with the hope of elfecling this pnrpo.se, he 
attended a course of law lectures which was being 
delivered at William aud Mary College. He was 
luisuccessful, however, in his project for raising new 
forces in Virginia, and accordingly returned to Phil- 
adelphia on foot, shabby and lialf starved. After- 
ward he was again in Virginia with Baron Steuben, 
and continued in service until the latter part of Jan- 
uary, 1781, wheu he resigned his conuni.s.sion. He 
was then admitted to the bar, and began the practice 
of law in Fauquier county. His abilities were at 
once recognized. His ancestry gave him a certain 
position in the count.v, while his high character 
speedily pressed him forward in his profession. Be- 
sides, his militarv .service had made him many friends 
among the revolutionary otlicers from Virginia, and 
inasmuch as a vast amount of litigation was brought 
aliout by the civil and .social contlitions following the 
revolutionary war, there was plenty of business to 
occupy an industrious young lawyer. Marshall had 
not only the legal habit of thought, but he had a 
IK'Culiar undersUiuding of the English .systems of 
law, and as American jurisprudence was "to be cre- 
ated on that basis, the value of such a man will be 
readily perceived. The justices of the peace iu Vir- 
ginia, as in most of the states, were men. almost with- 
out exception, not only of property, but of superior 
intelligence and high character. They were unpaid, 
the liouor of holding the position being considered a 
sufficieut reward for the duties connected with it. 
Next there were the circuit and superior courts, 
which possessed wider jurisdiction and whose judges 
received fixed pay. To them a|i|ieals were mtide 
from the county courts, in criminal cases; while 
thej'also exercised original juiisdiction in civil cases. 
The appellate courts of last resort were the general 
courts, composed of a majorit_v of the circuit judges. 
Finally there were the chancery courts, having juris- 
diction over questions in equity, and the supreme 
court of apjieal at liichmond, the court of last resort 
for appeal from the decisions of the chancery courts. 
Of course, every young lawyer was anxious to jirac- 
tice in Richmond, and iu cases on ai)i)eal country 
lawyers had frequent occasion to go to the capital, a 
long and expensive journey, which all who could, 
avoided by establishing their ollices there. This was 
what jMar.shall did after practicing about two years 
at the bar of Fauquier, and at Hiehmond he found 
himself comiieting with such men as l';itriek Henry, 
Alexander Campbell, Benjamin Botts, and iCdnuuid 
Randolph. He was speedily recognized as the equal 
of any of those who practiced at the Richmond bar. 
He is described by .so great au authority as William 
Wirt, as follows: " Thiscxtr.iordinary man, without 
the aid of fancy, without the advantages of person, 
voice, .attitude, gesture, or any of the ornaments of 
an or.alor. deserves to be considered as one of the 
most eloquent men iu the world, if eloquence may 
be said to con.sist in the power of .seizing the attentioa 
with irresistible force, and never permitting it to 
elude the grasp until the hearer has received the con- 
viction which the sjieaker intends." But iMarshall 
was destined to speedily make an impres.sion u])on 
the imlilic mind iu other halls than the coin-t-rooms 
of his n.alive state. In 17.Si he was elected to the 
gener.al assembly of Virginia from his native county. 
Without having had any s])ecial political experience 
between the stirring, active life of a soldier and the 
brilliant and exacting career of a lawyer, he had 
formed his own imju'essions in regard to national 
liolily, and he was, iu etfeet, a federalist, believing 
thoroughly in imposing just and proper restrictions 
on the power of the stales. At a later period, des- 
cribing his own sentiments at the time of his appear- 
ance al Richmond as a legislator, ^Marshall .siid — re- 



26 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPvEDIA 



ferring more particiilarly to tlie harilships wbich had 
been experienced by the army dunn;; (he war — " >Iy 
immediate entrance into the state leirishiture opened 
to my view the causes which had liein chielly instni 
mental in aviirmenlins those siitt'erinjrs. and the jren 
era! tendency of state politics convinced me that no 
safe and permanent remedy could be found but in a 
more ellicient and better orsranizcd jreneral crovern 
nient." Jan. ;i, 17s;i Marshall was married to Mary 
Willis Ambler, a <laui;liler of Jacqueline Ambler, at 
that time treasurer of Virginia. This lady was a 
descendant, upon the mother's side, of the La Roche 
Jac(pieliiic family of France. Tiie impoverished con- 
dition of the state of Virginia at this time, and the gen 
eral powcrlessMcss of the articles of confederal ion, 
rendered it impossible for the legislatures to do any 
tliiiu: elTective for the public weal, and though Mar 
shall was reelected in 1784, and afterwards elected 
in 17ST from his adopted county of Henrico, near 
Richmond, he could accomplish but little. He was 
elected a member of the Virginia convention of 1788 
to ratify the eonslitulion. He then resided in Rich- 
mond, where ailccided majority of the people were 
opposed to this instnunent. The .session, vvhicli 
lasted twenty-live days, brought Jlr. Marshall chief- 
ly in opposition to Patrick Henry who wa.s the 
leader of the party in antagonism to the proposed 
constitution. Jlarshall's arguments during this im 
portant discussion show the greatest sagacity as well 
as skill in reasoning, and gained for him distinction 
as a debater .such as he could have achieved imdcr 
no other circumslan<-es. In the enil the supporters 
of the constitution prevailed by a niajorily of ten 
votes. Marshall was elected to the general assem 
bly in 1788, and remained there tmtil the spring of 
17'91. During this time he established himself as 
one of the most eminent of the defenders of Wash 
iugton, whose adniiiustration was oi)i)oscd in Vir 
ginia, ]ierhaiis, eviMi more violently than elsewhere, 
although jiartisan feeling ran .so high in all the -states 
that I lie great services of the president seemed to 
be ahnosi entirely forgotten. The situation be- 
came so unpleasant for jlr. Jtar,'ih,-dl at last that he 
gladly took the opjiortunity of the eomiiletion cjf his 
termlo retire from public life, and in 17!('.2 jiosiiively 
declined re-election. During the next three y<ars ho 
devoted him.self to his profession, but in 1711") he was 
again jiushed by his friends into the general as.sem 
blv. In 1797. John Adams being invsident, John 
Jlarshall, Charles C'otesworth Pinckney, and Francis 
Dana were ajijiointed envoys extraordinary and min- 
isters plenipotentiary to France, Elbridge Gerry 
took Dana's place, the latter having declined the ap- 
jioinlmenl. The exiieriences of this body of envoys 
to France in their contact with the agents of the 
directory and of T.-dleyrand make a most interesting 
chajiter in hisiory, and relate a most disgraceful ep 
isodi — nothing less, in fact, than an alteniiit on the 
part of the tempcn-ary French govermnent to offer 
a bribe for a satisfactory residt of the mediation of 
the envoys. In regard io this extraordinaiy conduct 
on the i)art of the directory, Marshall, when leaving 
France, told 'I'alleyranil thiU the attitude of the 
Fren<-li government was in violation of the laws 
and customs which civilized nations observed tow 
ard foreign nations. It was even with ditlieully 
that Marshall and Pinckney obtained their passports. 
On his return, Marshall was received with warm en- 
thusiasm bv his fellow-citizens, among whom there 
was the most intense indignation in regard to the 
disgr.-iceful conduct of France. A public diiuier 
was given to Marshall by inendiers of both houses of 
congress, and it was at this dinner and with refer 
cnce to the infamous suggestion by Talleyrand to 
the V. S. envoys, that the sentiment was offered: 
"Millions for defense, but not a cent for tribute!" 
Duriu}; Iheadnuni.strations of President Washington, 



Marshall had been offered a seat in his cabinet ns 
attorney-general and also an important foreign mis- 
■sion, both of which positions he had declined. In 1798 
he was invitefl by President Adams to till a vacancy 
which had (K-curred on the bench of the supreme 
court of the United Stales. What Jlr. Marshall 
considered as "insurmountable considerations ' in- 
duced him to decline this honor also, a chief rea.sou 
for this action beini: that he had been invited to be- 
come a candidate for congress and had been person- 
ally requested by Gen. Washington to jiermit his 
name to be vised. The campaign was a shar]i one. 
Slarshall's election being warmly opposed by the 
democratic parly, with Jefferson at its head. He 
was, however, elected, and in Decend)er, 171)!*. look 
his .seat in the house of representatives. Naturally, 
it was with the deepest grief that one of the lirst 
duties he was called upon to perform was to an- 
nounce in the house the death of Washington. Jlr. 
Marshall look an active interest in the debates which 
arose in the house, and ejirned there the ]iroud dis- 
tinction of placing the obligations of right far above 
parly feelings and the behests of party discipline. 
Congress adjourned on May 14, 1800, and Marshall 
was invited to accept the jxisl of secretary of stale ia 
President Adams's cabinet, on its reorganizatifin. 
At the moment the relations with Great IJiilain as 
well as with France rcijuired the most delicate 
treatment. In his performance of the responsible 
duties which fell to liim, he succeeded in retaining 
the respect and admiration of both the political 
parties. While still secn'tary of state, he was ap- 
poinled, on Jan. 31, ISOl. chief justice of the 
United States, and took his seat on the bench of the 
supreme court, at the commencement of lh<' next 
terra, Feb. 4, 1801. From this iieriod, for thirty- 
five years. Chief Justice Marshall continued to be 
the absolute head of the supreme judicial tribinial of 
the United Slates, with a iiidilislu'd result tilling 
thirty volumes of reports. His decisions are monu- 
ments to the vast judicial powers and learning which 
he liossessed. They are referred to constantly at 
this day as standard authority on constitutional ques- 
tions. Displaying, as they do. a 
clearness of thought an<l impreg- 
nable logic rarely met with, com- 
bined with a grasp of great public 
quesijoMs. which was that of a 
statesman, these decisions rank 
with those of the highest judicial 
authorilii-s of the world. In 1807 
Marshall presided, with another, 
at the ,state tri.al of Aaron Burr, 
In 182!). being then seveiuy-four 
years of age, he was elected a dele- 
gate to the stale constitulional con- 
vention of Virginia, and when he 
spoke, during the sitting of the 
convention, it was observed that 
his mind was as dear and his rea- 
,soiiiiig as profound and accurate as ever. In the 
spring of ls:S,"i. being in ill health, he was advise{l to 
visit Philadelphia for medical .advice. This he did, 
but instead of obl.'iining any relief thereby, he died 
in that city. Chief Justice Marshall's chief (|Ualilies 
were absolute jirobity, dei>lh of insight into the jiossi- 
bilitiesof a question, and a logical mellio<l of reason- 
ing upon them. He was also po.s.sessed of a profound 
knowledge of jurisprudence, histoiy, and the frame- 
work of governments. Personally he was a man of 
luiassuniing but earnest )iiely, and lu' always n'tain- 
ed his youthful anuabililyof tem])er. He dressed 
phuidy, and often ajipcared awkward in his manner 
and bearing. Between 1804 and 1807 he Jiub- 

lished his " Life of Washington." which was made 
np and compiled from rei'ords and ))rivate pa- 
pers that had been placed in his hands by Washing- 




OF AMERICAN BIOGKAPHY. 



27 



ton's family. A reinint of a ]iorlion of Ihis work 
was issued in 1S24, and ciiilU years later the whole 
work appeared, revised and eondeiised. From all 
the volumes eoiUainiuL' his deeisions. there were se 
leeted and jnililislied ill lioston in ISHll. under tlie 
c<lilorsliip of Justice Joveph Storv, " The Writiuifs of 
John Marshall, lale Chief Jusliee'oftlie I'nited States, 
upon the Federal Coiistitiuiou " The date of Chief 
Jusiiee IMaishall's death was .lulv <i. ISH"). 

TANEY, Roger Brooke, ehief justice of the 
U. S. .supreme court, was horn in Calvert county, 
!Md.. ^larch IT, 1777. His ancestors were early 
Roman Catholic settlers, and of that comnumion he 
was :i devout meiulier He was i^raduated at Dick- 
inson Collei^e. Carlisle. Pa., in 17!(r>, after which he 
read law at Annapolis, having for a fellow student 
Francis Scott Key. whose sister he married in ]S()(i. 
In 17!l!l he was admitted to the bar and elected to 
the leaislature. but in 1W)U and 1S()3 he failed of 
reelection as a federalist. In l^ttl he settled at 
Freilerick. Md.. where he rajiidly built up a lucrative 
j)ractice. In 1811 he successfully defended Gen. 
Wilkinson, couunanderinehief of the army, under 
trial on various charges before a military court, re 
fusing a fee for his services. 
He was an iiiisueeessful caudi 
date for congress, but was a 
member of the slate senate, 
ISU!--'!. His defen.se of Jacob 
Gruber, a Jlethodist, who had 
preached against slaver^' at a 
camp meeting, and was accus- 
ed in ISli) of inciting shives to 
revolt, is of interest in conuec- 
ticin with the Dred Scott decis- 
ion of his later years. "Slav 
cry." he said. " is a blot on our 
national character, and every 
real lover of freedom confident- 
ly hopes that it will be effectual- 
ly, though it must be gradual- 
ly, wiped aw.ay." In 1823 he 
removed to Baltimore, being by 
this time tne mo.st eminent lawyer in his state. In 
1S'.J7 he was appointed atlorney-.geiieral of ilaryland, 
an<l in is:n of th<- United States. In this position he 
was involved in the bitterest party strife, attaining 
great fame, or rather noliiriety, by a course dictated, 
doubtless, by his sense of justice and the public wel- 
fare AV'ebster called him "the pliant instrument <if 
Jackson," while the wliigs ascribed his conduct to 
the most interested motives: it is certain that he 
served the president ably, and was rewarded for his 
service. Jime i~. 1832, he wrote a letter to Jackson, 
giving reasons again.st renewing the charter of the 
U. S. Bank. In the winter following he helped in 
preparing the niesstige vetoing the bill for its renewal, 
l)eing the only member of the cabinet who favored the 
veto. His ]irinciples and policy were one with those 
of the president, whose "most trusted and confiilen- 
tial ailviser" he became. He dreailed a moneyed 
aristocra<-y. "abhorred all alliance between govern- 
ment and the money jiowcr. as fatal to liberty," and 
believed that the baidv had violated its charier and 
was corrupting the eomilry and leading the way to 
national bankruptcy. Aug. 5, 1833, he supplied 
Jackson with argumciils for the removal of the gov- 
ernment deposits. Duane. secretary of the treasury, 
refusing to remove them, his services were dispensed 
with, and Taney Jiut in his place nd inleriiii, Sept. 
23, 1H33. Thre(> (lays later he gave the famous orrler 
for their removal, to take effect Oct. 1st. This 
order " merely directed that thereafter the revenue 
slumld he de|>osited in the selected state banks; the 
deposits already in the U. S. liank were only 
to be drawn out when needed for the use of the i;ov- 
erumeut." Xeveitheless it was sufficient. A period 




<^. ^, X^.-^. 




^'ir^or<^ C^o^ an f^'t. 



of general ccmlraction, of panic and distress, followed, 
and many were ruined. All this was cau.sed, the 
friends of the bank insisted, by the action of Jack.son 
and Taney, while the adherents of these latter claimed 
tliat the trouble came from the bank's mismanage- 
ment. It was a very burning question at the time, 
and is still an open one. Taney justified the removal 
in a letter, Dec. 4, 1.833, to the speaker of the house. 
His course was denounced by Clay, Webster, Cal- 
houn, and mo.sl of the senate- but the liou.se, in which 
Jackson's partisans had the majority, refu.sed to re- 
new the charter. The bank collapsed, and Nicholas 
Biddle. its president, and four others, were crimi- 
nally prosecuted. Taney's nomination as secretary 
of tile treasury was sent to the senate June 23, 1834, 
and rejected the next day. He resigned June 2r)th, 
and soon after received ovations in Baltimore and at 
Frederick. He wrote the farewell address which his 
friend the president read in 1837. In January, 1835, 
Jackson, with the private approval of ChiefJu.stice 
^Marshall, noniinated Taney for associate justice of 
the .supreme court; but the senate indefinitely post- 
]ioiied action. ^larshall died within the j-ear, and 
the president, not to be defeated in any act of policy 
or gratitude, sent in Taney's nomination for chief 
justice Dec. 28th. Taney's standing as a lawyer was 
of the very highest, whatever it might be as a states- 
man, so that after vehement opposition from Clay 
and Webster, he was con- 
firmed March 15, 183li, by 
a majoritv of fourteen. 
Thenceforth his life mov- 
ed on on comparatively 
peaceful lines for twenty 
years. He dispensed with 
charges to gi-and juries, 
built up the i>ractice of his 
court, took strong state- 
rights ground, and (in Prigg rs. Pennsylvania, 1841) 
defended the right of reclaiming a fugitive slave from 
another stale than that wherein he had been held. 
Judge Story, who disapproved this course, was 
meditating resignation, when he died in September, 
1845. In 1857 Judge Taney's opinion in the famous 
Dred Scott ea.se brought him most ]>rominently and 
sharplv into collision with |>ublic ojiinion in the 
Xortli. Dred Scott was owned by an army surgeon, 
Dr. Emerson, on whom he was in attendance at 
Pock Island, III., lS34-3fi, and at Fort Snelling, 
^liiin., 1836-38, where he married a slave girl. The 
tpiestious raised were: Was he freed by this residence 
in free states? and. Could "a negro of Afiican descent, 
whose ancestors were imported as slaves," be a citi- 
zen of the United States ? On being taken back to 
Jlissouri in 1838. he sued his master. The laws of 
JIis.souri and Illinois being in confiiet, the case was 
taken up to the supreme court of the United States, 
where it was finally dismissed for lack of juri.sdiction. 
Justices McLean and Curtis dissented from the chief 
justii-c'soi)inion. which wasdelivercd at great length, 
with a preamble setting forth that it was not the 
province of the court "to decide on the justice or 
inju.stiee, policy or impolicy " of the laws, but simply 
to interpret and administer them as they stood. In 
order to do this he thought fit to in(|uire elaborately 
into the sentiments prevalent in America and else- 
where concerning the African race at the time when 
the eonstitulion was frameil. Tliese he found to 
have been contemptnou.sly repressive; the negroes 
were <'onsidered "so far inferior, that they had no 
rights which the white man w.is bound to respect, 
and might justly and lawfully be reduced to slavery 
foi- his benefit. . . . This opinion was at that time 
fi.xed and univei-sal in the eivili/.ed jiortion of the 
white race: it was regarded as an a.\iom in morals 
as well as ]ioliiics, which no one thought of disput- 
ing. ' This deliverance, offered from the standpoint 



28 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPJJDIA 



of a publicist ratlier than of a casuist, and probalily 
unnecessary in u judiciiil paper, liad an effect quite 
contrary to what ils tiuthcir intended. Il exposed 
liim to fearful, thoui;li natural niisri'prescnlation. 
widening and dee])ening the gulf of severance be- 
tween North and tSoutli, and powerfidly contributing 
to the spread of those opinions wliieli, three years 
later, were to tiiuniph at the polls. Aceordinsr to a 
■writer in the " All.antie Moutlily," in February, 18ti5, 
" it prob.ably did more Ihan all Icgislalive aixl e.veeu 
tive usurpations to revive the spirit of lilierly." 
Seward attacked it in the senate with such acrimony 
as to arouse Taney's lasting resentment: the latter 
telling his biogra|>her, years later, that he would have 
refused to administer the oath if Seward had been 
elected president. The Northern conscience, stimu- 
lated rather than checked by edicts and deci.sions. 
held that if this opinion reiircsenied the law, the 
law needed amending. From this time the chief 
ju.stice, if not his court, was practically in abeyance. 
In May, 1801, he attempted to release a |nisoner from 
Fort Jlcllenry, and to attach the commandant for 
ignoring his writ, th(Higli lie expected to be arrested 
and imprisoned for tliis action. The authorities had 
no wish to molest the veteran, lagging, sujiertiuous, on 
the stage; they sim])ly disregarded him and his tech- 
nicalities, and lie died in Ballimore, lamentiii;;' the 
low estate into which his court had fallen. A few 
months later a ))ainplilet, entitled "The Unjust 
Judge," fiereelj- assailed his memory, and the " At- 
lantic Monthly" for February, lHi>r>, thought him 
"mo.st likely, after the traitor leaders, tobe held 
in infamous remembrance." Time has mitig.-iled 
these severities, and done tardy justice to the rare 
purity and loftiness of his character. He manumitted 
all his slaves, and provided for Iheaged anion;;- tlicni 
while he lived. He would wail at the door of the 
confessional among a crowd of negroes, refusing to 
enter before his turn. He declined to have his body- 
servant excused for disability when drafted, aiid 
paid for a substitute. In private life he was a model 
of jirobity and humanity, while his pulilic course 
■was governed by his ideas of right, regardless of his 
interests and his reputation. His model was the just 
and resolute man of the third ode in Horace's third 
book. When he eutereil .Jackson's cabinet, to be 
considered by half the country a tyrant's tool, he 
thought he was sacritieing his chief ambition, which 
pointed to the sii|)renie court. In the Dred Scott 
decision he followed his con.science; but the national 
conscience and the logic of events took an opjiosite 
direction. Though a great lawyer, be was hardly a 
great statesman. Bronze statues in Baltimore and An 
napolis, and a sympathetic memoir by S.amuel Tyler, 
LL.D., 1872, attest the reverence of Jlaryland for 
one of her foremost son.s. The il,-ite of "his death 
■v\\as Oct. 12, 1804. 

CHASE, Salmon Portland, chief justice of 
the I'. S. suprcmi'court, was liorn at Cornish. N. H., 
Jan. i;3, 18(J8, and was descended from Knglish iinil 
Scotch ancestors, who settled at Newbury, >Iass., 
about 1040. Several members of his family in llii^ 
ne.\t |)revious generation attained ilistiiu'tion in pub- 
lic life. One of his uncles was chief justice in. and 
tr. S. senator from, Vermont, another was a leader at 
the bar of Portland, ,Mc., and a third was bisho|i of 
the Protestant Eiiiscopal church in Ohio. His father 
was a farmer on a moderate scale, who remained for 
a time on the old homeslead at Cornish, but subse 
<iuently removed to Keene, N. H. During the war 
of bsl2 he embarked in an enterprise, the establish- 
ment of a glass factory, which came to grief as soon 
as the war ended, and .soon after he died suddenly, 
leaving his family in str.'iitened circumstances. Sal- 
mon P., the subject of this sketch, hail foi- his earliest 
teacher Daniel Breck, afterward a judges in Ken- 
lucky. Notwithstanding the reverses of his father, 




he attended school at ■^^'indsor, Vt., but at twelve 
years of age he was committed to the care of his 
uncle, the bishop of Ohio. A journey to that state 
was a serious alfair in Ihtjse days. The boy was in- 
tru.sted to the care of an elder brother, who," with the 
Hon, H. R. Schoolcraft, was about starting to join 
Gen. Cass'se.\])edition to the upper Mississippi. The 
bishop lived at W'orthinglon. near Colimibiis, and his 
nephew was obliged to remain for several weeks at 
Cleveland before he found a chance of comiileling 
the journey, earning his living in the meantime by 
ferrying jiassengers across the Cuyahoga in a canoe. 
At U'ortliington he divided his time between hard 
work on the bishop's farm 
and hard study at the bish- 
op's academy. Thence, af- 
ter a time, he accom]ianied 
his uncle to a rather more 
ambitious educational in- 
stitution at Cincinnati, 
where he remained until 
1823, when Bishop C'liase 
went to Europe to raise 
funds for the estiiblish- 
inent of Kenyoii College. 
Salmon then returned to 
New Hampslnrc. taught 
,scliool for a little while: 
studied, brietly, at Koy:d 
ton.Vl., and entering Dart- 
inoiilh College as a junior, 
was graduated therefrom 
in 1820. With his diploma 

and a few doll;irs in his ])ocket he went to Wa.shing- 
toii, D. C, advertising in the " Xational Intelligencer" 
his intention to te:ich a ".select cl;[ssic:il school. ■■ but 
he got no ]>upils and his money nipidly disajipeared. 
In despair he applied to his uncle, the senator, for a 
clerkship in tlie U. S. treasury department. " If you 
want half a dollar to buy a spaile and go dig for a 
Jiving," was the answer, " I will give it to you, but 
I will not hel]) you to a place under tlu' government, 
I got :in aii]>ointnient oni-e fora nephew, and it riiiu- 
eil him." At last Chase obt;iiued the cli;irge of a 
school from which tlii' jiroprielor w.-isal)0ul to retire, 
which numlx'ied among its jiatrons Henry Clay, 
William Wirt and other distinguished men. and dur- 
ing his leisure Inairs he studied law with Mr. Wirt. 
His cutrauce into the legal lu'ofession, however, was 
not aus])icioiis. He jKissed his c.\:iniination in 1830 
with ditliculty, and it is said that the only reason he 
was not rejected utti'rly was liecause lie intended to 
practice at Cineininiti, O.. where any sort of a lawyer 
was supposed, at that time, to be good enough, 
Duringhisstay at Washington Mr. Chase gave much 
attention to light literature. ;i poem beiiur still extant, 
aildressed by him at that time to Mr. AVirt's daugh- 
ters. His only client for a long time ;ifter he began 
jiractice was a man who p;nd him li.'dl' a dolhir for 
drawing an ai;feement, :ind came back in a few d;iys 
to borrow the li;ilf dollar. In his tirsi argument be- 
fore a federal court he broke down. N'everthele.ss, 
he .soon made his way. He had .settled at Ciniinnati 
as soon as he wasadmitteil tothe bar. ;ind there, while 
waiting for practice, he prepared an edition of the 
statutes of Oliio with notes and a liisloiieal introduc- 
tion, which lirou:;ht him into notiir. As early as 
]X'A4 he wa» appointed solichor ot the li:iiik of the 
I'nited States at Cincimuiti, and it was at this point 
that he began to gain that knowledge of tinance, 
which was of such .service to him in after days, par- 
ticularly in his high and imiiort;int position as .secre- 
tary of the I". S, treasury during I he civil war. In one 
way and another his leg;il pnicticc w.as increasing and 
.solidifying, lu tliiss;ime year, ls;il, thi' L:itayelte 
Bank of Cincinnati was established, Mr. Cha.se was 
one ot its tirst board of directors, a position which he 





COPYRIGHT, 1995, BY JAMES T. WUiTE « CO. 



OF AMEKK'AN BIOGRAPHY. 



20 



lield for ton years, actinu also as secretary of the I)oai<l 
and solicitor of tlie lianiv. In its atfairs lie took, 
moreover, a eontrolliiii; ilireelion, aeqniriiijj tliereliy 
high raiil\ as a banli lawyer. It was about this time 
that lie began to take an interest and a inoniineiit part 
in politics, bcconiing a leader in the agitations and 
struggles that led to Ihe formation of the free-soil and 
•snlisequently of the republican iiarty. From the lirst 
he was unalteral)ly opposed to slavery, and in is;i7 
defc'iided. at Cincinnati, a fugitive slave woman claim- 
td for bondage under the U. S. law of 17!K!. denying 
the constitutionality of the statute. " There is,-i jn-om- 
ising young man who has just ruined himself," was 
the utterance of a lawyerin the courtroom then, con- 
cerning him. Of course ho was forthwith branded 
as an "abolitionist." His reputable friends, and, 
having married into a wealthy and aristocratic family, 
lie had many such, looked upon him witli pity and 
contempt. But he walked in the jiath he had made 
for himself. His defense of James G. IJirney for 
harboring a negro slave, his severe review of the re- 
port of the .iudiciary committee of the state senate re- 
fusing trial by jury to slaves, and his second defen.se 
of Hirney are in point. He was counsel for so many 
fugitive blacks that he was styled " attorney-.iieneral 
for runawa.v negroes." The John Van Zandt case. 
in which Mr. Chase and William H. .Seward ap- 
peared together before the U. S. sujirenie court as 
counsel for Van Zandt (the original of "John Van 
Tromp," in "Uncle Tom's Cabin") was perhaps 
the most notable of the trials which brought him to 
the front as the dauntless advocate of freedom for 
men of all hues and conditions iu life. Mr. Chase 




said in later years, looking back to these experiences: 
" It seem< to me. now, that I could not licl]i working 
if I would, and that I was just as really called, in the 
course of Providence, toiiiy labors for himian freedom 
as ever any other laborer in the great field of the 
■world was called to his appointed work." This utter- 
ani-e tallies with the testimony of an intimate friend 
that his was "a deep religicais nature. He believed 
■with tlie trusting faith of a child in the truths of Hev- 
elalion, not as an abstract thing se]iarale and aji.'irt 
from his daily life. It colored all his chanicter. an<l 
entered into Ihe most minute details of his life." 
'When the lilxTtv part.v, which came into being in 
Ohio in 1841, and had Mr. Chase for one of its found- 
ers, held its first national convention at Buffalo, 
N. Y., in 1H4:{, he wrotealmosi the wliolcof ilsjilal- 
form. In 1844 that party, liolding the l]al!iiice of 
power between Ihe whig and democrati<^ organiza- 
tions in Ihe country, caused the defeat of Henry Clay 
in his canva.ss for the U. S. presidency. Four ycirs 
pa.sscd, and in the campaign of 1848 ;Mr. Chase pre- 
sided at the free-soil convention which nominated 
Martin V.an Biiren for president, and Charles Francis 
Adams for vice-jircsident. At Ihi' election this party 
cast one in niiK; of the entire |)opular vote Ihrougli 
the I'niled Stales, and in l.'<4i), by a combination of 
democrats and frec-soilers in the Ohio legislature, 
Mr. Chase was elected I'. S. senator from that state. 
He held Ihe office until 18.")2, when, having definitely 
severed every counectiou with the democratic party, 



he was elected governor of Ohio by the republicans 
iind "know-nothings," and was re-elected, by au 
overwhelming majority, in 18.")(). lU' exhibited iu 
his senatorial career the same unllinching determina- 
tion to crush out the insiitutioii of human slavery in 
the United Slates, which hail idrea<ly distingui.shed 
him, persistently attacking the clTi>rts then beinj; 
made to repeal the " .'Mis.souricom|iromise. "so called, 
of 1.820, e.xiiosingthe true character of the attempt iu 
this direction, and laying bro.'id foundations for the 
si)irit which played its decisive ]iart in Ihe great na- 
tional struggle of the civil war. His continued con- 
nection with finance is not, moreover, to be lost sight 
of here. Though he was excluded in the U, S. sen- 
ate by a pro-slavery majoi'ity from the senate's com- 
miltees because he " belonged to no healthy political 
organization," it was yet his duty toconsider the na- 
tional linaiices. and where duty called lilm to act it 
was his habit thoroughly to inform himself. During 
his four years' governorship of Ohio, too, he had a 
general supervision of that great state's finances. 
When Ihe national republican convention met at Chi- 
cago, 111., in the summer of 1800, Ihe voting for a can- 
didate for president stood, on the first ballot — for Wil- 
liam H. Seward, 17!J'o; for Abiaham Lincoln, 103; 
for Simon Cameron, M)'.,: for S. P. Chase, 4U. On 
the third ballot the votes of ^Mr. Chase's sup- 
liorters were transferred to Mr. Lincoln, who was 
nominated and eU'ctcd. When he ■n'as inaug- 
urated (March 4, 18(;i) he called Gov. Chase to 
the ixirl folio of Ihe U. S. treasury. There was 
no position, then, or for a long time after, in 
the administration of Ihe .irovcrnmenl. more arduous 
or dillicult. Its public finances weri' alr<'a<ly iu 
chaos, current revenue was insullicicnt to meet cur- 
rent expenses, and when !Mr. Cha.se's lirst loan of 
$8,000,000 was made, for which bids -nere opened 
on the 2d of April, fen days before Fort Sumter was 
fired u])on, the offerings for it rangeil, says Jlr. Hor- 
ace Greeley, from five to ten per cent, discount, and 
only $3,099,000 were tendered at or under six per 
cent, interest. Mr. Chase, in the face of vehement 
clamor, declined all bids at higher rates of interest 
than six per cent., and .soon after placed the bal- 
ance of Ihe $8,000,000 in two-year treasury notes at 
par, or a fraction over. " After the civil war broke 
out. when the pressure on him was heavier, he went 
to New York city for his first loan from the banks, 
realizing $.")0,000".000, which was supplemented, later 
on. by $1(10.000.000 more from the same source. But 
the Xew York banks could not sell the U. S. bonds 
upon which they loaned, for coin, and on Dec. 37, 
istil, they agreed to suspend specie payment at the 
elo.se of the year. Meanwhile the .secretary's ueces- 
silics, con.sequent iijion military operations, outran 
the ability of these lenders. Jlr. Chase forthwith, ap- 
licaling to the people of the coimtry for the credit he 
needed, issued what has .since been known as "Ihe 
greenback," which was made a "legal tender " by 
acts of congress for everything except customs du- 
ties. It is on record that Amasa Walker, a distin- 
.guished financier of Massachusetts, first su.irgested 
that the notes thus i.ssued as currency directly from 
Ihe government to the pi'ople, should bear interest. 
And it is also on record that, althmigh .Mr. Chase 
opposed this proiiosition when first made to him by 
David Taylor, of Ohio, upon the ground of its uu- 
consiitutioiiality, he did, at the instance of President 
Lincoln — who intimated to him that Ihe consthutioa 
was " going to have a rough time of it before we get 
through with this row " — not oidy lay aside any scru- 
ple in regard to this, but did his liest to put their 
issue into immediate and iiractical operation. The 
success of the " jiopular loans" is a m.-itter of his- 
torv. The issue of the greenbacks at varicais peritxls, 
and for an aggregate amount so great that the " Lon- 
don Times" said, "the hundredth jiart of Mr. 



30 



THE NATIOXAL CTCLOP^DIA 



Chase's embarrassments would tax Mr. Gladstone's 
ingeiniitj- to the utmost, and set the (Hritisli) public 
mind in a ferment of excitement." was followed by 
the national bankiuft system, an act to establish which 
■wa.s pas.sed by the U."S. congress Feb. 2'>, 1803. If 
Mr. Chase wius not its orijrimitor — and that distinc- 
tion appears to belong to Hon. O B. Potter of 
Kew York (g. r.), who laid the plan for it, well 
drawn out, before the secretary as early as Au- 
gust, 1861 — he was its earnest advocate and pro- 
moter. By these tinaucial measures the .subject of 
this sketch discharged his Herculean labors during 
the first three years of th(' war, which enalileil the 
government to keep its military forces in the field. 
He resigned his secretaryship ,fune 30, 18()4, and on 
the 6th of December of the same year was nominated 
by President Lincoln (o the chief jiis(iceshi]i of the 
U. !S. supreme court; a nomination that was at once 
confirmed by the U. S. senate. Mr. Chase ])erformed 
the dutiesof this high office until hisdeath. His fitness 
for those duties no one who knew him ever (piestioued. 
The judicial mind and temiierament were his to an 
uncommon degree. " He heard," as one has said, 
"with patience, and judged with impartiality." To 
these qualities he adcleil the highest courage to de- 
cide and to determine. But his physical health had 
been broken by exhaustive work during the war, and 
the end came too soon for him to make for himself 
that name as a jurist which he ought to have made if 
a longer career on the bench hadbeen granted him. 
In 18(i8 he was frequently sjxiken of as the jirobable 
nominee of the democratic party for the U. 8. iiresi- 
dency in the ensuing campaign," and in answer to a 
letter from the chairman of the national committee 
of that party, he made a declaration of his political 
princijiles and position, which closed as follows: " I 
have now answered your letter as I think I ought to 
answer it. I beg you to believe me, for I .siy it in 
all sincerity, that f do not desire the ollice of" presi- 
dent, or a nomination for it; nor do I know that, 
■with my views and convictions, I am a suitable can- 
didate lor any party. Of that my coimtrymen nuist 
judge." Mr. Chase was thrice niarried, and in each 
instance the wife he had cho.sen died soon after their 
union had been consiunmated. As to one of his two 
daughters, once well known in American society, a 
writer has said: "No one can remember him sepa- 
rate and ajiart from the daughter, Mrs Kate (Chase) 
Sprague, who. inheriting his intellect and force of 
character, added the eliarm of tact and womanly 
beauty that made her home a salon, when; the gra- 
cious being, queenly in her deportment and iiojiidar 
in her sweet condescension, wielded an iulluence 
strange to this coarse American woi-ld of ours. This 
lovely and accomplished woman lived in her father, 
sharing alike his cares and his .ambitions." The date 
of Jlr.'Chase's death was May 7, 1873. 

"WAITE, Morrison Reiuick, chief justice of 
the U. S. supreme court, was born at Lyme, Conn., 
Nov. 29, 1810. He was of the sturdy Puritan stock 
which .settled seaboard Connecticut", and a son of 
Henry M. Waite, who for thirty-five years was on 
the bench of that slate — twenty years as judge of 
the superior court, and fifteen as "chief justice of its 
supreme court. The son was educated at Yale Col- 
lege, where he was graduated in 1837, in the same 
cla.ss with William M. Evarts, Benjamin Silliman, 
Edwards Pierrepont, and Sanniel '.J. Tihleu. He 
studied law in his father's office, and sub.sequently, 
at JIaumee City, O., in the office of Samuel L. 
Y'oiuig, by whom he was taken into partnership 
on his admission to the bar in 1839. The firm 
stood high, and enjoyed a lucrative prac-ticc, b\it 
in 1850 it removed to Toledo, where it had a wider 
field, and soon acquired a state rep\itation, Mr. Waite, 
especially, distinguishing himself for his great iu- 
dtistry and ability to grasp all the details of intri- 




-^. ^M^ 



cate cases. It was not long before he ranked at the 
Ohio bar second only to Allen G. Thurman, and it 
was the hitter's enthusiastic testimony to his high 
character and great abilities which overcame the elo- 
quent opposition of Charles Sumner to his confirma- 
tion as chief justice of the L'. S. supreme court. 
After Mr. Thurnian's elevation to the bench, >Ir. 
Waile became the acknowledged leader of the Ohio 
bar. and he .so continued until he retired from it 
twenty-three years later. In jidlitics he was first a 
whig and then a republican; but he was never a politi- 
cian, though, during the years 1849 and 1850, he served 
in the Ohio senate^ and in 18()2 was the head of aa 
unsuccessful revolt of the republicans of his district 
against the nomination of .James M. Ashley for con- 
gress. His selection as a candid.-ite was ilue to his 
high standing in his home comumnity, and not to 
any party zeal he had at 
any time manifested. In 
1871 he was selected. In 
connection with William 
M. Evarts and Caleb Cush- 
ing,to represent the L'nited 
States liefore the tribunal 
of arbitration at Geneva. 
His ser\ices there were 
very important, though 
they were overshad<iwed 
in the popidar mind by the 
great reputation of his as- 
sociates, who made the ar- 
guments. But his jirepara- 
tion of the American case 
won theuniversal commen- 
dation of the legal profes- 
sion, and it was the rep- 
utation he acquired by it 
which led President Grant to subsequently tender to 
him the position of chief justice. In 1874 he presided 
over the Ohio constitutional convention, having been 
chosen a delegate by both ])olitical jiarties, and on 
the death of Cliief .Justice Chase, in the same year, he 
was nominated and confirmed as chief justice of the 
United States. The nomination was opposed in the 
senate, as has been said, by >Ir. Simmer, but wheu 
actually put to vote there was not a dissenting voice. 
Nevertheless, it was a surprise and disappointment 
to the country. Outside of his own slate he had 
scarcely been heard of, and his a]i]iointuient was at 
once set ilown as one of the mistakes of the Grant 
administration; but .Judge Thurman and the entire 
press of Ohio predicted that Mr. ^Vaite would prove 
every way worthy of the high iiosition. His admin- 
istration vindicated their judgment, and confirmed the 
reputation lie ha<l achieved at the bar of Ohio. Other 
judges have shown more legal erudition, but none 
has excelled him .-is a presiding officer, nor performed 
the functions of the chief justiceshiii with greater 
dignity and imparl iality. The eonsliiutional amend- 
ments which have been adopted since the civil war 
have greatly extended the jiowers of the federal 
government, and he was called ii|ion to act upon 
some of the larger (luestions. conci'rning its rights in 
relation to thd.se of the states. All these questions he 
decided ably, holding an even balance between the 
states and ihe federal government, protecting the 
former from encroachment, and cheeking the ten- 
dency toward centralization in the latter. The per- 
sonal as well as the professional life of Chief Jus- 
tice Waite was of unsullied purity, and it was doubt- 
less as much his high character as his great legal 
ability that gave weight to his decisions. He was for 
many years a trustee for the Peabody Educatianal 
Fund. The ilegree of LL.D. was conferred on him 
by Kcnyou College in 1874, and by the Ohio Uni- 
versity in 1879. He died at Washington, D. C, 
March S3, 1888. 





COPvniGMT, 1H9I, BY JAWE3 T. WHITE d tQ. 



OF AMEKICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



31 





^^^'^^^^ 



FULLER, Melville Weston, chief justice of 
tlie U.S. sii])reine Cdiirt, was lidrii in Aujiusiii, 5Ie., 
Feb. 11, 1833. his fatlier, srnuKifathcr. iiiul i;reiit- 
gninclfather havinjj all beeu leudinir citizens of that 
state. His grandfather, Nathan Weston, after flislin- 
giiishing himself at the bar, ^vas associate justice of 
the supreme court of JIaine from 1H20 to i8;!4. and 
chief justice of the stale from 
1834 lo 1841. His paternal 
grandfather, Henry Weld Ful- 
ler, a classmate of Daniel Web- 
ster at Dartmouth College, be- 
came a lawyer of ability, and 
was, at the time of his death, 
a judge in Keiuiebec couiUy, 
Me. His father, Frederick Au- 
gustus Fuller, a gracUiale of 
Harvard Law School, was also 
a lawyer of distinction. After 
being well groumled in the 
rudiments of an education, 
Melville entered Bcnvdoin Col- 
lege, and was graduated from 
that institution in ls,")3. Hav- 
ing desceniled from a long line 
of lawj'ers, he at once decided 
to enter that profes.sion. He studied in the office of 
liis uncle, George ^Melville Weston, in Bangor, Me., 
and then took a course of leeliires at Harvard Law 
School. After his admissiim to the bar lie began to 
practice at Augusta in 18">"), in ]iartnershi]) with his 
uncle, Benjamin G. Fuller, with whom he was also 
associated for a short time as editor of " The Age," a 
democratic paper. The next year he was president 
<if the comiuon council of Augusta, and performed 
the duties of city .solicitor. Before the year 18.56 
liad closed be removed to Chicago, 111., where he 
continued in the practice of his |irofessi(in. having 
already, at the age of twenty-three, displayed re- 
niarkid)le ability as a lawyer. His engaging man- 
ners, brilliant attaiumeiUs, and his readiness and 
eagerness for liard work, .soon brought him clients, 
and within two years of his location in tlint rajiidly 
growing city, he appeared before the supreme court 
of Illinois as attorney in the ca.se of Beach iv. Derby. 
His first casein the supreme court of the Cnitcd States 
was that of Dows (■.«. Chicago, an attempt to restrain 
by bill the collection of a tax n]Mn shares of 
the capital .stock of a bank. The first case that he 
argued in person was that of the Traders' Bank rx. 
Campbell, involving tlie interesting ipiesljon of a 
judgment against a bankrupt. His ability and loy- 
alty to the interests of liis clients were .so" fully rec- 
ognized tliat he soon acquired a large and lucrative 
practice, embracing all branches of the law. In 



commercial law and the law of real property he had 
no superior at the Chicago bar. The impression he 
made on the jurisprudence of Illinois can be esti- 
mated by the fact that ca.ses in which he was inter- 
ested appear iii more than one hundred volumes of 
the law reports of the .slate. The mo.st celebrated 
case in which he was interested was one in which an 
ecclesia.stical council attempted to ]ireveut Bishop 
Charles Edward Cheney, by reason of a charge of 
canonical disobedience, from farther acting as rec- 
tor, and from occupying the ]iarsoiiage and using 
the house of worship as such. Mr. Fidler a]ipeared 
in defense of the bishop, and in the trial disjilayed a 
knowledge of ecclesiastical law, and a familiarity 
with the writings of the church fathers that was 
astonishing even to the learned churchmen before 
whom the case was first tried; while his argiunent 
before the supreiue court of Illinois, to which tri- 
bunal the case finally went, has been jironouuced 
a masterpiece of legal argument and forensic elo- 
qui'nce. In tliis case, Mr. Fuller held, and was .sup- 
liortedbythe cotu-t in bis position, that the church 
society held its i)roi)crty subject to no ecclesias- 
tical judiciary or governing Ijody, but solely for 
the use of the society or congregation, and to decide 
otherwise would be to oveiruie the statute under 
which the society was formed, and to ignore the 
corporate body which the law interjiosed lietweea 
cluu-ch and state, that they might lie se|)arated as 
widely as possible. He h.id aii cxtensi\e practice 




in the federal courts early in his career. In fact, 
it is a singular cdincidence that in the first case 
heard by the late Chief .Justice Waite, wlien lie as- 
sumed the duties of his olliee in 1874, >Ir. Fuller, 
liis successor in the office, was counsel. Mr. Fuller 
distinguished himself in the celebrated '• Lake-front 
ca.se" before ^Ir. .lustice Harlan and Judge Bl(«lgelt, 
in which he .successfully represented the va.st in- 
terests of the city of Cliic.'igo. It was a great legal 
contest, and the conduct of the case attracted wTtio 



32 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 





attention. A marked characteristic of his methods 
as a practitioner at thebarwas thoroujjhncss, to which 
end heahvays made a careful preparation of his cases 
before they came up for trial. In addres.sing court 
or jurj- he spoke with clearness and earnestness, and 
some of his arguments in important cases contain a 
wealth of research and scholarly reasoning. A desire 
for justice dominated him in the conduct of cases, 
rather than adesiretowiu. In Iiisthirly-three years' 
practice at the Chicago liar he ro.se graduallj' to the 
highest rank in the legal profe.s.sion. He wasa personal 
friend and an ardent admirer of tStejihen A. Douglas, 
and during the civil war gave a loyal and earnest sup- 
port to the cause of the 
Union. In 1862 he was a 
member of the convention 
to revise the state consti- 
tution of Illinois, and in 
1863 of the lower hou.se of 
the state legislature. He 
„, -,, wasa delegate to the dem- 
;i'-"jjj.'-:.7:.™.,'::,'"'' '*''' '^*^ ocratic national conven- 
>^2Y-tl?^^*^^'^W3?ffTiT tions of 1864, 1872, 1876, 
"^ ^^^"^^^ TiT7^-r->— — 1 jjjjfj jgj.jO_ making an elo- 

quent speech in 1876 in 
placing Thomas A. Hen- 
dricks in nomination be- 
fore the convention. After 
1880 Mr. Fuller retired 
from active participation in politics, and gave his en- 
tire attention to his profession. Apr. 30, 1888, he was 
nominated by President Cleveland to be chief justice 
of the United States, as the successor of Morrison K. 
Waite, who died on March 23d of the same year. He 
wa-s confirmed by the senate, and commissioned July 
20, 1888, being then, with one exception, the youn- 
gest member of the supreme court, over which lie has 
since presided with dignity and grace. Under the 
presidency of Chief .Justice Fuller, an expansion of 
the federal powers has taken place through the de- 
cision that there exists an implied authority on the 
part of the executive to protect the federal judges 
whenever there is just reason to believe that they are 
exposed to personal danger while attending to the 
duties of their office. Chief Justice Fuller is a per- 
son of studious habits. He is well versed in general 
literature and history, is familiar with three modern 
languages, and is a fine .scholar in the ancient clas- 
sics. He is po.s.sessed of an amiable disijosition and 
generous impulses. Among his early public addresses 
one welcoming Stephen A. Douglas to Chicago in 
1860, and another on Sydney Bree.se, which is prefixed 
to Bree.se's " Early History of Illinois," deserve spe- 
cial mention. He distinguished himself as an orator 
in an address before both houses of congress Dec. 
11, 1889, in commemoration of the first inauguration 
of George Washington. The degree of LL"D. was 
conferred on him by Northwestern University and 
Bowdoin College in 1888, and by Harvard Univer- 
sity in 1891. 

FIELD, Stephen Johnson, associate justice 
of the U. S. supreme court, was born at Haddam, 
Conn., Nov. 4, 1816. He is descended from a fam- 
ily whose ancestry can be traced back 800 years in 
England. The fiist of his ancestors in this "country 
were among the early settlers of New England. 
Timothy Field, his grandfather, wasa captainin the 
array of the revolution, and his father, David Dud- 
ley t^ield, was graduated at Yale in 1802, the class- 
mate of the father of William M. Evarts, became a 
noted clergyman in the Congregational church, a 
member of several state historical societies, and the 
author of various local historical works. Three 
brothers of Mr. Justice Field, David Dudley, Cyrus 
AV., and Henry Martyn, have become distinguished 
in American history, and his sister Emilia is the 



mother of ^Ir. Justice Brewer, of the U. S. supreme 
court. Being well grounded in the rudiments of his 
education at the age of thirteen, he accompanie(l his 
sister Emilia, who had married Rev. Jo.siah Brewer, 
a missionary, to Smyrna, Turkey. He went there 
for the purpose of acciuiring a knowledge of the 
Oriental languages, with the design of filling a chair 
in some American institution of learning. He was 
gone nearly three years, and in the meantime visited 
many of the islands of the Grecian archipelago and 
famous cities of Asia Jlinor. He remained one winter 
in Athens, where he aiMpiired a carefid knowledge of 
the mcxlern Greek language, and he diligently studied 
the Greek, Anneniau, and Mahometan feliirion.s. 
Heturniug to America in 1833, he entered Williams 
College, and was graduated in 1837 with the highest 
honors of his da.ss. He then went to New York 
city, studied law in the office of his brother, David 
Diidley Field, and entered the bar in 1841. During 
part of this tin\e he was an instructor in Albany Fe- 
male Academy, and pursued his studies under John 
Van Buren, altorney general of the slate. From 
1841 to 1848 he was the law partner of his brother in 
New York, giving evidence, during that peri(xl. of 
tmusual aptness for the legal |u-ofes,sion. He spent 
one year traveling in Europe, and then went to Cal- 
ifornia, arriving in San Francisco Dec. 28, 1849. with 
ten dollars in his pocket. A month later he had 
established himself in the practice of the law in 
Marysville in that state. The Siime year, 1850, he 
became the first alcalde, or judge, of the town. He 
continued in that i)o.sition until the adoption of 
American institutions. In October of the same year 
he was elected a member of the first legislature held 
after the admission of California into the Union. In 
making his canva.s,s. which he conducted in person, 
he witnessed many of the exciting scenes of border 
life, and sjived from lynching a man charged with 
stealing gold-dust. In the legislature he took a Icjul- 
ing part in molding the judiciary of the state and 
establishing codes of civil and criminal practice; 
framed an exemption law for the l)enefit of poor 
debtors, remarkable for its comprehensiveness and 
liberal provisions, and was the aiUhor of the law 
regulating the customs and usages of miners in the 
settlement of controversies. His work in this, the 
first legislature of the slate, resulted in lasting effect 
upon the interestsof California, and, since, to all the 
Pacific states. At the clo.se of the session he returned 
to Marysville, and during the following six years 
acquired a large and lucra- 
tive practice. He became one 
of the leading lawyers in the 
state, and in 1857 was elected 
a judge of the supreme court 
of the commonwealth. Before 
his term was to begin he was 
appointed in the fall of is.57 
to fill a vacancy caused liy 
the death of one of the 
judges, and he assumed the 
duties of ofiice in October of 
the same year. David S. 
Terry, the chief justice, re- 
signed in 1859, and Ju.sticc 
Field immediately became 
his successor. He held that 
ollice until 1863, when Pres- 
ident Lincoln appointed him 
to his present position, upon the unanimous recom- 
mendation of the senators and members of con- 
gress of the states composing the new circuit. He 
is now (1891) the .senior associate justice of the 
U. S. .supreme court. In the .state courts he was 
universally recognized as a fearless and able jur- 
ist, and liberal enough to lay broail and deep 
the foundations of her laws. Land titles received 




^^^iyi^^tn^^y^A^-^SiX^ 



OF AMKKICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



33 



protection from liim. In 1873 be was appointed by 
tbe governor of Ciilifornia one of a coininissioii to 
examine the eode of laws of tliat state and to pre- 
pare amendments to tbe same for U-irislalive aelion. 
In 1877 be was a member of the eleiloral cnnnnis- 
siou, and voted with the niincu'ity, e.\|)ressing his 
opinions without (iiialitie;itions. His name was 
placed in nomination for president at the democratic 
convention held in Cincinnati in ISSO, and he re- 
ceiver sixty-tive votes on the first ballot. In IHHl he 
visited Europe and the East, going as far as Athens 
and Smyrna, where he had spent part of bis boyhooil. 
Two attempts have been made to take his life. First 
in lS(i."), when he receiveil through tbe mail an ex- 
plosive in a package from some squatters who were 
disposses.sed of lands in Califoi-nia by one of his de- 
cisions, and, .second, by Ex-Judge Tcrr_v, wlio had 
become a notorious cliaracter. Becoming incensed 
at a decision affecting liis jiersonal interests. Terry, 
n.s.sisted by his wife, attempted to assassinate .luslice 
Field in a hotel in California. 'I'his i)v<'rt act was 
prevented by a deputy L". tS. marshal, sjiccially sent 
to protect tlie justice, who bad gone to that state for 
the performance of bis tluties. Terry was shot by 
the deputy marshal just as he was making the deadly 
a.ssault. .Viitong the leading decisions in which Mr. 
Justice Field has been concerned on tlu^ suiireme 
bench Wii-s the famous test-oath case, in which be 
gave the casting vote. lie wrote tbe opinion of the 
court annidlingthe " iron-clad oath." llisdis.scriting 
oi)inions in the legal-tender cases and in the confis 
cation CiLses have also attracted wide attention. His 
]ong career on tlie Ijcnch has given roundness and 
com])letene.ss to a character whose integrity, gener- 
o.sity, firmness, and candor have given him high rank 
in the judiciarv of this countrv. He received the 
degree ni LL.D". from Williams'Cdllege in lS(i4. In 
1869 he was appointed professor of law in the Uni- 
versity of California. He delivered a notable address 
in New York city Feb. 4, 189(J, at tbe centennial 
anniversary of the organization of the U. S. supreme 
court. 

STRONG, William, a.ssociate justice of the 
V. 8. supreme court, was born at Somers, Conn., 
Slay 6, 1808, of English ancestry. He is descended 
from John Strong, who came to Xew England in 
1630. .Vdonijab Sfrong, his grandfather, was a law- 
yer, and during tbe revolution a commissarygeueral 
in the American army. His 
fattier, William L. Strong, after 
graduating at Yale, became a 
prominent minister in the Pres- 
byterian church. W illiam was 
j^ii \\i^ the eldest of eleven children 

-J i"*' -• He oljtained a good preliminary 

yL^ ^ education, entered Yale at the 

^ ' ■. "T age of fifteen, and was graduat- 

ed in 1828. Hetaught ail acad- 
emy at Burlington. N. J., and 
in the meantime engaged in 
the studv of law under Garret 
I). Wall. After taking a .six 
months' course at the Yale Law 
School, he went to Pennsyl- 
vania, was admitted to tbe liar 
in 1832, and engaged in the 
practice of his profession at 
Ue.-iding, in that .stale. He 
acquired a complete knowl- 
edge of (lerman, the language 
spoken in that .lection of Pennsylvania, and .soon at- 
tained high rank as a lawyer. He was cliosen a 
nicmlier of the city council, of the board of educa- 
tion, director in the Farmers' Bank, in the Lebanon 
Valley K. 1{. Co.. and counsel f<ir the Pbiladeljihia 
and heading K. K. Co. In 1846 ho was elected to 




W ■ 



'% 



congress, as a democrat, re-elected in 1848, and de- 
clined tbe nomination in 18.jO, in order that be might 
return to his profession at Reading, where he resided 
until 1868. In 18r)71iewas elected a justice of the 
supreme court of Peiinsylvani;i for the term of fif- 
teen j'ears. He served eleven years in this position, 
attaining a high rejiutation as a jurist. His opinion.s, 
in thirty volumes of the state reports, which are very 
carefully prepared, .show clearness of statenient, 
precision and vigor of style, and accurate knowl- 
edge of the law. Tho.se alfecting real estate, inter- 
pretation of wills, and duties and liabilities of tru.s- 
tees, are highly valued. President Lincoln at one 
time had selected liim to succeed Roger B. Taney as 
chief justice of the United States, but the po.sition 
wiira eventually given to Salmon P. Cha.se. In 1868 
be resigned his seat on the state liench, opened a law 
ollice in Philadeliibia, acquiring at once a very large 
and lucrative piactice. In 1870 he was appointed 
by President (;rant a justice of the U. S. .supreme 
court. In writing to the president he .said: " You 
have done me great honor. A .seat on the supreme 
bench would satisfy all my ambition, exi'cpt ambi- 
tion to discharge its duties well." His extensive 
knowledge of the law, keen discrimination, sound 
judgment, and masterly ojiiiiions mad<> him a leader 
in the highest tribunal of tbe land. His opinions on 
the captured and abandoned property act, legal ten- 
der, state freight, civil rights and confiscation ca.ses 
show remarkable powers of analysis, logical argu- 
ment, and great strengtli and vigor of statement. 
He has attributed much credit to his diligent study 
of the works of the philosopher Locke, for giving 
liim accurate and logical jiowers of thought and 
exjircssiou. In 1877 Mr. .lustice Strong was a mem- 
lier of the electoral commission. In his opinions be 
contended that congress had no power to canvass a 
.state election for presidential electors — the great 
question at issue. In the eases which he specially 
reviewed of Florida and Oregon, the canvass of the 
state iiuthorities, he claimeil, was clear and decisive. 
Under jirovisious of the revised statutes, he resigned 
Ids seat on the .supreme bench in 1880, on account of 
age, in the full maturity of his great powers, and 
has since resided in Washington. Lafayette College 
gave him the degree of LL.D. in 1867, and Yale and 
Princeton in 1870. He has delivered many public 
addres,ses and lectures, and has frequently contrib- 
uted to magazines and reviews, and is a member of 
various learned societies. He delivered an admirable 
address on " The Life and Character of Horace Bin- 
ney " before the Philadelphia bar and the Ameri- 
can Pliilo.sopliical Society in 187o, and one on the 
"Growth and Modifications of Private Civil Law," 
before tbe law department of the University of Penn- 
.sylvania in 1879. For several years he lectured to 
tile law department of Columbian University at 
Washington, and also gave a course of lectures to 
jirofcssors and students of the Union Theological 
Seminary at New York. He was many vears vice- 
president of the American Bible Society, and for a 
long period has been president of the .-Vmeriean Tract 
Society and the American Sunday-school Union. 

BRADLEY, Joseph P., associate justice of 
the U. S. suinenie court, was born at Berne, near 
Albany, JIarch 14. 1813, and is of the .sixth genera- 
tion in line of descent from Francis Bradley, who 
came from England in lOf."), became a member of 
Gov. Eaton's family in New Haven. Conn., and in 
1()60 settled in Fairfield, Conn., whore lie married 
Ruth Barlow. Their descendants in 1791 removed 
to Albany county, N. Y. Justice Bradley's great- 
grandbilher fought for American independence, and 
liis grandfather was a soldier in the war of 1812. 
Philo Bradley, his father, was a farmer and teacher, 
and was fond of books. Jlercy Ganliuer, his 



34 



THE NATIONAL fYCLOP.KDIA 



mother, a nativp of Rhode Islnnd. possessed remark- 
able tident for mathemalics. Tluv were married at 
seventeen, aud .losepli was t lie eldest of eleven eliil- 
dren. lie spent his early years workinir on his 
father's farm, atteiidini; scliool four months of eaeh 
year, and in the meanliine made 1:00 1 use of the 
home lihrary. He developed a talent for mathe- 
maties, wliieh he inherited from his mother. When 
a small hoy he praetieed surveying for the neiirh- 
borinir farmers. He tantilit a eonntry sehool every 
■winter from his sixteentli till his twenty first year, 
mill spent his leisure lime prepariiiL' for eolleiri', 
Enterini; Hiiliiers in is;!;!, he wns j;niduated from 
that institution in 18;i() with unusual distinetion as a 
niathematieian. and was very proficient in I,atin and 
Greek. After teaehing for a brief time in an aead- 
omy at Millstone, X. J., hedeeided tosludy law, and 
became a student in the ottice of Archer GitVord. at 
Kewark, N. .1. While pursiiinix his U'l^al .studies he 
acted as inspector of customs for that port. He was 
admitted to the bar in lM;i!l, and commenced the 
practice of law in Newark, in iiarlnersliip with .lohn 
P. Jackson, who was then superintendent of the 
New Jereey railroad. In 1845 J[r. .lackson retired 
froTn the profession of the law. This jiartnersliip 
had a marked influence ujion ^Mr. Bradley's career 
by introducinir him to railroad litiiration, iicini; em 
ployed in many important cases in which the New 
Jersey company w.as in 
lerestec 1 . .s nl )st'i.i 1 lent ly , 
he \va.s the leadini;- coun- 
sel of the Camden and 
Amboy railroad and the 
companies associated with 
it, known as the I'nited 
Railroads of New Jersey. 
He .soon took hinli rank at 
the bar :uid had a hu'L^e 
miscellaneous practic(\ 
During- the thirtv years 
lielween l!S4n aud"l8"70 he 
""^K^friii^v " ^^"** constantly tmder a 

'X^S^^'i*/^ pressure of jirofes.sional 

^ "-^^^ enirajrements. Amontcthe 

/7 /. '2i /aj_^^j^ nol<'d contests in which 
^^P'i:n.yi^£^ -y^ A:fTtxjX-£:y he was engaged as a young 
« — . -^ lawyer were the Passaic 

' bridge case, the Meeker 

will ease, the New Jersey zinc case, the Belvidcrc land 
ca.se, and many other of the most important and ditli- 
cult eases that arose in the New .Jersey courts and the 
courtsof the United Stales for that district. He was 
aetuarvof the Mutnal Benetit Insunuiee ('om]ianv of 
Newark from lS.")Tto l«(i;i,and from isli.") to IsiiDp'res- 
ident of llu^ New Jersey Mutual Life Insurance Com- 
■ pany, and a director in various financial institutions. 
In 1870 President Grant a])pointed him an associate 
justice of the U. S. supreme court. He was com- 
missioned March 21st of that year and a.ssisrned to the 
fifth circuit, en\bracinathe Gnlf states, from Georiria 
toTexas, inclusive. Many federal cpiestionsof great 
significance came before him in this circuit, and in 
the (iecLsion of them Justice Bradley added new 
lustre to his fame as an able jurist. His great 
knowledge of the law, keen discrimination and 
sound judgment made him a strong member of the 
supreme bench .-uiil inv.'duablc in consultation. He 
bore a distinginshed part in the investigation and 
decision of a large number of important ca.ses result- 
ing from the civil war, the reconstruction act and 
other acts of congress, the constitutional amend- 
ments, the controversies of railroad companies, and 
many other intricate and diflicult i|nesiions. In no 
other period have so many ca.ses of supreme impor- 
tance been decided by this court. I'pon the resigna- 
tion of Justice Strong in 1880Ju.stice Bradley was 
assigned to the third circuit, embracing Pennsyl- 




vania, New Jersw, and r)ela\Vare. During some 
months of the year it was necessary for him, as well 
as all the other members of the supreme court, to 
reside in Washington. Soon after his entrance upon 
the supreme bench he took up his residence there, 
an example which was soon followed by all the 
other justices. 

The opinions of ^Ir, Justice Bradley are of the 
highest value, and a|)pe;ir in nearly si.\ty volumes of 
the supreme court reports, four volumes of Woods' 
circuit court reports, and many volumes of the 
" Kedend Repoiter." His natural aliility for com- 
]irelieniling lueehanical devices qualiti<'s him in an 
unusual degree for the consideration of patent ca.ses. 
His opinions in adnu'r.illy cases, i-ivil rights aud 
liiiheiiK corpiiH cases, and in questions involving con- 
stitutional or statutory constructions are especially 
able and noteworthy. In 18TT he served on the 
electoral comnussion, which, by act of congress, de- 
cided the presidenli.-d ciaitest of 187(). After all the 
other UKMubi'rs of the ci>mmission had delivered 
elaborate arguments in private conferen<'c. :dl in 
consdUiUice with their res|)eclive liolitiial altiliations, 
3Ir. Justice Bradley read an opinion expressive of 
his views in favor of the regular election returns 
niad(; by the stale canvassers, which were for the 
republican candidates. The principles laid down in 
this opinion were decisive, and the result was the 
elcMtion of Hayes as President over Tildcn by a 
majority of one elci'toral vote. 

Fnan the absorbing nature of his professional 
pursuits, anil, perhaps, fnan nattual temperament, 
he took very little interest in jiolilies in a party 
sense. He was brought \\\> a democrat, but he was 
led to regard the Anu'rican system of Henry Clay 
and its tarilf policy jis most beneficial 10 the public 
interests, and he became a whig. During the civil 
war he was steadfast and earnest in su]>porl of the 
conslitution and the government. As a (ounsel and 
director of the New .lersey raili-oail companies, he 
assi.sted in forwarding tinops and military supplies. 
On .several occasions he accompanied regiments to 
the field, and aihlrcssed them on the pending issues. 
It was very late that he identitied himself «ilh the 
repidilican jiarfy, and iiol until the attack on l'"ort 
Sumter did lie abandon hope of bringing about ;i rec- 
onciliation with th(^ South. In 1H(!m he headed the 
New Jersey electoral ticket for Grant and Colfax. 
His intellectual acquirements have been called into 
requisition in many and varied interests. In 1851 
he delivered the annual address before the New 
Jersey Historical Sociely: in ISti.") he pronounced an 
admirable eulogy on the life and character of Hon. 
Will. L. Day I on, and in IsTO delivered the centen- 
nial address at Kutgers College. 

As early as IS,"!'.), Lafayette College conferred the 
degree of doctor of laws upon him. He is a mem- 
ber of many learned .societies, and has been a volu- 
minous contributor to various ciKyclopedias. As a 
si'holar his attainments cover a with' range in the 
domain of knowledge. Ever since his brilliant 
career as a college student, he has coiitimied to 
.study the classics, malliematics. natural sciences, aud 
biblical criticism and theology, both for ideasure 
and profit. As a recreation he has calculated eclipses 
of the sun and moon, investigated the transit of 
Venus, and made calendars to determine the day of 
the wi'ck for forty centuries to come. He was mar- 
ried in 1844 to a daughter of Chief Justice Horn- 
blower, of New Jersey. 

HARLAN, John Marshall, associate justice 
of the r. S. supreme court, was born in Boyle c(Hin- 
ty, Ky., June 1, 1H3;S. His father, James Harlan, 
was a lawyer of distinction, a re|)resenlative in con- 
gress in 1835-39, .secretarv of sfati: in Kentucky in 
1840^4, attorney- general in 1850-54, aud at the iime 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



35 




of his death, V. S. attorney for the rlistrirt nf Ken- 
tueky, appointed by Lineohi. Jolm was graduated 
from Centre Colh'ge in liis native state in IH")!), and 
prepared for tlie bar in tlie law department of Transyl- 
vania University wliieli j^radualed many men of tlie 
South an<l Southwest who liave lieeome famous. In 
tliis institution lie enjoyed the sujierior iiistrnelion of 
George Uobertson and Thomas A. Marshall, two of 
Kentucky's distinguished eliief justices. He con 
tinned his legal studies uniler the direction of his 
father at the slate capital, and 
early in hispraelieewasludught 
into familiar inlcrcoursi' wilh 
the leading lawyers of theslale. 
Five years after his admission to 
the liar he was elected judiie of 
Franklin county, Ky., and in 
IS.W he was the candiihite of 
the whig party for congress in 
the famous Ashland district, 
]ireviously represented by .John 
C. Breckinridge. He failed of 
■ election by only .sixty -seven 
voles. Soon afterward he re 
moved to Louisiana where lie 
became the law jiarlner of 
AV. F. Bullock. When the civil 
war opened he returned to his 
native state an ardent support- 
er of the national government, his lofty patriot- 
ism and avowed purpose to do everylhing to jire- 
serve the Union inducing him to enter the military 
service as coionel of the 10th Kentucky infantry. 
which was placed in the division commaiiiled by 
Gen. Geo. H. Thomas. Col. Harlan remained on 
active duty in the field until the death of his father. 
Feb. 18, 18ri8, when he resigned and returned home 
wilh the rank of brigadier-general. The same year 
he was made attorney-general of Kentucky, serv- 
ing till 18()7. He then relumed to the acti\'e jirac- 
tiee of the law at Louisville, Ky. Having acquired 
a prominent and intlueiitial position in the republi- 
can parly, he was unanimously nomiii.'ited for govern- 
or in l.'STl. and became the standard-bearer of his 
party against his own incliii.alions. Though he was de- 
feated, lie reduced the usual majority of the opposition 
party. His name was presented to the national re]nil)- 
licaii convention in 1872 for the otticeof vice-president. 
In 1875 he was again compelled to accept the uoniina 
lion for governor, and by a vigorous canvass greatly 
increased the republican vole of the .state. He de- 
clined the olfer of a foreign mission under the Hayes 
admini.sl ration, preferring not to hold any oltiee dis- 
connected with his profession. He .served on the 
Louisiana commission in 1877. At the age of forty- 
four he was aiipointed by President Hayes associ- 
ate justice of the U. S. .supreme court, to till the 
vacancy caii.sed by the death of Justice David Davis, 
of Illinois, and was commissioned Nov. ill. 1877. In 
(he history of the supreme ccmrt but .seven other 
justices have lieen aiipointed at so early an age. Jay 
and McLean were of the same age; Curtis, Cam]ibell, 
and Todd, 43; Iredell, 89; Buslirod Washington, 81); 
AVilliam Johnson, 38; and Story, 83. Mr. Justice 
Harlan was in the prime of mental and physical man- 
liood. and his training and success at the bar eminently 
lilted him for the high position to wliirh he liad beiai 
ajijiointed. He bc-nt all his energies lo the work and 
liis judicial reput.ation has since .steadily grown. He 
is a careful student of the science of government and 
the history and growth of free institutions. His 
writings show force and strength of style, and great 
accuracy in the use of words. For many years he 
has tilled the chair of constitutional lawat Columliiau 
I'niversity, Washington, D. C, and recently his lec- 
tures have ineludeii the department of internation- 
al law. His dissenting opinions on the civil rights 



cases are notalile expressions of his views, his posi- 
tion being that "the de|irivalioii of the rights in- 
volved was an incident of slavery, and that power 
was given to congress under the I8th amendment 
to the constitution by appropriate legislation to se- 
cure all citizens against such deprivation lai account 
of the previous cimdition of servitude. " He further 
declared that " the .second and third clauses of the 
14lh amendment were, in form, prohibitory against 
actiiais by the state which might operate as a denial 
of e(iual right imnumilies and |)rivilcgcs to any citi- 
zens of the United Slates. Yet the tir.st class did 
not refer .solely to action by the .stales, bill directly 
secured such rights to lilaek citizens and thus em- 
powered congress to pass laws acting directly upon 
and in favor of such citizens." Being ardently in 
favor of freedom and free institutions, Mr. Ju.stiee 
Harlan aims, in deciding queslions of private right, 
to remove obstacles which .stand in the way of the 
administration of justice. On const ilulional ijueslions 
he- adheres to the opinions (if the dislingiiislieil Chief 
Justice ^larshall in sup])ort of national authority, 
some of his most vigorous opinions having been dis- 
sents from the majority of the court upon the 13th, 
14tb, and 15th amendments to the constitution. 
These opinions have been delivered with great force. 
Justice Harlan gave an admirable address in the city 
of New York, Feb. 4. isiii), on the occasion of the 
centennial anniver.sary of the V. S. supreme court. 
His son. Rev. Richard Davenport Harlan, was grad- 
uated from Princeton College in 1881, and for a 
number of years was pastor of Leno.x Presbyterian 
church on Fifth Avenue, New York city. 

GRAY, Horace, associate justice of the U. S. 
supreme court, was bora in Bo.ston. Mass., March 34, 
1838. His grandfather, ^\'illialn Gray, who died in 
183.5, ama.ssed a fortune as a merchant (m the high 
.seas, and had at one time sixty square-rigged mer- 
chant vessels on the ocean. Later he removed to 
Bo.ston, became a state senator, and in 1810 was elect- 
ed lieutenant-governor of Massai'hu.setts. He was then 
the wealthiest man in Boston. His wife. Elizabeth 
Chipman. devoted nuieh of her time to the interests 
of the poor, who were constant recipients of her 
benefactions. Their son. Francis Calley Gray, be- 
came noted for his bequests to Harvard College, 
one of the Harvard buildings, Gray's Hall, being 
named after him. Horace Gray, 
another sou, and father of Mr. 
Justice Gray, was a leading cit- 
izen of Bo.ston, and active in 
effecting many public improve- 
ments in that city. He was 
unu.sually interested in floricul- 
ture and horticulture, and is 
credited with originating the 
idea of establishing the now 
beautiful Public Gardens of 
Boston. He owned in 1840 the 
lariri'st grape -houses in the 
I'nited States for the cultiva- 
tion of foreign varieties. The 
early education of Justice Gray 
was acijuired in the schools 
of his native city, and he was 
graduated from Harvard Col- 
lege in 184.5, after ixhich he traveled extensively 
through Europe, and ujion his return home took 
the course in Harvard Law School. lie then en- 
tered the oliice of Judge Lowell, and was admit- 
ted to the bar in 18.")i. Success attending him, 
he soon ro.se to high rank in the legal profession. 
From 18r)4 to 181)1 he was reporter of the Massa- 
chusetts .supreme court, and during that jicriod pub- 
lished sixteen volumes. In the meantime, in 18,57, 
he formed a law partner.ship wilh Judge Hoar, dis- 




36 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



posed of a large amount of legal business, and be- 
came one of the leaders at the l)ar of his native state. 
Aug. 24, 1864, Gov. Andrew appointed him an 
assoeiate justice of tlie supreme court of Massachu- 
setts, and Sept. 3, 1873, he became the successor of 
Keubcn A. Chapman as chief justice. Tlie most 
importaut of his decisions as a state judge were in 
relation to ancient grants and boundaries, tlie elfeet 
of war upon private rights, the annexation of towns, 
the e.vcmptionof the I'liited States from suit, the law 
of charities, the liability of municipal corjtorations 
to private action, tlie constitutionality of contirma- 
tory statutes and the conllict of laws. He was ap- 
pointed associate justice of the U. S. supreme court 
by President Arthur, to succeed Justice C'Mtford, and 
commi.ssioued Dec. 20, 1H81. His seventeen years of 
experience on the supreme bench of his native 
state had eminently fitted him to become a member 
of the highest tribunal in tlic land. He had already 
proven liimsclf a tliorough lawyer and an able jurist. 
In character as well as ])rofouud learning, in age, 
robust vijior, and imposing presence Ik^ w.as .so 
well .suited for the jmsition that his ai)pointmeut 
received the most favorable comment from all sec- 
tions of the country. He at once became one of 
the trusted guardians of tlie interests of justice, his 
views in the supreme coiut having been chielly in 
support of a hii;h exercise of federal authority. " In 
a noted case establishing the constitutionality "of the 
legal-lender acts in times of peace, he " ]ilaced tlie 
capstone upon the majestic column representing tlie 
national power, attaining a height to which the 
boldest architect of the constitution had never raised 
his eyes." In his judicial utterances and opinions he 
expresses him.self with great strength and lirmness, 
supporting his conclusions with well-sustained au- 
thority. Some of his most notable deliverances on the 
supreme bench relate to thecoutiict of laws, the con- 
stitutionality of mill acts, the interpretation of wills, 
the nature of infamous crimes, the powers of courts- 
martial, the exemption of property of the United 
States from taxation by a state, the civil law of 
Louisiana, the distinction between capital and in- 
come, the original jurisdieiidn of the supreme court 
over suits by a stale, and the jurisdiction of the 
United States over the Guano Islands. His dissent- 
ing opinions have been few in number. 

BLATCHFOBD, Samuel, a,s.sociate ju.stice of 
the U. S. supreme cnurt. was born in New York city 
Slarch 9, 1820. His grandfather, of the .same name, 
was a clergyman who came from Devonshire, Eng., 
to New York in 1795 and settled in Westchester 
county. Richard Blatchford, the 
father of the subject of this 
sketch, was a lawyer of distinc- 
tion in New York city, who, in 
182G, liecame tiuaucial agent and 
counsel for the Bank of Eng- 
land. Later, he held the same 
po.sition under the United Stales 
Bank, and .satisfactorily settled 
the affair between it and the 
Bank of England in 1836, when 
the charter of the former expir- 
ed. During the civil war Presi- 
dent Lincoln appointed him, in 
connection with Gen. .John A. 
Dix and George Opdjke, a com- 
mittee to disburse large sums of 
money in obtaining soldiers for 
the Union army. He was a warm 
friend of Daniel Webster, juid one of the executors 
under his will. He was minister resident to the Slates 
of theChurchat Home in 1862-63. Thesubject of this 
sketch obtained his early education at a boarding- 
school in Pittsfield, Mass., at a private school iu 




^JT^^^J^^a^tT^H^. 




7Xe,f„ff. 



New York city and at the grammar school of Co- 
lumbia College. He entered the freshman class of 
Columbia at thirteen, and was graduateil at .seven- 
teen. He beeanie iirivate secretary to William II. 
Seward, governor of New York, and served in that 
capacity until 1841, when he was made military 
secretary on the staff of the governor. He held this 
othceuntil 1843, having, iiithe meantime, studied law 
with his father, and been admitted to the bar. In 
184.5 he was made counsel- 
lor of the supreme court 
of the state. In Novem- 
ber of the same year he re- 
moved to Auburn, N. Y., 
where he became the law 
partnerof William H.Sew- 
ard and Chiistopher Mor- 
gan. Hisiug rapidly at the 
bar, he, in 18.")4, returned 
to the city of New York 
anil there formed a pari 
nersliip with Clarence .\. 
Seward and Burr \\ . 
Griswold. In 18.").j he was 
appointed a justice of the 
supreme court of the state 
for the first district, but 
declined the appointment. 
In 18,")2 he began to pre- 
Jiarc a .series of circuit 
court reports for the sec- 
ond circuit, publishing, in 
all, twentv-l'our volumes 
of them. He assisted in ed- 
iting Blatchford and How- 
land's reports of admiralty 
cases iu the U. S. district 
(■(Uirt for the .southern dis- 
trict of New York. In 

1867 he was appointed U. S. distiict judge for that 
district, to succeed Samuel I?. Bctls who had resign- 
ed, and on March 4, 1878, he became circuit judge 
of the .second judicial district to fill the vacancy 
caused liy the death of Alexander S. Johnson. His 
opinions in the district c<Hjrt arc rcjiorted in nine 
volumes and those in the circuit court iu ten vol- 
umes, as well as in the " Federal Reporter." .\s an 
admiralty judge he has attained high rank in this 
country. He has considered and determined many 
questions relative to navigation on the high seas, in- 
cluding the process of foreign atlachment in admi- 
ralty, reinsurance of a charter party, juiisdietion in 
admiralty of damages done on water, and lialiility to 
a seizure in a<lmiralty. He has decidetl iiuiuerous 
ca.ses involving the validity of letters patent, among 
them one regarding the insulation of telegraph wires 
with gutta-percha, and another with reference to the 
liability of a common carrier for infringing a jiatent. 
He has adjudicated numerous questions of bank- 
ruptcy, copyright, and libel, determining the jiower 
of the presi<lent to cancel a pardon before it had 
been delivered to a prisoner, the legality of the 
Brooklyn bridge as a structure over navigable waters, 
the validity of a New York statute discriminating 
in rates of wharfage in favor of canal-boats, and 
many kindred questions. He was well eijuijiped 
for the iiosition when he was appointed by President 
Arthur iissociate justice of the U. S. supreme court, 
Jlareli 22, 1882, to succeed Mr. Justice Hunt, who 
had resigned. His appointment was universally ap- 
proved, lie has a .strong intellect, is clear in tlnmght, 
and concise iu statement; has a complete knowledge 
of the law, and pos,sessesin a markeci degree the best 
attributes of a jurist. Columbia College iu 1867 
conferred upon him the degree of I. L.I)., at which 
time he was elected a member of the board of trus- 
tees. 



I 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



37 



LAMAR, Lucius Q,uintius Cincinnatus, 
associate justice of the U. S. supreme court, was boru 
in Putnam county, Ga., 8ept, 17, 1825, of Huguenot 
ancestry. His father, who bore the same name, was 
a lawyer and jurist of eminence, an eloquent speaker, 
and a man of line personal (pialities. He revised 
Clayton's " Georgia .justice " in 1S19. compiled "'The 
Laws of Georgia from 1810 to ISIH, " and was 
elected judge of the superior court of (Jeorgia in 
1830; he died in 1834, at the early age of thirty seven. 
Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar, liis uncle, a native of 
Georgia, was a major-general iu the war for Te.xau 
independence, attorney-general, secretary of war, 
and from 1838 to 1841 president of the republic of 
Texijs. He joined Gen. Taylor's army in the Mexi 
can war in 1840 and was aflirward minisler res- 
ident to Nicaragua and (.'osta Uica. After his fa- 
ther's death, the subject of this sketch was takeu 
to O.xford, Miss., where he obtained his early educa- 
tion. He then entered Emory College, Ga., and was 
graduated in 184.'). He studied law in JIacou, was 
admilted to the bar in 1847. returned to O.xford iu 
1849, and held the position of adjunct professor of 
mathematics in the University of Missis-sippi for two 
years. He then resigned the po- 
sition to engage in the ]iraclice 
of law at Covington. Ga. He 
was a member of the legislature 
in 18.13, but the following year 
returned to Mis.sis.sippi. .settling 
on his plantation at Lafayette. 
In 18.57 he was chosen a mem- 
ber of congress l)y the demo- 
cratic party, .serving in that 
bCKly until 1860, when he with- 
drew to take part in the seces- 
sion convention of Mis.sis.sippi. 
He entered the confederate 
army as lieutenant-colonel of 
a ilississippi regiment, of which 
he soon became colonel, and 
participated in some of the leading engagements 
■with the army of northern Virginia. Being com- 
pelled to leave the military .service on account of 
his health, he was sent as comnu.s.sioner to Rus.sia. 
He arrived there in 1863. but circumstances render- 
ed a successfid mission impossible. He returned 
to >Iissi.ssip]ii and in 1866 was chosen to the chair of 
political economy and social science in the University 
of Mississippi. The next year he was transferred to 
the chiiir of law. After a short but successful expe- 
rience he returned to the practice of his i>rofe.ssion. 
In 1872 he was agiiin elected a representative in con- 
gress, which he had left thirteen years before, and 
hisdis;d)ility.on account of liavingborne armsagaiust 
the Union, was removed after his election. For the 
first time since the opening of the civil war the na- 
tional house of representatives had a democratic 
majority, ilr. Lamar was ciiosen to preside over a 
democratic caucus and on that occasion delivered an 
able and noteworthy addre.s.s, outlining the policy of 
his party. His uncpiestioned ability soon gained him 
a national reputation as a statesmaii. In >iarch, 1874, 
he pronounced iu the house a fervid and discrimi- 
nating eulogy on the life and character of Charles 
Sumner, which not only plea.s<-d the radical anli- 
slavery sentiment in New England, but was such a 
masterpiece of onitory as not to displea.se the rad- 
ical element of the South. He was elected to the 
V. S. senate, and he took his seat March ,5, 1877. 
He Iwcame devoteilly interi'sted in public improve- 
ment.s, especially those of the .Mississippi river and 
the Texas Pacific Hailnwid. He spoke rarely, but elo- 
quently,and forcibly, on the leading (juestions of legis- 
lation, exercising at all times inde|X'ndence of thought 
and aition. In the 4.')th congress he cast a vote on 
the currency question agaiusi the instruction of the 




c<f^. 



, C- . o/a^^^-ut^A. 



legislature of his .state, then boldly appealed to the 
people, and was triumphantly sustained. In both 
branches of congress he insisted that, as integral 
members of the federal Union, tlu; states in the 
South have ecpial rights with other states, and hence 
they are bound by duty and interest " to look to the 
general welfare, and support the honor ami credit of 
a common country. " On March ~i. 188.'), Senator 
Lamar became .secretary of the interior in the cab- 
inet of Pn'sident Cleveland. In this position he 
delivered a number of important opinions alfecting 
j)ublic lands. He retired from the cabinet .Ian. 16, 
1888, when he was commissioned as.sociate justice of 
the sujireme court of the United States. Justice La- 
mar possesses the judicial faculty in a very high de- 
gree. He lakes l)road and comprehensive views of 
legal and constitutional (picsiions, and his opinions 
and cont lusions are slated with clearness anti force. 
He is a scholar by taste and cullure, a tine rhetori- 
cian, and a careful student of tlie principles of law, 
and has a well defined conception of the nature of 
the general government. 

BBE'WER, David Josiah, associate justice of 
the U. S. supreme court, was born in Smyrna. A.sia 
Minor, .lune 20. 1837. His mother, who was a sister 
of Mr. .luslice Field, married Rev. Josiah Brewer, a 
graduate of Yale, who in 1830 went to Turkey in 
Asia as one of the first missionaries for the American 
Board. His father eslablished the first newspaper in 
Smyrna, and was the first to introduce European 
education into the Turkish empire. His parents re- 
turned to America when he was yet an infant, and he 
spent his early years in ihe state of Coimecticut. He 
obtained a gootl preparatory education in the schools 
of that .stale, continued "his studies at Wesleyan 
University, ^liddletown. Conn., and then entered 
Yale, where he was graduated in 18.56 as the class- 
mate of Cliauncey if. Depew and A.s.sociate Justice 
Brown, of the supreme court. He then entered the 
law office of his uncle, David Dudley Field, iu New 
York city, sjient one year there as a student, after 
which he went to the .Vlbany Law School, complet- 
ing the coursi' at that institu- 
tion in 18.58. In the fall of that 
vear he went to Kansas City, 
^lo., remaining for a few 
months there and then went 
tip the Arkausjis Valley to 
Pike's Peak, and across the 
mountains to Denver. Return- 
ing to Kansiis in 18,59, he estab- 
lished himself in the practice 
of law at Leavenworth, contin- 
uing his residence in that city 
tmtil his elevation to the .su- 
preme bench. In 1861 he be- 
came a U. S. commissioner, 
and in 1862 was elected judge 
of the probate and criminal 
<'i>urls of Leavenworth comity. 
From 1865 to 1869 he was 
judge of the first district of 
Kansas. He took an active 
tioiial matters and every movement to improve 
the city iu which he lived. He served for two 
years as secretary of a library association in Leav- 
enworth, and one year as its president. He was 
a member of the" city boaitl of education for 
many years, .serving as its president, and, later, 
became superintendent of schools, filling that posi- 
tion in connection with his professional duties. 
His reports on educational subjects are well-written 
ami able documenl.s. In 1868 he was president of the 
state teachers" a.ssociation. In 1870 he was elected a 
justice of the suiircme court of Kansjis, and was re- 
elected in 1870 and 1882. In March, 1884, he was 




interest in educa- 



38 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 







'i'Cni'./^ 



«? (ipt^ 



appointed a .iudpe of the circuit court of the United 
States. AVben he retired from tlie stale supreme 
bench, he wrote a farewell letter to his former as- 
sociates, clothed in the most alTectionate terms, ex- 
pressing the hiirh reirard in which he held them and 
the pleasure and protil he had derived from them 
■while one of their numher. While serving on this 
bench he gave a dis.senting ojiinion on the jiower of 
a nuinicipality to issue 
bonds in aid of railroads, 
and wrote the o]>inion of 
the court that women were 
eligible to the othce of 
county superintendent of 
public instruction. A num- 
i)er (if women have since 
held that oftice in various 
counties. In the ])nihil)- 
itory ca.ses he suslaine<l 
the proceedings by which 
the prohibitory amend- 
nicnl was adojilcd as part 
of the state constitution, 
and in the liquor cases he 
e.\l)lained and susiainid 
the statutes. While judge 
of the circuit court he 
ruled that "a brewery 
built when the law san(-- 
tioned and protected the 
manufacture of l)ci-r. and 
which was const ructeil 
with special reference to 
such manufacture, if it 
coulil not, without lo.ss, be 
used for any other i)ur- 
Iiose, could not. after a 
change of policy in the 
State by which the man\ifacturc of beer was prohib- 
ited, be stopped from running until the amount of loss 
had been estimated and paid In lliciuopriclor. " This 
judgment, however, was suljsc(|ucntly reversed by 
the L. S. supreme court. lie sustained the Jla.xwell 
land irrant, the largest i>rivale land grant ever sus- 
tained in this country, and was supported in his 
decision by the .supreme court. He also enjoined 
the state railroad commissiiiners of Iowa, upim the 
petition of certain railroad companies, from putting 
rates so low that the earnings of their roads woidd 
not pay operating expenses and interest on their 
bonds." He was tlie lirsl to challenge the dicla in 
the Granger cases, concerning the uidimited ]iower 
of a stale legislaliUT over rates, and has since been 
sustained by the supreme court, lie was appointed 
bv President Harrison an a.ssociate justice of the 
I.*. S. supreme co\irt to succeed Justice Stanlej' Jlat- 
thews, of Ohio, and was commissioned Dec. IS. IMS!). 
Justice Brewer is a person of strong intellectualily, 
quick of perception, and industrious and energetic 
in the dispatch of bu.sines.s. He has received the 
degree of LL.l). from three colleges, to wit: Iowa 
College, at Grinncll, Iowa; Washburn College, at 
Tojieka, Kansas; luid Yale, his alma mater. In (he 
fall of 18110 lie accepted a profcs.sorship in Ihc Colum- 
bia Law School, in addition to his judicial duties, 
and has .since lectured on the Law of Corporations. 
He was married on Oct. ;i, lH(iI, to Louise Landon, 
of Burlington, Vt. They have four thildren — Har- 
riet, Ktta, Fimny and Bessie. He delivered an ad- 
dress before the law school at Yale in ISill, on the 
"Protection of Private Property Again.st Public 
Attack," which has received very favorable notices 
through the country. 

BB.OWN, Henry Billings, associate justice of 
the U. S. supreme court, was boni at Lee, Mass., 
March 31, l«3ti. His father, Billings Brown, was 



a manufacturer, and a man of many sterling qual- 
ities. His mother posses-sed marked strength of cliar- 
cter, and witli tlie gn-alest care guided and directed 
the early life of her distinguished son. After obtain 
ing a giXHl preliminary education he entered Yale 
College, and was graduated from that institution in 
IH.jti as the cla.ssmate of Mr. Justice Brewer and 
Chauncey ^I. Depew. He devoted a year lo travel in 
Europe and to the study of languages at the leailing 
educational institutions of the continent. Aftertaking 
a course at the Harvard Law School he removed to 
Detroit. Jlicli., in 18,59, and entered the oltice of a 
prominent law firm with whom he continued his 
studies. He was admitted to the bar of that .state in 
ISCiO. In A|)ril. IStil, he was appointed deputy L'. S. 
district attorney, .serving in that position until 1H68, 
when he was appointc(i by Governor Crapo judge 
t»f the Wayne county circuit, at that time the liighcst 
court of general law and chancery in Detroit. Upon 
his retirement from that position he resumed the 
liraelice of law at Detroit in copartnership with J. 
S. Xewberiy and Ashley Pond. His success in his 
chosen profession gave him high rank as a lawj'er 
and a jurist in .Michigan, and in 1875 President 
Grant apiiointed him U. S. court judge for the 
eastern district of Jlichigan. His practice had 
been almost exclusively in the U. S. courts, 
hence he was eminently fitted for his new position, 
which he filled with great ability. His extensive 
knowledge of admiralty proceedings and familiarity 
with federal laws gave him [irestige on the bench. 
His judicial district, bordering on the great lakes, 
brought before him for hearing a large number of 
admiralty cases, hence, as an admiralty judge, his 
decisions became a recognized authority. He tried 
more cases of that kind than any other judge on the 
bench. He compiled a volume of ailmiralty rejiorts, 
published in Is'ew Y'ork in 187.5. After filling 
the po.--itiou of U. S. court judge for a period 
of fifteen years with high honor and distinguished 
ability, he was ajipoinled a.ssociate justice of the 
supreme court of the United Slates, to fill the 
vacancy cau.sed by the death of Mr. Justice Miller, 
and was commis.sioned Dee. 29, 1890. His is the 
only instance, for nearly half a century, of the jiro- 
motioii of a district judge to become a justice of the 
supreme court of the United States. Justice Brown 
has repeatedly visited Europe, and has traveled 
extensively. He is a tine classical scholar, a diligent 
student ot the best works of 
literature, and a fluent, easy, 
and graceful speaker. He has 
delivered a number of ad- 
dresses on notable occasions. 
In his aildrtss before the 
• twelflh annual meeting of the 
Ameriean bar association on 
" Judicial Independence " be 
criticised the statutes in many 
of the soiiilieru and western 
states, which were intended 
to .secure the unbiased opin- 
ions of juries upon facts, and 
an easy and accurate seltle- 
meut of bills of excei)tiou. 
•' but the etVect of which was 
to shear the judge of his 
l>roper magisterial function, 
and lo rcdui'C him to the 

level of a luvsidiuir ollicer or the mere mouthpiece 
of a coun>cl." hrthis forcible address he reviewed 
the historv of the judiciary from the foundation 
of the reiiiiblic down to the present time and advo- 
cated a term of office in all states long enough to re- 
move judges from temptation, a point upon which he 
laid great stress. In 18ti4 Justice Brown was mar- 
ried to Caroline Pitts, of Jlichigaii. 




^SUAJULJ 



uhU 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



39 



GREENE, Nathanael, solclii'r.\v;isb(iriiat \V;ir 
wick. H. I., May 37. 1743, the tiftli in (Icscciit from 
Joliii Grcciu'. siiriri'im, a native of Salislmiy. Enjr., 
■who came to Amefica in the next company after 
Roner Williams. This Greene was a per.secnted man, 
moreover — driven first from his native counlry for 
conscience' .sake, anil then forced to llee from .Mas- 
sachusetts Hay to Uhode Island. The father of tlic^ 
subject of this .sketch was Xalhanacl, a (Jiiaker 
preacher, known as well, however, as a large landi^d 
pro))rietor and owner of a j;rist-nnll. Hour-mill, saw- 
mill, and forge, in constant and protilable operation. 
The subject of this sketch had seven brothers, of 
■«iiom six, including himself, were the children of 
Mary Moll, his father's second wife. The .sect to 
which his father belonged being " prejudiced against 
literary accomi)lishmenls, " at the age of tliirtcc'H 
years I'le could only " read, write and cipher." Hut in 
a winter-day ramble he met a young man named 
Giles, a collegian, who stirred witliin him desires 
for the actpiisition of knowledge which never left 
him. An old teacher by the name of .Maxwell, at 
East Greenwich, taiigbl him Latin .and geometry. 
and he has been reiiresentcd as perfectly familiar 
in after life with the r>atin |)oets. Hut he had few 
respites from maiuial labor, an<l little tnoney of liis 
own. Small anchors, and other toys of iron, he made, 
however, grinding off the callous skin from his 
hands that he might hold the tiny things more eas- 
ily, anil selling them when his 
father's sloop went to Xcwjiort, 
K. I. He spent tlu' proceeds for 
books. At Newiiort he one day 
met in the book-store a j'oung 
clergyman, wlio subsequently 
became President Stile.s of Yale 
College. The two grew tii be 
acquainted, .and the counsel of 
Dr. Stiles as to the purchase of 
books was of great service to 
Greene. "Locke on the Hu- 
. man Understanding," Watts's 

'"\ .> Ai ■ \ ""^^ "Logic," Hollin's "History of 

^Q /^'^-^ Europe." and the writinsrs of 

('^ / Y^^L^y^^^— Dean Swift, parlicularlv " Dra- 

— ^ /<«-;^'5^^'Z-<>i<V' pier's Letters," thenceforward 
j^ moulded his mind and str<'nglh 

' cncd its powers. In his tripis to 

Newport he can)e in contact with other men of culti- 
vation; but there .seems to have been no expectation on 
his part that he .should ever cliange his lot in life. He 
was liorn to the plough and anvil, and. It might be, 
the limited place in pidilic life which bad been oc- 
cupied by two or three of his anceslors. On one of 
his visits to New York city he w.as inoculated against 
the smallpox — a fact worth noting as an ilbisl ration 
of his independence of cliaracter and judgment, for 
the process of vaccination had l)ecn formally reject- 
ed hy the Massachusetts lioiise of representatives, 
and also by the Uhode Island ;i.ssembly, as late as 
1773. Interest in a fannly lawsuit led liini to study 
.Taeolis's " L;iw Dictionary." and a few years aflcr 
procuring it he got and read the immoiial Black- 
.stone. lie grew up a young man of tine physique, 
dignified self-pos.se.ssion, though endowed with an 
impetuous temper (early brought under control), or- 
derly in his habits and in tlie management of his 
father's farm and business. Part of the hitter's works 
being at Coventry, R. I., it was decided that Xa- 
thanael should reside at that place, to supervise 
them, which he accordingly did after 1770. Here 
he began to he brought lait, and le.slinumy is not 
wanting that his capacity and sirenglli of ciiaracter 
were widely recognized. " Mr. Greene is a very 
remarkable man." said David Howell, then a tutor 
in Rhode Island College, but afterward distinguish 
ed at the bar, ou the bench and in eongre.s.s. lie had 




been admitted as a freeman at Warwick, in April, 
17(15, by virtue of his |ios.se.s.sion of an estate at VVest 
(Jreenwich. which had been left him by his half- 
brother, Nathaniel. In the year of his removal to 
Coventry he wa.s chosen to ri'prescnt his new home 
in the general assembly, where his tirst public act 
was to set on fool a inovcmcnl for the establishmitit 
of a school. In this early participation in public af- 
fairs he was apiiarently already among the broadest 
minded of his as,sociates. Observing the doings of 
the liritish home authorities in relation to colonial 
affairs from 1771) to 177"). he wrote to a friend: " the 
ministry seem to be determined to imbrue their curs- 
ed hands in American blood." He soon came into 
intimate relations willi jiopular leaders. In the session 
of the Rhode Island as.scnilj|y in December. 1774, al- 
though he was not a member, he was put upon a 
conuniltee to revise the militia laws of the colony, 
and report " as soon as may he." Events were ha.s- 
teiung, and his part in them became dnily more im- 
jiortant. W- entered the Kentish Gtiards, a new 
military ormmization, as a private; went to Huston, 
tlii'U occujiied by Hiitish troops, bought a musket, 
and induced a British deserter to go back to Rhode 
Island with him, as a drill-master for the " Guards." 
That musket still has a i)lace on the wall in the 
Greene homestead. Meanwhile, the cidtivalion of 
his mind went on with system, and to advantage, in 
the acquisition of a library of .some hundreds of 
volumes, which was the m.arvel of his neighborhoiid. 
Hut all this, especially his interest in military affairs, 
was contrary to the genius of Quakerism, and after 
due investigation and remonstrance he and his 
brother (Griffin) were " p\it from under tlie care of 
the meeting until they make satisfaction for their 
misconduct." There .seems to be no record that the 
satisfaction was ever furnished. .July 3(1, 1774, he 
was married to Catherine Littlctield, a niece of the 
wif(^ of the governor of the colony. Public events 
crowded each other more and more, until, on the 
afternoon of Apr. 19, 177.5, a messenger, fresh from 
the field, reaclu'd Providence, H. \., with the ti- 
dings that British regulars and American colonists 
were fighting at Lexington, Mass. Greene forthwith 
moimted his horse and rode to the alarm-post of the 
"Kentish Guards "at Greenwich, stopping at the 
house of a friend to borrow a few dollars in hard 
money. The " Guards " .set out for Boston. Mass., 
at dawn. At Pawtucket the tory governor. Wanton, 
tiu-ned back the company by a messenger; buttJrecne, 
proeuringa horse, pushed onwith three companions — 
two of them his brothers. Going forward, they found 
that the British trooiis had Iiccn driven into Boston. 
Apr. 33d the Rhode Island legi.slalurc voted to raise 
1.5(10 men, as an army of observation, and, "if it 
be necessary for the safety and preservation of any 
of the colonics, to march out of this colony and 
join and co-operate with the forces of the neigh- 
boring colonies." During the next week he was ap- 
]>oinled brigadier -general of (he army of 1,500, 
ids commission dating from May 8. 1775. At once 
he threw his private cares upon his brothers; and, 
after being engaged with details of organization and 
preparation, set olT for the American campat Boston 
on the 3d of .June, taking leave of his wife in a letter 
which wasa model of patriotism and of conjugal affec- 
tion. In it he .said: " The injury done my country, 
and the chains of slavery f.irging for jiostcrity call me 
forth to defend our common rights, and repel the 
l)old invaders of the .sons of freedom. The cavise is 
the cause of God and man. . . . I am determined 
to defend my rights and maintain my freedom, or 
.sell my life in the attempt; and I hope the righteous 
God that rules the world will bless the armies of 
America." He foiuid the Rhode Island camp at .Ja- 
maica Plains. Mass., in great conunoiion, but suc- 
ceeded in improving it, and was soon summoned to a 



40 



THE KATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



meeting with other generals, each of lliosc colonial 
dignitaries, prior to the coining of Washington, com- 
manding the troops of liis own coloiiv independent 
of the others. On the day of the hat t le of Hunker Hill 
he was in Rhode Island" On tlie loth of June, ITTr), 
two days Ix'fore its occurrence. Washington was 
chosen conuuauder-in-chief of the Jinny. and on July 
2d, about 2 r. m., reached Cambridge. On the 14th lif 
July Greene wrote: "Gen. Wa.shington has arrived 
among us. universally admired." Siraighlway, in the 
reorganization of the army, three divisions were creat- 
ed. Greene performed hisdutieswilh failhfiilnessdur- 
ingthe peii(Hl hcforc t lie evacuation of Huston liy the 
English troops. July lltlli. As early as. Ian uary of that 
year he had written to Gov. Ward, i'{ Kliodc Island, 
recommending a declaration of independence on the 
part of the colonics. After the evacuation and the 
reoccnpation of JJoston by the coloiual troops, he 
traveled to New London, Conn., at the head of 
his forces, a brigade; and .iroing thence with his 
troops, by water to New York, found Waslungtou 



at which, notwithstanding the defeat of the Amer- 
ican army on Long Island, it was decided to try "to 
hold New York city w ith 5,00(1 men. poslini; the most 
of the army at King's Bridge an<l intermediate 
points." Greene opposed this plan with irreat ear- 
nestne.s,s, advocating a total and immediate removal 
from tin- city. So intense was liis feelinir that on the 
lltli he put into Washington's hands a petition for a 
•second council, signed by himself and .si.\ brigadier- 
generals. This council reversed the .judgmenf of the 
first with but three dissenting votes, it beinir decided 
to leave 8.0(10 men for the defense of Jlouiit Wash- 
ington and its deiieiidencies. But on Sunday, the 
l;{lli. Lord Howe, the British commander. aii(l his 
army, entered the city between Kip's and Turtle 
bays. The disorderly American rctieat which en- 
.su<-il, in which Washington's life was ini|)eriled, is 
well known to histoiy. Early the ne.\t day, in a 
skirmish of outposts, heavy tighting took place, in 
which Greene had his liaptism of tire, and, with his 
fellows, made both liritishand Hessians run. Theday 




engaged in preparation for a defense against the 
British army, w hich had been tr.-msferred from Bos- 
ton to the neighborhood of that city. Here Greene 
was put in counnand of his old Uhode Islanders, and 
here he also came in contact, for the tirst time, with 
Col. Anthony Wayne. After two of his regiments 
had been .sent elsewhere he was ordered into en- 
campment on Long Island; and iit that time the 
Iiill in Brooklyn, N. Y., which has since been 
known as "Fort Greene," appears to have begun 
to be called by his name. In August he was ap- 
pointed one of the four new major-generals. In the 
.severe labors inciileiit to fortitication he was tinally 
attacked by fever, and entirely |irostrated. His 
place being taken by (ieu. Sullivan, and then by 
Gen. Putnam. Greene was removed to New York 
city, and while the battle of Long Island was fought. 
Aug. 30, ITTO, he lay so ill at the present corner of 
IJroadway and Ninth .street, that at one time the 
issue of the sickness w'as(piile doubtful. Bcginninsr to 
recover, he was one of the council of war(Se|)t. Tlh), 



following this light at Harlem, he was ordered totake 
command in New Jersey, with heailqiiarlers at Fort 
Constitution (now Fort Lee), on the " Palisades." and 
opposite Fort Washington on the east side of the 
Hudson, which latter fi>rt was to be held by the Anier- 
i<"ins. His tol.'d force for this assignment consisted 
of three briL'ailes , and two regiineiUs. an aggregate, 
on the -..'ilth of Sept. (177t>), of ::!..")'J1. rank' and' tile. 
l)resent and til for duty. He was thus charged 
with a great responsibility. " He is. beyond doidit," 
wrote one of Washington's own stalT, "a tirst rate 
military genius, and one in whose opinions the .sreu- 
eral pl.iccs the utmost confidence. " His task was 
one of sleepless w.'Uclifulness. In accordance with 
instructions from the commander-in-chief, while sta- 
tioned at Fort Constilution. he began, moreover, ilie 
discharge of some of those duties which tinallv led 
to his appointment as (piartermaster general of the 
Contincnlal army. Little skirmishes happened every 
day. but were " thought so little of that Iheywere 
seldom mentioned as news." On the Kith of Novem- 



OF AMKHICAN HKKiKAPHY. 



41 




ter the British took Fort Wiishiiiirtim, whicli was 
poorly (li'fciKk'd by the Aiiiciliiiiis. Oivciic had 
advisi'il its retfiition liy llic colonial forces, on 
the supposition that it would he well defended 
When it had been taken, and its jiurrison niaile 
prisoiuTs of war. P\>rl Lee was abaniloneil and 
Greene's troops retreated to Hackensack. and 1 hence. 
rid New Brunswick, to Trenton. X. J. ■■Here." 
savs one writer, '■was llie darkest hour of tlie 
war. ■' But Greene's views and his letters were 
liopeful. and his constant pro.viniity to Washiiiirton 
is noted, as well as his being deep in the counsels of 
the conunander in 
chief It was at this 
iunelure that he wrote 
locoiiiiress, urninn that 
for e.xislinu: emergen 
cies. at least, its scat- 
tered powers should be 
concent rated in a sin 
;:le hand, and 'Wash 
iuirton be authorized 
to do wh.alever the oc 
casion re(|uired. with 
out wailiuL' to consult 
a distant and dilatory 
a.ssenihly. His rejirosenlation was cfTectual, and 
this was done by a resolution of conirress, passed on 
the Sih of December And now. the Americans 
having tinned away from Trenton and niaile airain 
for the I>elaware river, the c.aiiilal of New Jersey 
was occupied by the Brilisli .-uid lles^iian troo])s, but 
tliese were surjirised al Treiilon by the Americans. 
Dee, 2.")tli. under Gens Sullivan and Greene, Part 
of Greene's troops entered llie town by a street 
(Queen) which now bears his name The action 
was decisive, endinjr in the rout of the Hessians and 
the killinir and makinj;- jirisoners of over 1.1(10 
of them liy the Americans in about lhree-(|uar- 
ters of an hour, (treene .■ulvoealeil fcillowing up 
the victory l)y rapid pursuit of the enemy, but 
was overruled. The aclion was succeeded, instead, 
by entry into winter (|uarlers at Alorrislown. N. J. 
While here Greene's relations with Washiniilon as- 
sumed still i;realer closeness and familiarity, and it 
was at this linu' thai, by the entry of Alexander 
Hamillon into Washinirton's nulit.-iry family. Ham 
illons inlim.acy with (Greene was e.Mcnded anil 
cemented. Airain lu' resumed his correspondence 
with .John Adain.s. Now. also, lie was sent by 
Wasliiii!;-|on lo congress, to lay before that body his 
]ilans in reference to the conduct of the war. in 
order that insidious plotting and opjiosition to the 
commander in i-liief iiiighl lie coiinleracted. The 
issue of his embassy was thai, by formal voli'. more 
Jiower I hall he had before possc-ised was placed 
in Washinirton's h.inds. and before the ne.M year 
■was over, tile battle of ^Monmouth. foui;hi in opposi 
lion lo the decision of a council of war. showed how 
wise and timely the resolution to irninl this power 
had been. After his return to jrorrislovvn. Greene 
was sent liy Washinirlon. with (icn. Knox, to ex 
iimine the (lasses by land and w.iler Ihroiigh the 
Hiirhlands of the HiidMin. since, if these were once 
lost liy llie .\mericans, llieir eastern slates woulil lie 
severed from the miiUlle stales. This duly was 
discharired with celerity and wisdom, and after 
due report he was air.ain at Moriislown on the lOlh 
of May. In the eainpaiirn which followed, the Amer 
icaiis. under (rieene. allacked and pressed llie lirit 
ish forces at New Brunswick. N. .1 . .June ",'1. 17TT. 
eleariiifr the town of their iire.senee. and pursuinir 
them as far as Piseataway. Disastrous lidinirs came 
of Ihe evacuation of Ticonderoga liy the .Vmerican 
forces in the north: and the titness of .sendinir 
Greene to command in llial reirioii was coiisidereii. 
but Washingloii was unwillinir io part with him On 



the 1st of .July. 1777, in view of a report that he was 
to lie superseded ill iiimmand by Monsieur Du Cou- 
dreay. ■■a French gentleman. " hewrole lo Ihe presi- 
dcnliif congress: ■■If this be true, it will lay me 
under Ihe necessity of resigning my conunis.sion." 
the same mail carrying Idlers of kindred jiurport 
from Gens. Sullivan and Knox, But nolhing came 
of this, and I,ord Howe having 1,-ikeii his army, by 
water, lo Chesapeake I'ay, Ihe American fcprces 
started by lanil for Philadelphia, and on Tuesday, 
Aug. "24. 1777. passed Ihrough llial city on their way 
soulhward to confront Ihe foe on the ground of their 
new choice. When Ihe two armies were near each 
other, il was Greene who selected a po.silion for the 
American lampal Cross Hoads. aliout .six miles from 
Elk. in Delaware. Tile removal of the slores with 
which the coiuilry abounilcd came next lo his hand. 
Wlien this was done, and upon the advance of Iho 
enemy, the American forces fe!l hack lo Chad's 
Ford, on the Br.-indywine river. The morning of 
Sept. 11. 1777. wore away in skirmishes and in can- 
nonading, but in Ihe bailie which ensued (iieene's 
part was arduous and decisive, for by his quickness 
of movement, his men inarching four miles in forty- 
tive minutes, he saved, nol only Ihe day. but Ihe 
b.-dance of the American army, resisling the de- 
termined bayonet charires of the Hessians until 
the broken divisions of Washington's forces could 
make sure their retreat. At the battle of German- 
town. Oct. 4. 1777. after Lord Howe had occupied 
Pliiladeli>hia. Greene's forces were again conspicu- 
ous. cMricaling Ihemselves, under his personal lead, 
from a position of the direst peril, and. all hough 
]nirsued with llie ulmosl fury by Lord Cornwallis. Ihe 
British commander, .saving all their cannon. Close 
upon this disaster came the beginning of Ihe famous 
•■ Conway Cabal " against Washinglon. succee<led by 
the unsuccessful attack of the lirilish. Oct. 0'2. 1777, 
ujion Fort Mercer, al Red Bank, on Ihe New .lersey 
shore of Ihe Delaware, where Col. Greene (a name- 
sake of Ihe general) won his spurs and received the 
thanks of congress and a sword. After this, on .Nov. 
14lli .-111(1 ITiili. came Ihe more efTeclive British attack 
upon Fort Jlilllin. Ihe other Ameiiean fori on the 
Delaware river, which resulted in its abandomnent 
liy Thayer. Ihe coiiiiuandanl; and. following this, 
Cornwailis's descent along the eastern bank of the 
Delaware willi a British force thought to be ample 
to open the river lo I hi' ascent of vessels 
to Lord Howe, at Philadelphia. Gen. 
Greene was ordered lo oppose him in this 
iiKivemenl. The "Conway Cabal," al- 
though .pist delected, 
was yet al its heiirht. 
and Gen. Greene knew 
that the tirsi place 
among Ihe ■■ bad i-ouii- 
.selors" of Wa.shinglon 
was assigned lo him by 
their common enemies. 
He resolved lo do all he 
could with a force infe- 
rior lo Ihal of his adver- 
sarv.bul before he could 
reach Foil Mercer il 
had been evacuated, and after 
ei.sion. the next movement of Ihe American army 
was into its malodorous winter cpiarlers al Valley 
Forge. Pa., their enemies slill occupying Ihe cily of 
Pliiiailel|>hia From this forlorn ]iosilion. Greene 
was sent out lo procure su|iplics for llie almost 
sl.arving camp. C.ires of a kindred nalure more 
and more devolved upon him. uiilil his emiiieut 
capacities for such duly marked him. in W.ashing- 
ton's mind, as Ihe man beyond all others to bring 
orderly and ellicient management into that branch 
of the service, wilhoul whose proper adminisliatiou 







*Cja^ 



period of indc- 



1 



42 



THE NATIOXAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



no purely strate^c or taotioal attainments, or even 
genius, can be of avail in military affairs, namely, the 
quartermaster's dcparlmeut. This Greene relue 
tantly entered upon, at (Jen. Washinjiton's sjieeial 
retiuesl. his appointment from coiiirress (latiiij: March 
2. 1778. By resolutiim of that Iiody. he retained his 
ranlv of major iieiieral in iIk' army. It is no part of 
our purpose to follow llie record of his ailministra 
tion of the quarterniastersliip from this date until 
his apiioiiilmcnt to the command of the .southern 
army. Oct. 14. 17H(I. To say that he brought to the 
discharge of it-s important duties a vigor, a methcxl, 
a power of resource, a dauntless courage in the per- 
formance of dtity. which had hitherto been conspieu- 
ouslya1)sent in tluMh'partmcnt. and anaggre.s.sive per- 
soii.-ilily which, while il not seldom balilcd mercenary 
tricksters and thw.irled poliliial enemies, did mucli 
to intlame those enemies to the point of ab.solute 
hatred, is simply to say tliat in the work of his de- 
partnicnt he wius himself. But it is a iileasure to 
add that no cvidc'iice is discoverable that anything 
besides the liighest honesty and the most untlinching 
lovalty, alike" to his country and to Wa.sliinglon, 
marked this part of his career. When it was con- 
cluded, the latter wrote to liim: "You have con 
ducted the v.-irious duties of it with capacity and 
diligence, entirely to my satisfaction, and, as far as 
I have had an opportunity of knowing, with the 
strictest integrity. When you were prevailed on to 
take the office in March, 1778, it was in great dis- 




order and confusion, and by extraordinary exertions 
j-ou so nian.'igcd it as to enable the army to take the 
field the moment it was necessary, and to move with 
rapidity after the enemy, when they left Pliil.idel- 
phia, Fron\ that period to the present time your 
exertions have been ecjually great. They have ap 
peared to me to be the result of system, and to have 
been well calcid;it<'d to promote the interest .-ind 
honor of yo\ir co\uilry." The details of thistwoand 
a h:df years' experii'nce in the quartermaster's de 
pail mcnt may be found in the "Life" by Greene's 
gr.Mndson. G,'\V, (!reene(3 vols..\. Y,. lH7i). Diu-ing 
their coiUinuance. retaining his military rank, he 
was constantly con.siiltcd as to military operations. 
He even commanded the right wing at the battle of 
]\Ionmouth, N, .).. in .lune. 177S, He had a jiart in 
the inelTcctive expedition against the British at 
Newport, in his native stale, .\ugust. 1778. com- 
manded again in Xew .liTscy, in the summer and 
f.all of 1780 — for a (tart of the time during Washing 
ton's absence — and in the l.-ittcr half of Septemberand 
early Oclober. 1780. he grappled with the treason of 
Benedict Arnold, serving as president of the mililary 
board of in(|uiry which condemned the British ad ju 
tant-general Aiidre to death. Oct, 0, 17S0. upon liis 
own application, he receive<l from Washington the 
command of West Point, which he inoeeeded forth 
with to |Mit into condition, besides administering the 
other duties inci<lent to .so important a position. In 
eight days from the date of his appointment to that 



post, however, he w.as notified by Wa.sliinglon that 
a court of inquiry upon the conduct of Maj, Gen. 
Gates, a.s commander of the southern army, had been 
ordered by congress, and that, pending the decision 
of that court, he (Greene) was appointed as the head 
of that army, and as suece.s,sor to Gate.s. This change 
of leaders was received with the utmost .satisfaction 
by the army, and by intelligent friends of the 
patriot cause in all circles. The chapter which re- 
cords his discharge of duty in the southern section 
of the United tslates fills the record of Greene's 
military service. Hastening southward, without evea 
the ojiportunity of seeing his wife, who was then ia 
I{ho<ie Island, he reached the southern camp at 
Charlotte. N. C. where he found Gates, his unfortu- 
nate predecessor, Dec, 2. 1780. On his w.ay he had 
stoppeil at Philadelphia. Pa., at Annajiolis. ^Id.. and 
at Richmond. Va,, that he might labor in these re- 
spective cities with congress, and with the two state 
legislatures of Marylantl and Virginia, in order that 
his .southern army might be supplied by each fif them 
as soon as possible with the clothing, equiimu-nlsand 
re-enforcements requisite for the ensuing campaign. 
As .soon as he entered North Carolina, moreover, he 
wrote to the governor of that state for the sime jair- 
pose, Heaching Charlotte, he found that the array 
of which he was to have the command consisted of 
2,309 men. 1.482 of whom were jiresent and fit for 
duly, .517 absent on conunand. and 128 detached on 
extra service. These, with ninety cavalry and sixty 
artillery, made the total roster. His whole force fit 
for duty, however, that were pro|ieily clothed and 
properly ('(piipjied. did not amouiu to 800 men. 
Many of the .soldiers were literally naked; others so 
nearly naked that it was impossible to put them upon 
duty. The condition of the commissjiriat was eiiually 
discouraging. There were not three days' provi.sions 
in ci'.mp. .and the army lived from hand to mouth, by 
daily collections. The state of the quartermaster's 
department was still more deplorable. There were 
no wagons for transportation; of hard moiu-y there 
was not a dollar in the military chest. At once 
GreeiH' set him.self to remedy this, state of affairs. He 
appointed an ethcient quarterma.ster-general. and the 
sam<' sort of a commissjiry-general; he directed the 
inunediate construction of a jail for the custody of 
prisoners of war; he put himself into comnnmication 
with Gen, Francis Marion, that he might seiure 
prompt knowledge of the whereabouts and jiurpo-ses 
of the enemy under his old opponent. Lord Corn- 
wallis. Besides, he removed his camp to a new 
and better position on the Pedee river, near the 
lireseni town of Chatham; he restrained his men 
from leaving camp when they chose anil returning 
wh<-n thev plea.sed, Xo details were too trivial for 
his attention, and assuredly their number and their 
nature called for all the attention he had to give them. 
But along with all which was discouraging, there 
were facts of an opposite cliaracter. He found him- 
self peculiarlv fortunate in his otticers. There were 
Daniel Morgan. Hemy Leland. William Washington 
of Virginia, and llui;'er and Marion and Sumter of 
South Carolina. Williams an<l Howard of Maryland, 
with Carringlon and Davie — the la,sl two the quarter- 
mast<'r-geneial and the commi.s.sary-geueral. who.se 
appointments have already been noted. It Avas thtis 
])oorlv furnished with men. but so finely ollicered, 
that "Greene found himself pitted against a 15ritish 
army of ;i.224 men. encamped at AVinn.sborough, 
X. ('.. well e(piipi«'d and every way in good condi- 
tion. His first movement was to'divide his own 
annv into two. that hi' might secure for each an 
abuiidant supply of good food, confine his enemy in 
n.arrower bounds, cul them olT from the supplies of 
the upper country, revive the drooping .spirits of the 
inh.-ibitants, establish rallying points for the militia 
of the East and the W' est, give his friends opportunity 



OF AMKKICAN liIO(iKAI'll Y. 



43 



to form small magazines in tho rear of tlic troops, 
jinil riPMipcl Connviillis to suspend his tlii-eateneil in- 
vasion of Viiiiinia. Tlie lioldiiess of tills movement 
■nas amply justitieil liy its results, ami in the brilliant, 
battle of C'owpens, Jan. 17, ITHl, fonj;ht by Morgan 
against t'ornwallis, in that of Guilford Court llousf, 
March 15, 1781, fought under (ireene against the 
same eomniander. lie made sueli iiiipre-slon upon Ills 
eneinv that Cornwallls was forced to lly before him, 
hastening northward, and ceasing to iie tlu' Imme- 
diate opjionent of the American general. iStralglit- 
wav that general turned about, and inarching upon 
the enemy's posts in .South Carolina, in a battle at 
Camden. Apr. 25, 1781, he measured swords with 
Liad Kawdon of the British army, who occupied that 
place. The action terminated unfavorably to the 
American army, but the Hiitish forces pursued them 
oiilv a short distance, and the loss of the battle made 
no alteration in Greene's resolution to drive Uawdou 
from Camden, or in his general plan of operations. 
The day after the battle he wrote to Marion; "We 
are now within five miles of Camden, and .shall 
closelv invest it in a day or two again." The issue 
^•as, that early in May, 1781, the British general 
evacuated Camden, making good his retreat toward 
Charleston. On the 11th ol May the post of Orange- 
burg surrendered to Gen. Sumter, and ou the r2th 
Fort Motte fell into the hands of Gen. Marion. 
Other posts occupied by the British followed in sur- 
render. And all this took place under the continual 
strain of ilisappoiutnieut and trial which arose frcm 
the failure to receive re-enforcements of regulars and 
militia, horses and other supplies, from the states 
with which Greene had zealously labored ou his way 
to the Soiuh, as we have seen. All this, moreover, 
with the added disadvantage that the militia of the 
several states, so far as they formed a jiart of his 
army, and fought in his campaign, did sounder very 
brief enlistments, and often left their soldier com- 
]iani(Mis, the Continentals, when their time had e.\- 
pin-d. in emergencies where their dc]iarture either 
resulted in the damage, or forced the aljandoument, 
of |)lans which were in process of execution. De- 
spite this, the fortress of Augusta on the Savan- 
nah river, having previously surrendered to his 
subordinate. Gen" Lee, Greene sat down before 
that of Ninety-Six. then the only remaining strong- 
hold of the British outside of Charleston, on the 25th 
of May. 1781. and liesieged it for twenty-eight days, 
and although he failed to take it. Lord KawdOn 
coming with 2,t)()() troops to its relief, it was aban- 
doned by the British on the 28th of June, and after 
some manteuvering. Greene went for a little time 
into cam]) upon the high hills of Santee. that he 
might reorganize and disci|)line his army, almost 
constantly changing in its make up by the inclina 
tion of the states to make up their quotas of troops 
for the public service from the slate militia, rather 
than by additions to the roll of the colonial army. 
On Aug. 2ikl he descended with his army into the 
plains of the Cougaree, having 2.(illO men, only l,()b() 
of whom were effectives. He found the British 
under Stuart 2,300 strong, and on the 8ih of Septem- 
ber, at Eutaw Springs, S. C, routed them after a 
severe engagement, and compelled them to fall back 
upon Charleston, returning himself to the S.intee Hills. 
Later, he advanced toward Charleston, and by Dec. 
10. 1781, the intluence of the British arms was entirely 
confined to Charleston Neck and the adjacent islands. 
On Jan. IS. 1782, in consequence of his success, the 
South (.'arolina legislature was enabled to meet at 
Jaeksonboro', and among its earliest a(ts was the 
passiige of a special address to Greene, and of a bill 
"ve.siing in him, in consideration of his important 
services, the .sum of ten thousand guineas." He now 
dispatched Anthony 'Wayne to Georgia with an ap- 
propriate force, and in the following September could 



write to Gen. Williams — " Georgia is ours." Dec. 
14th, after long and iiaticiit waiting by the patriots, 
the city of Charleston was finally evacuated by the 
enemy's forces, and the American army, led by 
(ireene, entered it, literally at their heels — the Brit- 
ish calling out, every now and then, to the Ameri- 
cans whose step exultalion (piickcned — " You come 
too fast for us." The "Savior of the South " — It is 
not too much to call him such — had performed 
what he had undertaken w hen he accepted the com- 
mand of its army al the hands of the Continental 
congress. In March, 1782, Greene's wife reached 
cainp. On Apr. 10, 178;i, came the news of jicace, 
and this man, who for eight years had never laid his 
head iijion his |)illow without anxious care, who had 
known no home for all these yearr save a military 
camp, was free to come and to go al will. He pro- 
posed to live thenceforth as a |irivalj citizen, divid- 
ing his yeai-s between Khode Lslaiid and Gecn'gia, 
wiiich latter state had presented him with a planta- 
tion at Mulberry Grove, on the Savannah river. 
Journeying nortiiward with Mrs. Greene, in 1783, 
he met" Gen. Washington at Trenton, X. J.; was 
welcomed in all his progress with enthusiastic greet- 
ing, received the thanks (jf congress foi- liis service, 
with a present of two field pieces which he had taken 
from the British in South Carolina, and then went 
to Rhode Island for a brief season of rest. His days 
were somewhat clouded, however, by iiecuniary em- 
barra.ssments arising (Hit of obligations which he had 
personally a.ssumed in 17^2, in order that his desti- 
tute southern army mighl be clothed He lived for 
a short time at Xcwjiort, H. L, but late in the au- 
tumn of 1785 was established at JIulberry Grove, 
Ga. June 12, 1786, he visited Savannah, received a 
simstroke from exposure on the following day, and 
died in cou.sequence of it on the I'JtIi. at his own 
house. The mourning for him was wide, deep, sin- 
cere. Congress voteil that a monument be erected 
to his memory at Washington, D. C, which has not 
yet been done. alth(aigh there is in that city a noble 
statue by H. K. Brown, a gift of the state of Rhixle 
Island. " AVashington's grief was expicssctl in no 
stinted terms. The best "Life" of Gen. Greene is 
that by his grandson, S. W. Greene (8 vols.. X. Y., 
18(i7-71), and it has been freely drawn upon for 
this biographical sketch. 

BARBEB, Francis, soldier, was born at Prince- 
ton, N. J., in 1751, the son of Irish emigrants in mod- 
erate circumstances. He was 
graduated at Princeton College 
in 1707, and from 170SI until 1776 
conducted an academy at Eliza- 
bcthlown, X. J., having among 
his pu]iils Alexander Hamilton. 
In February, 1776, he entered 
the patriot army as major of the 
M N. J. artillery, became lieu- 
tenant-colonel in the following 
X'ovember, and in 1777 was pro- 
moted to be a.ssistant inspector- 
geiuaal under Baron Steulien. 
He participated, under Gen. 
Philip Schuyler, in tlie opera- 
tions of the northern army, 
fighting gallantly at Trenton, 
Princeton, Brandywine, an<l 
Germantown In the la.st- 
named battle he received a 
wound th.at for some months 
remlered him unfit for active 
duty in the field, and during this period of en- 
forced leisure he |)erformed scouting service which 
was of great value to tlu' patriot cause, receiving 
therefor the rejieated thanks of Gen. Washington. 
He serveil as adjutant general in Sullivan's expedi- 
tion airainst the Indians in 177!). and al the battle of 




44 



THE NATIOXAL CYCLOPEDIA 



Newtown recoivctl another serious woiintl. He was 
also present at Sprinjrfield, and early in ITHl siiceess 
fully enforced a recjuisiliiin for supplies in (Jloueester 
county, N. J., a delieale and responsiMe task. Gen. 
Barber enjoyed in fullest measure the esteem and 
confidence of (Jen. Washiniilon, so that when the 
Pennsylvania inid New Jersey troops rose in nuitiny 
lie was selected hy the coniniandcrincliief to induce 
them to return to the scivice, an undertakinir wlii<-li 
he aec<iniplisln'd with trreat tact and entire success. 
Durini: Lafayelles Virginia <-ampaiirn of ITSl he 
coniniandcd a battalion of lisiht infantry, subse- 
quently perforrnintr elTective service at the battle and 
captine of Vorktown. While the army was encamp 
ed at Xewburir, wailinn disliandment, he was struck 
bv a falling' Ireeand insliuillv killed, Feb. 11, lTs;i. 

"BUTLER, Richard, siildier. was born in Ire 
land, lie eminiated to America prior to 1700, and 
in lT7(i entered the Continental army as lieutenant 
colonel of a Peimsylvaiiia reiriment. In 1777 lie was 
made lieuteiianl-coloiicl in Morgan's ritle corps, ])er- 
t'ormiiif: constant and valued service until the end of 
the war, and altainiiii;- tlie rank of colonel. In 17M7 
he was apiioinled an ;iircnt for Inilian alVairs, and in 
1791, as major. ueneral, commanded the riixlit wiiiirof 
Gen. St. Clair's e.\|)e<lilion against the Indians. His 
command was attacked by the_ enemy, and he, after 
a gall:int but futile resistance, was toraakawkcd and 
scalped on tlie morning of Nov. 4th. 

BUTLER, Thomas, was liorn in Pennsylvania 
in 17.")4. He wasalaw stiah'ut in Phil 
adelpliia when the revolutionary war 
broke out, but he at once enlisleil, and 
was souu after promoted to be captain. 
He was thanked 
by Gen. Wash- 
ington for his 
services at I?ran- 
dywine, and by 
Gen. Wayne for 
the gallant ry 
which he dis 
played at Mon- 
mouth. At the 
close of the war 
he engaged in 
fai'ining near 
Carlisle, Pa., but in 1791 rommanded a battalion in 
St. Clair's e.\pcdilion against the Indians, .-ind was 
twice severely wounded at the liattle in which his 
brother Uiehard was killed. He was promoted to 
be major of the 4tli sub-legion on Apr. 11, 179'.2: lieu 
tenant -colonel of the 4tli infantry on July 1, 1792; in 
1797 he negotiated treaties with the Indians of Ten- 
nessee, and cxiiclled numerous white .settlers from 
their lands. In 1S1C3 he was appointed colonel of 
the second infantry, and .served in that capacity 
until his death, at Xew Orleans, La.. Se]it. 7, 1S(I.">." 
BUTLER, Percival,was born in Pennsylvania in 
17(i((. Despite his youth he entered the ariiiy at the 
opening of the revolution, and rose to the rank of caj) 
tain. He fought gallantly at Saratoga, led the patriot 
forces in the engiigenicnt at S|ieiieer's Ordinary, June 
S5, 17Sl,and iiarliciiialed in the c-aplureof Yorktown. 
He was one of the lirst .selllers of .lessamine countv, 
Kv., and served as adjutant general in the war of 
181:3. He died at Port' William, Kr., Sept. 11, 1S21. 
BUTLER, Edward, look part" in the St. Clair 
expedition of 1791 as cai>lain in the regiment of 
Col. Geo. Gibson, and served as adjutant general 
under Gen. Wayne in the Indian campaign of 179(>. 
He was |)ronioli'd to be major in the regular armv 
in 1SI12, liut died suddenlv at Port AVilkinson, Ga.", 
May ti. lH(i;i. 

ALEXANDER, 'William (Lord Stirling), sol 
dier, was liorn in New York city in 1726. He claimed 
to be the rightful heir to the title and estate of an earl 




doni in Scotland, of which country his father was a 
native, liut failed to obtain any acknowledgment of 
this claim on the ]iart of the government, although 
he went to Scotland at one time for the purpose of 
presenting it. On his fathers death, his niotlier en- 
gaged in business with William's assistance, but 
managed to give her son so goml an education that 
he became somewhat noted for his knowledire of 
mathematics and astronomy. In the French and In- 
dian war, I.(M-d Stirling was commissary, aide de- 
camp, and secretary to Gen Shirley. On the out- 
break of the revolutionary war, he was appointed 
colonel of a regiment in the Continental army, and 
was stationed at New York, where he performed an 
act of great daring by capturing an English Ir.'insport 
lying in the harbor, laden with stores designed for 
the Hrilisli army at Boston. In the battU- of Long 
Island, Aug. 27, 177(). he was commander of a 
brigade, which opened the tight with determined 
bravery. Bi'ing the lir.st to discover that the enemy 
had turned the American flank, he made a .strong at- 
tack on Cornwallis, who was about to give way 
when reinforcements came uiiaii<l relieved him. At 
the same time Stirling was made a prisoner. The 
latter had already gained his ]ioint. however, which 
was to facilitate the retreat of the Ameiiean army. 
He was afterward (xehanged. Joining the army 
again, he was with Washington at Brandy wine, and 
at Gcrmantown commanded the reserve. In 177S 
Stirling led one of the divisions of Washington's 
army at the battle of ^lonmouth, where he ilistin- 
guishcd himself by the admirable mannerin which he 
served a liatteiy of light artillery. In 17.H1 he was 
.sent with '2. Mi) men to attack the British .station on 
Stateii Island, but, the enemy having someliciw ob- 
tained knowledge of the movement, it was unsuccess- 
ful. During the year he was stationed at Albany, 
and continued in the service until the end of the war. 
It was through him that the " Conway Cabal " was 
made known to Washington. Lord Stirling was 
the first governor of King's (now Columbia) t ollege, 
New York. A biogr.aphy of Lord Stirling was inib- 
lished in 1S47. by William Ale.x.ander Diier, hi* 
grandson. He died in Albany, Jan. 1."), 1783. from 
an attack of the gout. 

BRCWN, John, soldier, was born at Sandistield, 
Berksliire Co . .'Mass., Oct. 19, 1744, his parents 
having removed to that town from Conncelicul. 
After preparing for college, he went through the 
course at Yale, being graduated in 1771, after w hich 
he applied himsi-lf to the study of law. He passed 
some time in an ollicc in Providence, R. I., and theu 
began the jiractice of his profession at what is now 
Johnstown, N. Y. He remained there but lillleover 
a year, however, removing, in 177H, to Pittslield. 
■Mass. His objection to the oppressive acts of Great 
Britain had already become a prominent sentiment 
with Air. Brown, ami he did not hesitate to express 
it, botli in public and in private. He was thus .seen 
to be a man of original views, and of great deter- 
mination of character, and as these characteristics 
were combined with a fine personal appearance, he 
grew to be popular, and was chosen, in 1774, by the 
Massachusetts state committee, as an agent to vi.sit 
Canada for the purpose of inciting the people there 
to revolt. He made two \ isits to Canacla. under the 
prelensi' of being a buyer of horses, and had several 
narrow escajies from being captured, but returned 
lumic in safctv, and in 177") was made a deleiiate to 
the provincial congress. The battle of Lexniglou 
having brought matters to a crisis, an attempt was 
made from Connecticut tosurprise and capluie F'ort 
Ticonderoga John Brown and Benedict Arnold 
joined this Cxpeclitionat Pittstield, the latter being the 
leader Ticonderoga was taken May Ibtli. Browa 
was a member of the general congress at Philadel- 
phia, but in July he was sent with Ethan Alleu 



OF AMf:KI(!AN BIOGRAPHY. 



45 



and Montsnmery on their oxpcdilion into ('iiniida. 
Fort t'linmlilccwas captiirccl, Imt Allrii, in nial< 
inj; a dunioiislralion against Montreal, was talicn 
prisoner. Brown had l\v this time received the 
appoint nient of major, and joined Arnold before 
Qnebee. aidinj; the attack by makin,!; a false move 
ment ajjainst one portion of the city On Anfr. 
1, 1776, Hrown was made lientenantcoloncl by act 
of congress, his rank and pay to date from Xo 
vendier. 177o. In Decendicr, 177(>, hclcd a regimcMt 
of militia to Fort Independence, and after the 
American defeat at Bennington in the following 
year he was sent to the upper end of Lake (tcorge, 
where lie made an entirely successful attack, on 
Sejit. t7tli. He freed 100 American prisoners, 
capturcil 2U:\ British prisoners, and seized the land 
ing. Mount Defiance, jMoimt Hope, the I'^rcnch 
lines, the blockliousc, 4(10 bateaux, an arincil sloop, 
a muMber of gunboats, some camion and a large 
quantity of .stores. Not long after this exiiloit. 
Col. Brown resigned from the army, the immediate 
cause being his "strong feeling against Benedict Ar 
nold. So bitter was this feeling that Brown hail 
made public charges against Arnold, accusing him 
of making forceii exactions fioin the Canadians for 
his private use. and he even then asserted that Ar- 
nold would yet prove a traitor, as he had already 
sold many lives for money. Col. lirown had some 
employment in the ^lassachusetts service after this 
period, and in 1778 was a member of the general 
court. Two years later he conducted an cx]icditinn 
fortherelief of Gen, Schuyler, uplhc Mohawk river, 
hut fell into an ambuscade and was killed, with forty- 
tivc of his men. on his birthday, Oct. 10. 17H0. 

ALLEN, Ethan, .soldier. Authorities differ 
widely with regard to the date and place of his 
birth. By one he is said to have been born in 173H, 
at AVoodbury, Conn.; another claims him as a native 
of Salisbury. Conn.; while still a third gives the 
date as Jan." 10. 1737. and the locality as Litchfield, 
Conn. A fourth .says that he was born "in Con 
necticut, in 1739." He removed from Connecticut 
to Vermont while ho 
• ^ -^ f was a boy, and from 

that time little or noth- 
ins is known about him 
until thcyear 1770. The 
country where li<' lived, 
although within what is 
now the stale of Ver- 
mont, was known as 
the "New IIani]).shire 
grants." and was claim 
ed by both New I lamp 
.shire and New York. 
The .settlers were, as a 
rule, op]iosed to the pos- 
session of their lands by 
the New York govern- 
ment, and the conse 
quence was that out 
breaks and disturbances 
took place whiili event 
iiatcd in the formation 
of the volunteer corps 
known as the "Green Mountain Boys." To this 
body of men Ethan Allen belonged, and he took 
so prominent a part in their undertiikim;s that the 
state of New York at last passed an act of outlawry 
against him, otTering too for his apprehension; but 
his |)arty were both too numerous and too faitlifiil 
to licrmil him to be either cajitured or surrendcrcil. 
At the first burst of the revolutionary storm these 
intercolonial troubles ceased, the minds of all true 
Americans being fixed on resistance to the arbitrary 
acts of the common enemy. Soon after the battle 
of Lexington, Allen received orders to make a de 




scent upon Ticondcroga and Crown Point. Bene- 
dict Arnold had also been charged by the Massachu- 
.setts committee to raise 400 men for the same pur- 
pos(^ Finding Allen |ue])ared to march, with 300 
men, Arnold joined him witli his force The com- 
bined expedition reacficd the point on the lake 
opjiositc Ticondcroga, May !). 177r>. and procuring 
boats, eighty three men crossed to a landing near the 
garrison, i'ho approach of niorning making it dan- 
gerous to wait for the crossing of the remainder, 
Allen conducted his small force to the gate, which 
he succeeded in entering. Pressing 
forward into the fort, he formed his 
men on the parade in such a manner 
as to face the two ojiposite barracks. 
In the dim light of the early dawn, 
this situation was sullicicntly dramat- 
ic, but to make it more .so. Allen and 
his men raised three loud chceis, 
which awoke the garrison. So com- 
l)lctely disconcerted and astounded 
wenrthe British, that a sentry actu- 
ally pointed out the aparimenls of 
the commanding otlicer. whither the 
American commander proceeded. 
Standing with a sword drawn over 
the head of Capt. De la Place, who 
had sprung out of bed and had no 
time to dress, Allen demanded the sur- 
render of the fort. "By what author- 
ity do you demand itV" imiuired the 
astonished olticer. " I demand 
it," said Allen, "in the name of 
the great Jehovah and the Con 
tinental congress!" There was 
no gainsaying this aiithority, 
backed up as it was by the de- 
lermineil Americans, and the 
fort was surrendered at once. 
This bloodless victory secured 
between 112 and 12o"iron cannon, fi to 24-pounders; 
2 bra.ss cannon; 50 swivels; 2 mortars; 10 tons of 
nuLsket-balls; 3 cart-loads of flints; 10 casks of pow- 
der; 30 new carriages; 100 stand of small arms; 30 
barrels of flour and 18 barri'ls of pork. It chanced 
that Crown Point was taken on the same day, and 
as a sloo]) of-war on Lake Cliamplain was captured 
by tlic .\niericans shortly after. .MU'ii and his brave 
party became complete ma.sters of the lake and its 
shores. In the fall of 1775 Col. Allen was .sent i'Jto 
Canada, where, on the 25th of September, ir ac- 
cordance with an imdcrstanding with Col. Blown, 
he made an attack on Montreal. Being resisted by 
ii much larger force, however, he was obliged to 
retreat and eveiituallv to surrender, barely escaping 
being kilk'd by a furious .savage, who attempted to 
shoot him. Allen was kept for .some time in irons 
and w;is afterward sent to England as a ]u-isoner, 
with the assurance that he wcaild be hanged on his 
arrival. As a matter of fact, he was imprisoned for 
a short time near Falmouth, and on Jan. S. 1770, 
was put on board a frig.ate and taken to Halifax, 
wIk'IC he remained until October. He was then re- 
moved to New York, where he was kept in cu.stody 
about a year and a half, during which he was occ;.- 
sionally permitted to ,i;o about on parole. On May 
0. 1778. lie was exchangc'd, and after repairing to 
iiead(piarters to otTcr his .services to Gen. Washing- 
ton, he returned to Vermont for the restoration of 
his health, which had been greatly impaired during 
his long imprisonment. lie was soon after ap- 
pointed to the commaial of the Vermont .state 
militia, and was made a lieutenant-colonel in the 
Continental army by act of congress. An effort 
which was afterward made l)y the British to induce 
Allen to enter a conspiracy for the ])nrpose of pro- 
curing a union of Vermont with Canada was neces- 




46 



THE NATIOXAL CYCLOl'vEDIA 



sarily iinsucccssfiil. He was twice mariiod; liis first 
■wife bdiiir Mary Brownson, of I^oxlmry. and his 
secoml, Kniiiccs, daiiirlitiT of Col. IJriisli, of tlic 
Britisli army, a la<ly whom lie met in Hoslon on his 
return from" his captivity in lOiiLclaiid. He had two 
daughters, one of whom married K. W. Keyes in 
180;i. while the other entered a nunnery in Canada. 
Ethan Allen's son, ('apt. Etiian A. Allen, served in 
the V. S. army and died at Xoilolk. .Ian. (1, IS.")."). 
A grandson. (Jen. Klhan Allen I lilrheoek, was a 
pronnnent ollieer, and a eontidenlial adviser of 
President Lincoln durinir the civil war, his as;e pre- 
venting him from sjointj into active service in tlie 
field. Gen. llilclicock is said to have irreatly nr- 
semliled Allen in personal appearance, and from 
him the statue of Ethan Allen, by lunney. was 
modeled. Another statue of liim cxisis at .Mont 
pelier, \'t. In the l;iller part of his lifi-, Elhan 
Allen was a niemher of the Vermont le;;islature and 
also a delenale to congress, and it is .staled tliat the 
recognition of Vermont as a separate state was 
larirely due to his active labors and his influence. 
He wrote several political monou'rai)hs, as well as a 
history of the conlroversy between Vermont and 
New York, and an account of his imprisonment. 
He also pulilislied at lienninglon, 1TS4, a vohnne 
called "Keason I he Onlj- Oracle of .Man." His "Life" 
was wrillen bv .laied Sparks (l5os(on, 1834); by 
Husih Moore (Flaltsburgh, X. Y., 1S;«), and bv H. 
AV.^Du Puv (Bulfalo, 1S.53). He died of apopfexv, 
at Colchesrer, Vl., Feb. 13, 1789. 

GLCVEB, John, soldier, was born at Salem, 
Mass., Nov. ."). ll'.Vi. He was a sailing-master and 
fisherman, whose eneigetic character early made 
him ]irominent and intliiential 
among the residents of the Jlas- 
sachusetts coast. When the rev- 
olution opened he recruited a 
regin\ent of fishermen, of which 
he was made colonel, and march 
ed to Cambridge, ren<lering im- 
portant service there in drilling 
and org.anizing the patriot army. 
During the retreat from Long 
Island, his regiment, which early 
proved one of tlie best in the 
service, guarded the boats by 
which the army crossed to the 
m.'iinland, and then ]irolecl<'d its 
rear, (ilover's trooiis also effect 
ed the passage of the Delaware, led I Ik- advance 
at the battle of Trenton, and were cons|)icuous for 
their bravery at Stillwater and their fortitude at 
Valley Forge. Glover was jironioted to be l)riga 
dier-general, Feb. 21. ITTV. He aided, imder (len. 
Schuyler, in the defeat of Iturgoyni', and Irans 
ported to Canduidgi- the inisoners who surrendered 
at Saratoga, In 1TT8 he was with Gen. Greene in 
New Jersey, and laler, luider Gen. Sullivan, took 
part in the Rhode Lslaud expedition, joining with 
the other ollicers in the protest against D'lCsiaing's 
inaction. In 1780 he superintended the drafts from 
Massachusells, and in Gclobcr of (he same vear 
served on the court of incpu'ry thai tried and con 
demned .Miij. Andre. After Ihe war, .-Mid until 
the close of his life, he was active in |iromoting the 
fishing and shii)ping interesls of JL-irblehead. (Jen 
Glover was one of the ablest of the Massachusetts 
ottieers who served in the Conlinenl.'d army. His 
•' Life" was written bv Win. !'. Ipham, in 18(>3, He 
died at AIar!)lehead, .'ilass., .Tan :!ll. 17117. 

BAILEY, Jacob, soldier, was born at Newbury, 
Mass., .luly 2, 173S. Little or nolliing is known of 
his early history, except thsit he was in Ihe French 
and Indian war, was a captain in 17.")l), and was one 
of the few survivors of the terrible massacre at Fort 
William Henry, Aug 9, 1757, One year later he 





was with the expedition which attacked and cap- 
tured Ticonderoga and Crown Point. At the end 
of Ihe war ('ai)t. Bailey sellled in Vermonl. wIktc 
he received a considendile grant of land, and the 
state of New Y'ork afterward commissioned him 
brigadier-general of militia. During the revolu- 
tionary war he was in the Conliniiilal army, serv- 
ing in the norlhern deparlmeni for a jiorlion Of the 
lime as cnmmi^^arv general. He tlied at Newbury, 
Vl., .M.irrli I. IsKi'. 

CLINTON, James, soldier, was born in lister 
county, X. Y., Aug. 9, 1730. He was the lirother 
of (rcorge Clinton, governor of the stale of New 
York, and Ihe fourth son of Col. 
Charles Climon, who enugraled 
from Ireland to America late in 
the sevi'nieenlh century, and 
founded a family of rem.arkable 
celehrily. .James Clinton received 
an excellent education. lie was 
gifted with a fine physiijue, and 
was endowed with nalur.d cour- 
a ire and umisual presence of mind. 
Even at an early age his inclina- 
tions were toward a military life. 
When only twenty years of age, 
lie was a captain under Col. Brad- 
street, and fought bravely at Fort 
Fronlenac. He also rendered im- 
]iortanl .service by the capture of 
a sloop of w.'ir on Lak<' Ontario. At Ihe close of tlie 
war he married ^liss Jlary De Will, and retired to 
lirivale life. .Tune 3(1, 177."), however, the Conlinenlal 
congress called Clinton into service again, and lie wa.s 
appointed colonel of the 3d New York regimenl, 
which formed a jiarl of (Jen. Montgomery's army ill 
the ill f.'ilcd invasion of Canada. In Aiigu.sl. 177(). 
Clinton was appoinlcd a brigadier-general in Ihe 
army of Ihe I'niled Stales, and during most of the 
war he was in command of New York troops In 
October, 1777, he held Fort Clinton, which formed 
a most imporlant jiart of the defense of the Hudson 
river. There he was attacked by Sir Henry ( liiilon, 
with a large force which co Dperaled with the I>ng- 
lish sliiiis of war on the river. Clinton had only 
about .")(I0 men with him, while the British land force 
numbered 4,(HI0, Afler a most gallant resistance 
the forts were carried by storm. (Jen. Clinton es- 
caped with dilliculty, afier being severely wounded 
by a bayonet thrust. He reached his hou.-e. sixicen 
miles from Ihe fort, wIkmc he remained, nursing his 
wound, unlil the expedition under (Jen. Sullivan was 
sent into Ihe Indian country, when he joined it. 
On his return he was stationed at Albany. an<l he re- 
mained there until near Ihe cIom' of Ihe war. He 
was, however, with \\'ashiiiglon at Yorklown. hold- 
ing a command under Lincoln, and was present at 
the ev.-icualion of New York by Ihe British. Afler 
Ihe war Gen. Clinton was aiipoinled a commissioner 
to adjust the boundary line between Pennsylvania 
and New York, and he also reiiresented his native 
counlv in the state as.-iembly, and in Ihe convenliou 
wliicll adopted Ihe constiluiion of the I'liiled Stales. 
Finally he was a .senator from Ihe middle district of 
Ihe sia"le. He died Dec. 22, 1812, in Orange coimly, 
N. Y 

GRIDLEY, Richard, soldier, was born in Bos 
ton, Mass., .Tan. 3, 1711. His brother .Teremiah 
(1702-171)7)) was an eminent Boston lawyer and a 
leader of the lory party in Massiu-husctls in Ihe yeare 
preceding Ihe revolulion. Kichard took jiart in 
the successful t'xpedition against Louisbiirg in 174.'>, 
an<l in 17.")") was iironioted lobe ihief engineer and 
colonel of infantry in Ihe English army. In H.'iB 
he parlici|)aled in "the Crown Point expedition, and 
in Ihe .same year superintended Ihe construction of 
the fortiticatious on Lake (Jeoige. In lliiS he acted 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



47 



as engineer to Gen. Ainlicrst in tlie siibjun-nli'm 
of Canada, and served under Wdlle, al (Juehcc 
At the close of llie French and Indian war, lie was 
placed on lialC pay I'or life and jiiven Magdalen 
Island. In ITT.") lie entered the patriot army, sujicr- 
inten<ling the <lefenee of Bunker llill on the night 
of June 1(), 177."), and lighting nallanlly in the liaitle 
of the following day. Se]il. 'M. 177.">. he w.as made 
a major geneial in eonuuand of the C'onlincnial 
iirtillery. lie rendered notable service in drilling 
the jialriot forces and directing the consiruclion of 
the fortitieations about Boston, but in November, 
1775, resigned his commission and retired from the 
army. He died at Stoughton, Mass., .June 30, 17!Mi. 
COCHRAN, John, surgeon in I lie revolulionary 
army, was liorn .'it Su<lsbnrv, ( 'liesier Co , T'a., .Sept. 
1. 17^50, his latlier being a farmer, who emigraled 
to America from the north of Ireland early in 
the eighteenth century. The boy's early education 
was obtained at a private school. He afterward 
studied medicine with Dr. Thompson, of Lancaster, 
Pa,, and at the beginning of the French and Indian 
war, in 1~'m, lie obtained the apjiointment of sur- 
geon's mate in the hospital deparlmcnl, .serving 
through the w.-ir with great success and obtaining a 
liigli rei>utation as a practitioner of surgery. The 
chancesof war having brought him intoacipiaintanec 
with Maj.-Gen. Schuyler, he settled in Albany at its 
close, and married (Jerlrude Scliuyler, the only sistiM' 
of the general. Afterward he removed to New Bruns- 
wick, X. J. During the early part of the revolution- 
ary war he bec.'ime known to Gen. Washington, and, 
having otfered his services as a volunteer surgeon, 
he was appointed, Apr. 10, 1777, on Washington's 
reeommendalion, physician and .surgeon-general in 
the middU^ depjirtment. The recognition on the part 
of the government of Dr. Cochran's great ability and 
e.\periciice caused liis ])romotioii. in October. 171^1, 
to be director general of the hospitals of the United 
States. At the close of the war he reinove<l to New 
York city, and Washington appointed him ciaimiis- 
sioner of loans for New York state. He was at one 
time president of the Medical Society of New Jersey, 
He died at Palatine, Jloiitiionierv Co., N. Y., Apr. G, 
1W17. 

GATES, Horatio, soldier, was born at Maiden, 
Essex Co., I",ng , in 17'2.S. From the fact that his 
jiarenis were servants in the employ of a noble Eng- 
lish family, at whose residence the \Val])oles visited, 
a rumor got abroad that he 
was the natural .son of Sir 
Robert Waljiole. It has been 
stated th.al the origin of this 
storv was the fact thai Hor- 
ace NValiiole ollieialed as god- 
father al his <-hristening; but 
as Horace Walpole was only 
eleven years old when Gates 
was born, this is unlikely. 
Nothing is known of (Jati-s's 
boyhood. He entered upon 
a military career very early 
in his life, and is said to have 
tirst borne arms under Prince 
Ferdinand, of Brunswick, 
When the French and Indian 
war broke out in \'i')'y. (Jates 
was .sent to Halifax. Nova 
Scotia, where he joined Brad- 
dock on his ill fated expeili- 
tion against Fort Duipii'sne. 
He was b.adly wounded during this sanguinary 
fight, and for some time was invalided. It is said 
that in the retreat of the .survivoi-s on that memo- 
rable day the life of Gates was saved by Washing- 
ton, who.se own escape was almost iniraeulons. In 
17(i".2 Gates was with (Jen. Moncklon, who command- 




ed the attack on ^lartinique, which was captured. In 
17(i:i Gales is .said lo have visited England for a brief 
period, and. on his relurn, he bought a plantation in 
Berkeley county, Va., where he settled. In the mean 
time. Gen, Washington formed a high opinion of 
Gates, both as a soldierand as a man, and when the 
war of the rcvolulion broke out one of Washinglon'.s 
first acts was to recommend him lo congress for an 
appointment in the Conliucntal army, (iaies wa.s 
accordingly made adjutant general, willi the rank of 
brigadier general. This was in 177r). During the 
ensuing year he was invested with the command of 
the troojis which were destined to act against Ticou- 
deroga and Crown Point. It is a curious illustration 
of the intrigues which had already begun in the col- 
onies, that the New England delegates lo congress 
espoused (iales'scause, and pushed him with all their 
power and intluencc, .so that presently he was raised 
over Gen. Sullivan, although the latter outranked 
him. In 1777 he superseded Schuyler, and the at- 
tempt was even made lo jilace him above Washing- 
ton. In the fight with Bnrgoyne, at Saratoga, it is 
claimed thai Gates ,showcd a tendency toward cow- 
ardice, by keejiingas far as possible in the rear, while 
Schuyler and Arnold fought the bailie. The surren- 
der of Burgoyne, however, was a great victory, and 
to Gales fell much of its glory. Congress voted him 
a gold medal and the thanks of the country. As a 
furlher testimony of high esteem, he was jilaced at 
the head of the board of war, a .station next lo that 
of commander-in-chief. The intrigues to overlhrow 
Washington, which had been (juietly maturing for 
some time ainonga recreant and rebellious ,scl, main- 
ly in New England, began to put on a bold face. 
The cabal which had been formed against the com- 
niander-in-chief by certain di.saffeeted olficers of the 
army was eoimtenaneed liy a piarty in congress. It 
was hoped, by a succession of measures implying a 
want of contidence, to drive Washington to retire 
from the .service in disgust, and when this object was 
effected, lo give the command of the army to Gen. 
Gales, who lent a too willing ear to these disgraceful 
suggestions. A foreign oHicerin the Ainericau array, 
by the name of Conway, was the most active pi-o- 
moter of the project, which involved the publication 
in Eiaidon, and republication in New York, of a col- 
lection of forged letters bearing the name of Wash- 
ington, intended to jirove his insincerity in the cause 
of the revolution. The plot being discovered b}' the 
accidental disclosure of a part of the coi'resiiondence 
between Conway and Gates, the latter found it de- 
sirable lo retire for a lime to his estate in Virginia. 
In the nieantime Washington made no reply, and 
offered no denial of the miserable fabrication which 
had been bruited against him; and it was not until 
twenty years later, when about to ri'tire from the 
presidency, that he tiled in the deiiarlmeni of .slate 
a denial of its authenticity. In .June, 17.H0, Gates 
was put in eoinmand of the southern army, at that 
time concentrated in Xorlli Carolina, to o|)pose the 
victorious course of Cornwallis, who w.as sweeping 
over the Carolines like a tornado, Willi llie iman- 
ory of Saratoga before him, (Jales believed thai ho 
could overthrow Cornwallis al one blow. His force 
gradually increased until it amounted lo 4,000, 
alleged lo have been undisciplined militia, unaccus- 
tomed lo stand lire, Cornwallis iirejiared lo give 
IkiIIIc al Camden, having about 0,1100 vcler.-ins, un- 
der the joint conimand of himself and Lord Uawdon. 
If. as was claimed by tiales, his nu'ii were raw mili- 
tia, in whom he could plai'c no conlidenee, it is ob- 
vious that he ran a great risk in attacking veteran 
British regulars. The bailie took place on Aug. 
Kith, with the result that the American army was 
thrown into confusion and almost aiinihilaled. Gates 
was .soon after superseded by Gen, Greene, and .sus- 
))ended from niililarv duly. His cmiducl having 



48 



THE NATIOXAL t'YCLOP.EDIA 



been broupht under investigation by a court of in- 
quiry, till' decision hung tire until 17S2. when he was 
tardily acijuilted. Gates continued to live on his 
jjlantaliiin iu Virginia luitil 1790, when he liherated 
his slaves and removed to the sid)urb of Xew York 
then known as the Blooniingdale Pike, at a point 
where East Twenty-second street now crosses Second 
avenue. Gates married, .some time before the revolu- 
tionary war. the daughter of James Valence, of Liv- 
erpool, who, at her father's death, becami' heiress to 
nearly half a million of dollars. With her husliand, 
slie extended lilieral hospilalily on the |il.inlation in 
Virginia, up to the timcof their removal from that 
state to New York. In I.'^IM) Gen. (Sates .served for 
a prief period in the New York legislature. Person- 
ally, he was highly jiojiidar among all those who 
knew him. bi'ing easily alile, by his pleasant mamwrs, 
to inLn'aliale himself with those whose good will he 
desired, lie .lir.l in .\cw York citv Apr. 10, ISOt!. 
AKMSTRONG, John, soldier, was born at Car- 
lisle, Pa., Nov. 2.5, 17.58, His father, John (172.5- 
179.5), rendered gallant .service in the war with France 
in 17.55 and 17.51), and served as brigadier-general in 
the Continental army imtil Apr. 4, 1777, when he 
resigned. Sub.seciuently he was twice clecte<i to 
congress. The sub.iecl of this sketch was a student 
at Princeton College when the revolutionary war 
opened, but left his books to become an aide on the 
staff of Gen. Mercer. M'hen Mercer received a 
mortal wound at the'battle of Princeton, it was 
Armstrong who bore him from the tield. and the gen- 
eral died in his arms. After the death of ^Mercer, 
Armstrong joineil the staff of Gen. Gates, |)articipat- 
ing with him in the Stillwater and Saratoga cam- 
paigns. In 17.'S0 he was made adjilt.Mnt-gencral of 
the .southern army, liut owing to sickness .served 
only a short time. Later, and until the end of the 
■war, he was an aide on the stalf of Gen, Gates. Dur- 
ing the encampment of the army at Newburg, in 
17s;-!, after the surrender of Yorktown, the famous 
"Newburg Letters " ajiiieared, which recited the 
alleged wrongs of the soldiers, and called for an 
organized movement for their redress. They were 
proved to have been written by Gen. Armstrong. 
Gen. Washington, by prompt action, thwarted any 
evil results that might have arisen from them. Many 
years after. (Jen. Armstrong pnlilished a pamjihlct 
defending his ac'lion and contending that the letters, 
which were written in a forceful and masterly man- 
ner, were "an hon<'st, manly, though perhaps in- 
discreet eiKleavor to support public credit, and do 
justice to an ill-used and long suffering soldiery." 
After the disbandmeni of the army Gen. Armstrong 
returned to Pennsylvania, where he tilled .successive- 
ly the oltices of secretary and ad.jutant-general. 
In 1787 he was elected member of congress. In 
1789 he married a sister of Chancellor Livingston 
of New Y'ork, and, removing to that stale, was, in 
January, 1800, chosen I'. S. .si-nalor to till an unex- 
pired term. He served in the senate tnitil 1802, and 
again in ]80:i, and 1804. From the year last named 
until 1810 he was V. S. mii\i.ster to France and 
Spain, where he distinguished himself as an astute 
and successfid diplomatist. Ueturning to the L'nited 
States in October. jSIO, he was appointed brig- 
adier-general July (!, 1812, and given connnand of 
the district of New York. In March, 1813, he was 
appointed secretary of war, in which capacity he 
greatly improved the condition of the army, infus- 
ing into it an energy hitherto \ud<nown; but the 
failure of the exiiedition against Canada, and the 
destruction of Washington by tlic British were skill- 
fully t\iken advantage of by ^lonroe. Ids eiK'my and 
rival, and in .September, 1S14, his resignation was 
demanded by President Madison, This ended his 
pulilic career. The rennundcr of his life was passed 
in retirement in Maryland, and at Ked Hook, N, Y., 




where he wrote and published "Notices of the War 
of 1813"(183(i): " Memoirs of Gens. Montgomery and 
Wayne"; "Treati.ses on Agriculture and (birden- 
ing,"and " AKeview of Gen. Wilkinson's Memoirs." 
He also prepared a military history of the revolution, 
but the man\iscript was tlestroyed by tire. (Jen. 
Armstrong was a man of strong character and su- 
perior talent, but his usefulness was seriously im- 
paired by a fondness forintrisrue and a morose dis- 
liosilion." lledieclat I{ed Hook. N. Y., .\])r. 1, 184:3, 
ANBR£, John, Urilish soldier, was born iu l-ou- 
don in 1751. His father, a native of Geneva, was a 
merchant who di<l business in the Levant, and who 
died in 17t)9. Yiauig .\ndre was bred to commercial 
IiniNuits, and after having spent 
.s<iine time in Geneva, where he 
obtained his educali<in. entereil 
his father's couiuing • house, 
where he rem.-uned for several 
years, probably until ilic latler's 
death. In January, 1771, he re- 
ceived a conunission in the Eng- 
lish army, and it was then that 
he formed the romantic attacli- 
ment for Miss Honoria Sneyd. 
whose sidiseipuMU marriage to 
Hichard Ijovell Edgeworth so 
.seriously alTected the young 
man as to color his whole after 
life. Andre is described as hav- 
ing been, at this time, as beauti- 
ful as Haph.-iel. He was learn- 
ed and accomplished; painted 
adnurably, drew •.■ariealures 

with remarkable s]>irit, and wrote charming verse.s, 
while his epistles to Honoria Sneyd are said to be 
among the most pleasing love-letters in the language. 
He was nnister of several of the modern languages 
of Europe, an expert musician, and a graceful dancer. 
It is recorded that he painted two miniature lik(!- 
ncsses of Miss ,Sneyd. one of which he left in I-'.ng- 
lanil, while he carried the other iu his bosom until 
the latest hour of his life. 'I'luy were engaged for 
four years, at the end of which ^liss Sneyd appears 
to have jilted her lover to become the seconil wife of 
the father of M.-iria Edgeworth. Andre's faiJure to 
obtain the hand of this woman reawakened his am- 
bition for the life of a soldier, iu which he thought, 
doubtless, to forget the pain be experienced. He ac- 
cordingly entered active service as lieutenant in the 
oldest regiment of the British army, the 7th foot, or 
roval fusiliers, organized in 1()85. He aft<'rward vis- 
ited the Continent, si>ending a considerable time in 
Germany, but returned to England in 177;!. In Sep- 
tend)er of the next year he was .sent to join his reg- 
iment in Canada. Landing at Philadelphia, he 
proceeded by way of Boston to Canada, but was 
taken prisoner by Montgomery at St. Johns. He was 
afterward exchanged, and a)ipointed captain. This 
was on Nov. ;il. 1775. Writing to a friend at the 
time of his imprisonment, he said: "I liave been 
taken jirisoner by the Americans, and stripped of 
everything except the jiieture of Honoria. which I 
conei-aled in my mouth: preserving that, I yet think 
myself fortunate. " He was taken to Lancaster. Pa., 
anil it was there, several months later, that the ex- 
change was ell'ccled. Having been ajipointed aide 
to (ieu. (!ray in the sununer of 1777, he was pres- 
ent at tint engagements in New Jersey and Pennsyl- 
vania in 1777 and 1778. On tlie return of Gen. 
Gray to England. Anilre became attached to the 
stall of Sir Henry Clinton, to whom he specially en- 
deared himself by his line military and social ipiali- 
ties. He was aceonlingly quickly promoted to cap- 
tain, ami subseqvu'ntly to adjutant-general with the 
raidi of major. During the winter of 1777-78, in 
Philadcljjhia, Andre was the life and soul of the 



OF AMERICAN BIOGKAl'IIY. 



49 



miiiiprons festivities liy wliioh the lirilliant Britisli 
stiitl'-dltii-ci's cndeavcired to pnipiliMli' llir Idyully cif 
Pliiladcipliia scicicly. He lieciiiiic a I'avdiite willi 
the stately Pliiladelpliia belles of the ]ieriii(l, and is 
said to have devised an enterliMmiieiit in honor of 
Sir William Howe on the hitter's visit to Knirlaiid. 
■which was given May IM. 1T7H, at Walnut tirove, 
the mansion house of .Mr, Wharton, on Fiflh street. 
Durini; the years 177U ami 17S0 Andre was oti 
duly in New York, where he took a leadinir jiart in 
social life. He accompanied Sir Henry Clinton to 
Stony Point, assistin-^ at its cajiture, June 1. 177!), 
and himself writing the terms of caiiitulation. In 
August, 17S0. while at Elizahelhtown, he composed 
a burlescjue poem, still well known, entitled "Tlic 
Cow Chase." the subject being an attack made by 
Gen. Wayne upon a blockhouse near Bull's Ferry, 
two or three miles lielow Fort Lee, lor the purpose 
of driving in some cattle. The last stanza is as fol- 
lows: 

" And now I've closed my eijie strain; 

I tremble as I show it, 
Lest this same warrior-drover. A\'ayne, 

Should ever catch the poet." 
Strangely enough, Wayne' was the commander of 
the post at'Tappan at the time of Andre's cxcciuion. 
After Arnold had notitied the British in 17s(t of his 
intention of delivering up West Point to them. JIaj. 
Andre was selected by Sir Henry Clinton as the 




wV^c Po.'^c 



person who should make with Arnold the ar- 
rangements for the consummation of the treason- 
able act. After a correspondence under the feigned 
names of Guslavus and Anderson, it was deemed 
neces.sary that Andre and Arnold sho\dd liave a 
personal interview. To bring this about Andre 
bad been carried, on board the sloop-of-war Vul- 
ture. <ip the Hudson as far as King's Ferry, about 
twelve miles below West Point. Il<' was repeatedly 
urged by Arnolil to lanil for the purpose of a con- 
ference, but was very reluctant to ilo it. At length. 
however, chictiy to ju.slify the contidence rejiosed in 
him by Gen. Clinton, he consented to the ))roposed 
interview, which was arranged to take ])lace in the 
house of a reputed rovalist named Joshua Smith. 
During the night of Se'pt. 21. 17^*0. this Smith pulled 
11 boat out to the Vulture, and rcturni'd willi Maj. 
Andre to I he shore, where .Vrnold wasin wailinglore- 
ceive him. The three proceeded to the house of Smith, 
•where Andre remained concealed during the whoh^ 
of the following day. At the conference which took 
placethere, the plans for I he surrender of West Point 
were linally arranged. As night approached, .\ndre 
prepare<l to return to the Vulture, but. on reaching 
the bank, he found that the vessel had removed to 
some distance, in order to avoid the tire of a battery 
which had threatened her. wliile the boatman re- 
fused to put him on board the sloop. lie therefore 
determined to risk a journey bv land to Xew York, 
and after receiving from Arnold a pas.s])ort under the 



name of John Anilcrson. describing him as a person 
emjiloyed in the |iulilic service, he mounted a horse 
furnished him by Smith, who accompanied him, and 
starletl on his journey. He succeeded in passing the 
American lines, when Smith parted with him. He 
liad already approached the Knglish lines near Tarry- 
town, when three men. who are .said to have been 
]ilaying cards on a rock beside the road, approached 
liim as he .stopped at a brook to wat<'r his hor.se. 
These three men were .John Paulding, David Wil- 
liams, and Isaac Van Wart, Paulding, it appears, 
had been a prisoner for.si'vcral months in the British, 
camp, and had escaped only four days previou.sly. 
A friend in New York, who had aided his escape, 
and concealed him in his house, had ])rovided him 
with a British uniform, which he wore when en- 
countered by Andre. The other two men were clad 
in the usual homespun of the ]ieiiod. Pauliling ami 
six others had started out from Corll.andt Manor to 
recover a number of horses which had been stolen 
at Poughkeepsie. They ha<l formed them.selves into 
a scouting-parly to inlercciit the thievi^s if they 
.should attempt to pass with their liooty to New 
York; and then separated, four of the party being 
stationed on n hill, siaae disl.-ince back of the road, 
while three — Paulding. Van Wart, and Williams — 
had placed themselves behind .some bushes on the 
))ost-roa<l just above Tarrytown. Tlie British uni- 
form inspired Andre with contidence. so that when 
Paulding asked him. "Which party do you belong' 
to'?" Andre replied. " To your parly. " " How do 
you know which parly I bc'long to '!■ " asked Paul- 
<ling. ■' I can tell by your dress." said .\ndre. " I 
supiiose. then, that you belong to the lower parly V 
"Yes." was the answer. "Then we must detain 
you." .said Paulding. On hearing this, and discov- 
ering his error, Andre became confused, but at once 
e.xhibiled his pass, .signed " B. Arnold," retiuiring 
the safe pa.s.sage of "John An<lcrson. on important 
business." A brief consull.-ilion w.as held by the 
three Americans. AVIicn .\nilrr slarled his horse 
forward he was commandeil to hall. He begged to 
be allowed to proceed, bul Paulding insi.sted upon 
taking him into custody. He offered his gold watch, 
and i)romi.sed to |H-ocure for them any amount of 
money they might name, if they woiUd lei him go. 
liul liiey refused to be bribi'd. and. ordering him to 
dismount, .searched him. Fiiah'ng nolljing on his 
|)erson. they became iloublful as to their right lode- 
tain .\ndre. when Paulding stiggcsled taking otT his 
boots. This being done, his stockings were found to 
contain exact plans and descrijiliems of the forlitica- 
tions and aiiiiroaclies of West Point, and other writ- 
ings by .Vrnold. The three men at once made him 
their prisoner, and took him lo the camp of Lieut. - 
Col. .lamieson, who was in command of the advanc- 
ed )iost of the .Vmericaii army. .Vndre's request that 
intelligence of the ar- 
rest sliould be sent lo 
the commander at West 
Point wasgranled. Col. 
Jjimicson sent a mes- 
senger with a note from 
.\ndre wrillen to Ar- 
nold. The me.s.senger 
delivered it. according 
toonetradilion. while Arnold was eating dinner with 
Gen. Washington, near Tarrytown. I'pon reading 
the note, he hurriedly left the table, staling that he 
had imporlani business across the river; he look a 
boal below T.'irrytown. and rowed oul to the British 
sloojvof-war Vuiture. when' he placed liimself un 
derllie protection of Sir Henry Clinton. Anothei 
story is to the effect th.'il .Vrnold was at Rol)inson'8 
house, opposite West Point; that it was in the morn- 
ing, and that, on receiving the letter, which was de- 
livered lo him as he was eating his breakfast, he 



-^^' 

.m^ 



ssf. 



'■'^.tM 




50 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



asked the messenger, Lieut. Solomon Allen, to go 
iip-stairsand sit with Mrs. Ariiold, that Allen ndjiht 
not havi' an oppnitunity of cdnvi rsinj: with the other 
officers, and Ihal he immediately left the liouse and 
fled. Further, that Washinirtoii did not arrive at 
Hohinson's until after Arnold had gone. A board of 
six major-generals and eight brigadier-generals was 
convened to try .\ndre as a spv. Maj.-Gen. Greene 
was president of the board, and both Lafayette and 
Sleni)en were members. It met Sept. '.Jilth. Not a 
witness a]ii)eared before it. The rei)ort was ba.sed 
entirely upnn .Vndn's own eonfes.sion, which admit- 
ted tliat he came within the description of a spy anil 
ought lo suffer death. The execution of this sentence 
was ordiM-ed lo take place on the day following thai 
on which it was entered. Sir lleiuy Clinton made 
every elTort to save his young friend and aide-de- 
camp, but inelfcetually. Andre .showed himself .se- 
rene and brave to the last. He sent a request to 
Washington that in place of sulfering the ignomin- 
ious death by the rope, he might be shot, and die like 
a .soldier. To this request Washington maile no re- 
sponse. Having decided not to grant it, he refrained, 

as he saiil. from 
tenderness tow- 
ard Andre, from 
communicating to 
the latter his de 
cision A com- 
pany of light in 
fantry was detail- 
ed to lead Andre 
to execution. He 
supposed, until he 
saw the gallows, 
that he would be 
shot. As that ap 
peared his face 
blanched for a 
moment, but at 
once regaining his 
self-posses,sion, he remarked, "Gentlemen, I di<l not 
expect this." Being asked if he had any re({uest to 
make before he left the worlil, he answered, "None 
but that you will witness to the world that I die like 
a brave man." The scene of the execution was a 
short distance from Tappan village. The following 
inscription was cut into a boulder which designated 
the place; 

"ANDRE, 
Executed 
Oct. 2d, 
1780." 
In 1821 the remains of the executed man were ex- 
humed, and carried for intermeiU to Westminster 
Abbey. On the sarcophagus there is this in.scri]ition- 
" He fell a saciifice to his zeal for his king and coini- 
try, on the .second of October, 17Mb, aged 29," The 
■will of Maj. Andre, dated .June 7. 1777. and filed 
among the records of the surrogate's court of New 
York, is signed John Andre, eajitain of the 2(ith regi- 
ment of foot. It appoints as executors his mother 
and three of his uncles, and it gives to each of his 
three sisters and his brother the sum of .£700 sterling. 
Other bequests are named, amoiuiting to £2r)0, the 
residue of all his effects being bequeathed to his 
brother, William Lewis Andre. Andre's watch 
was sold for the benefit of his captors. The ])laee 
■where Andre was captured has long been nuu'k- 
ed by a mommient. and on the occasion of the cen- 
tennial of Andre's execution, another momunent 
■was erected there by Mr. Cyrus W. Field, of New- 
York. This procedure on the part of Mr. Field 
aroused great indignation, uhicli was freely cxiiress- 
cd through the newsijapers, and the moiuiment, after 
being defaced and injined in various ways, was 
tinally blown up by dynamite. 




~a2**~^£r= 



CON'WAY, Thomas, soldier, was born in Ireland, 
Feb. 27. 17H8. Wlien only six years of age he went 
with his parents to France, where he ■was educated 
to the pn)fes.sion of arms. He had seen a good deal 
of service and already had a high military re]Hitation 
when he came to America in 1777, a colonel by rank, 
wearing the decoration of St. Louis, and recom- 
mended by so eminent a personage as Silas Deane. 
Therefore it is not to be wondered at that congress, 
desirous above all things of olitaining the services of 
experienced soldiers, should have at once appointed 
him brigadier general. Hut it aiii>ears that Conway 
was especially obnoxious to Washington, who dislik- 
ed and (list rusted him from the beginning, penet rating 
through the brilliant apjiearauee of this Irish soldier 
of fortune to the hollownc.ss which lay beneath. He 
believed him to be an unsafe man, who would use 
the power with which he might be intrusted for the 
purpose of .self-aggrandi-zcment, and when he heard 
that congress thought of |iromoling him, he wrote a 
strong remonstrance against it. giving frankly and 
boldly his reasons. As Conway was perfectly aware 
of this, it was natural that he should be deeply an- 
gered against Washington. Out of this imger grew 
what was eventually known in history as " the Con- 
way Cabal. " The Irish brigadier-general was jires- 
ent at the battles of Brandywine and Germantown, 
but it is not related that he performed any valorous 
act, either on those occasions or any others. He con- 
cocted a plot, which was to make Gen. Gates super- 
sede Washington as commander-in-chief, and suc- 
ceeded in inducing (iaies and Gen. Thomas Miffiiu 
to join with him in the conspiracy. These three also 
managed to gain over a faction of conirress, which 
was as destitute of real ability as it wasof ]iatriotism. 
The victory of Saratoga precijiitated this scheme in 
behalf of (lates, bin Wilkinson, the hitler's aide-de- 
camp, while bearing dispatches lo congress giving an 
account of the cajiitulation of Burgoyne. stoiijicd at 
theheadciuartersof Lord .Stirling, and communicated 
to him the contents of a letter which he had seen, 
from Conway to Gales, in which AV;ishiugioii was 
spoken of disparagingly. Stirling at once communi- 
cated to tiK'connnander in-chief what Wilkinson had 
told him. whereupon ensued a correspondence be- 
tween Washington. Gales, and Conway which ex- 
posed the whole affair. Gates, in order lo exlricale 
himself from Ibe dillieulty, replied that \\'ilkiiison 
had forged the extracts which he had conummicated 
to Lord Stirling. Wilkinson immediately challenged 
Gates, who tirst accepted and then declined tlu' ch,'d- 
lenge, in a way which added one more stain lo his 
already soiled character. In the meantime it was 
shown that Conway had written anonymous letters 
in ditt'erent directions, containing false assertions de- 
signed to injure Washington, and, altogether, his 
comhict had been so infamous, that it became a mat- 
ter of poetic justice that he .should be cnndignly 
pimished. The duty fell to the br,-ive Gen. Cad- 
walailer, Washiugton'sdevoted friend, whoch.alleng- 
ed Conway, fought him, and .shot him in the mouth, 
the ball p.assing out through the b;.ck of his neck. 
Believing that he was at tiie jioint of death. Conway 
wrote, from Philadelphia, thefollowing lettertoGen. 
Washington; "Sir; I find myself just able to hold 
my jieu during a few mimitcs, and take this oppor- 
tunity of expressing my siii<-erc grief for having done, 
written, or .said anything disagreeable to your ex<-el- 
leucy. My careerwill soon bcover. therefore justice 
and truth inomjit me to declare my last sentimenl.s. 
Yon arc in my eyes the great anil good man. May 
you long enjoy the love, esteem, and vencralioii of 
these states whose liberties y<ni have asserteil by your 
virtue. I am, with great respect, ycau' excelleni'v's 
miLst obedient and humble servant. [Signed] Ths. 
Conwav. " In the following March, Conway offered 
his resignation conditionally to eongre.s.s, but it tvas 



OF AMERICAN BIOGKAPHY. 



51 



MathanFal 



accepted at once, unconditionally, wlicivby he was 
obliged to leave the iirn\y. He returned to France, 
and was afterward appointed governor of some of 
the French settleniciils in the East. In India he is 
sjiid to have had a quarrel with Tippoo Sahib, which 
resulted in great injury to the Fremh iiiterc-sts. Dur- 
ing the French revolution, he cominaii<led the royal- 
ist army in the south of France for a time, but was 
soon obliged to leave the coimtry and tlee for his life. 
The exact date of his dealli is not known. 

HALE, Nathan, soldier, was born at Coventry, 
Conn., June 0, ITiw. His father was Richard H. 
Hale, of Coventry. His grandfather was a physi- 
cian and his great-grandfather a clergyman: both 
were educated" at Harvard, Nathan was a delicate 
child, and gave little pronu'se of reaching manhood, 
and still less of attaining the physical beauty for 
which he was distinguished. He was fond of athletic 
sports and out-of-door life, but was fidly as am- 
bitious to e.xcel in his studies. He was ju-epared for 
college by the Rev. Dr. Huntington, one of the most 
pronilnent Congregational divines of the times, and 
at the age of si.xteen entered Yale 
College, from which he was grad- 
uated with the highest honors in 
1773. He was popular with fac- 
ulty and .students alil^e, while his 
grace and charm of manner won 
"'S,*^'* w]*"^^ him a ready welconu- to the most 

/Ifc ^ ^/l JJk aristocratic circles of New Ha veu. 
He taught school at East Haddani 
for nearly two years after his grad- 
uation, and in 1774 was appointed 
precejitor in the Union Grammar 
School at New Loudon. Conn., an 
institution of high character, de- 
signed to prejiare students for 
Yale College, His parents had 
destined him for the mini.stry, and 
had it not been for the change the 
revolutionary war caused in the 
current of event.s, he might have 
carried onl their wishes. His con- 
nection with the New London 
school was most agreeable to him. 
He had considerable scicntitic 
knowleilge, and ha<l there the op- 
portunity to devote nuicli of his 
time to literatiu'e and science. His 
future appeareil peaceful and full 
of promise, but tidings of blood- 
shed soon called him to a patriot's 
career. He was among the tir.st 
to use his eloquence and efforts 
to arouse the people to immediate action. At the 
outbreak of the revolutionary war he said, "Let 
us march immediately, and never lay down our 
arms until we have obtained our independence." 
He made the first apjieal for independence in a 
public meeting, at the close of which he, with 
others, enrolled themselves as volunteers in the 
cause of the colonies. He was subseciuently ap- 
pointed a lieutenant in Col. Ch,irles Webb's reg- 
iment, took part in the siege of iJosioii, and in 
.January, 177(i. was breveted cajitaiii for his gal- 
lantry. Devoted and unseltish in his adherence 
lo the patriot cause, when the men in his com- 
pany wished to return lionu' at the (■.\piratioii of 
their time, he offered them his month's jiay if they 
would remain a month longer. After the British 
evacuated Boston he went io New York with the 
greater part of the American army, and while there 
executed a daring feat. A British sloop, loaded with 
provisions, was anchored in the East rivi-r, imderthe 
protection of the Brilisli man-of-war Asia. He im- 
idled a few picked men with his own jjatriotic zeal, 
and with them went at midnight in a whale-boat to 




the Asia, and lioardcd her. He succeeded in impris- 
oning the guard, and in bringing the sloop and pro- 
visions to "shore, where the latter were distributed 
among his famished comrades. About this time he 
was appointed captain of a company of Connecticut 
rangers, made up of choice men, and known as 
"Congress's Own." He took part in the battle of 
Long Lslaud, and was with Washington in his fa- 
mous retreat across the East river from Brooklyn. He 
was with the troops in New York at the time the 
British invaded Long Island. Soon after this he 
was called to meet Gen. Washington at the house of 
a Quaker merchant — Robert Murray — on Murray 
Hill, New York city, to receive instructions for an 
important mission. The exigencies of the situation 
seeming to demand that a trusty person should visit 
the enemy's cauip in disguise, and obtain accurate 
knowledge of the state of affairs, Nathan Hale vol- 
unteered for the service. Beloved and admired as 
he was by his comrades, they endeavored to dissuade 
him froni such a jierilous undertaking, the failure of 
which meant an ignominious death; but he refused 
to listen to their warnings, replying warmly; "Gen- 
tlemen, I owe to m\' country the accomplishment of 
an oljject so important and so much desired by the 
ccjuunauder of our armies. I know no mode of ob- 
taining the information but by a.ssuming a di.sguise 
and pa.ssing into the enemy's camp. I am fully sen- 
sible of the consequences of discovery and capture in 
such a situation. I wish to be useful, and every 
kind of service necessary for the public good becomes 




honorable by being necessary." He left the camp 
on Harlem Heights the same evening, and, disguised 
as a schoolmaster in search of employment, enter- 
ed the British lines. His winning manners .served 
him well, and he was received wilii much cordiality. 
He obtained the necessary information, including 
drawings of the fortiticatioiis, and had reached a com- 
paratively safe place on Long Island, whence he ex- 
pected to cross the sound to Norwalk the following- 
morning, when he was recognized, seized and car- 
ried aboard the British gua"iTl-ship Halifax, under 
conmiand of Capt. (Juarne. His disguise had been 
penetrated liy a worthless tory cousin of his, who 
betrayed hini to tlu' enemy. He was carried before 
Gen. "Howe, who had his "headquarters in the hand- 
some residence of .lames Beekman, at Jloinit Pleas- 
ant, on the l)ank of the East river. The information, 
which he had concealed between the soles of his 
shoes, convicted him as a spy. and he was condemn- 
ed to be hunii the next morning. He was ilelivered 
into the hands of the British jirovost marshal, Wil- 
liam Cuiuiingham, who was given orders to perform 
the execution before siuirise. That night Hale was 
confined in the greenhouse of the mansion, imdcr a 
strong guard. He was denied the services of a min- 
ister and the consolatii>ns of the Bible, while the let- 
ters he was permitted to write to his mother, sisters 
and betrolln'il weredestroyed in his pre.s<'nce. The no- 
torious Cuniungham afterward said, in extenuation of 
this conduct, " It wasnecessiry that the rehelsshould 
never know that they had a man who could die with 



52 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



such firmness." In the early dawn of a beautiful Sun- 
day nioniing in September, Nathan Hale bravely 
met the iijnomiuioiis fate of a s[)y. As the rope was 
put arounil his neek. his last words were: "I only 
regret that I have but t)ne life to lose for my coun- 
try." His sad fate spread a pall over the army and 
the nation. He was admired for his beauty, and 
loved for himself. The women of Xew Haven shed 
tears of genuine sorrow when they received the news. 
An entry of his death was made on the town records 
of Coventry. A rude stone was erected to his mem- 
ory by his father's grave in the cemeterj- attacheii to 
the Congregational church, and in 1^37 the citizens 
formed a Hale Jlonunient Association, for the pur- 
pose of obtaining sutticient money to erect a memo- 
rial worthy of the young patriot. The monument, 
of tjuiiicy granite, was completed in 1S4(), at a cost 
of $;i,7;i4. The Sons of the Hevolulion have under- 
taken to erect a statue of Xathan Hale which will be 
set up, in the autumn of ISilS. in a corner of the City 
Hall park, New York city, on the spot suppo.sed to 
be hallowed by the last agonies of the young hero. 
The figure is to be cast in brnn/e. and will be about 
eiglil I'eet in height. Tinioliiy Dwiglii. Hale's tutor 
at Yale College, comnieinoratcil his fate in verse. 
The state of Connecticut appropriated the sum of 
$.5,000 toward the erection of a statue of Hale, which 
stands in Hartford. The presentation speech was 
made by Chas. Dudley Warner. June 14, 188", and 
Gov. Phineas C. Lounsbury accepted the statue for 
the state. The date of Nathan Hale's death was 
Sept. '22. ITTli. 

JASPER, 'William, soldier, was born in South 
Carolina al)out IT.'iu. But little is known of his life 
previous to his enlistment as .sergeant in the 2d South 
Carolina regiment, at the opening of the revolution. 
AVhen Fort Jloultrie was assaulted by the British 
forces on .June 28. ITTti. and the (lag staff on the fort 
was shot aw.-iy. .lasjier b'aped from an embrasure to 
the ditch into wliicli the Hag had fallen, and amid a 
storm of bullels relurncd it toils place upon tlie par- 
apet. Gov. Kulledge presented him with a sword as 
a reward for his daring. Suli.secpieiitly. lie declined 
a lieutenant's commission liecauseof his want of edu- 
cation, but until his death there was not a month of 
his life that he did not disliuguisli himself by some 
act of daring. Once, for instance, with a single con\- 
panioii he overpowered a British guaril, and relea.sed 
a large number of prisoners. During the assault on 
Savannah, Oct. 7, ITTil, he was killed while his regi- 
ment was charging the Spring Hill redoubt. A square 
in Savannah and a county in Georgia have been 
named in his honor. 

NORTH, 'William, soldier, was born at Fort 
Frederic'k, Me., in 17."i"). P>ntering the revolutionary 
army in ITT.") he accom])anied Benedict Arnold to 
Canada, and in May, ITTT, became captain in a Jtas- 
sachusetts regiment". In ITT'.t he was appointed aide 
to Baron Steuben, imder whom he .served until the 
close of the war. In October, ITSfi, he was made 
major of the 2il C S. regiment, and from 1T80 un- 
til 1800 held the ollice of adjutant-general of the U. S. 
army, with the rank of brigadier-general. He was 
also speaker of the New York a.ssendilj', and canal 
commissioner, and from lT8i) until ITilS) s.-u in the 
U. S. senate as a feileralisl. Baron Sleubeu be- 
queathed him the greater portion of his estale, which 
Gen. North divided anmng his fellow-otHcers. He 
died in Ni'w York cilv on .Ian. H, 183(5. 

STEVENS, Edward, soldier, was born in Cul- 
peper county, \"a.. in 1T4."). He parlicipaled. as a 
major of militia, in the liatlU'of (Ire.il BiicUeon Dec. 
9, 1TT5, and in the summer of ITTO was made colonel 
of the 10th Virginia regiment. In ITTT he was or- 
dered to join Washington's army in Ncw.Ier.sey; and 
at the battle of the Branilywine bore the brunt of 
Gen. William Howe's a.ssault. Subsequently, taking 



a gallant part in the battle of Germantown. he was 
advanceti by congress to the rank of brigadier-gen- 
eral. He spent the winter of 1TT8 at Valley Forge, 
and in August, 1T80, was transferred to the southern 
army under Gen. Gates, opening, with a brigade of 
Virginia militia, the battle of Camden, and by his 
bravery lieing instrumental in preventing a disastrous 
riau of the American forces. He served under Gen. 
Greene at the battle of Guilford Couil-House. where 
he was badly woimded, and for the bravery which 
he displayed on that occasion was warmly jiraised 
by Gen. Greene. He then rejoined '\Vashingl<pn, 
with whom he participated in the siege of Yorktowu. 
From 1T82 until 1T90 he was a member of the Vir- 
ginia senate. He died in Culpeper countv, Va., 
Aug. IT. 1S20. 

BUTLER, Zebulon, soldier, was born at Lyme, 
Coim., in 1781. At the outbreak of the French and 
Indian war, he applied for service with the provin- 
cial troops of his native colony, was aiijjointed an en- 
sign, and ro.se to the command of a comjiany, dis- 
tinguishing himself at Fort Edward, Lake George, 
Ticonileroga and Crown Point. In lTfJ2 he .sailed 
with his company .and other provincial troojis to rc- 
infcnci' the British, who were besieging Havana. 
They were shipwrecked and suffered many hardships, 
but eventually shared in the honors of the surrender. 
In December. 1T62, Capt. Butler returned to America 
and .settled in Con- 
necticut, where he 

remained until the ^fe&,flk S^ f*" ^ 

outbreak of the war fl^Tm^t /riSart''),,- 

of the revolution. 
He was tlien ap- 
pointed a lieuten- 
ant-colonel in the 
Connecticut line, 
and in March, 
17T8, colonel of 
the 2d Connecticut 
regiment, serving 
through the cam- 
paigns of 1T7T and 1778. In the meantime, having 
become interested in lands in the Valley of Wyoming, 
he .settled there with other colonists, who built several 
stockade forts for their protection. The Indians in 
that neiirhborhood were very averse to white settle- 
ment and, at the instigation of the British, exhibited 
signs of enmity, occasionally attacking small parties 
ot" the colonists who were isolated from the main 
body. Finally an attack was nuide by the Ameri- 
cans against the camp and fort which were the head- 
{[uarters of the combined British. Indians and tories, 
and which included about 1,000 men, conunand- 
ed bv a British ollicer and the Indian chief Brandt. 
Col. i?utler led the attack, and for a time the Amer- 
icans haii the advantage, but the misunderstanding 
of an order caused a retreat, which eventually be- 
came a rout, most of the officers being killed in 
their ineffectual attempts to rally the men. Among 
the otlieers escaping was Col. Butler, who with 
four or five men .succeeded in reaching home. On 
the 4th of .luly. 1778. tlu- .settlers agreed to articles 
of caiiilulation, by which it was stipulated that their 
lives should be spared. In spite of that fact, the 
British and Indians procee(h'd to murder and plun- 
der the inhabitants indiscrin\inately. and to burn 
their houses. This was the " jMas.sacre of Wyo- 
ming," which left the beautiful vaUeya scene of de.-ith 
and desolation, fiater, Col. Butler was ordered to 
return with what fm'ce he could collect, and I'ctakc 
])ossession of the country, which he did in Augu.st, 
ITTO. In 1T80 he was directed by Washington to 
deliver the jiosts at Wyoming to Capt. Alexander 
Mitchell, and with the men under his command to 
join the army, the order being due to a jealousy be- 
tween the states of Peunsvlvania and Connecticut, 




OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



53 



owing to a dispute wliicb had arisen out of the claims 
advanced by Pennsylvania to lamls on the Susque- 
hanna occupied by citizens of Connecticut. Open 
hostilities between these parties lasted for a number 
of years, the New England people being twice driven 
from their settlement, although they in both cases re- 
tiirneil immediately with reinforcements and repos- 
sessed themselves of the coimlry. The trouble was 
tinall}' settled by what was known as the "decree of 
Trenton," which established the claim of Pennsyl- 
vania to the disputed territory. To this decision Col. 
Butler, with most of the other settlers, yielded. After 
the war, he continued to reside at Wyoming, and 
was apijointed lieutenant of the county. He died at 
Wilkesliarre, Pa., July 2.^ 1795. 

ABHOLD, Benedict, soldier, was born at Nor- 
wich, Conn.. .Jan. 14. 1741. He was the fourth of 
the name, William Arnold, his earliest American 
ancestor, liaving settli'il on the Providence Planta- 
tions in 1636. Benedict Arnold's father was a ship- 
owner, and for some time a .sea-ca])taiu. Benedict 
was fairly educated, and besides learning the ordi- 
nary English branches, ac- 
quired a fair knowledge of 
the classics. He is said to 
have been, iihysically, very 
attractive, but of an insub- 
ordinate nature, proud, will- 
ful and sensitive; and when 
only fifteen years of age, dur- 
ing the French and Indian 
war, he ran away from home. 
He joined the colonial army. 
which had been titted out for 
an expedition in the North, 
and went with it as far as 
Lake George. But he found 
army life less to his satisfac- 
tion than he bad anticipated 
— the discipline' of camp du- 
ties being especially irksome 
to him — and. accordingly, 
manifested his natural dispo- 
sition by deserting and mak- 
ing the best of his way home through a great many 
privations and some dangers. On returning to Nor- 
wich he is said to liave entered the apothecaiy shop 
of a Dr. I/athrop, who appears to have been satisfied 
with him, as, at the close of their connection, he 
gave Arnold £.100 sterling. He then removed to 
New Haven, Conn., where lie eiuraged in business 
as a druggist and bookseller, and from 1703 to 1767 
continued in this line witli considerable success. 
On Feb.. 22d of the latter year, lie married Marga- 
ret, daughter of SannK'l ^lansfield. wlicxlied on .lune 
10. 177.'). From 1767 to the outbreak of the war of 
the revolution Arnold eiuraged in many adventures 
and speculations, by which he accumulated consid- 
erable property. lie owne<l vessels, and carried on 
a tnide. sometmies with Canada and sometimes with 
the West Indies, occasionally going to sea himself 
in command. At Hondiu'as he is saiil to have fought 
a duel with a British sea-captain, who called him a 
"damneil Yankee," in which he wounded the cap- 
tain and forceil him to a|)ologize. It is also stated 
that during this perioil Arnold visited England. At 
the time of the battle of Lexington, he was captain 
of a volunteer company at New Haven. On hearing 
of this engagement. Arnold inspired his men with 
snflicient enthusiasm to get them to follow him to 
Cand>ri(Ige. whcMC he arrived Apr. 'J!t. 177.'>. His 
early Can.adian experience had informed him of a 
fact which he conunimicated to the JIassachusetts 
committee of .safety, namely, the importance of Ti- 
conderoga and its praclically defenceless condition. 
He was at once conunis.si<)ned colonel by the cimi- 
mittee, and authorized to raise 400 men, with which 




to capture the fort. In the meantime another expe- 
dition had started from Connecticut and western 
Ma.s.sachusetts, under the command of Ethan Allen, 
with the .same objective point. Arnold joined Allen 
at Castleton, Vt., and demanded the command of 
the expedition. This being refused him, he accom- 
panied Allen as an aide, and Ticondcroga was cap- 
tiu'ed by the latter on Jlay 10th. In the aulunui of 
177.'i. Arnold, who had by this time become known 
to the commander-in-chief, was ordered by him to 
make an advance into Canada. He undertook the 
expedition with about 1,000 men, and conducted it 
admirably; but the default of Col. Euos, who de- 
serted his command and returned to Massachusetts 
with 300 men, pre\'cnled him from carrying out his 
original plans. On arriving at Point Levi the troojis 
were forced to cross the river to Quebec in birch-bark 
canoes. They succeeded in this, and on the night of the 
14th of November, Arnold formed his small corps 
of only about 700 men on the height near the Plains 
of Abraham. There, as the garrison would not come 
out to fight, he was obliged to await Gen. Montgom- 
ciy. On the arrival of the latter, Dec. Isi, the 
ci.ty was at once attacked. Gen. ISIontgomeiy was 
killed, and Arnold disabled by a bullet -wouml in his 
leg. Arnold was made brigadier-general on account 
of his eminent courage on this occasion, and ccmtin- 
ued the siege of Quebec until April, when he was 
put in conunand of Jlontreal, but the Americans 
were socm after driven out of Canada. Early in June 
he joined Gates at Ticondcroga. and soon after ex- 
hibited great bravery in the command of the Amer- 
ican Heet on Lake Chamiilain, where a terrible naval 
battle was fought in October. A little later he was 
accused of nefarious conduct in connection with his 
occupancy of ^Montreal, but he was exonerated from 
these charges. In the meantime conspiracies were 
being formed in the army against various generals, 
but "])articularly against Washington as the com- 
maiKlcr-in-chief. Arnold. Vicing a friend of Wash- 
ingtini. and strong in his fiilelity to him, became 
subject to persecutions on the part of Gates and t'on- 
way and their adherents in congress ; and this, 
doubtless, embittered him. and helped to <lraw him 
away from his previous ]iosition as a patriot and an 
officer of integrhy. Arnold was fortunate enough to 
be in Connecticut at the time when that colony was 
invaded, April, 1777. He had a desperate fight with 
the British tmder Gov. Tryon, in the course of which 
two horses were shot under him, but he drove the 
British igncnniniously to their ships. 
For this act of gallantry Arnold was 
promoted by congress to the rank of 
major-general. Soon after, he was 
sent to the northern army, the left 
wing of which he commanded dur- 
ing the battle of Bemis Heights; and, 
had he been sustained liy Gates, 
would probably have been recogniz- 
ed as the con(picror of Burgoyne. 
Gates weakened Arnold's command, 
and a quarrel ensued between the two 
officers; but on Oct. 7lli Arnold made 
one of his most magniticeiil clforts. 
and actually achieved the victory whose credit was 
given to Gates. During this engagement he was 
badly wounded in the same leg which had received 
the iinllet at Quebec, and was obliged to remain 
invalided until the following sjiring. In June, 
177^. he was put in coiiiniaiid of Philadelphia, just 
evacuated by the Brilish. There lie is said to have 
lived far beyonil his income, and he was charged 
with opjircssion. extortion and misappropriation of 
pulilic money and proiierty to his private use. He 
quarreled biiterly with some of the leading citizens 
of the city. and. altoL:ether. became so involved that 
he contemplated resigning from the army. An in- 




54 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOP.EDIA 



vestigation beiiiji ordered, be was aciiiiitted of all 
but certain trivial eharjies, and this decision was af- 
terward continned by a courl-martial. ■\V;ishiu;4tou, 
to show his ))crsonal conlideucc iu hira, offered him 
the command of the norlhern army; but by Ibis time 
Arnold's old spirit of insubordination had again taken 
hold of him. Unfortunately, also, he came under 
the observation of lirilish ollieials. who were an.\- 
ious to find .some one in power in the American 
arm}' who would be willing to betray it. In an evil 
hour Arnold was temjHed, and yielded. He shrewdly 
sjtw that if he could place the British iu control of 
the Iludsim river, which could easily be accomplish- 
ed by .surrendering West Point, he would have such 
a claim upon their gratitude as must eventually inure 
to his highest advantage. He accordingly asked of 
Washington the conwnand of this imjiortant iinsi, 
and .succeeded in obtaining it. Beverly Kobinson, 
whose residence was just opposite West Point, on 
the other side of the river, was a prominent tory, in 
the coiilideiice of the British commanders. Through 
Robinson, Arnold was placed in correspondence with 
Sir Henry ('linlon, and at once negotiations for the 
surrender of West Point began, ilajor John Andre 
{g. V.) being the emi.ssary from Sir Henry Clinton. 
Arnold's attempted treason proved unsuccessful 
through the capture of Andre by some Westchester 
yeomen, who came upon him as he was making the 
best of his way toward the British lines after a de- 
cisive interview with the traitor. The latter, on 
being informed by a messenger of this capture, tied 
in haste from West Point, and succeeded in getting 
on board the Vulture, Sept. 3"), ITSO. He received 
a sum of money as a reward for his attemjited trea- 
son, and was made a luigadier-general in tlie Britisji 
service. In this capacity he was sent by Sir Ileiuy 
Clinton, in January, 1781, to make a diversion in 
Virginia, with the a.ssi.stance of a considerable naval 
force, and he actually did commit successful rav- 
ages on the rivers and along the coast of llie Chesa- 
peake. It is stated tliat. while on this cxjiedition, he 
inquired of an American captain, whom he had 
taken prisoner, what the Americans would ilo with 
him if lie should fall into their hands. The ofbeer 
replied that they would cut olf his left leg and bury 
it with the honors of war, and hang the remain- 
der of his body on a gibbet. In September of the 
same year Arnolil made an attack on Xew London, 
and captured Fori Trumbull. He spent the follow- 
ing winter in London, and remained abroad until 
1787, when, for a time, he was in business at St. 
Johns, N. B., with two of his sons, having become 
so unpoiiular there, according to tradition, as to 
have been lumg in etligy. He is said to have be<'n 
in Ihc West Indies in i7S)4. While he was in Phila- 
delphia, in 177S, he became engaged to a tory lady, 
th(' daughter of the chii'f justice of Pennsylvania, 
Margaret Shippeii, whom he eventually marri<'d. 
She was with him at West Point, when lie received 
the news of the caiiturc of Aiiilrc, and she followed 
his fortunes thereafter, dying in London Aug. 24, 
1804. Arnold himself died in thai citv June 14, 
1801. 

NASH, Francis, soldier, was born in Prince 
Eilward ciiiuily, Va.. May III. 17~0. Francis removed 
to A'<iilh Carolina at an early age, and for some years 
was clerk of the superior <-oiirt of Orange county. 
He was also for a time a captain in the British army, 
participating in the battle of Alamance in 1771. In 
177") he was a member of the Provincial congress of 
North Carolina, and in the same year was made 
lieulenaiil colonel ofllie 1st Norlh Carolina regiment. 
Having been adv.-inced to the rank of brigadier-gen 
eral by the Contineiilal congress, in February, 1777. 
he led" a brigade at the battle of Germaiitown. where 
he received wounds from which he died. His broth- 
er, Abuer (171G-1780), was a tlisliuguishcd patriot. 




and from 1779 to 1781 governor of Xorth Carolina. 
Francis's nephew. Frederick (17S1-1858), was from 
18.52 until his death chief justice of the supreme 
court of Norlh Carolina. He died Oct. 7, 1777. 

KOSCItJSZKO, Thaddeus, soldier, was born in 
Cillinaiila. Fib. 12. lT4li. He was of noble birth, 
and after receiving a military education became a 
captain iu the Polish army. Sympathy for the 
|>atriol cause induced him to come to America in 
177"), bringing wiih liiui letters from Franklin, and 
in October. 177fi, he was appoint- 
ed colonel of engineers. He was 
assigned to .service with the north- 
ern army, for which he devised 
the dc^fences of Bemis Height^ 
and West Point. Later he served 
as ailjulanl to Wasliington, and 
liarlieipated with Gen. Greene in 
the siege of Ninety-Six. At the 
close of the war. in 1783, he re- 
ceived a vote of thanks from con- 
gress, and at Washington's request 
was breveted brigadier - general. 
Uelurniiig to Poland, he was, in 
17WI, made major-general iu the 
Poli^h army, and irallantly oppo.s- 
ed the Russians at -the llattles of 
Zielence in June, 1702. and Dubienka in July, 1793. 
After the second pailition of Poland he took up his 
residence in Leipsic, and was elected by the French 
national assembly a citizen of France. ^larch 24, 
1704. he reappeared in Cracow as dictator and gen- 
erabin-ehief of a revolutionary jiarty that had been 
secretly formed, and. at the head of a small arniv of 
])easanls, met and defeated a greatly .siqierior l{us- 
sian force at Kaclawice. Having organized a 
national council, lo which lie intrusted the govern- 
ment, heagaiii took the tield with an army of 13.000, 
1ml al Szczekocinv. on June (i, 1704, was defeated by 
4().0(l(l Prussians "afler a liard-bmghl batlle. He- 
Ireatiiig to Warsaw, he held that cily against Ihe al- 
lied forces of Prussia and Russia until the latter, 
reinforced Iiy an Austrian army of l.")0,000 men, over 
threw his army, and captured him <m Oct. 10, 1794. 
He was coiitined in St. Pelersburg for two yeai-s, 
but in 1701) was released, and loaded with honors by 
the Kmiicnir Paul. When the latter offered him his 
sword, he ileclined it. .siying: "I have no need of 
a sword; I have no ccmntry to defend." In 1797 
he visited the I'liiled Stales, where he was received 
with every evidence of esteem and respect. Upon 
his returii to Euroi)e he .settled at Fontainebleau, 
where he lived in relirement until 1814. In 1806 
Najioleon requested the services of Kosciuszko in 
his invasion of Poland, but the latter refu.sed be- 
cause of the condilioiis u]>on which he had been 
given his freedom by Ihe Russian government. In 
"lSl(> he look uji his "residence at Soiothurn, Switzer- 
land; in 1817 freed the serfs on his Polish estates, 
and on Oct. 15, 1817, was killed by a fall from a 
horse. He was buried beside Sobieski and Poiiia- 
towski iu the callii'dral at Cracow, and a great 
uiouiid lo commemorale his services was creeled 
near llial cily. In 182S a monument in his honor 
was imveiled"at West Point. See. also, Falkenstein's 
"Leben Kosciuszko's " (Leip.sic. 1825). 

POMEROY, Seth, soldier, was born at North- 
ainplon, .Mass., .May 20, 170G. He learned the 
trade of gunsmith iii his youth, and spent iiiaiiy 
years in tlie mililarv service of the colony, allainiug 
ihe rank of coloiu'l." In 1774 and 1775 lie served in 
Ihe Provincial congress, where he was distinguished 
for Ills iiatriotic sentiments, and in February of the 
lalli'r year he was made brigadier-general of militia. 
Parlic'ipaliiig as a volunteer in the battle of Bunker 
Hill, he was. a short time afterward, ajipointed senior 
brigatiier-general of the Continental army. The 



OF AMERICAN BIOGKAl'IIY. 



55 



suliscfiupnt adjiistnu'iit of rank provintr difficult, he 
rcsiijiK'd his commission, and retired from tlic ser- 
vice. After the repulses of \V:ishiiiii:ton in ITTG he 
raised a volunteer force, with which he marched to 
his relief, but fell .sick while on the way, and died at 
Peekskill, N. Y., Feb. Ill, 1777. 

WADSWOBTH, James, soldier, was born at 
Durham, Conn., July (5, 1730, He was graduated 
from Yale College at the age of eighteen, and from 
\~')i'> until 1786 "served as town clerk of Durham. 
In 177.") he was made a member of the con\mitlee of 
safety, in 177t> brigadier-general of mililia, ,-uid in 
1777 luajor-general, being engaged, in the year last 
named, in the defence of the iowns on the ('onnecti- 
cut coast. From 17.S;! until 171SH he .served in the 
Continental congress, and fnmi 1785 tmtil 17S0 he 
sat in the executive council of Connecticul. He was 
also, for some time, presiding iusliceof the New Ha- 
ven court of connnon pleas. His nephews, .Tames 
(17li.8-is44) and William (1772-1838). founded the 
town of Genesee, M. Y.. and became extensive land- 
owners in tlie western part of that stale. William 
served in the war of 181 3 as brigadier-general of 
New York militia. He died at Durham. Sept, 23, 
1817. 

WAYNE, Anthony, soldier, was born at East- 
town, Pa.. .Tan. 1. 174."). Ilis i;randfather was bora 
in Yorkshire. Eng.. and in middle life came to (Uies- 
ter county. Pa., where he became a large landed pro- 
prielor. Anthony's father wasa farmer, soldier, and 
member of the Provincial assembly. Anthony re- 
ceived an academic education and in 170.5 visited 
Nova Scotia as a land surveyor. In 1767he retin'ned 
to his native county, married, and became a farmer. 
He wasa leader of ihc whig parly in the events that 
preceded the revolution, a member of the colonial 
legislature in 1774. and of the conimiltee of safely in 
1775. He recruited the 4th Pennsylvania regiment, 
was made its colonel .Tan. 3, 
177(i. and marched to Ihe re- 
lief of Ihe northern army. 
He fought with conspicuous 
gallanlry at Tliree Rivers, 
where he was wounded, and, 
later, took command at Ti- 
conderoga, Feb. 21. 1777, 
lie wa.s laised to Ihe rank of 
l)rigadier-general and assign- 
ed to Washington's army, 
then operating in New Jer- 
.sey. He aided greatly in 
driving the Hrilish from Xew 
.Tersey. He look part in the 
bailie of the I!r.an<lywineand 
stubbornly opposed the pa.s- 
.sage of tile river liy Ivnvp- 
hausen's Hessians, battling 
all day and retreating in 
good order .-il nightfall. He 
wa,s leader of tiie assault at Warren 'I'avern, har- 
a-ssimr the British rear with a Hying dclacliment. 
At Faoli. on the nighl of Sept. 20. 1777. he wa.s at- 
tackeil by a force much larger than his own. but 
handled his men with such bravery and skill that the 
British gaincil only a iloubtful advantage. .\t Ger- 
manlown. where his troops rcpul -ed the Britisb left, 
he was again conspicuous by his bravery. During 
tlie encampment at V.illey Forge, in the winter of 
1777-78, he contributed greatly to the comfort of the 
patriot army by nnmcrous and successful foraging 
expeditions. When Sir Henry ('Union evacuated 
Philadelphia, Gen, Wayne followed him, engaging 
in frequcnl skirmishes with his rearguard. Gen. 
Wayne's brigade opened Ihe baltlc of Monmouth, 
and, later on, by a gallant repulse of ihe charge of 
Col. Monckton, made succe.s.s cerlain. In.Iuly. 177!), 
Gen. Waj-ne, at the head of a corps of light infantry. 




recently organized T)y Washington, tindertook tlie 
capture of Stony Point, a strongly fortified post on the 
Hudson, wliicli was garrisoned by 000 men, and com- 
manded the road leading from New England to llie 
other <'iilonies. Wayne assaullcil lh(^ fort atmiilnight 
on .July Mill, and captured it after a brief engagement, 
in wliich he was wounded. The defences erected by 
the British were leveled to (he ground and the stores 
and ordnance which they had collected carried to 
West Point. For this service congress gave Gen. 
Wayne a vote of thanks and 
ordered a gold medal struck 
in his honor. In 1780 he al- 
tempted the capture of Fort 
Lee, but the odds were 
again.st him. He succeeded. 
however, by an extended 
raid, in seriously crippling 
the strength and resources of 
Gen. Clinlon. In .Jauuarv. 
1781, when 1,300 Pennsyl- 
vania troops mutinied. Gen, 
Wayne persuaded them to 
Having been ordered south 




/^//e^oriCi/ Croup on fhrfico 



return to the service, 
to co-operate with La- 
fayette, his .splendid generalship turned what seem- 
ed to be cerlain defeat into a decisive victory at 
Green Springs on .luly 0, 1781. He conlributed 
largely tothecapture of Yorktown. and then marched 
south to the relief of Gen. Greene. On the night of 
June 24, 1782, he was attacked by a large body of 
Creek Indians, but routed them with disastrous 
slaughter, killing, in a hand-to-hand encounter, Guis- 
tersigo, the ablest warrior among the Creeks, Dec. 
14, 1782, Gen, Wayne took posse,s.siou of Charleston, 
S. C., thus brilliantly ending his revolutionary career, 
Oct. 10. 17f<3, he was made a major-general by brevet 
and retired to his home in Pennsylvania, In 17H41ie 
wasa member of the Pennsylvania general assembly, 
and he also sat in the stale convention that ratified 
the federal constitution. In 1786 he removed to 
Georgia where, in 1787, he aided in framing the first 
stale constitution. In 1790 he was elected to con- 
gress, but after serving a year, his scat was declared 
vacant, and when a new election was ordered he re- 
fused to be a candidate. On April 3, 1792, by ap- 
pointment of President Washington, who had given 
freqncnl and generous acknowledgment of his great 
worth. Gen, Wayne succeeded Gen. Ilarmar as gen- 
eral-in-chief of the I'. S. army, and at once began 
the organization of an expedition again.st the Indians 
of the Northwest, who, despite the fad thai Iwocain- 
paigns had been waged against lliein, still rcinained 
rebellious an<l hostile through British infiuence. Late 
in 1793 Gen. Wayne advanced into the wilderne.ss 
with a carefully drilled army, built Fort Recovery 
as a sup])ly station, and pushing on to the iunction 
of the Maiimee and Auglaize rivers, erected Fort 
Adams. In August, 1794, he marched from Foit 
Adams lo the rapids of the Maumee, where there was 
a British post, Fort Miami. At Fallen Timbers. 
Aug. 20, 1794, he ealU'd on the Indians to lay down 
their arms. When they refiise<l he attacked and 
eom]ilele!y vaiKjuished them. After deva,stating 
their count ry he marched to the junction of the St. 
Mary's and St. Joseph's riv(.rsand built Fort Wayne. 
He then returned to Fort Hecovery. and on Aug. 3, 
1795, executed a Irealy with hislale antagonists. By 
this campaign of Gen. Wayne, not only was llie ter- 
ritory of the United Slates greatly aun'menled, but 
permancnl peace was secure i withihe Indians of the 
Norlhwest. On his return to the East he was deputed 
to treat with the Indians of the Northwest and to. sub- 
due Ihe Brilisli forls in that region, but died at 
Presciue Isle (now Erie), Pa., from gout before he was 
able toaccomplish his new mission. He waslniricdat 
Pre.s(pie Isle, whence in 1809, liis remains were remov- 
ed to Ii<idnor in his native county, where they now rest. 



I 



56 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 




In promptness, celerity, and complete command of 
thescience of war, Gen. Wayne wassurija-ssod by few 
generals of liis time, and thoiij^h never toollianly, his 
siicce.s,s where others would have failed irave him the 
appellation of " JIad Anthony AVayne," and early in 
the revolution it lieeame a popidar saying that 
"where Wayne went there was a tiirht always: that 
was his business." The date of his death was Dec. 
IT), ITilO. See, also, "Life of Anthony Wayne," by 
John Annstronj;. 

SULLIVAN, John, soldier, wa.s born in Maine 
in 1740. After i'diiipletins his general education, he 
studie<l law. and was admitted to the bar, after- 
ward itraetii-ini: his ]irofession with success, and was 
a member of the first Continental cougres.s. In 1770 
he was appointed a brigadier-sreneral, and in the fol- 
lowing year a major-general. 
He superseded Arnold in the 
command of the northern army, 
June 4. 177('>, but was soon driven 
out of Canada by the overwhclm- 
^t^L. ^ in.g forces of the British and In- 

■^^'^ dians. Afterward, when Gen. 

Greene was ill, Sullivan took 
command of his division on Long 
Island, and in the battle of Aug. 
27th was taken prisoner with 
Lord Stirling. He was detain- 
ed, however, for a few months, 
only, at the end of which he was 
exchanged. Dec. 2(1. 177(i, he 
superseded Lee in the command 
of his division in Xew Jersey. 
In August of the ue.xt _vcar. he 
planned and executed an expedition against Staten 
Island. An inquiry was afterward made into his 
conduct on that occasion, wiiicli re-iulted in his re- 
ceiving the approbation of the court. In Septem- 
ber he was inthe battle of Brandywine, and in Octo- 
ber in thiit of Germautowu. During the winter of 
1777-78. when Count d'Estaing arranged for the 
French fleet to attack the British off Rhode I.sland, 
Sullivan was a.ssigiied to the command of tlie troops 
which wen> designed (o aid the fleet. D'Kstaing, 
however, suddenly sidled away for Boston, and Svd- 
livan, to his own great disgust, was ol)lige(l to raise 
the siege. After repulsing the enemy in a sliglil attack 
on Aug. 2itth, Sullivan succeeded in making a most 
skillful retreat, without incurring the slightest sus- 
picion on the part of the British that any such move- 
ment was even in contemplation. In the summer 
of 177!) lie commanded a large force in an expe- 
dition against the ".Six Nations." Tiu^ object of this 
expedition was to avenge the terrible mas.sacres of 
Wyoming and Clierrv Valley. He was joined Iiy 
Gen. Clinton, Aug. 22ci. when he attacked liie enemy, 
and completely dispersed them. He then ]ienelraled 
to the very heart of the Indian country, killing and 
capturing a considerable number of the .savages, 
burning eighteen of their towns, liesidcs a large 
nundier of isolated wigwams, and destroying 160,000 
bushels of their corn, as well as all of their vegetables 
and fruits. Everytlung neees,sary to support life 
was destroyed, so that not a single vestige was left, in 
that section of the country, of the resources which 
had formerly made it fertile and self-supporling. 
]Mcanwhile, (Jen. Sullivan had incurred the dis- 
pleasure of certain members of congress, luid of the 
board of war, on account of his having made great 
demands for military stores luid freely complained 
of the government for inattention to these demands. 
Tlie state of feeling was such that he resigned his 
command Nov. 9. 1779. He was a member of the 
Continental congress for three years; he was also 
president of New Hampshire, and rendered very ef- 
ficient aid in(|uclling Shay's rcliiflion. The year of 
his retirement from the army he was appointed a 



judge of the district court, which position he held 
durin;; the remainder of his life. He died at Dur- 
ham. N. H.. Jan. 28, 1795. 

MOYLAN, Stephen, soldier, was born in Ire- 
land in 17;i4, (if a wealtliy and intlueutial family, his 
oldest brolher being K. C. bishoj) of Cork. He re- 
ceived a careful education, and after traveling in 
Eurojie left Ireland for America, becoming a suc- 
ce.ssful merchant in Philadelphia. He was a stout 
defender of the rights of the colonies, and in 1775 
joined tlie army in fnmt of Boston, where he gained 
the friendship of Washington, who selected him as 
one of the members of his staff. In June, 177U. he 
was ai)])oiiited coinmis.s;iiy-gencral, but resigned in 
the following October to recruit the 1st I\'nnsylvania 
regiment of cavalry, of which he was maile colonel. 
He spent the winter of 1777-78 at Valley Forge: was 
with (Jen. Wayne at Bull's Ferry, and .served on the 
lIud.son river, in Conueclicul, and in the south under 
Gen. Greene, being advanced in \Vi to the rank of 
brigadier-general. After the war he again engaged 
in trade in I'liiladelphia. .serving also, for a time, as 
L'. S. commissioner of loans. He died in Philadel- 
phia, A]n-il 11. ISll. His brother John, during the 
leviiliilion, was (■loiliicr-L'cneral to the jiatriol arinv. 

WILKINSON, James, soldier, was born in Cal- 
vert county. Md., in 17o7. He was educateil under 
the care of a jnivate tutor until he arrived at the age 
of seventeen, wlien he commenced the study of 
medicine. On the outbreak of the revolution he en- 
listed in the army under Washington, and aft<'r llie 
evacuation of Bo.ston, joined Arnold's command. 
He became intimate with both Arnold and Burr, and 
having received a captain's commission, accomiianicd 
the former on his expedition into Canada. He was 
jn-omoled to rank of major, fought with some distinc- 
tion in New Jersey, was appointed to tlicstaff ot G<'n. 
Horatio Gates. an<l successively promoted to tie col- 
onel and adjutant-general. He fought at the battle 
of Bemis Heights, Oct. 19, 1777, and it is said that 
his advice was solicited and 
followed by Gen. Gates in 
.several insl.uices during 
this campaign. After the 
surrender of Burgoyne, 
Wilkinson was sent as 
bearer of the news to con- 
gress, with the recommen- 
dation that he be appoint- 
ed brigadier- general. His 
claim to this distinction 
was a fictitious one. how- 
ever, gained by taking to 
himself the credit for an 
act of daring performed 
by Col. John Hardin, of 
Iventucky. As Wilkinson 
look eighteen days for the 
delivery of his disjjatehes 
from Saratoga, the news 
was a week old when he 
arrived, a fact which, in 

congress, brought him under the satirical tongue 
of Dr. John Witherspoon. He got his brevet of 
brigadier-general, notwithstanding, and through 
Gates's inlluence secured a position on the board of 
war. Meantime he had becmne mixed up with the 
"Conway C.-ibal " against Washington, and it was 
through him that the fact of tlie exislence of the con- 
spiracy leake<l out. He was forced to resign his 
commission as brevet brigadier-general in conse- 
quence, and was not again in !ictiv<' .service until 
near the end of the war. when, for ,-i lime, he had a 
position in connection with the (piarlermaster-gener- 
al's department. After the war. while engaging in 
certain speculations with a view to trading with New 
Orleans and Natchez, he became involved in a trea- 




J^^u^Ci-L^'^^^o^^^ 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



57 



soniible project in connection with tlie Spanisli gov- 
ernmcut of the l()\vfr Mississippi, the olijeet of which 
was to alienate tlie West from the East, aud to Ijuiid 
a separate republic or empire, under the protector- 
ate of Spain. The exposure of the consjjiracy 
to the convention which was about forming a con- 
stitution for the new state of Kentucky, and upon 
which Wilkinson dejiended for the consummation of 
his plan, caused the entire defeat of his scheme. 
His trading speculations proving no more successful, 
he applied to be rein.stated in the army in 1791. He 
succeeded in obtaining an appointment as lieutenant- 
colonel, and was in service in tlie West with Gen. 
Anthony Wayne. It has been .shown that uji to 
1800 he was in receipt of a pension from the Span- 
ish government, and his intrigues involved the 
southwestern frontier in savage warfare for the 
next dozen years. Jleanwhile, in March, 1793, he 
was made a brigadier-general, and on the death of 
Gen. Wayne in 1796, he became commander-in-chief 
6f the army. In 1805 Wilkinson was made governor 
of Louisiana. Aaron Burr, who was at that time 
developing his scheme for a southwestern empire, 
always declared that Gen. Wilkinson was involved 
in the conspiracy, a declaration which was believed 
by Gen. Jackson. Some even alleged that Wilkin- 
son originated the whole conspiracy. Being court- 
martialed ill 1811, and charged with treasonable con- 
nection with Burr, he was acquitted. The evidence 
which was afterward brought to light, and which 
■would have convicted him, was not then known to 
be in exi.stence. Appointed major-general in 1813, 
Wilkinson got into trouble with other officers, and 
two years later was the subject of a court of inquiry. 
At the close of the second war with Great Britain he 
■was discharged from the U. S. service. He then re- 
moved to Jlcxico, where be owned much propertv. 
He died there Dec. 28, 18'35. 

STEUBEN, Frederick William Augustus, 
soldier, was born at Magdeburg, Prussia, Xo\-. 15, 
1730. He was educated at the Jesuit colleges of 
Niesse and Breslau, and when only fourteen years 
of age served at the siege of Prague as a volunteer 
under his father. In 1747 he was appointed a ca- 
det of infantry, anil so rapid was 
his development, in consequence, 
that in eleven years, wheu only 
twenty -eight years of age. he 
had risen to the rank of adju- 
tant-general. He was wounded 
in the battle of Kunersdorf. and 
in 1761 carried as a prisoner of 
war to St. Petersburg, but was 
soon after released. In the fol- 
lowing year he ■nas ajipointed 
adjutant-geneial on the staff of 
Frederick the Great. Being a 
man of method, be was soon able 
to effect important reforms in 
N^ the quartermaster's department 

^t2/l^' *'y }^ /? °'^ "^'-' P™'*'*irtn armv, while, at 
**^ '^ yc^U^Jic^^ W^t: same time, be gathered to- 
gether and suiierinlcnded an 
academy for young ofhcei's who 
had been selected for special military insiniclion. 
At the close of the •'Seven Years'" war, he made 
a tour of pjurope, and was appointed grand marshal 
and general of the guards of the prince of Hohen- 
zollern-IIeckingcn. In 1777. while on a visit to Paris, 
he was invited by the celebrated Count St. Germain 
to go to America, the cause of the American revolu- 
tion being greatly favored by the French govern- 
ment. He, at the same time, made the acquaintance 
of Franklin, who was then popular in the ii<tloii.t of 
the French capital, and was doubtless iiitiuenced by 
him as to liis future undertaking. Leaving France 
in the fall of 1777, he arrived Dec. 1, 1777, "at Ports- 




mouth, Va., whence he proceeded at once to the 
headquarters of Gen. AV'ashington, to whom he of- 
fered his services. They were gladly accepted. Steu- 
ben had an income sufficient for his .support, and, like 
Lafayette and De Kalli, volunteered his services 
without becoming a burden upon congress. At the 
time of his joining the army, it lay encamped at Val- 
ley Forge in a most deplorable condilion. He was 
at once a|)poiMtcd to the office of inspector-general — 
his brilliant service in the Pru.ssian army entitling 
him to the highest rank — and he was commissioned 
a major-general. Steuben apjilied his ideas of mili- 
tary order to his new work, and, inaugurating im- 
portant improvements in all ranks of the army, he 
prepared a inaniial of tactics, remodeled the army 
organization, and improved its discipline, thereby 
bringing the American force into a condition of 
much greater efficiency than they had e\er before 
reached. At the battle of Monmouth, Steuben, as a 
volunteer, showed himself a thorough soldier, as he 
did also at Yorktown, where he commanded in the 
trenches. During this siege he was on the staff of 
Gen. Lafayette, with whom he was also associated 
as a mnnbcr of the court-martial wbiih tried and 
convicted Maj. Andre. Steuben was remarkable for 
the generosity and tiuencss of his nature, spending 
his entire income, bej-ond what was essential to his 
own simple necessities, in purcha.sing clothinir and 
rations for his men. He was also a most agi^eeable 
companion, possessed of a lively humor, concerning 
which many interesting anecdotes are related. Ke- 
ceiviiig no [lay for his services during the war, and 
absolutely impoverishing himself for the benetil of 
his companions in arms, congress voted him, in 1790, 
an annuity of ^2,500, and the .state of New York pre- 
sented him with 10,000 acres of land in Oneida coun- 
ty. He built for himself a log-house at what is now 
known as Steubenville, divided his land among his 
aides aud .servants, and there, during his last days, 
devoted himself to his lilirary. He was a member of 
the Reformed Dutch church of New York. His death 
was cau.sed hy apoplexy, the result of his taking too 
little exercise. In comiiliance with his own request, 
he was wrapped in his military cloak, and buried in 
a plain coffin, without a .stone. His life is contained 
in Sparks's " American Biography "; and a biography 
of him bv Fi'icdrich Kapp was also published in New 
York, in 1860. He died Nov. 28. 1794. 

LACEY, John, soldier, was born in- Bucks 
county. Pa., Feb. 4, 1755. When the revolution 
opened, he recruited a company of volunteers, of 
which he was made cajitain on Jan. 6, 1776. and 
which formed a part of Anthony Wayne's regiment 
in the expedition into Canada. In 1777 he was jiro- 
inoted to be lieutenant-colonel of militia, and was sta- 
tioned for .some time at AVhilc Jloose, Pa., where he 
participated in numerous engagements with the Brit- 
ish. Having been advanced to the rank of brigadier- 
general of militia, Jan. 9, 1778, lie was active in the 
operations around Philadelphia. In 1778 he was 
chosen a ineinbcr of the Pennsylvania assembly, and 
from 1779 until 1781 he served in the Provincial 
council. From August, 1780. till October, 17SI, as 
commander of a brigade of militia, he look |)art in 
all the movements and battles of Washington's army. 
After the revolution he settled in New Mills, N. J., 
where he became an iron manufacturer, serving also 
on the bench, and in the New Jersev state legislature. 
He died at New Mills on Feb. 17, "1814. 

SUMNER, Jethro, soldier, was born in Vir- 
giuia in 1730, His father, William, an Englishman, 
emigrated to America in KHiO, biiiig one of the first 
settlers of Suffolk, Ya. Jethro removed to North 
Carolina at an early age, where he liecame a leader 
in political and military affairs. In 1760 he was ap- 
pointed payma.sler of tlie Provincial troops of North 
Carolina, aud afterward, for a considerable period. 



68 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



he commanded Fcirt Cumberland. In 1776 he was 
made colonel of the 3d North Carolina resjimcnt, and 
until 1779 participated in all the operations of the 
army under Wnshiiii^on, in New York, New Jersey, 
and Pennsylvania. In 1779 he was promoted l)y the 
Continental congress to l>e briL'adier-ireneral, and 
transferred to the soiilliern army under Gen. Gates. 
He took pan in the lialtle of Camden in 17bO, where, 
by his coolness and bravery, he aided irreatly in 
rallying the patriot troops after Geu. de Kalb had 
fallen. He was then onlcred to join Gen. Greene, 
fighting with splendid valor at the battle of Eutaw 
Springs, in September, 1781, and subsequently, imtil 
the cessjilion of hostilities, he was engaged in the 
suppression of tory raids in North Carolina. After 
the war he engaged in i>laDting. He died in War- 
ren county. N. C, in 1790. 

WARREN, Joseph, soldier, was born at Rox- 
bury, Mass.. .lune 11, 1741; his ancestor, Peter War- 
ren, being one of the early residents of Boston, and 
his grandfather, Joseph Warren, ainoug the first 
settlers of Roxbury. The subject of this sketch was 
graduated at Harvard in 17.")9, and iu 1700 became 
master of the Roxbury grammar 
school. In 176-t, having studied 
under Dr. James Lloyd, he liegan 
the practice of medicine. When tli(^ 
stamp act was jia-ssed, he contributed 
to the Ho.ston "Gazette "a series of 
letters in opposition to that measure, 
which attracted wide attention, and 
which led to a jirosecution of the 
pro]irielors of the paper by Gov. Ber- 
nard. Soon after this time Dr. War- 
ren became the warm friend and one 
of the most trusted lieutenants of 
Samuel Adams. He was a member 
of the conmiitlee which jirotested 
against tin- impressment of seamen; 
was prominent in all of the town- 
meetings attendant ujion the occu- 
pation of Boston by the British troops between 
1768 and 1770; was a member of the committee of 
safety, appointed after the "massacre" of March, 
1770, and iu November, 1772, formed, with Samuel 
Adams ,anil .lames Otis, the first committee of cor- 
respondence. When in August, 1774, Samuel Adams 
took his seat in the Continental congress at Phila- 
delphia, Dr. Warren became the leader of the patriot 
party in Boston. He was the author of the " Suffolk 
Resolves," adopted by the representativesof thetowns 
of Suffolk county on Sept. 9, 1774, and which placed 
the colony of ^la.ssachusetls in ojien rebellion against 
the lirilish government. These resolutions were ap- 
proved by the Continental congress, which pleclgcd 
Mas,sachusetts the support of the other cohmies, should 
armed resistance become necessary. When the Mas- 
siichusetts provincial congress met in October, 1770, 
Dr. Warren was appointed chairman of the commit- 
tee of safety, and entered actively ujion the work of 
arming and drilling the mililia. " On M,-irch .i, 1775, 
lie delivered the anniversary oration upon the "mas- 
sacre," although he had been previously warned by 
British ollicers that this wouhi cost him his life. On 
the night of Ajn-. IS, 177o. he gave warning to the 
people about Concord of the movements of the British 
troops, and on the following day fouglit bravely be- 
side Gen. Heath at Menalamy, where the mostdes- 
perate conflict of the day occurnd. On May 31, 
1775, he was made jiresidcnt of the Provincialcon- 
gres.s, and on June 14lli was a|)iiointe<l second major- 
general of the Jtassachusctts forces. On the morning 
of .lune 17th, being a|i|)rised that the British troops 
had effected a landing at Charlesiown, he hastened 
to Bunker Hill, particijiating in the battle as a volun- 
teer. While attempting to rally the militia at the 
close of the conflict, he was shot in the head, and 





He died 



died instantly. His remains now rest in Forest Hill 
cemetery, Boston. Congress was urged by Benedict 
Arnold "to make provision for the su]i|iort "and educa- 
tion of his children. His name is peipetuated by the 
descendants of his younger brother, John. See also 
"Life and Times of Joseph Warren," by Richard 
Frolhingham (Boston, 1865). 

LAMB, John, soldier, was born in New York 
city, Jan. 1, 1735. In early life he was by turns an 
optician, a maker of mathematical instruments, and 
a liquor merchant. He entered 
the patriot army in 1775, partic- 
ipating in Montgomery's Cana- 
liiaii expedition in 1770, and re- 
ceiving, at the battle of Quebec, 
wounds that led to his capture 
by the British. He was released 
iu 1777, and upon his return to 
the colonies was made major of 
artillery. Sub.sequently he was 
promoted to rank of colonel, and 
served actively until the close of 
the war. After one term in the 
New York legislature he was, 
in 1789. ajipointed by Washing- 
ton collector of customs for the 
port of New York, which office 
lie held until his death. His life 
was written by Isaac Q. Leake in 1850. 
Jlav 31, 1800. " 

PUTNAM, Rufus, soldier, was bom at Sutton, 
JIa.ss., Apr. 9, 1738. He was the founder of Marietta, 
the first white settlement in Ohio. Previous to this 
he had served with credit in the French war and the 
war of the revolution, rising to the rank of bingadier- 
general. He subsequently 
acted as aide to Geu. Lincoln 
in imlting down Shay's re- 
bellion, and made a journey 
of exjiloration to Florida. 
He filled the intervals be- 
tween these expeditions with 
farming, survej-ing, and ser- 
vice in the state legislature. 
He was the prime mover in 
the forinalion of the Ohio 
Company, which purchased 
from the government, throvigh 
the agency of liis father and 
Mauasseh" Cutler, 1,500,000 
acres of land on the Ohio riv- 
er, a section denominated by- 
the opponents of the scheme, 
"Putnam's Paradise." Gen. 
Putnam was the leader of 
the first band of settlers sent out by the company. 
The two weeks spent in traversing the AUeghanies 
were full of hardship. He says in his journal : ' ' Noth- 
ing had crossed the nioimlains since the great snow, 
and in the old .snow, twelve inches deep, nothing but 
pack-horses. Our only resource was to build sleds. 
and harness our horses to them tandem, and. in this 
way, with four sleds, and men marching in front, we 
set "forward." They arrived at Marietta, .Apr. 7, 1788, 
a few days before Gen. Putnam's fiftieth birthday. 
The next year he was appointed judge of the sniireme 
court of the territory of Ohio, and afterward -served 
the United States as surveyor-general, and commis- 
sioner to treat with the Iiulians. He did much to 
prevent the admission of .slavery into Ohio, in 1802. 
In conjunction with Manasseh Cutler, he saved the 
Ohio Company from financial collapse, by ,securing 
a modification of its contract with the government, 
and he was instrumental in establishing the Ohio 
public-school system, and in furthering the religious 
inleresis of the" eommunity by helping to found the 
first Bible society west of iheAlleghauies. But as a 




OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



59 




ca,^, 



.ty''/u^*-ip«'K^ 



soldier, he was the mainstay of the settlomcnt. Alfred 
Matthews says of him iu tliis regard : • ' Tlie ti vc years 
of Indiau war, but for the lirnuu'ss nf Oen. Putnam 
and liis sagacious management, would liave resulted 
either in "the withdrawal or anniliilation of the 
colony." He died at Marietta. O., Jlay 1, 1824. 

MARION, Francis, soldier, wa.s born at Win- 
yah, near Georgetown. S. C, in 1732. His Hugue- 
not grandfather, Benjamin Marion, left France in 
1690, and his was one of the seventy or eighty exiled 
families which settled on the banks of the Santei:> 
river in South Carolina. Benjamin's son, (ialiriel, 
married Esther Cardes, and the pair had six children, 
of whom one was a daughter. 
Francis Marion was the last-born 
child, and the influence of ances- 
try in the determination of his 
character is discernible in his sub- 
sequent life. Physically lie was 
diminutive and "p"".V to a re- 
markable degree, his biographer, 
Weems, preserving a tradition 
that at birth he "was not larger 
than a New England lobster, and 
might easily enough have been 
puf into a cpiart pot." By the 
time he had readied his twelftli 
year, however, his constitution 
had undergone a change and his 
health had become good. Tiring 
of rural life, he longed for the 
ocean, and when sixteen years 
old, notwithstanding the .solicit- 
ations of his mother, embarked in a small vessel 
bound for the West Indies. She foundered at 
sea, sinking .so suddenly that her crew, six in num- 
ber, had barely time to escape in the jolly-boat, 
without food or water. Two of their number jier- 
ished by starvation. On the seventh day after the 
foundering, the four survivors were picked uji by 
a passing vessel, and were finally restored to their 
homes. When he reached his, young Marion, 
contentedly it may be conjectured, resumed the 
humble occupation of a tiller of the soil, the family 
resources being very moderate. Before he was 
twenty-live years old his father died, and in IT.'JS he 
was planting with his mother and his brother Ga- 
briel, near Freison's Lock, on the Santee canal. In 
1759 they separated, Gabriel removing to 15ellel,sland, 
S. C, where the remains of his distinguished brother 
were afterward interred, and Francis settling at Pond 
Bluff in the parish of St. .John. This was thereafter 
his residence, and it is still pointed out as JIarion's 
plantation. It lies within cannon-shot of the battle- 
ground of Eutaw Springs. Up to this time, and 
throughout his life, indeed, it does uot appear, says 
one of his biographers, that his educational acquisi- 
tions, in a literary point of view, were ever any more 
vahiable than those afforded at the present day by 
the simplest grammar schools of the country. The 
year in which he took up residence at Pond Bluff, 
the colony of South Carolina was on the eve of an 
Indian war, and .James's "Life of Marion" a.s.serts 
that he repaired that year to the appointed rendez- 
vous to engage in a campaign against the Cherokecs, 
which had been ordered by Gov. L3'ttleton. Before 
the month of JJay, 1760, another ciunp for the inva- 
sion of the Cherokee territory wasestablisluul, and it 
is believed that at this time Clarion was again a vol- 
unteer. Certainly in 1761, when Col. James Grant 
of the Royal Scots Highland regiment, with 1,200 
South Carolinians under Col. Middleton. commanded 
in the Cherokee campaign, Clarion served as lieuten- 
ant under Capt. Wm. Moultrie. In a sharp battle 
■with the Indians in .lune at Etchoee, the command of 
the advance guard of thirty men was intrusted to 
Marion, and in a deflle, at tlie foot of a hill, twenty- 



one of the thirty were prostrated by the fire of the 
savages. The result of the engagement which ensued, 
however, was the utter breaking of the spirit of the 
Indians. Fourteen towns in the iniildle Indian settle- 
ments, as well as Etchoee, were reduced to ashes. 
Cornfields were ravaged and the country depleted of 
liower to afford any subsistence to the tribe. Marion 
revolted from the "severity of this treatment, and his 
utterance in respect to it "is worth noting: " To me 
it appeared a shocking sight. When we are gone the 
Indian children will return and ask their mothers: 
■ Who did this '.' ' ' The white i)eople, the Christians," 
will be the reply." This vein of tenderness, attribut- 
able to his lineage, always tempered the military 
career of the great partisan. For fifteen years at 
least, from this time, we hear nothing from him ex- 
cept that he was quietly engaged in rural and domes- 
tic occuiiations. He was fond of angling and of hunt- 
ing, while his firmness and l)iety, his i^entle temper 
and recognized braveiy, secured for him the esteem 
and conlMence of the community. In 1775 he was 
returned to the provincial congress of South Carolina 
as a member from St. John. This body distinguished 
itself by committing the people of the"province to the 
American revolution, adopting the bill of rights, as 
declared by the Continental congress. Under the im- 
mediate suggestion and by direct participation of this 
legislative body, moreover, overt acts of treason were 
co'mmitted. The public armory in Charleston was 
broken open at night, and arms were removed. Pow- 
der was taken from the public magazines, and chests 
containing tea, on which duty had been imposed by 
the English parliament, were tumbled into the Cooper 
river. "When this congress, after adjourning for a 
short time, met on the"fii-st of June, it also passed, 
although not without considerable opposition, the 
"act for association," which had been recommended 
to all the colonies by the Continental congress, and on 
the fourth day of itsses.sion resolved tcj raise 1,500 in- 
fantry soldiers, and 450 cavalry. June 14th. a mill- 
ion of money was voted, and a council of safety was 
then elected, vested with the executive power of the 
province. Marion was chosen a captain in the 3d 
infantry regiment of these troops, his commission 
dating June 31, 1775, the day preceding the adjourn- 
ment of the congress. With liis friend, Capt. Peter 
Horry, he speedily filled up, from the neighborhoods 
of Georgetown, Black river, and the Great Pedee, 
the rank's of two companies, consisting of fifty men 
each. He first drew sword against the British, Sept. 
14. 1775, when he participated in the occupation of 
Fort Johnson, on James island, in Charleston harbor, 
but a few hours after it had been abandoned 
by the royalist forces. He was next placed in 
command "of the military fort at Dorclifister, at the 
head of navigation on the Ashley river, twenty miles 
from Charleston, to which place the public .stores 
and vends were in great part transferred. Later on 
he was dispatched To Fort Johnson, whose defences 
he completed. Promoted to be major, ho engaged so 
diligently in the work of drilling his regiment, the 
2d, that" he was styled its "architect." June 30, 
1776, in an engagement with the British fleet, 
Marion, whose regiment was then stationed at the 
partly tinished Fort Sullivan, bore an important part, 
contributing largely to a patriot victory which gave 
to the southern states a three years' resi)ite from any 
.serious attack by the enemy. Fort Sullivan was 
from that day known as Fort Moultrie, and Jlarion 
was subsequently placed in command there. When 
Gen. Lincoln and the French Count d'Estaing made 
their ill-.starred attempt in Sei)teml)er, 1779, against 
Savannah, Ga., then held by British troops, Marion 
participated, being second in command of his regi- 
ment. After this" Lincoln withdrew his troops to 
Sheldon. S. C, to drill the militia of the neighbor- 
hood. When the city of Charleston was taken by 



60 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



the English, May, 1770, Clarion, wlio had just before 
marched into the city from Dorcliester, was, fortu- 
nately, at his home in the country, suffering from a 
broken ankle, the injury haviuL' been received in 
leaping from the second story window of a friend's 
home in the cit_v. That frieiid had turned the key 
upon his auestsat a dinner-party, including Marion, 
and declared that no one of them should go forth 
until he should be gorged with wine, M.-irion, being 
strictly temperate, ilccMiied lo be coerced. When 
the British, after occupying Charleston, began to raid 
the surrounding country, under Tarleton, Marion, 
already conspicuous by his militaiy service, was 
compelled to take refuge in the forest. His adven- 
tures, a.s, in his feebleness, he was driven from house 
to house, from tree to thicket, and from thicket lo 
swamp, weie. without doubt, among the most excit- 
ing of his life. As soon as he could moiuit his horse 
he collected a few friends (less than twenty) and .set 
out for North Carolina, to meet Baron <Ie Kalb, who 
was drawing toward South Carolina at the head of 
a Continental force, sent from Virginia by Gen. 
Washington for the relief of Charleston. Weems 
asserts that on their journey, albeit in sore povert}', 
Marion was in tine spirits, and that in answer to the 
complaints of his companion, Peter Horry, tlmt their 
"haiijiy days were all gone." he declared; "On the 
contrarv. they are yet to come. The victory is still 
due. I'he enemy, it is true, have all the trumps, and 
if they had but spirit to play a generous game, they 
woidd certainly ruin us, but they have no idea of 
that game. They will treat the people cruelly and 
that one thing will ruin tlicnt anil .■<avc the country." 
Reaching I)e Ivalb, .Marion found that the latter had 
been superseded in his command by Gen. Gates, who 
did not eom|)rcheud Marion's capacities nor the value 
of his services. Gov. Hutlcdge, of Carolina, who 
was in Gates's camp, e.xerted him.sclf in Jlariou's 
behalf, but only succecclcd in bringing about an in- 
terview between theni in which .Marion counseled 
the adoption of a scheme which was rejected by 
Gates, but afterward carried out by Gen. Greene; 
namely, the moving of his army into the heart of 
South Carolina.thereby giving an o]iportimity for the 
patriots to rally, and forcing the British to concen- 
trate their scattered forces and eircumscrilie their in- 
fluence. In consequence of neglecting this advice, 
the vainglorious Gates came to grief at Camden, 
S. ('., Aug. Kith, at the lianilsof Lord Cornwallis, in 
the most disa-iirous defeat ever suffered by an Amer- 
ican army. But before this, and while .Marion was 
in Gates's camp, a mcs,senger had reached him from 
the whigs of Williamsburg, S. C, then newly ri.sen 
in arms, summoning him to becouK! their leader. 
Gov. Hutlcdge forthwith issued to Marion his coiu- 
ini.s.<ion. and he left at once lo recruit what afterward 
proved lobe the famous " .Marion's brig.adc." Follow- 
ing Gates's defeat and the rout of Simiter's troop 
which occurred two days after it. this brigade was the 
only American force worth naniingin South Carolina. 
Most of these troopers were men of Irish parentage. 
with all the Cell's bitter feeling against the 
Anglo-Saxon. They were fearless men, of jiower- 
ful frames, and an aud.-icious gallaiUry that led them 
to delight in danger. They were good riders, too. .-uid 
wonderful marksmen, pos.ses.sed of a himtsman's 
knowledge and ingenuity, able, in swamp and forest, 
not only to avoid danger, but frequently lo turn dan- 
ger to tlieir own advaiUage — precisely the men who, 
under Marion's training, were to make the most effi- 
cient of all partisan soldiery. They had espoused 
the patriots' cau.se with zeal. Four captains were 
chosen for as many companies before Marion's arrival; 
McCottry, Jlorrison, .James, and McCauley, .and they 
had also some skirmi.shing with the British troops. 
From the time of his reaching them. Marion, under 
the commission of the South Carolina governor, was 



known as "The General." "He came to us, "says 
one of their number who served under him at the 
age of fifteen, " rather below the middle stature, lean, 
and swarthy. His body was well set, his knees and 
ankles badly formed, aiid he still limped upon one 
leg. He was forty -eiglit j-ears of age, with frame 
capable of enduring fatigue and every privation. He 
W!is dressed in a close, round-bodied crimson jacket, 
of a coarse texture, and wore a leatlier cap. a part of 
the luiiform of the M reginunt, with a silver cres- 
cent in front, bearing the words ' IJberty or Death.' " 
He found his command wretchedly deticient in .ill 
materials of service, and his lirst efforts to sujiply 
their deficiencies began in sacking the saw-mills. 
The .saws were wrought and hammered by rude 
blacksmiths into .some resemblance to sabriw. and 
thus provided, two days from the day he took com- 
mand, he advanced upon a large body of lories com- 
manded by a Maj. Gainey. at Britons Xcck, sur- 
prised them, .slew their captain and several i>rivate.s, 
dispersed their parly, without the lo.ss of a man, and 
with but two woimded. In twenty-four hours after 
this he was again in motion after a lory caplidn, 
Barfield. BiU the latter was forewarned, and awaited 
Marion in a strong position, whereupon the Americans 
resorted to .strategy. Putting a select party of men 
in ambush, Marion retrc-iteil with another, and thus 
beguiling his opponent from his " coigne of van- 
tage. " Barfield followed, as it was hoped he would, 
and was wretchedly worsted in the fight that ensued. 
These two achievements irave JIarion all the hold he 




required tipon his troops, and also that <'ctat in the 
region, which apprised the iiihabit;inls that a man 
with an eflicicnt force was at work among Ihem, 
Aug. ITlli. while ignorant of (Jalcs's defeat by Corn- 
wailis on the jirccedingday, he .sent out Peter Horry 
with four companies, to break up communications 
with Charleston and if possible, to procure gun- 
powder, flints, and bullets. He himself marched to 
the upper Sanlce. As he did so. he heard of Gates's 
disaster, but (li<l not apprise' his troops of it. On the 
other hand, at Nelson's Fcny. he iiumedialcly sur- 
prised a strong British guard with a large body of 
pi(meers taken from Gates, killed and took as pris- 
oners twenty-two lirilish regulars and two lories, 
and retook "loO Cimtincntals of the Maryland line, 
who were being conveved to Charleston from the 
rout of Gates's forces: this with a lo.ss of one killed and 
one .slightly wounded. And so he continued, aided 
decisively by the cruel policy adopted bythe British 
militaiy authorities, until Lieut. -Col. Tarleton wrote; 
■■Mr. jiarion, by his zeal and abilities, showTd him- 
self capable of "the trust committed to his charge." 
He collected his adherents at the shortest notice, and 
after making excursions into the friendly districts, 
or threatening the communicalions. to avoid pursuit 
he disbanded his followers. The alarm occa.sioned by 
these insurrections ficqucntly retarded sujvplies on 
their way lo the army; and a late report of Clarion's 
strength'delaycd t he "junction of the recniits who had 
arrived from" New York to the corps in the country, 
Cornwallis wrote to Tarleton; 'I most .sincerely 
hope that you will get at Mr. Marion." Orders were 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



61 



^t^-'^'-:^^ 



forthwith sivcn to Turloton and to 'Sin]. Wom3-ss, a 
tory officer, to make Marion retreat, and for a little 
time he withdrew to North Carolina, the e.xeesses of 
Wemyss, as he ravaged the country in |nirsuit, more 
and niore inflaming Ihe patriot population. Marion 
soon returned by a forced march, and finding a large 
body of tories at Black Jliugo, fifteen miles from 
GeoVgetown, although his force was very much in- 
ferior in number, fell upon them, and cut them to 
pieces. His next encounter was with a tory 
colonel, Tynes, whose sharp defeat supplied Marion 
with arms and ammunition, of which lie stood 
greatly in need. At this time Lord Cornwallis 
wrote"that "Col. Marion had so wrought upon the 
minds of the people, partly by the terror of his 
threats and cruelty of his punishments, and partly 
by the promi.se of plunder, that there was scarcely an 
inhabitant between the Santcc and Pcdee that wa.s 
not in arms against us." The first part of this state- 
ment, may be dismissed as slander, for it rested, when 
made, upon vague assertions, unsustaiued by any 
specification of cruelty, and by no sort of evidence, 
and is thereby foreign to the traits of Marion's char- 
acter. In view of his successes, the British redoubled 
their endeavors to scatter and to prevent the reas- 
sembling of his forces, and also to apjirchcnd their 
leader. Tarleton sought him this lime by descend- 
ing the river Wateree. At once Clarion essayed Tarle- 
ton 's capture, but was too late to seize him, and the 
British leader passed on unmolested to join liis own 
troops. Marion fell back, upon Tarleton s adv.ance, 
after the latter had come up with his command. 

Then Tarleton jnir- 
sued him for twenty- 
live miles until he 
found his purpose ar- 
rested by a wide and 
deep swamp, through 
which his eye could 
sec no beaten road, 
and when, as is sup- 
posed, he could have 
reached his opponent 
in three hours, he 
turned the head of 
his column, and cried 
out, " Come, my boys, 
let us go back ! TVe will soon find the game-cock 
(meaning Sumter), but as for thisd d swamp- 
fox, the devil himself could not catch him." The 
two American soldiers were ever after known by 
their followers by these names. When Tarleton de- 
sisted from the pursuit of Marion, he undertook that 
of Sumter, but was severely handled by that officer, 
and very shortly the battle of King's Mountain, Oct. 
17, 1780, in western North Carolina, with the un- 
broken successes of Marion, .so revived colonial cour- 
age and spirit in South Carolina, that the forces of 
Marion received decided increase. But the unstable 
character yf such increase is not to be lost sight of. 
Marion's men, with families to provide for, came and 
went as they li.sted. their commander making such 
stipulations with them for their return a.s lie and they 
could agree on. In his hands, however, albeit he was 
at limes sadly hampered. this material became ctTective 
for his jicculiar warfare, altliough if is dilticult to see 
how, intlieliandsotsome comnianders, it could have 
been made available for any |)urposc. His next attempt 
was made against Georgetown, S. C. but was unsuc- 
cessful, and in it JIarion suffered the (lersonal loss of 
his nephew, Gabriel, who, being taken by the British, 
was put to death as soon a.s his name was known. The 
Americans straightway retired to Swan island and 
established there, at the continence of Lynch 's creek 
and the Pedee, what became known far and wiile as 
" Marion's Camp." It was in substance an island, in 
a swamp abounding in live stock and provisions, and 




elevated tracts and dense cane-brakes, and some spots 
on which JIarion's invalids and convalescents spent 
their time in cultivating corn. Marion secured all 
the boats of the neighborhooil and fortified his posi- 
tion as necessity required, and thence sent out his 
scouting parties" in all directions. He laid the .sur- 
rounding country under martial law, while he was 
himself secure in" his fastness, .sallied out on occasion 
to harass the British and tories, struck liis harassing 
blows at them, and was back in Ids .safe rel real al- 
most before thev coukl conceive whence lie had come, 
or realize that he had come at all. Secrecy of action 
was a prime .source of his strength. He did not in- 
trust his plans to his most confidential officers; al- 
though he consulted them, they only learned his de- 
termmation from his deeds. He left no track behind 
him if he could avciid it, and was often vainly hunted 
for by his own detachments. His favorite time for 
moving was with the setting sun. His living was of 
the plainest— he was abstemious to the la.st degree, 
he and his men were clothed in homespun, slept in 
open air and without blankets. His first requisition 
from subordinates was good information. Hence his 
scouts were his best men; their boldness and cunning 
were almost beyond belief. To all of this is to be 
added the fact "that he maintained among them rigid 
disciiiline. Such a life begot contidence between 
general and officers (by whom he was admirably 
supported) and men, aiid resulted in the production 
of a partisan force such as has seklom been seen. 
A story, illustrative of the poverty of the partisan 
commissariat, is well known ; it is to the effect 
that a young British officer wits led blindfolded by 
a .scoufing parly into the centre of Marion's camp, 
and having transacted his business with him was 
invited to stop for dinner, which con.sisted en- 
tirely of roasted potatoes served on pieces of bark. 
"But surely, general, this cannot be your ordinary 
fare!" "Indeed, sir, it is," replied the general, 
"and we are fortunate on this occasion, entertaining 
company, to have more than our usual allowance." 
When Gen. Nathanael Greene took conunand of the 
remnants of Gates's army, at Charlotte, N. C, De- 
cember, 1781, he put himself into communicatioa 
with Marion, and received from him proniiit and full 
intelligence of the British movements and resources. 
A second aftemjrt against Georgetown, S. C.. made 
by Marion, Jan. 13, 1781, after the junction of 
Col. Henry Lee's forces with his own, was onlv par- 
tially succes.sful, the surprise being incomplete, al- 
thoiigh the Americans .secured the person of the Brit- 
ish commandant. When Lee was recalled liy Greene, 
Marion struck at British and tory jiortson ihe Pedee 
river, and then organized four coiu|ianies of cavali'v, 
a proceeding prompted, in part, by the scarcity of 
ammunition; the result of liis movements was the 
entire breaking up of the line of communication be- 
tween Charleston, S. C., and the main army of the 
British under Cornwallis. This brought" pursuit 
upon JIarion by Cols. Watson and Doyle of the 
British army from Fort Watson, which commanded 
the api>roaches of the Britisli Lord Hawdon. near 
Camden. S. C, and it was during this pursuit that 
JIarion gave way, for the only time of which there is 
any record, to despondency, saying one day to Ilorry: 
" Go to my tield-offlcers and know from them if, in 
the event of my being compelled to retire to the 
mountains, they" will follow my fortunes, and with 
me carry on the war until Ihe enemy is forced out of 
the country. Go and bring me their answer without 
delay." To a man, they immediately pledged them- 
selves to this, and Marion declared: " I am satisfied: 
one of these parties shall feel us." Speedily, Apr. 
23d. he invested and took Fort Watson. Kawdoa 
was compelled to evacuate Camden, and fall back to 
Monk's Corner. Marion was at this time incos.sant 
in activity, and contributed esseutiallj; to the aid of 



62 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



Greene ou his advance from North into Soutli Caro- 
lina. Ill a short time nothing was waiiliii;,' but tlie 
fall of the enemy's interior chain of military jiosts to 
complete the recovery of the whole country within 
thirty miles of the seii liy llie Americans. The inile- 
fati^Mlilc i)arli.san. in conjiinetiuu willi Ijchmd Eaton, 
at once attacked the ISriti.sh Fori .Molle. on the Con- 
garee, the jirincipal depot of the Hritish e.\pcditions 
from Charleston to Camden, which sjieedily surren- 
dered. While dininj;, after the capitidatioii, Marion 
was told that Lees men were i»anu:in^ tory prisoners. 
Hurrying from the table anil .seizing his sword, he 
ran lo the gallows in time to save one poor wretch, 
and with a blaze of indignation in his face, threaten- 
ed 111 kill Ihe tii-st man who made any furllii-r allemiit 
in such jiroeeedings. Pursuing his co-operation wilh 
Greene, Marion, in company with Sumter, now held 
Kawdon in check while Greene proceeded lo invest 
the post of Ninety-Six; and as a diversion, Marion 
made a third and this time successful endeavor to 
capture Georgetown, lie effected a junction with 
Gen. Greene prior to the battle of Kulaw Springs, 
Sept. 8, 1781, and commanded the right of ihe 
first line in tliat memorable action, his brigade 
fighting, as Gen. Greene declared, "with a cool- 
ness and stubbornness which would have graced 
the veterans of the great king of I'russia." On the 
next day .Marion and Lee together pursued the Brit- 
i.sh on lliiir retreat. On the 9th of October he re- 
ceived the thanks of congress for "his wise, de- 
cided, and gallant conduct, in defending the liber- 
ties of his country, and particularly for his prudent 
and intrei)id attack on a body of British troops on the 
31sl of August la.st; and for the distinguished part 
he took in the battle of tlieSthof Sciitember." With 
the exception of desultory lighting, this closes the 
record of Marion's military .service. Further de- 
tails of his course, which continued until the close of 
the war, are given in tlie "Life," l>y W. G. Simms 
(New York, 18-t4), whence this sketch is mainly 
derived. In .lanuary, 1782, the South Carolina 
legislature met at Jacksoidjoro', a little village 
on the Edisto, a short distance from Charlestoii, 
and Marion was in its senate. Retiring to his 
plantation in St. John, at the close of the war, 
he found it ravaged. Ten slaves returned to 
him when he was ready to begin farming, but 
everything else was to l)e purchased, inil lie was 
penniless. Hopes of half-pay held out lo the liero 
were never realized. He was again returned to the 
state senate and was conspicuous in urging leni;'ncy 
toward the lories, also in condemning the conlisca- 
tion act passed by the legislature in' 1783. At the 
dimier-talile of Gov. Matthews, while Ihc strife was 
at its highest, he' was called on for a toast, and 
promptly gave, " Gentlemen, here's damnation to 
the conti.scation act." The South (Carolina senate 
voted him its thanks, and a gold medal for his pa- 
triotism: and in 1784 lie was appointed lo the com- 
mand of Fort Johnson in Charleston harbor, at 
an annual salary of £'>(){), afterward reduced to 
$500. In the same year he married .Miss Mary 
Videau, of Huguenot slock. The evening of his 
days was i)a,s.sed in serene happiness, honored and 
beloved by all, at his home at Pond HlulT, in his na- 
tive slate. He was a member, in 17!I0. of the conven- 
tion for framing the constiinlion of South ('arolina. 
In 17il4 he resigned his comnii.ssion in the slate 
mililia. He died at Pond Hlulf. Feb. 27, 17it.i. his 
last words, after declaring himself obedient to all Ihe 
vital trutiis ofthe Christian religion, being, " Thank 
God, 1 can lay my hand on my heart aiid say, that 
since 1 came to man's estate, 1 have never done, in- 
tenlion;\lly. wrong to any." 

CAMPBELL, 'William, soldier, was born in 
Augusta county, Va. , in 1745. His father died when 
he was quite young, and in 1767, with his brother 



and sisters, he settled in the Holslon valley where he 
soon became a man of affairs. He was liiade a jus- 
tice of the iieace in 177;^, and in 1774 was commis- 
sioned a captain of militia. He took part under Col. 
Win. Christian in a campaign against the Sliawnees, 
and in Seplenibcr, 177.), .assumed command of a 
company in Patrick Henry's regiment. He .lided in 
the defeat of Lord Dumnnre al (iwynn's Island in 
July. 1770, bill n few monllis laler retired from Ihe 
reirular service and returned home, as the .section of 
Virginia in which he lived was threatened with raid.s 
by the Cherokees. He was again appointed justice 
of the pe:icc in 1777; Ihe same year he was ciimniis- 
sioned lieuleuanl-colouel of miiilia. and in 1780 was 
l)ronioted to be colonel. He aided in tixing the boun- 
dary line between Virginia and Ihe Cheiokee coun- 
try in 1778; was active in expelling the lories from 
the Holslon valley in 1779. and in 1780 was elected a 
member of Ihe legislature. Early in 1780, at the 
lic'ad of his regimenl of riflemen, he drove the lories 
from the norliiern ji.-irl of North Carolina and then 
|i;irlicipaled g.Mllaiilly in the memoiable l\in:;'s 
Mounl.'un campaign, which turned the fortunes of 
the revolution. For his .services at King's .Mountain 
Col. Campbell received voles of thanks from Ihe 
Virginia legislature and the Conlinenlal congress, 
while Washington. Gales, and tJreene sent hiiii Con- 
gralulatory letler.s. In 1781 he maiihcd to the aid 
of (Jreeue. taking part with the lallerin the battle of 
Guilford Courl-Honse. A few inonlhs laler, having 
in the ineanlime sat in the Virginia legislaluie, he 
was aiiiioinled brigadier-general, and engaged wilh 
Lafayette in the Jamestown cami)aign. His death 
in August, 1781, put a sudden period to his career, 
but his services had already given him high rank 
among the military leaders of llie revolution. Gen. 
Cani]ibell m:irried Ihesislcrof Patrick Henrv. He 
died al Hoiky Mills. Va.. Aug. 22, 1781. 

LINCOLN, Benjamin, soldier, was born at 
Ilingbam, Mass., Jan. 24. 1733. his family being 
among the first settlers in Hingham. where his fa- 
ther was both farmer and maltster. Not being very 
well-to-do, the latter was .able to give his son only a 
common-school education; but when twenty -two 
years of age the young man. who 
was robust and active, was aji- 
pointed adjiUaul in a regiment 
of militia commanded by hisfath 
er, in which he afterward rose to 
be lieutenant -colonel. At the 
outbreak of the revolution he 
was forty - two years old. He 
took .sides with the colonies from 
the .start, was made a member of 
the provincial congress in 1775, 
appointed brigadier- general the 
next year, and soon after major- 
general of militia. In October, 
1775, he joined the main army at 
New York, and afterward went 
with Washingion into New Jer- 
sey, where he was quickly made 
major-general in tlie Continen- 
tal army. At Bound Brook Gen. Lincoln was at- 
tacked liy Cornwallis, at the head of a large force, 
and through the carelessness of the patrols, the 
enemy almost succeeded in entering the camp with- 
out tiie alarm being given. Lincoln, however, ral- 
lied his lroi)|is wilh remarkable rapiiiily and suc- 
ceeded in leading Ihem off into Ihe mountains wilh 
ci)m])aratively small loss. In July, 1777, he was or- 
dered by Gen. Washington to join the army of the 
Norlli, under Ihe command of Gates, which wasop- 
posing the advance of (Jen. Burgoyne. The exiiedil ions 
which his forces undertook were fairly successful, 
and proved of the greatest importance in the ensu- 
ing battle of Saratoga. Lincoln was in command 






eOf»«IO»T, mi, ay JAUES I. WHItS <, I 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



63 



within the American lines, but was not personally 
present at the battle of Oct. Tth, and on the next 
day he had the misfortune, while rei-onnoitriug, to 
come upon a body of the enemy, who tired a volley 
of musketry, which badly wovnided him in the leg. 
He was for several months confined at Alliany, and 
■was theu conveyed to his home at llingham, where 
he submitted to several painful operations. In Au- 
gust, 1778, he had sufficiently recovered, though 
Tamed for life, to rejoin the army; whereupon he 
was designated by congress to tlie chief command 
of the southern department. In December. 177.S. he 
reached Charleston, which was tlinatened by Gen. 
Prevost, Savannah being already in the possession of 
the British. He was obliged to organize a new 
army and was not in sufficient strength to commence 
offensive operations imtil the spring, when for two 
or three months the two armies were dodging each 
other through northern Georgia and Carolina. Gen. 
Lincoln made only one sharp attack, on llic IKtli of 
June, at Stone Perrv, from which he was obliged to 
retire with considerable loss. An attack on the 
Bi'itish in Savannah, October, 1779, in which Gen. 
Lincoln with his army was aided by Coiuit d'Estaing, 
proved also unsuccessful and the Americans were 
obliged to retire, the celebrated Count Pulaski being 
mortally wounded at the head of a body of cavalry. 
It was claimed for Lincoln, however, that if his or- 
ders had been obeyed in this fight he would have won 
a signal victory. Gen. Lincoln repaired again to 
Charleston, which he endeavored to put in a defen- 
sive position, at the same time asking congress for a 
reinforcement of regular troops. Sir Henry Clinton 
arrived before the city in February, 17S(), and made 
formidable preparations to attack it. Ilis attack was 
successful, and the city capitulated in M.ay. Gen. 
Lincoln surrendered under the capitulation, and was 
parole<i. returning to JIassachusetIs until Novem- 
ber, when he was exchanged. In the campaign of 
the following year, he commanded a division imder 
Washington, and at the seige of Yorklown he was 
appointed to conduct the surrendering enemy to the 
sjiut where their arms were deposited. In October, 
17yl, he was chosen by congress secretary of war, 
while still retaining his rank in the army. He held 
this position for two years, when he resigned and re- 
turned to his home. When Shay's rebellion broke 
out in Massachusetts, in 1786-87, Gen. Lincoln was 
appointed by the governor and council to command 
the force sent against the rebels. He came upon 
Shay at Amherst, where he was ]ireparing to in- 
trench himself, and, making an night attack, cap- 
tured a large number of Shay's followers. In 1787 
Lincoln was elected lieutenant-governor of Mas.sa- 
chusetts. He was also a member of the convention 
to ratify the new constitution. Later President 
Washington appointed liim collector of the ]iort of 
Boston, a position which he held for a imndicr of 
years. It is liislt)ric that Lincoln never, during the 
revolution, conducted a campaign or made an at- 
tack which did not prove di.sastrous to his own side. 
On the other hand, he was a man of fine personal 
character and unswerving integrity, and was greatly 
respected by Gen. Washington. He posses,sed con- 
siderable literary ability and received from Har- 
vard the degree of 31. A. He was a member of 
the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 
and of the Ma.ssachusetts Hislorical Society. He 
was so far interested in natural history as to write 
papei's on the migration of fishes and on the ravages 
of worms in trees. He also published essays en- 
titled "Indian Tribes: The Cau.xesof their Decrease, 
their Claims, etc.," and " Ob.servations on tlie Cli- 
mate, Soil and Value of the Eastern Counties in tlie 
District of Maine." He .dii^l on ."^lay 9, 1810, 
leaving behind him a reputation curiously out of 
proportion to his actual service. 



LAFAYETTE, Marie Jean Paul Joseph 
Roche Yves Gilbert du Metier, was born in the 
chateau of Chavagnac, in that part of France theti 
known as the province of Auvergne, but now in the 
departement of the Haute Loire, the canton of Paul 
Hoquet and the arrondissement of Brionde, Sept. (i, 
1737. The birthplace of Lafayette was situated 
about 400 miles from Paris, and the building had 
been destroyed by fire and rebuilt in 1701. Lafay- 
ette sprang from an ancient and noble family of 
France. In the female line, one of his ancestors was 
maid of honor to Anne of Austria. His father was 
a colonel of the grenadiers of F"rance, and chevalier 
of the order of St. Louis, and is said to have fallen 
in the service of his country at the age of twenty- 
five years, at Minden, in Germany, during the gen- 
eral European war. '^'oung Lafayette was sickly 
through his infancy and childhood. Up to the age 
of twelve years he was educated by his relatives. 
He was then removed to the College du Plcssis, at 
Paris, and soon after, when his mother and his 
mother's father died, the young collegian came into 
complete personal control of gi'eat wealth. This fact, 
principally, caused him to' become a favorite at 
court, and he was one of the queen's pages. He was 
also made a member of the king's regiment of mus- 
keteers, and, although only fifteen years of age, was 
promoted to the rank of aCommiss'ioned officer. His 
rapid rise interfered with his education, and Lafay- 
ette was never distinguished for his literary attain- 
ments. When only sixteen years of age he was mar- 
ried to the Countess Anasta.sie 
de Noailles. daughter of the 
Due de Noailles, a union which 
produced a fortune of about 
!j;i57,500 annual income, and 
which rcsidted in securing for 
him an amiable and virtuous 
wife and a noble-hearted wom- 
an, whom he never ceased to 
love and admire. Even so early 
as the time of his marriage, La- 
fayette was one of the group of 
young Frenchmen who had im- 
bibed from one source or anoth- 
er the principles of political lib- 
erty, and who sighed for the re- 
generation of France. The out- 
break of the American revolu- 
tion, news of which reached La- 
fayette when hewas a captain of 
artilleiT .stationed at Melz. .seemed to present to him 
the sublime spectacle of a virtuous peoiile fearlessly 
contending for virtuous piinciples, and he was one of 
the first in Europe to espou.se the cause of the Amer- 
icans. Silas Deane was at this time in Paris, act- 
ing in behalf of the American congress, bui not rec- 
ognized officially by the French government. Being 
introduced to Jlr. Deane by the Baron de Kalb, La- 
fayette received from Deane, in the name of con- 
gress, the rank of major-general; but just at this 
time news of the evacuation of Long Island by the 
Americans, and the surrender of Fort Washiiigton 
to the Briti.sh, followed by the terrible retreat across 
the Jerseys, induced Benjamin Franklin and Arthur 
Lee, who were also in Paris, to persuade Lafayette 
to abandon his jn-ojcct. Tlie latter, however, was 
not to be deterred from his ;inleiit |irosecution of the 
course on which he had determined, and concerning 
which, voung as he was, he argued witli mature rea- 
son, lie declared to Mr. Deane his intention of pur- 
chasing a vessel and arming it at his own expense. 
This determination he carried out; but, in order to 
avoid complications with the governiiient, he made 
a visit to London, where he paid his respects to 
Edward Bancroft, the American author, who had 
been a pupil of Silas Deane, and, after remaining a 




64 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



few weeks in London, returned to Paris, where he 
saw only a few of liis friends and .some Americans, 
and tlicn started for Bordeaux, where he e.xpeeted 
to jro on board the vessel whieli had been secretly 
purchased for liini. Learuinir, however, tliat his in- 
tentions had been discovered at Versjulles, and tliat 
the kinir Inid issued an order for his arrest, lie tied 
to a Spanish jjort. Here the orders from the king, 
and violent letters from his family reached him, 
forbidding him to go to America, and enjoining him 
to return instantly to JIarseilliw. and theic await 
further orders. lie did return to Bordeau.x, where, 
after wailing for a time trying to obtain i«'rmis- 
sion to leave the country, he disguised himself and 
traveled to Hayonne, and from thence to the jiort 
in Sp.ain where he found his vessel — sent thilher 
from Bordeaux. It was on Apr. 20, 1777, that La- 
fayette, accompanied by the Banm de Kalb, with 
eleven other ollicers, set sail for America. They 
landed near Georgetown, S. C, and Lafayette re- 
paired directly to Charleston, where he was cordial- 
ly received. "Lafayette had left behin<l him Ids wife, 
to whom he wrote inunedialely on his arrival, re- 
counting his experiences and describing his interview 
with Gen. Lord Howe. Lafayette, on leaving 
Charleston, rode nearly 900 miles on horseback to 
Philadelphia, where, as soon as he had aimouiiced 
that he vohuUeered his services, and would be of no 
expense to congress or the country, he was appoint- 
ed, July 31, 1777, a major-general in the Continental 




army. On the following day he was presented to 
Gen. Washington, with whose services he was des- 
tined to be so closely identified, and with whose 
military family, on arriving at the American camp, 
he took up his quarters. His first impressions of the 
American army mid ollicers were imfavorable. One, 
who was more courageous than judicious; another, 
■who was often intoxicated, and Greene, whose tal- 
ents were unknown, commanded as major-generals. 
Lafayette saw his first service in America at the bat- 
tle of the Hran<lywine, where, in the hottest of the 
contest, having disinounted to rally troops who were 
retreating in (lisonler, he received a severe wound in 
the leg. He was dbligcd to remount his horse, being 
jiireeted by the loss of blood, but he did not cease 
his efforts until the retreat was effected. After the 
battle, Lafayette was taken to Philadelphia: but that 
city being in <langer from the enemy, and the citi- 
zens leaving it in great numbers, he was carried to 
Bethlehem, where he was left in the care of the 
Moravian brotherhood. He was confined to his bed 
for about six weeks. Immediately on recovering, 
lie went with Gen. Greene to New'.Iersey, where lie 
fought as a volunteer in the battle of Gloucester. 
In this engagement he distinguished himself by at- 
tacking and defeating a body of IIes.sians with a 
small recoimoitering party. Soon after this Wash- 
ington appointed Lafayette to the <-ommand of a 
division of Virginia troops. I'nfortiuiatcly, Lafay- 
ette got iiuKK-enlly mixed up with the intriguers 
who were working to put Gates in the place of Wash- 
ington. A scheme was organized to invade Canada 
with a body of Green Mountain boys imder Gen. 
Stark, to which a small force of regulars would be 



added; and the command of the little army was of- 
fered to Lafayette. Conway, the forger, and Wash- 
ington's enemy, was made .second to Lafayette in the 
coinmand of "this expedition. Lafayette consulted 
Washington before accepting the propo.sition; but 
on reaching xVlbany he discovered that the whole 
affair had no foundation in fact or in men, but was 
only a part of the foolish jilotling of Washington's 
enemies. The object of connecting Lafayette with 
this plan was to remove him from the preseiu-e and 
delaeli him fnmi the influence and confidence of 
the commander-in-chief. Lafayette now became 
greatly interested in the relations of the Indian tribes 
to the war, and adopted measures to conciliate them. 
He attended a council, accompanied by Gen. Schuy- 
ler and Col. Duane, and distributed among the In- 
dians money and goods, while he reiuinded them of 
their former friendship with the French, and during 
all the negotiations with them thereafter he exer- 
cised a beneficial influence. Congress having de- 
termined to abandon the Canadian expedition, Wash- 
ington wrote to Lafayette, desiring him to return to 
camp with I)e Kalb and resume the coinmand of a 
division in the army. This he did, arriving at Val- 
ley Forge early in April. In the following Jlay he 
met with a slight reverse near Philadelphia, "but 
without .serious loss, and with the result of showing 
his skill in handling his soldiers. At the battle of 
Moniuoulh Lafayette commanded one of the divis- 
ions, and toward the end of it, after the extraordi- 
nary conduct of Lee, he commanded the .second 
line. During this battle — from 4 o'clock in the 
morning until night — Lafayette was constantly on 
the alert; and it was be who first discovered and re- 
ported to Wa.shington the suspicious actions of Gen. 
Lee, which resulted in the latter being ordered to 
the rear by the commander-in-chief, for cowardice; 
which was followed by his being arrested on the fol- 
lowing day, and afterward court-martialed and 
convicted. That night was pa.s.sed by Washington 
and Lafayette, lying on the ground upon the same 
mantle, iii the midst of the soldiers. Uuring the 
night the enemy had tied. Lafayette was now sent 
to Rhode Island to co-operate with Gen. Sullivan, 
and there used all his jiowers to, induce the French 
admiral to sustain the land forces by his fleet, in- 
stead of taking it away to Boston. Indeed, for the 
strenuous etlorts which he made in this campaign in 
behalf of the American cause, congress gave him a 
vote of thaid<s. It being now believed that the m.-ir- 
cpiis could lie of more service to the cause in France, 
it was determined that he should go home. This 
was in October, 1778: but he was taken dangerously 
ill, and contined to his bed for .several weeks at Fish- 
kill, so that it was not until .Lmuary, 17711, that he 
saileil on board the frigate Alliance. While on board 
this ship a plot was formed among the crew to seize 
the vessel and take her to an Engli.sh port — having 
flrsl murdered the officers, all excejit Lafayette, who 
was to be reserved for the imrpose of exchanging 
him for Gen. Burgoyne. Having no one among 
them able to navigate, the conspirators confided their 
plot to an American .sailor, whom, from an accent 
aecpiired while living in Ireland, they mistook to be 
an Irishman. This man informed Lafayette and the 
captain of the conspiracy, with the result lli:il the 
ollicers and iiasseugers .seized Ihirly-one of the cul- 
prits, whom they placed in irons, while a strong 
guard was set over the others. In February the 
Alliance entered the harbor of Brest, and Lafayette 
went immediately to \'ersailles, where he found his 
wife and family. For about a week the mariiuis 
suffered under the displeasure of the king, and was 
under orders to refrain from going about in public 
or showing him.self at c<uirt; but at the end of that 
time he was forgivi'ii. The result of Lafayette's 
mission was the sending out of Count de Hocham- 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



65 



beau, with 6,000 men, in July, 1780 — Lafaj'elto hav- 
ing prccodfd him l)y about three months. Tlie lat- 
ter, on his arrival, repaired at once to Washington's 
headquarters on the Hudson, and was appointed to 
command a body of 2,000 light infantrv. In 1781 
Lafayette was sent to Virginia, where he did good 
service, and even stood up against Cornwallis him- 
self. Being hotly followed liy the latter with an 
overpowering force, he succeeded in making good 
his retreat, and, tinally, in effecting a junction with 
Wayne, and was afterward reinforced by Steuben. 
His force now outnumbered that of Cornwallis, and 
he, accordingly, followed the latter, having occa- 
sional skirmishes, but no serious engagement. He 
continued, however, to hold Cornwallis in check 
xmtil Washington arrived, in September, and took 
command. In December Lafayette sailed again for 
France on the Alliance, and was in process of gath- 
ering an army of about 2."),000 French and Spanish 
troops, when the war came to an end. 

In 1784 Lafayette returned to America and visited 
Wa.shington at'Mt. Vernon, afterward making a tour 
through the country. Returning, he traveled in 
Germany; but in 1787 was elected a member of the 
as.sembly of notables, and in 1789 was in the 
states ■ general. In this year he was made com- 
mander-in-chief of the national guard, and the pro- 
tection of King Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette was 
placed in his hands. The title of the national guard 
was, in fact, bestowed upon the French militia by 
Lafayette, who was also the originator of the famous 
tricoiored cockade. Though distrusted by the royal 
family, he actually saved their lives, and, for the 
time, "reconciled the Paris populace with the king 
and queen. Tlie removal of the royal family to 
Paris, under the guard of Lafayette, followed. On 
July 14th. in the presence of the king and queen, the 
national authorities, ministers and deputies, and 400, ■ 
000 spectators, on the Chami) de JIars, the imposing 
ceremony of taking the civic oath for the French 
federation took place, Lafayette being the first one 
to speak the solemn words. "Events followed quickly. 
The king and queen were shut up in Paris, priso"n- 
ers. Lafayette had jiublicly pledged himself that 
they woukl not attempt to leave; but on the night 
of the 21st of .June they tied, and were on their way 
to the frontier when, twenty-four hours afterward, 
they were recaptured by one of Lafayette's aides, who 
brought (hem back to Paris. The recaptured fugi- 
tives "placed t!ie Ijlame of their misfortune upon La- 
fayette, the queen in particidar treating him with 
great displeasure, yet his wliole determination was, 
if possible, to .savetheir lives. On the 17th of July 
a public outbreak took place; Lafayette, with great 
intrepidity, broke down the barricades which had 
been erected, and at length ordered the guari'.s to 
fire and disperse the mob. After this he was de- 
nounced by the Jacobins and treated coldly liy the 
king and (lueen. All his efforts to bring about a 
peaceful .settlement of existing questions failing, La- 
fayette was obliged to leave France — having been 
removed from his command by the assembly, and 
his impeachment having been decided upon. Even 
his soldiers were now in .sympathy with the Jacobins, 
so utterly lost were judgment and common sense in 
the imU'e which was now rapidly tending toward 
the blo(Kly period of the reign of terror. Lafayette 
fled to Holland, with the intention of thence pro- 
ceeding to the United States, but was seized by the 
Austrian authorities, handed over by them to the 
Prussians, and was incarcerated in various prisons, 
spending nearly four years at Olmutz, where the 
cruelty of his treatment was extreme. In the mean- 
time, "he wa.s not without friends. Washington per- 
.sonally communicated with the emperor, Francis II., 
begging that Laf;iyette might be permitted to leave 
the country and coiuu to the United States on parole. 



Sheridan, Fox, Wilberforce and others took up his 
case before the Hritish house of commons, and work- 
ed strongly toward the same end. Finally, through 
the assistance of friends on the spot, he escaped from 
his ju-ison; but was recaptured, carried back to Ol- 
nuuz, and treated even worse than before. In 1795 
Lafayette's wife, who had been assiduous in her 
efforts to procure his freedom, obtained permission 
for herself and her two daughters to join him in 
jirison. Finally, Napoleon I., in dictating to Aus- 
tria the preliminaries of iieace, Apr. 1.5, 1797, stipu- 
lated for the relea.se of Lafayette and his companions 
from the prison of Olmutz. The directory sanction- 
ed the demand, and it was perseveringly urged from 
time to time on the Austrian governraentr Every 




possible effort was made, however, to retain the pris- 
oners in their loathsome confinement, and Napoleon 
afterward remarked that, of all the negotiations he 
had ever had with foreign |iowers. this was the most 
difficult, so great was the reluctance of the Austrian 
government to let go its prey. He, however, finally 
succeeded, and on Sept. 28. 17!)7, Lafayette and his 
comjianions were released from their captivity. They 
were conducted to Hamburg, and delivered into the 
hands of tlie American consid, with the explicit 
statement that "Lafayette was not liberated at the 
instance of France, but merely to show the emper- 
or's consideration for the Liiited States of Ameiica." 
The marquis went to llolstein. and afterward to 
Holland, returning to France in the spiing of 1800. 
During the remainder of the first empire he remain- 
ed at his castle of La Grange, in Brie, where his wife 
died Dec. 24, 1807. He took no part in affairs imtil 
after the battle of Waterloo, when he demanded that, 
while Napoleon's alulicalion should be insisted upon, 
the nations should guarantee to him life and liberty. 
He even tried to enable Na)>oleon to escape to the 
United States. From 1818 to 1824 Lafayette was in 
the chamber of deputies. The latter year he visited 
the United States, on the invitation of f'lcsident Mon- 
roe, and celebrated his sixty-eighth birthday in the 
White House at Washington. On returning to 
France, he was again elected to the chamber of dep- 
uties, and in the revolution of 1S30 he was made 
commander-in-chief of the national guard. While 
on his visit to America, in 1S24. congress voted La- 
fayette a grant of .$2(H).(lllll, besides a town.ship of 
24.01)0 acres, to be a.ssigned to him from unappro- 
luialed public lands. In America his reputation has 
sto(Hl among the highest of the generals of the rev- 
olution, and his generous and iiatriotic ardor in be- 
half of the cause of the colonies has been recognized 
by many leading Anieriean writers and speakers. 
Ill Fr,-uiee, his disagreement at once with the Bour- 
bon, Jacobin and lionaiiartist elements of the revo- 
lution caused him to be antagonized by them all; 
and his reputation has suffered at the hands of the 
tipholders of each faction in consequence. He died 
in Paris on Jlay 20, 1834. His remains were follow- 
ed to the cemetery of Picpus, in Paris, by a vast 



66 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 







^Z. 



crowd, and his funeral was a suixrlj spectacle. Lafay- 
ette left a son, wIkhu he had named George Wash- 
ington, and two daughters, Anastasie and V'irginic, 
one of whom married Charles de Lalour JIaubourg. 
and the other the Count de Lasteyrie. 

liEE, Charles, soldier, was born in England in 
IIM. He was the son (if .John Lee. a general in the 
Hritish army, and i-e<-('ived a Ihoniugli e<lucatiou, at 
first at an Knglish grauuuar school, and afterward in 
Switzerland. " lie is said to have been a competent 
Greek ami Latin scholar, and to have become ac- 
quainted, by travel, with the Italian, 
Spanish, German, and French lan- 
guages. It is also said that he held 
a comnii.s.sion in the army at the age 
of eleven. There is no evidence of 
this, but he wa.s a lii'ulenaiit in the 
44th regiment, Brilisli infantry, in 
17.51, and came with this regiment, in 
lT.>i. to America, where he was en- 
gaged in the French and Indian 
war, being present at Braddock's 
defeat in IT.5.5. While in wiuter 
(|uarters with the defeated army, 
Lee is said to have become friendly 
^"~" ' with the Mi>hawk Indians, and to 

^ have been adopted into that tribe. 
P'ii^ j^rt_ In June. 1756, he obtained a cap- 
tain's commission by iiurchase, as 
frequently hap|)eued in I hose days. He was wounded 
during the allaek by Abercroniljie upon Fort Ticon- 
deroga, and later he was with the lirillsh force sta- 
tioned on Long Island, where an incident occurred 
illustrative of his generally ovcriiearing and quarrel- 
some disposition. A dispute having arisen between 
Lee and an army surgeon, the latter became so exas- 
perated with Lee's ni.amier. that he attempted to kill 
him. Lee's character at this lime was the reverse of 
agreeable. lie was insolent to his superiors and 
brutal to Ills lid'eriors. lie did not follow the ordi- 
nary rules of wariii liisexpedilioiis, and was fre(jueiit- 
ly insubordinate. After the campaign of 1700 lie re- 
turned to Kngland, where he was exchanged into 
the 10*1 regiment, with the rank of major. In 1762 
he bore a lieutenaut-coloners commission, and served 
■with Buruoyncin Portugal, where lie is said to have 
greatly disliiiguisbcd himself. lie next entered the 
Polish service, and met with a number of curious 
adventures, frequently risking his life in Turkey and 
the Daiiubian ciHUUry. In fact, he became practi- 
cally a free-lance, rambling all over Europe, and ob- 
taining a commission wherever there was any fight- 
ing, but always describing liis snperior oHicers with 
the most contemptuous language in his voealmlary. 
At one time lie engaged with an officer in Italy iu.iin 
affair of honor, and killed him. escaping, himself, 
with thelo.ssof two lingers. His political sentiments, 
as well as his uncomforlable nature, had by this lime 
caused him to lose the favor of the Hritish govern- 
ment, and on returning to England he found that 
there was no chance of promotion. 1I(^ accord- 
ingly H'turned to New '^'ork in 1773. At this time 
he appears lo have somewhat subdued his arrogant 
and quarrelsome nature, and to have devoted him- 
self systematically lo the task of restoring his char- 
acter, and re-establishing his name as a soldier. He 
succeeded in becoming a(u|uainteil with the leaders 
of the revolution against Great Britain, and being 
suppo.sed to be a mililaiy man not only of wide ex- 
perience, but of high (|ualitications, a great deal of 
de])endence began to be placed u])on him. In the 
meanlinu' he was induced by Gen. Gales, of whom 
he had made a friend, lo purchase a vaUiable tract of 
land, consisting of 2,000 or li.OOO acres, in Berkeley 
county, Va. lie resided there in 1774, and the fol- 
lowing year, having resigned his commission in the 
British army, he accepted a commission from the 



Continental congress as major-general. He accom- 
panied Washington to the camp at C'ambritlge. in 
the summer of 177."), and was there received with 
very marked respect. The following spring he was 
sent lo Xew York, and succeeded in preventing the 
British from obtaining possession of that city, and of 
the Hudson river. He was next sent .south to raise 
forces, of which he was lo take command, and was 
also very successful in the performance of this duty. 
Being called to the north in October, he was cap- 
tured on his way through Jlorris county, Jf. J., bya 
British colonel, and carried to New York, wherehe 
was detained until the spring of 177H, when he was 
exchanged for Gen. Prescott. In the battle of Mon- 
mouth, Lee cut such a figure as lo have passed into 
history asa cow.-ird aiida renegade. He was ordered 
by Washington lo make an attack upon the rear of 
theeneniy, but when the comm.-inder-in-chief press- 
ed forward lo support liiin, to his aslonislinient he 
found Lee retreating without having made a .single 
elTort to maintain his ground. Astonished and en- 
raged at finding Lee's men disordered and in full 
retreat, Wasliinglon fell into one of those fits of 
terrible wrath which someliines overc.-ime hini. and 
ujibraided the recreant general with the strongest and 
mo.st forcible language at his comniand. concluding 
by indignantly ordering him to the rear. Washing- 
ton then took charge of l>ee's men. reorganized them, 
and .successfully moved them upon the enemy. This 
occurred on.Iune2.'<lli. OnthciiOih I;ee wasarrested 
for disobedience to orders, for niisbehaviiu- before 
the enemy, and for disrespect to the coiiiniander-in- 
cliief. He was court-mailialed. Lord Stirling pre- 
.siding, found guilty of the charges, and sentenced 
to be suspended for one year. The disn'spect to the 
commander-in-chief consisted in Lee's writing letters 
to Washington after the affair on the field of Mon- 
mouth, which were insubordinate and insulting. It 
wasatthe time believed that Lee was himself aiming 
at the supreme commanil, and the suspension gave 
general satisfaction to the army. The result of the 
court-martial was confirmed by congress, January, 
1780, and Lee retired to his estates in Berkeley 
county, which he had not paid for, as his drafts on 
England for the amount had been protested, owing 
t<i his property there having been .se(|uestered. Lee 
di'votcd himself, during his last days, to a few books 
and to hisdogs. (jf which he was remarkalily fond, but 
he became lonely and unhappy, and in the autumn 
of 1782 went to I'hiladeliiliia, where he lived at an 
inn, in which he died suddenly, from fever. His last 
words were: "Stand by nie, my brave grenadiers!" 
(Jen. Lee is described as having lieeii rather above 
the middle size, po.s.se.ssing a rcinarkably acpiiline 
nose, which rendered his face somcwh.it disagree- 
able. He was rude in his manners, and neglectful 
of his personal appearance, while his appetiti' is said 
to have been so whimsical that he was everywhere 
a most troublesome guest. There is no doubt of his 
personal bravery and of his milit.'uy ability, and 
the cause of his action at ^Moimiouth is to be sought 
elsewhere than in cowardice. He was a man of 
strong mind and fine imagination, and is said to 
have lieen a brilliant writer of Knglish. He ridiculed 
• religion, inserting in his will hisdesire that he should 
not be buried within a mile of any church or meet- 
ing-house. He is descrilied as having been vindic- 
tive, avaricious, immoral, impious, and profane, 
while the history of his life is little else than a history 
of disputes, (piarrels, and duels, in every part of the 
world. In IS.-iM George II. Jloore. libr.-irian of the 
New York Historical Society, published a monograph 
entitled, "The Treason of Charles Lee, "in which 
was first disclosed the fact of Lee's |iositively trea.son- 
ableatlempt, with Sir William Howe, and his brother, 
to betray the American cause. This monograph, 
with the facsimile of what is termed "Mr. Lee's 



OP AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



67 




Plan, 29 March, 1777." certainly threw an unexpect- 
ed light on the conduct of the unreliable general, 
and particularly upon the circumstances of his ex- 
traordinary capture in New Jersey, and his after 
transfer to New York. And yet even those who 
have recognized the sinister character of the occur- 
rences opened up by these disclosures, have always 
been in doubt whether these actions were not mainly 
caused by mental aberration or some form of brain 
lesion, a theory which the nature of his whole life 
would really seem to support. His death occurred 
Oct. 3. 1783. 

WARD, Artemas, soldier, was born at Shrews- 
bury, Mass., in 1737. He entered Harvard, whence 
he was graduated iu 1748. While still a young 
man, he was a representative in the legislature, a 
member of the council, and a jus- 
tice of the court of common pleas, 
for Worcester coimty, Mass. Dur- 
ing the French war he served with 
Gen. Abercrombie, reaching the 
rank of colonel. In 1774 he was 
made a brigadier-general by the 
Massachusetts congress, and in 
May, 177.), was commander-in- 
chief of all the forces in Jlassachu- 
setts. On the day of the battle of 
Bunker Hill. Gen. Ward was nom- 
inally iu command, but was not on 
the tield, and on that day the Con- 
tinental congress made him the 
'2,-/~- 14/ y fi''^' major-general in the Ameri- 
TZ£/TUld //u/^'^ ean army and placeil bini in com- 
mand of the American forces be- 
fore Boston. He held this post tmtil the arrival of 
Gen. Washington, and continued to serve until the 
spring of 1776, when he resigned. From 1791 until 
179.5 Gen Ward was a niemlier of congress. He 
died at Shrewsliurv, Oct. 2S!. ISOO. 

MUHLENBERG, John Peter Gabriel, sol- 
dier, was bom at Trappc, Pa., Oct. 1. 174G. the son 
of Kev. Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, a learned Lu- 
theran minister, who jn-eachcd in the tirst church in 
Philadelphia, and who settled at New Providence 
(now Trappe), Montgomery Co., Pa., and died there 
in 1787. John Peter seems to have been endowed by 
nature with military ambition, for though, at the 
urgent request of his father, he consented to be edu- 
cated for the ministry at Halle, iu (xcrmany, yet while 
there, a student, he joined a reguuent of dragoons, 
from which he was with ditticully released by his 
friends. He returned to America in 
17t)().and jireached in Penn.sylvania 
and New .Jersey for several years. 
In 177.5, at the outbreak of the 
war. he was preaching in Virginia, 
having been ordained a few years 
before, in the Eiiisco|ial church, 
during a vi.sit to England. At the 
solicitation of Gen. Washhigton, 
with whom he was well ac(|uaint- 
ed, he consented to acceiit a com- 
mi.ssicm as colonel of a regiment 
of Pennsylvania mililia. Leav- 
ing bis |nil|)it with a farewell 
sermon, he went into the tield 
with nearly 300 members of his 
cluMch vnider his Hag. In 1777 
Col. JIulilcnberg was comniLs- 
sioned brig;ulier-general. He as- 
sisted in the relief of Charleston. S. C., took part 
in the battle of Sullivan's island, and was with 
W^ashington at Braiidywine, Germantown, 3Ion- 
moutli. Stony Point, and Yorktown, where he acted 
a clistinguished and brave part as conuuander of a 
biTgade of light infantry. At the close of the war 
Gen. JIuhleuberg was promoted to rank of major- 




general. He returned to Pennsylvania, where he be- 
came vice-president of the supreme executive council 
of that state, of which Benjamin Franklin was presi- 
dent. This was in 1785. He was afterward a mem- 
ber of the first three congresses, and in 1801 was 
elected to the U. S. senate. President Jefferson ap- 
pointed him supervisor of the revenue for his state, 
and as he preferred that position, he resigned from 
the senate before taking his seat. His "Life "was 
published bv his great-nephew, Henrv A. Muhlen- 
berg (Philadelphia, 1849). He died near Philadel- 
phia, Oct. 1, 1807. 

HULL, William, soldier, was born at Derby, 
Conn., June 34, 1753. He was descended from 
Puritan ancestors who settled in Massachusetts 
early in the seventeenth century. After the battle 
of Lexington, he was chosen captain of a company 
of soldiers raised in his native town. He joined the 
army at Cambridge and served under Washington 
during the campaign in New Jersey, being promot- 
ed to rank of major and afterward lieutenant-colo- 
nel. He was inspector of the army under Baron 
Steuben, and on the occasion of AVashington's fare- 
well to his soldiers, he commanded tlie escort of the 
commander-in-chief. He f<jught iu the battles of 
White Plains. Stillwater, Saratoga, Fort Stanwix 
and Stony Point, and in those in New Jersey. In 
1796 he was appointed major-general of the militia 
of Massachusetts. In 1805 Jefferson appointed him 
governor of the territory of Michigan, which office 
he held until the accession of Lewis Ca.ss in 1813. 
At the beginning of the second war with Great 
Britain Gen. Hiiff was appointed to conunand the 
northwestern army. By a scries of misunder- 
standings and complications, arising from incompe- 
tence at the seat of government. Gen. Hull was 
forced to sinrender, Aug. 15, 1813. to the British 
general, Brock. History shows that the American 
commander fell a victim to the conditions indicated, 
and was made a scapegoat for the powers above 
him. He was tried by a court-martial in 1814, and 
was actually sentenced to be shot, but on account of 
his revolutionary services and his advanced age, he 
was recommended to mercy, and the president, 
while approving the sentence, remitted its execu- 
tion. As a matter of fact, Hull's army, which had 
marched from Urbana, O., through the wilderness 
to Detroit, was an insufficient force, only one-third of 
the army of Gen. Brock, while, owing to an armis- 
tice which had been entered into by Gen. Dearborn 
on the Niagara, the entire enemy could be employed 
asainst him. The British commanded Lake Erie, 
and a part of Hvdl's own forces, under Cols. Cass 
and MacArthur. had been taken from liini. Faced 
by an overwhelming force, cut off by the lake and 
tlie wilderness from supplies and reinforcements, 
Gen. Hull alleged, in his answerto the charges made 
against him, that he deemed it a sacred dmy which 
he owed, luider his government, to his fellow-citi- 
zens, to negotiate a capitulation which secured their 
safety. There is every evidence to show that, had 
the iiredictions and suggestions of this general been 
followed at the outset of his undertaking, he would 
not have been placed in the position in which it be- 
came necessary for him to surrender his force. 
Gen. Hull iiulilishcd the memoirs of the campaign 
of 1813 and a defence of himself, with a sketch of 
his revolutionary services. During the latter years 
of his life he resided at Newton, ilass., where he 
died. Nov. 39. 1835. 

LAURENS, John, soldier, was liorn in South 
Carolina, in 17.53. He was the son of Henry 
Laurens, and received a liberal education in Eng- 
land. The outbreak of the revolution forced the 
young man to return home, and, oiu-e there, liis 
patriotism sent him into the army, where he was 
iriven the rank of lieutenant - colonel and made a 



68 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



member of 'Washington's military family. From 
that lime forward lie is sjiid to have fought in every 
battle in which AVashin<rton was engacecl, his first 
active service being at the battle of the IJrandywine, 
Sept. 11, 1777. At the battle of Monmouth, he re- 
lieved Washington from imminent peril by his in- 
trepidity. After this battle Gen. Charles Lee made 
a disrespectful reference to Washington, in an at- 
tempt to e.\cuse his own misconduct during the en- 
gagement. Laurens at once challenged him, and 
fought and wounded him iu a duel. At the battle 
of Germantown Laurens was severely wounded. 
There and at Savannah, Charleston, and several 
other points of desperate conflict his conduct re- 
ceived the highest praise. In fact his whole niili- 
taiy career was distinguished for dauntless bi-iivcry, 
verging on recklessness, from the effects of which lie 
at last lost his life. At the tight of Coosjiwhatchie 
he was again .severely wounded, barely escaping 
■with his life. Early in 1781 Washington sent him 
to France for the purpose of obtaining aid for the 
colonies. Laurens at first made apjilication to the 
ministry, but he soon found that if he obtained any- 
thing from them it would be at the expense of such 
a delay as to render the service useless. He ac- 
cordingly formed and carried out the audacious 
project of passing over all conventionalities and of 
obtaining speech with the king himself. He suc- 
ceeded in gaining an audience, with the result of 
accomplishing his purpose almost imiuediately. 
Within four or five months the whole business was 
completed, and Laurens was back iu America as- 
sisting to organize a jilaii for the campaign which 
ended in the siege of Yorktowu, and when victoiy 
was finally accomplished there, it fell to Laurens to 
■receive £ord Corinvallis's sword Oct. 17, 1781. 
During the remainder of the war Liurens was with 
Gen. Greene. lie met his death in consequence 
of having exposed himself durim; a skirmish on 
the Combahee river. His loss was lamented as 
among the most serious of the revolution, and it is 
on record that Washington felt keenly the death of 
one who had been a valual)le eonfideutial a.ssi.stant 
and a faithful and .self-sacrilicing friend to him dui-- 
ing the many exigencies and dangers of the war. 
This honorable, iiatriotic and unselfi.sh officer was 
only twenty-nine vears of age at the time of his 
ilcalh, Aug! 27, 17A-2. 

HEATH, William, soldier,wasbomat Ro.xbury, 
jUass. (now a part of Hostoii), March 7, 1737. He was 
a colonel of militia, and member of the general as- 
sembly prior to the revolution, and became an ar- 
dent su|>portei' of the patriot cau.se. 
IJeing made a brigadier-general of 
militia in December, 1774, he took 
]iart ill tlie battles of Concord and 
IJunker Hill, and on June 22, 177."), 
was appointed Inigadier-general in 
the Continental army. lie was ad- 
vanced to the rank of major-gen- 
eral on Aug. it, 1770. was stationed 
for a time in New York city, and 
participated in the battle of White 
Plains. Subse(|nenlly he command- 
ed the patriot foices in the High- 
lands, when(;e he was transferred 
in 1777 to the eastern district, where 
ho commanded mil 11 177!l. Assum- 
ing charge of the Hudson river posts 
in .lune of the latter year, he was 
stationed in New York until the close Of the war, 
with the exception of a few weeks spent in Kliode 
Island, in the summer of 1780. After the declara- 
tion of peace he sat in the Massachusetts conven- 
tion that nititied the federal constitution, was a state 
senator in 1791 and 17112, and in 17!t:{ probate judire 
of his county. In 18UG he was chosen lieutenant- 





i, r 
In June, 1781, he 



governor, but refused to serve. His memoirs were 
imlilished in Boston in 1798. He died at Ro.xbuiy, 
Ma.-is.,.lan. 24, 1S14. 

BOCHAMBEAU, Jean Baptiste, soldier, 
was bom at Vendome, France, July 1, 172.5. His 
father was a soldier. Jean Baptiste, after pre- 
paring for clerical orders, adopted his father's call- 
ing, entering the French armv as 
comet, in 1742. In March. 17^80, 
after thirty-eight years of varied 
and arduous service, he reached 
the rank of lieutenant-general, 
being a.ssigned, the same year, to 
the command of the army about 
to be disiiatched to the aid of the 
American revolutioni.sts. With 
(i.OOd men he sailed from Brest 
in May, 1780, and in July reached 
New])oil, H. I. He thwarted a 
contemplated attack upon that 
city by Clinton and Arbuthnot; 
sent to France for reinforce- 
ments, wliich were speedily for- 
warded under Count de Grasse, 
and in an interview with Washing- 
t(in in September, ]iro]iosed a cara- 
lialgn for the ensuing -summer. 
advan(!ed into New York, defeating a portion of 
Clinton's army, and then, feigning in the direction of 
New .Jersey, made a junction with Washington, near 
Kingsbridge This clever manieuvre, having cut off 
Clinton's communication with Cornwallis, the al- 
lied armies marched southward, and attacked the 
latter at Yoiktown, finally forcing his surrender. 
This ]iractically ended the war, and Rochambeau, 
after giving aid to Gen. Greene in the South, re- 
embarked for France iu January, 1783. Congress 
tendered him a vote of thanks for his services, and 
after his retui-n to France he was created field-mar- 
shal. Durini;- the French revolution he was impris- 
" • 1 bar.' 

ilisliei 
translateil into En^dish in 1838. 
May 10, 1S07. 

■WILLI AMS,Eleazer,Indian missionary, known 
as " the dauphin, " was born about 1787. Brought 
up in the woods of what isnow Montiromerv countv, 
N. Y., as the son of Tlnmias Williams, "the half- 
breed and grandson of Eunice Williams (y. r.), he 
received a good education at Long Meadow and 
AVesthampton, Mass., and rendered somewhat nota- 
ble .services in the war of 1812, during whieli he wa.s 
a U. S. agent among the northern Indians, and 
served under Gen. Dearborn. He publishetl an Iro- 
(juois spelling-book (1818), and a "Caution Against 
Our Common Enemy " (1813-l.'i). At the battle of 
Pl.-ittsburgh, Sejit. 14, 1814, he emjiloyed a ru.se to 
drive olf the British, and was badly wounded. After 
the war he served as lay-reader among the Oneida.s, 
became a clergyman of the Episcopal church, ob- 
tained a tract of land on Green bay and Fox river. 
Wis., for his tribe, removed thither with them about 
1820, and labored as a mis.si()nary in that region for 
many vears. His wife was a French half-breed, 
ruuKjred to be related to the royal family. His 
character and life are generally slid to have been 
exemplary, but the contrast between his humble 
surroundings and his considerable attainments may 
have made him imaginative The stoiy which he 
seems to have .sincerely believed, but which he took no 
Jiains to spread, was that in October, 1841. the young 
Prince de Juinville, sou of Louis Philippe, aji- 
proached him on a steamboat. as.sured him of his 
identity with Eouis XVII. (who was born at Ver- 
sailles March 27, 178.'). and whose death had been 
liroclaimed in Paris June 8. Ha.")), and made him 
sj)lendid oilers, conditional on his renunciation of his 



oned in Paris, and barely escaped execution. His 
memoirs were pulilisiicd iu Paris in 1809. and were 
~ He died at Tliore, 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



6Q 



rights, which he refused. This tale was pubh'shed 
l)y the Kev. .1. II. Ilauson iu "Putnam's Maga- 
zine" for February, 1853, in the famous paper 
headed, " Have we a Bourbon among us? " and in a 
book called "The Lost Prince" (is.>t). In spite of 
its improl)aliility an<l the denial of De .Toinville. tin- 
alleged royal ileseent, which seemed to be supported 
by variotki facts, was credited by many. It was 
stated again by H. J. Lossing iu the " Independent" 
for Sept. '22. ly.ST. Williams, who sought no advan- 
tage from his .supposed high birth, returned to 
northern Xew York in bS.")!), published an Iro(|Uois 
version of the prayer b^iok in IS.'iS, wrote a Ufe of 
his putative father, Thomas Williams, which was 
privately jMiuted in lS.")i), and died at Hogansburg, 
Franklin Co., N. Y., Aug. 28, 1858. 

PULASKI, Casimir, soldier, was born in Po- 
dalia. Poland, JIanli 4. 1748. His father, Jo.seph 
Pulaski, was a nobleman who was regarded as one 
of the ablest jurists of his country, occupying the 
position of «((()'0.\^' or chief magistrate of Warech. 
In the troubles that followeil the election of Augu.st 
Poniatowski, Sei)t. (i, 17(54, as king of Poland, the 
father took a leading and patriotic part, being the 
founder of the celebrated confederation of Barri^ Feb. 
29, 1768, so called from the small town iu Podalia, 
about twenty miles from the Turkisli frontier, where 
it was organized. This eoufetieration, with others to 
which it gave rise, formed the cent re and nucleus lor 
co-operation between the Poles, in 
their ill-starred opposition to the 
measures by which Russia brtmght 
about the dismemberment of their 
country ; and in this opposition, 
having a good education and some 
military experience under Duke 
Cliarles of C'ourland in Russia, 
Casimir. with his brothers, zeal- 
ously jiarticipated. After the ar- 
rest and death of the father, he 
carrieil on a partisan warfare. Ilis 
efforts to rai.se revolt in Lithuania 
in 17(ii) were siiccessfid, and he 
finally forced the Russian army, 
which besieged him in (he fort- 
ified mona.-itery of Czenstochova, 
to withdraw. By this and oilier 
movements he came to be recog- 
nized as the leading Polish military patriot, and 
was ultimately chosen commander-in-chief of the 
Polish forces. Fortune, however, deserted him ; 
his estates were couliscated, he was outlawed, and 
a price set on his head. About 1773 he disap- 
jieared from Poland, and it is only known that 
he found his way into Turkey. At what time he 
first went to France is uncertain, but it is known 
that he was there not long after the Declaration 
of Independence by the United States of Amer- 
ica, in 177(5. and that by the advice of Dr. Benjamin 
Franklin he joined the American army as a volun- 
teer in the summer of 1777. In a few days the battle of 
the Brandywine took place, in which, by authoriza- 
tion of Gen. W.-ishinglon. Pidaski had such part as 
^ully sustained tlie reputation for courage and formili- 
tarj- skill which he had brought to the New World. 
Four days afterward he was appointed by congress 
to the command of the American cavalry, with the 
riink of briL'adier-general. Shortly afterwar<l. while 
the American army was battling near Warren's Tav- 
ern. not far from Pliiladelpliia, he sa%-ed it from com- 
]>lete surprise by llie Urilish forces. He parliei])ated 
also in the battle of Gerniantown, Pa., and in the 
winter of 1777-78 co-opcraled with Gen. Anthony 
Wayne in In's movements from the camp at Valley 
Forge. Pa. Sulw(|uently, in 1778, he was authorized 
to nuse the Pula.'iki legion, a body of si.xty-eight light- 
horse and 200 foot, his success in its organization 




and c(|uipment being such that in October of that 
year it numbered 'A'M) men, who formed three com- 
panies of horse and three of infantry. This became 
a .somewhat famous body of tighters, but their com- 
mander grew dissalislicd with his position, and was 
ordy dissuaded from rciurning to Europe by Gen. 
Wasliingloii. Ordered next to South Carolina, he 
entered Charleston with his troops. Jlay 8, 1779. 
When the city was invested by the British, he a.s- 
saidted them, and, although repelled, held it until 
relief came on the Kith of Jl.-iy, in spite of the city au- 
thorities who desired to surrender. When the com- 
bined French and American forces, un<ler D'Estaiug 
and Lincoln, made theirunsuecessful attack upon Sa- 
vannah, then oeeu|iird by liie British. Oct. 9, 1779, 
he commanded the cavalry of both armies, and re- 
ceived his death-wound from a shot which penetrated 
the upper part of his right thigh. He was taken at 
once to the U. S. brig Was|), and died as she was 
leaving Savannah river. The U. S. congress voted 
that a monument be erected to his memory, which 
vote has not, as yet, been comjilied with. The Jlar- 
quis de Lafayette, however, during his visit to the 
United States in 1824, laid the corner-.stoneof such a 
monument in Savannah, provided by citizens of that 
city, which was com])leled on the 6th of January, 
1855. The "Life of Count Pulaski" is in Sparks's 
American Bioiiraiihv, second series, vol. lY. (Boston, 
1845). Count" Pulaski died Oct. 11, 1779. 

'WHITE, Anthony 'Waltoii, soldier, was born 
near Xew Brunswick. N. .!.. July 7. 1750. He was the 
fourth child and only son of Anthony White and Eliz- 
abeth Morris, daughter of Gov. Lewis Jlorris. and 
received the names of his father and of his relative 
and godfather. AVilliam AValton. of Xew York. 
He wasdescended from Am bony White, a royalist, 
who left England shortly after the execution of 
Charles I., settling in Bermuda. Authonj-'s son, 
also named Anthony, served with the army in Ire- 
land until the battle of the Boyne. The latter's eld- 
est son. Leonard White, was an officer in the Brit- 
ish navy, and Leonard's eldest son. Anthony While, 
lived in Xew York about 1715. The son of the lat- 
ter, and father of the subject of this sketch, a man 
of large estate and of high position, was a lieuten- 
ant-colonel iu the British army during the French 
and Indian war in 1755. As early as 1761 An- 
thony Walton White, although oidy eleven years of 
age, was, owing to paternal inliuence, in jiossession 
of several official sinecures. He contintied a nom- 
inal holder of these olhecs, ]iursuiug his studies in 
the meantime under his fathei', whom he, iu turn, as- 
sisted iu the care of his e.state, luuil the outbreak of 
the revolution. In October, 177.5. he was appointed 
an aide to Gen. Washington, and in the following 
Febrmiry was commi.ssioned by congress lieuten- 
ant-colonel of the 3d battalion of Xew Jersey 
troops, and as such commanded the outposts of the 
army uniler Washington, continuing in the service 
of the army of the Xorth until 1780. He was ap- 
pointed lieutenaut-eolouel in Febniary, 1777, and 
colonel in 1780. In July of the latter year Col. 
While tilled out. on his own credit, two regiment.s, 
Willi whicli he joine<l (Jen. Gates, and early iu the 
following spring was with the army niider La- 
fayette and was engaged in skirmishing with the 
eelebraled Col. Tarleton until the capture of Corn- 
wallis at Yorklown. Between 1781 and 17S3 he 
was with his command in the Carolinas and iu 
Georgia, where he worked in cmuliinalion with Gen. 
Wayne. Unfurl unalcly for himself he became se- 
curity for the debts of officers and men of his com- 
mand, and was obliged to l)ay them out of his own 
fortune, thereby ruining his estate. In the spring 
of 1783 Col. Wiiile married Margaret Ellis, a joung 
lady pos.scssing great beaiitv and wealth, who re- 
sided iu Charleston, S. C. lie resided in Xew Y'ork 



I 



70 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



from lT83tol793, but after that in tlie city of New 
Brunswick. N. J., aud in 1794 was appointed by 
President Wasliinu^on general of cavalry in the ex- 
pedition under Gen. Ilenry Lee to srii)press the 
■whi.sliey insurrection of western Pennsylvania. Tlie 
liust years of Gen. AVhites life were full of mis- 
fortune and unhappine.ss. The fortune of his wife 
was wrecked Ihroutrh the improvidence of ;i friend 
to whose care it had beeu intrusted, aud his own ef- 
forts to obtain relief from congress on account of 
his e.xpenditures for men in the service of the jrov- 
enunent proved uuavailim;. He died at New 
Bnmswick. X. J., Feb. 10, f803. 

VABNUM, Joseph Bradley, soldier, was 
born at Dracul. Middlesex Co., Mass.. Jan. 29, IToO. 
His ancestors came to this country from Wales about 
the middle of the seventeenth century, settlinjr in 
the locality where he was born. His brother, .James 
Ulitchell Varuum, was a brigadier-general in 1777. 
Their father, .Joseph Varnum, was a farmer. Young 
.Iose|)h was brought up on the farm and had a fair 
Engli.sh education. At an early age he exhibited 
a deep interest in the atfairs of the eiilonies, particu- 
larly in regard to the wrongs imposed uiionthem by 
Great Britain. There is no complete account of the 
military life of Gen. Varnum, but it is lecorded that 
he entered the Ma.s.sachusetts state 
militia and held a couunissi(m as 
captain as early as 17(i8. He is 
said to have left his plow to go 
into active service. In 1787 he 
■was commfssioned a colonel by 
the commonwealth of .Massachu- 
setts. He was made briga(iier- 
general in 1802. and from 1805 
until his death was major-general 
of the slate militia. Gen. Varnum 
■was re]iealedly elected a member 
of the legislature of Slassachu- 
setts and was also a member of 
the U. S. lunise of reiire.sentatives 
and of the U. S. senate. He was 
speaker of the house during two 
terms, and was, for a time, acting 
ra.m*<^*n/ vice-president of the United States. 
He was a man highly respected in his own .stale, 
where he is said to have rendered active and valu- 
able service in connection with Shay's rebellion, in 
1787. Gen. Varmnn was at one time a candidate 
for governor of Massachusetts, but was defeated. 
In politics he was a .Jeffersonian democrat. He was 
11 member of the Massachusetts .senate at the time 
of his death, which occurred at Dracut, Mass., Sept 
21, isil. 

THOMPSON, William, soldier, was born in 
Ireland about 172.5. He emigrated to Pennsylvania 
■where, iu 17.")."), he Ijccame captain of a troop of 
mounted militia and engaged in the French and In- 
dian war. In 177.'), after the battle of Lexington, 
Pennsylvania recruited a battalion of eight comiia- 
nies, of which Thompson was placed in command 
with the rank of colonel, these lieing the first troojis 
raised by order of the Continental congress. They 
marched toCambridge, Mass., where tlieyarriveil in 
August, 177.5, and in the following November were 
successful in driving back a mmiber of British sol- 
diers who were atieniiiting to make a landing at 
Lechmere Point. Jtarch 1, 177fi. Col. Thomjisou 
was commissioned brigadier-gencr.al and on the 19th 
of the same month was ordered to n'licve Gen. 
Charles Lee. at that time in command of ihc forces at 
New York. The following month, while on his 
■way to Canada with four regiments as reinforee- 
meuLs, he met the retre.-iling army, under com- 
mand of Gen. .John Thoma.s, on its way from 
Quel)ec, and Thomas being sick, he assumed the 
chief comraaud. On.Juue4thhe surrendered this 




command to Gen. .John Sullivan, and in carrying 
out Sullivan's order to attack the enemy at "frois 
Rivieres, wits takeu prisoner. In two months Gen. 
Thompson was allowed to return to I'hiladelphia on 
parole, but it was two years before he was exchanged. 
He died near Carlisle,' Peun.. Sept. 4, 1781. 

LA'WSON, Robert, soldier. Nothing is cer- 
tainly known of this otHcer except what can be ob- 
tained from the meagre war records. On Feb. 13, 
1776, he was ajjpointed major in the 4th Vir- 
ginia regiment, of which he was nuide colonel in 
the following year. Col. Lawson was one of those 
otlicers, of whom there were .so many in the revolu- 
tion, of whom all that is known is that " they fought 
and bled for their country." Ileis.sidd to have com- 
manded a brigade of Virginia militia under Gen. 
Greene at the battle of Guilford Court-House, and 
to have died in Richmond, Va., in April, 180.5. 

PICKENS, Andre^w, soldier, was born at Pax- 
ton, Pa.. Sept. ly. 173'.l. When he was thirteen years 
of age his parents removed to Soulh Carolina, where, 
prior to the revolution, he sjiw considerable military 
service iu campaigns against the Indians. He en- 
tered the ContiueiUal army iu 177.5. as captain of 
militia, and rose, by successive prouu)tion, to the rank 
of brigadier-general. At Kettle creek, in February, 
1779. he reinilsed a greatly su|«'- 
rior British force under Col. Boyd. 
In Jinie of the same year he suc- 
ces.sfully covered the patriot re- 
treat from Stono. aud at Tomas- 
see, in the antunui of 1779, dis- 
astrously roiUed the Cherokees. 
For the gall.antiy which he dis- 
played at Cowpeiis, .Ian. 17, 1781, 
he was given a sword by congress. 
Siilisequeutly he forced the sur- 
render of the British forts at Au- 
gusta. Ga.. serve<l imder Gi'n. 
Greene in the camjiaigu of Nine- 
ty-Six, and commanded a brigade 
at the batlle of Eutaw Springs. In 
1783 he settled on a large tract of 
laud on the Keowee river. He 
was a member of the first Conti- 
nental convention of S<iuth Carolina. s;it for many 
years in the slaU' legislature, in congress from 
1793 >mtil 179.5, aud negotiated many treaties with 
the Indians. He was a major-genend of militia in 
179.5. He married, in 176.5, Maria, aunt of .John C. 
Calhoun. He died in the Pendleton district of South 
Carolina. Auir, 17, 1817. 

HERKIMER, Nicholas, soldier, was born 
about 171.5. of German (Icsi'cnt. II<' was engaged 
in the French and Indian war and coiMnianded Fort 
Herkimer in 17.5S, .mI the time when the Freni-li and 
Indians were active in that neighborhood. In 177.5 
he was api>ointed colonel, and in 1776 brigadier- 
general in couuuand of the militia of Tryou county, 
N. Y. In 1777. when (Jen. St. Leger invested Fort 
Stanwix, afterward called Fort Schuyler, at the 
head of the .Mohawk river, (n'n. Herkimer took 
his mililia to the relief of Col. (ianscvoorl. About 
six miles from Fort Stanwix. near Oneida creek, 
Herkinu'r I'i'll into an amlniscade in wiiich liis hor.se 
was killed and he was morlally wounded. Although 
near to death, he is .said to have .seated him.self 
upon a stump from which he heroically encouraged 
his men to fight, but his jiarly was defeated, with 
the loss of 400 men. This was the battle of Oris- 
kany. After the centennial celebration of the oc- 
ca.sion by the Oneida Historical Society in 1877, 
subscriptions were made for a monument to Her- 
kimer, which was duly erected. The moninnent is 
an olielisk made of granite, eighty-live feet in 
height, with bronze nuMuorial tablets. Gen. Her- 
kimer died Aug. 16, 1777. 




^^r^^lke-w 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



71 



HUMPHREYS, David, soldier, was born at 
Derby, Couu., iu 175;l He was the son of Daniel 
Humphreys, pastor of a Presbyterian church in Der- 
■by, and in 1767 entered Yale College, from which 
lie was graduated in 1771. During his college life he 
formed the intimate acquaintance of Trumbull and 
Dwight, who, witli himself, were the leading Amer- 
ican poets of the period. Soon after leaving col- 
lege he went to Mew York state, where he resided 
■with the family of Col. Phillips, of Phillips Manor. 
At the beginning of the war of the revolution, he 
entered the army as captain, and in October, 1777, be- 
came major of a brigade imder Gen. Parsons. At the 
time of the capture of Fort Jloutgomery, he form- 
ed the acijuaintance with Gen. Putnam which was 
afterward to be .so important to him. In 1778 he 
was one of Putnam's aides, and two years later he 
was appointed aide and nnlitary secretary to Gen. 
Washington, in whose military family he remained, 
enjoying his confidence and friendship, until the 
close of the war. On the surrender of Coruwallis, 
after the defeat at Yorktown, the captured British 
standards were delivered to the charge of Col. 
Humphreys, and iu Xovember. 1781, couijress re- 
solved "That au elegant sword be presented, in the 
name of the United States, in congress assembled, to 
Colonel Humjihreys, aide-de-camp of General Wash 
ington. to whose care the standards taken under 
the capitulation of York were consigned, as a testi 
inon\- of their opinion of his fidelity and ability, 
and that the board of war take order thereon." The 
sword was luesented to Col. Huni]ihreys by Gen 
Kno.K in 1786, witli a highly complimentary letter 
Throughout his career Humjihreys was a special 
favorite of Washington, and through his influence he 
was appointed, in 1784, secretary to the commis.siou 
■which was seiU abroad to negotiate treaties of com 
nierce with foreign jjowers, and which included 
Thomas Jefferson, .John Adams and Benjamin Frauk- 
liu. He remained abroad, residing chiefly in Parisaud 
London, until 1786. On liis return he was sent to the 
legislature from the town of Derbj-. He had by 
this time acliieved a reputation as a writer, more 
particularly of satirical poetry, and became recog- 
nized as one of the coterie known as the " Hartford 
wits, " who wrote in combination a collection of satir 
ical poems called the "Anarehiad." In 1787 Hum- 
phreys commanded the regiment engaged in sujj- 
pressing tlie outbreak known as "Shay's Rebellion," 
and in 1788 he was invited by Washington to go to Mt. 
Vernon, where he continued a member of the latter's 
family until 1790. During this period he wrote, at 
the request of Washington, his " Es.sa3'0n the Life of 
Gen. Israel Putnam,"a work which has been .sharply 
and severely criticised by historians. In 1790 Hum- 
phreys was appointed the first American minister to 
Portugal. He resided in that country from 1791 to 
1794, and on his return home was made minister 
plentipotentiary to Spain. Altogether he resided 
in Portugal and Spain nine years, during which time 
he concluded treaties with Tripoli and Algiers. In 
1795 he married Miss Bulkley. an Englisii lady of 
wealth, and daughter of a merchant established in 
Lisbon. During his last j'ears. Col. Ilumiihreys de- 
voted much time and care to the rearing of merino 
sheep. On the outbreak of the war of i812, he took 
command of the militia of Connecticut. He re- 
ceived the degree of LL.D from Brown Uni- 
versity in 1803, and from DartmmUh College in 
1804. and was a Fellow of the Royal Society of 
London. He published numerous poetical works 
including. " An Address to the Armies of the Unit- 
■ed States" (1782), "The Hapiiiness of America," 
"The Widow of Malabar: A Tragedy," translated 
from the French, and a "Poem on Agriculture." 
He also wrote several political tracts and orations. 
Collections of his works were published in Xcw 




n'i-*'^ /di^e^A^ 



York in 1790 and 1804. Col. Humphreys died of 
an organic alfection of the heait iu New Haven, 
Conn., Feb. 21, 1818. 

B'UBBECK, Henry, soldier, was born in Bos- 
ton, Mass., June 8, 1704. His father was an officer 
stationed at Castle William in Boston harbor, be- 
fore the revolutionary war, in 
which he served bravely and 
patriotically. Henry joined his 
father's company iu 1775, shar- 
ing its battles and sufferings and 
attaining the rank of major. As 
lieutenant he was in the battles 
of the Braudywine, German- 
town and Valley F'orge, accom- 
jianied Washington's army iu 
the retreat through the Jerseys, 
anil took part in the battle of 
Jlonmouth. In 1777 he served 
in the artillerj-. In 1786 he par- 
ticipated in the Indian wars 
along the western frontier, and 
for years he commanded at 
Mackinaw. Entering the war 
of 1812 as a colonel, he was commissioned brigadier- 
general. In 1815 Gen Burbeck retired to private 
life, settling at New London, Coim., where he died 
Oct. 2, 1.S4S. 

BAYARD, John, soldier, was born at Bohemia 
Manor, Cecil Co., JId., Aug. 11, 1738, of Huguenot 
ancestry. His great grand father was Samuel Bay- 
ard, a rich merchant of Arasterdatu, whose wife 
wa.s a sister of Peter Stuyvcsant, the last governor 
of New Amsterdam. Stuyvcsant himself married 
Judith Bayard, the sister of Samuel, and after the 
death of Samuel, his widow, with three sons and a 
daughter, accompanied Peter Stuyvcsant to Amer- 
ica. One of these three sons, himself named Sam- 
uel, removed in 1698 to Bohemia Manor, haviug 
joined the Labadists, a sect of mystics which re- 
ceived its name from Jeande Labadie, they sought 
reform of life rather than of doctrine, supported 
themselves by manual labor, held property in com- 
mon and rejected infant baptism. John Bayard's fa- 
ther dying without a will, he as the eldest son, under 
the laws of Maryland, became entitled to the whole 
of the rc.il estate. He hail a twin-brother, James 
Asheton Bayard, whom he deeply loved, and on 
reaching legal age he conveyed to" him half his in- 
heritance. John received an academic education 
under the renowned Dr. Finley. after which, at the 
age of eighteen, he went with" his brother to Phila- 
delphia, where he entered the counting-house of 
John Rhea. He early became a communicant of 
the Presbyterian church, and while Whitefield «as 
on his visits to America, became soclo.se a friend of 
his that they made several tours together. Jlr. Bay- 
ard was one of the signers of the non-importa- 
tion agreement in 1765 ; a member of the provin- 
cial congress held in July, 1774; of the provincial 
conventiim of January, 1775, and of the " Sons of 
F^ibcrly " organized iu 1766 : and a prominent lead- 
er in Philadelpliia of the movement loward inde- 
pendence Being by this time a jirosperous mer- 
chant, he furnished arms to congress in 1776 and 
with some of his friends fitted out a privateer. In Sep- 
tember of that year he was appointed a member of 
the cotmcil of safety, a position he held for many 
years. He was at the head of the second battalion 
of Philadcli>hia militia, which marched to the as- 
sistance of Washinglon, and was present at the battles 
of Trenton, Braudywine. Germantown and Princeton, 
being personally commendeil by Gen. \Va.shingtoa 
for his bravery in the engagement la.st named. 
March 13, 1777, Col. Bayard was made a member of 
the board of war of the" state of Maryland, and four 
days later he wjis elected speaker of the assembly. 



72 



1 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



a position to which he was re-elected. Just before 
the capture of Philadelpliia by the British in Septem- 
ber, 1777, he removed his faiiiily for safety to a farm 
at Plj-mouth, on the Sehuylkiil, but a British de- 
tachnient plundered this house. He was a member 
of the connnittee to inqiiire into the condition of 
the state revenues in 17H0. elected to the .suprenie 
executive council the following year, and in 1785 
wasa member of the Continental eoni;ress. Having 
met with .serious los,ses during the war, he was 
obliged to part with hi.s projierty in Cecil county, 
but "in 1788 he removed to Xew Brunswick, N. J., 
where he built himself a handsome house and enter 
tained lavi.shly, being elected mayor of the city in 
1790, and a "few years later appointed presiding 
judge of the court of eonuuon pleas of Somerset 
county. He was a federalist and a friend of Alexan 
der Hamilton, Col. Bayard was married three times, 
his last wife being .Johannah White, sister of Gen. 
Anthony W. White, of Xew Brunswick, N. J, 
He dii-d at New Brunswick .Ian. 7. 18(17. 

SMALLWOOD, William, soldier, was born in 
Kent county, Md., in 1783. Historj' gives no ac- 
count of his early life. In August, 177f>, lie was 
colonel of a battalion of Maryland'troop.s, with which 
he arrived in New Yoi-k city on the 8th of that 
month, eni;aging actively in the liattles of Long Lsl- 
and and White Plains, "and on Oct. 23, 1776, was 
appointed brigadier-general. In August, 1777, Gen. 
Sinalhvood le<l the JIaryland nul- 
ilia in Sullivan's attempt on Stateu 
Island In the meantime Wash 
ington was using every exertion, 
and emi)loying every means at his 
command in the defence of Phila- 
delphia against Sir William Howe, 
and in September Gen Smallwood 
mustered about 400 militia in 
3\Iaryland, and joined tlie main 
army. In the battle of German 
town he led the .Marylaiiders and 
Jerseynicii with distinguished cool 
ness and liravery. In December, 
1777, Washington ordered him to 
^^^^ 'Wilmington, in older to save that 
f7/C^-, /7 ///-/^X,^jr^ '"""" f''"'" '•'<' British, wlio were 
KmmaUcmmt), manhlng against it. Early in 
177!). in company with Gen. St 
Clair, and the JIaryland and I'ennsylvania di 
visions of the army, he accompanied an expedi 
tion to Elizabetlitown, to reinfi>ree Gen. Maxwell, 
■who was in command there, and who was expect- 
ing an attack; but the enemy, hearing of tlie 
reinforcement, retreated. Gen. Smallwood was 
with Gates during the hitler's disastrous campaign in 
the South, and in the fall of 1780 he was appointed 
ma.ior-iieneral, an<l coiiiiiii.s.sioiied by congress. On 
account of some misunderslaiiding with Baron Steu 
ben, however, Smallwood left the the southern army 
with threats of resignation, but was finally induced 
to remain in the service until the ])eace. In 1785 lie 
was elected to congress from Maryland. The same 
year he was made governor of that state, holding the 
office until 1788. He then retii<'d to iirivate life, and 
died ill Prince (Jeorge county. .Ahl., Feb. 14, 17!)a. 

McINTOSH, Lachlan, sulilier, was born near 
Inverness, Scotland, March 17. 1725, tlie .second 
son of one of the leaders of the Mcintosh clan. 
In 1736 his father joined Gen. Oglethorpe in his 
expedition to Georgia, and with about a hundred 
Highlanders settled in what is now Mcintosh 
county on the Altaiiialia river. On Oglethorpe's 
expedition into Floriil.a, Caiil. Jlclntosli, who ac- 
companied him with a iiumlier of his Highlanders, 
was wounded, taken prisduer anil transported to 
Spain, whence he reliirned after several years of im- 
prisonment. Young Lachlan went to Charleston, 




S. C, where he was taken in charge by Henry- 
Laurens (q. v.\ who placed him in his counting- 
room and received him into his family. After some 
years, being dissatisfied with the mercantile pro- 
fession, he ado|)ted that of land surveying, returned 
to Georgia, married, and soon became independent. 
On the outbreak of the revolution, being ajiiiointed 
a brigadier-general and placed in cniumaiid of a 
regiment which he had himself raised, jealousy of 
his .success brought him into personal conflict with 
Gov. Gwinnett, who, after the expiration of his 
term of oflicc, cliallenged him. Both were wounded 
severely in the due! which followed, and (Jwinnett 
died. In the meantime Gen. Mcintosh had suc- 
ceeded in gaining the confidence of Gen. 'Washing- 
ton, by whom he was requested to imdeHake the 
ditlicult task of defending the frontiers of Pennsyl- 
vania and Virginia againsi the Indians. He accepted 
the position, and though he had but a few hundred 
men under his command, succeeded in restoring 
order and protecting the frontier settlers, although 
the savages he had to contend with were the very ones, 
who had defeated Braddock, and destroyed the ar- 
mies of Hjirmar and St. Clair. Gen. .Mcintosh was 
about undertaking an expedition against Detroit 
when he was ordered to assist (^ount dlvstaing in his 
intended attack on Savannah and which .so ignomin- 
iously failed on account of the sudden departure of the 
French fleet. The Americans, under command of 
Gens. Lincoln and Mcintosh, fell back upon Charles- 
ton and defended that city against Gen. Clinton as 
long as it was possible. Being forced to capitulate, 
he was a long lime detained a prisoner. Kelurn- 
ing to Georgia as .soon as the British troops were 
driven from Savannah, he found that his ])roperty 
had been wasted, and he continued in impoverished 
circumstances, until his death, which occurred in 
Savannah, Feb. 20, 1806. 

FROST, John, soldier, was born at Kittery, 
Me., !Mav 5, 1738. He w;is descended from X'icho- 
las Frost, who emigvated from Devonshiie, Eng., in 
1630, ami settled in the county of York, Jle., and 
who was killed by the Indians as he was returning, 
on horseback, from divine service, on a Sabbath of 
the year 1697. One of Nicholas's sons was married 
to a sister of Sir 'William Pepiierell. .lolin, the 
subject of this sketch, was married, wlien ijuite 
young, to Mary, daughter of Elienezer Nowell, of 
York^ Me. He entered the army while under age, 
was niaile a captain and served in the expedition 
against Louisburg, in 1758. This expedition, which 
consisted of twenty ships of the line, eighteen fi-ig- 
ates and 14,000 men, under the command of Gen. 
AmhersI, sailed from Halifax on the 28ili of ]^Iay, 
and succeeded in reducing the almost imiiregnable 
fortress of Louisburg on the 2(itli of .luly. (Jens. 
Wolfe and Montgomery were both engaged in this 
enterprise. In the caiiipaign of 1759, Capt. Fro.st 
served in another expedition under Gen. Amherst, 
which resulted in the capture of the imiiortant fort- 
re.s.ses, Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and the fol- 
lowing year he a.ssiste<l in the cajiture of .Mdiitreal, 
which completed the conquest of Canada. He then 
retired to his home in Elaine, where he remained 
until the lieginning of the revolutionary war. At 
the siege of Boston he served as a lieutenant-colo- 
nel in the Maine regiment. At the opening of the 
next campaign he was promoted to rank of colonel, 
and was with Wa.sliington during the battles in New 
York and Xew .Jersey. Col. Frost's regiuient was 
engaged, under Gen. "Gates, in resisting the invasion 
of Buindync, and he performed etlective service in 
the battle's of Stillwater and Bemis Heights. Dur- 
ing the latter part of the war, he served in the mid- 
dle and southern states, where he attained the rank 
of brigadier-genenil. At the close of the war, he 
withdrew to the cidtivation of his fine estate at Kit- 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



73 



tery. He was appointed one of the justices of the 
court of sessions iii York county, Me., and was a 
member of the council of the governor of Massa- 
chusetts, to which state Maine, at that time, be- 
longed. Toward the close of his life he retired 
from all public employment. He died at Kittery, 
Jle.. in .Tuly, 1810. 

SMITH, Samuel, soldier, was born at Lancaster, 
Peun., .July 27, 1~S'>2. His father, who was a native 
of Ireland, .settled in Pennsylvania, but afterwanl 
removed to Baltimore, where Samuel received a 
liberal education, and where he aftenvard engaged 
in mercantile pursuits. In .January, 177(>. the latter 
was appointed a captain in Col. Sniallwood's regi- 
ment, and was with tiie revolutionary army that 
year, during its disa.slrous campaign in the middle 
states. By the beginning of the year 1T7T, he had 
risen to "the rank of lieutenant-colonel, in which 
capacity he served in the battle of the Brandywine. 
AVhen "l^ord Howe, who had gained possession of 
Philadeljihia, was making use of every means to 
open communication with his tlcet. Col. Smith was 
placed in command of Fort MitHin on the Delaware, 
and held it for seven weeks against the entire British 
squadron. For this gallant service, congress re- 
warded him with a sword and a vote of thanks. 
Col. Smith fought at the battle of Jlonmoulh, and 
took part in the subsequent operations of that cam- 
paign. He continued in the army after the close of 
the war, and during the whiskey riots was in com- 
mand of the .Maryland militia. In ITSShe was one of 
the port-wardens of Baltimore, and from 1790 to 1793 
was a member of the Maryland house of delegates. 
He was a representative in congress from 1793 until 
1803 and from 1816 to 1822, and'a member of the U. S. 
senate from 1803 to ISl.'), and from 1822 to 1833. In 
1801 lie was acting secretary of the navy. In the 
■war of 1812 he was ai>pointed major-general of the 
^Maryland militia, and was in chief command of the 
troops when tlie Briti-sh attacked Baltimore. In 1837 
he was fleeted mavor of Baltimore. He died in that 
city April 22, 1839. 

iSIAXWELIi, William, soldier, was born in 
Ireland, but the exact date of his birth is unknown. 
His parents came to America when he was a child 
and settled in New .Jersey. He became a soldier 
in the colonial army in 17o8, establishing a splendid 
record for gallantry and skill during tlie French and 
Indian war, and was almost constantly in service un- 
til the close of the revolution. In 1774 he was a 
member of the committee that appointed the New 
Jersey delegates to the general congress, and in 1775 
and 1776 he represented Sussex county in the New 
Jei'sey provincial congress. 'When the revolution 
opened he was made colonel of the 2d New .Jersey 
regiment. He took part in Montgomery's Canadian 
expedition and strenuously opposed the abandon- 
ment of Crown Point by the American forces. He 
was promoted to be brigadier-general on Oct. 23, 1776, 
served under Gen. Schuyler on LakeChamplain.and 
during the early part of 1777 comniandecl the ad- 
vance guard of the American forces near Elizabeth- 
town. N. .J. At the lie.-ul of a New .Jersey brigade 
lie fought bravely at Brandywine and Germantown, 
spent the winter of 1777-f8 at Valley Forge, and 
followed the command of Sir Henry Clinton tlirough 
New .Jersey in the ensuing summer. At the battle 
of Jlonmonth he contributed largely to the success 
of tlie American forces, after which he harassed 
the enemy's rear on their retreat northward. In 1779 
he served under Gen. Sullivan in the hitter's exiiedi- 
tion against the Indians. Following the battle of 
Springtield he re.signed.and retired from the army on 
June 2.'). 17SI). He was a brave and capable soldicr.and 
enjoyed in large measure the contidenee and esteem 
of Washimrton. He died in Sussex coimty, N. J., 
Nov. 12, 1798. 




^^.t^uA^a^ 



KALB, Johann de, soldier, was born at Hutten- 
(lorf, Bavaria, .luly 29, 1721. He entered the French 
army in 1743, serving through the Seven Years' war 
and attaine<l the rank of major-general. In 1768, dur- 
ing a visit to America as a secret agent of the French 
government, he made so many warm friends tliat, 
when the revolution opened, he returned to this 
country and otfci<'(l his services to the Continental 
ccmgrcss. His offer being accepted, he was, in 1777, 
appointed major - general. He 
served with Washington at Valley 
Forge and [larticipated in the sub- 
sequent operations in New Jersey 
and ^Maryland. In Aiuil, 1780. he 
was ordered south to aid Gen. \a\\- 
coin at Charleston, but did not ar- 
rive in time to save the latter from 
defeat. Learning of Lincoln's sur- 
render, Dc Kalb joined Gen. Gates 
near Camden, and on Aug. 16, 
1780, their combined forces at- 
tacked the British army under 
Cornwallis and Uawdon. Early 
in the battle the American left and 
center gave way in disorder, in 
eon.sequence of which the right, 
commanded by De Kalb, was soon 
surrounded on all sides by the 
enemy. His horse was shot from under him, but he 
continued to battle and encourage his men on foot, 
until he had received no less than eleven wounds. 
De Kalb was one of the bravest and most capable of 
the foreignerswho espoused the patrit)t cjiuse, andhis 
untimely" death caused profound and univer.sal sor- 
row. A monument to his memoiy was erected at 
Camden in 182.5, J^afayette lajing the corner-stone, 
and a .statue of him was unveiled in Annapolis in 
1886. His "Life" was wiilten bv Friedrich Kapp, in 
1862. He died Aug. 19, 1780. 

PARSONS, Samuel Holden, .soldier, was 
born at I^yme. Conn.. May 14, 1737. His father, 
Jonathan (170.'5-177(i), being one of the founders of 
the jNIethodist Episcopal church in America. Samuel 
was graduated from Harvard in 17.56, after which 
be studied law and practiced for many years in 
Lyme. He was for eighteen years a member of the 
])rovincial assembly, and an active leadi'r of the pa- 
triot party in the years immediately |irecciling the 
revolution. In 1773 he removed to New London 
where, in April, 1775, he was made colonel of the 
6th Connecticut regiment. Two weeks afterward he 
entered the army, planning the expedition which, 
commanded by Ethan Allen, captured Tieonderoga 
and a large number of prisoners. He was ap- 
pointed brigadier-general in August, 1776, and after 
taking part in the battles of Long Island, Harlem 
Heights and White Plains, for soine time guarded 
the posts on the North river. Sub.se(piently he 
.served under Washington in New Jersey. In 1778 
Gen. Parsons commanded in the New York High- 
lands, and in July, 1779, he gave liattle to a British 
force at Norwalk, Conn., forcirigthemto retire from 
the state. In 1780 he was a member of the court 
that tried Major Andre, and in the same year 
was promoted to be major-general and a.s.signed to 
the command of the Connecticut line, where he 
served until the end of the war. In 1785 he was a 
memlierof a commission appointed to treat with the 
Miami Indians, and in 1789 was ajijioinlcd by W;ish- 
ington the tirst judge of the ni>rthwcst territory. 
Taking u]i his residence near Slarietta, O., he 
was drowned in the Big Beaver river while return- 
ing from a mis-iion to the Indians on Lake Erie. 
It lias been charged that during the revolution Gen. 
Parsons, through the medium cif William Heron, a 
member of the Connecticut legislature, held com- 
munication with Sir Henry Clinton and supplied him 



1 



74 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



with information of tlie movements and condition of 
tlie patriot troops, but this accusation was refuted 
by Geo. B. Lorinj; in a panii)hlet entitled "A Vin- 
dication of Gen. Pai-sons/'publi.shed in 1888. Gen. 
Parsons was the author of an e.s.say on the "An- 
tiipiitics of the Western Slates," piiblislied in the 
transactions of the American Academy. He died 
Nov. n, ITs'.i. 

PARSONS, Enoch, son of Gen. Parsons, was 
bom in Lyme. Conn.. Nov. 5, ITti'J. In 1789 he 
served as" retrisler and lirsl clerk of probate of 
Wa.shinirlon "county, ()., but after the death of 
his father returned to Conned lent, where for twenty- 
eifiht years he held tb<'ollice of hiu'li sherift' of Jlid- 
dle.se.v counly. In 1S17 lie was state commissioner 
of revolutionary claims. Duriin; the latter years of 
his life he was president of a savinjrs bank in Mid- 
dletowM, CoMii., wliere he died on July 9, 1846. 

BARTON, William, soldier, wsis born at War- 
ren, Uristcil Co.. \{. 1., .May 36, 1748. After having 
obtained I he ordinary country-school education, he 
learned the trade of hal-inaking, at which he was 
engaged when he heard of the battle of Bunker 
Hill, an event that sent him into the war with en- 
thusiasm. On July It), 1777, Barton executed a plan 
of liis own which resulted in the 
capture of Ma j. -Gen. Prescott, of 
the British army. Prescott was 
known to be a short distance from 
>fe\vport, 15. I., where he was to 
pass the night. Barton took a jiarty 
of forty men in four whale-boats 
from Warwick Neck to a point 
about half-way between Binstol 
ferry and Newjiort, a distance of 
ten iuiles. Marching his little com- 
pany about a mile to Overing's 
house, Prescott's headquarters, he 
entered and seized a sentry who 
stood at the door of Prescott's cham- 
ber. !Uid by the help of a negro, 
V/ 'fei' 7 — ' 'lamed Prince, who, by dashing his 
COyr^ y^J CL^/^'CaT'^^ head against the door knocked out a 
panel, rushed in, surprising Prescott 
in bed. The Latter and his aide, Maj. William Barring- 
ton, who jumiied from the window, were taken prison- 
ers. Keiuniing, the parly escaped the British guard 
boat.s, so that the enemy di<l not discover what had 
happened until Barton's boats had nearly reached 
tlie shore. For this iierformauce congress gave 
Barton a sword, the brevet rank of colonel and a 
grant of land in Vermont. In making tran.sfers of 
some of this land, he liec.'uue enlaiigled in Ihe toils of 
the law, anil, refusing to pay judgniruts, was actually 
imprisoned for some years. Lafayette, on his visit to 
this country in lH2r>, learning of the misfortune 
which had overtaken his old fellow -soldier, with his 
own means paid the debt and restored the hoary vet- 
eran to bis family. Col. Barton died in Providence, 
R. I., Oct. 22, ]H;il. 

REED, Joseph, soldier, was bom in Trenton, 
N. J., Aug. 27, 1741. AVhileyet an infant, he was 
taken to i*bilailel]iliia and received his early educa- 
tion in an academy of that city. lie afterward at- 
tended Princeton ("ollege, from which he was gradu- 
ated in 1757. Entering the ollice of Richard Stock- 
ton, a signer of the declaralion of independence, and 
an eminent New .lersey lawyer, he was admitted to 
the bar in 1763. He visited London, where he con- 
tinued the study of law for two years, forniiiig, in the 
meantime, an atlaehiiK'nt for the lady whom lieafter- 
ward marrieil, Esther, the daughter of Dennis de 
Berdt, aftenvard agent of JIa.s.saehusetts. Beturn 
ing to America, Mr. Keed jiractieed Ids ]irofession 
mitil 1770, when he revisited England to bring home 
his /rtWPfV. In 1772. upon th(' resignation of Lord 
Hillsborough, the Earl of Dartmouth, a warm friend 




of Reed's father in-law, succeeded to the colonial 
office. Accordingly Heed wa.s invited to communi- 
cate to the colonial ottice his views with regard to Ihe 
condition and wants of the colonies. The invitation 
was accepted, and a corresi)ondence was carried on 
from Dec. 22, 1773, to Feb. 10, 177n, which was of 
considerable importance in informing the British 
ministry as to the iKiual condition of affairs in the col- 
onies, altlKiugh it laid Mr. Reed open to certain sus- 
picions in regard to his own iiatriotism. The last of 
his letters however, was calculated lo do .away with 
any such false impression, as it closed with the omi- 
nous declaration: "This conntiy will be deluged in 
blood before it will submit to any other taxation 
than by their own legislature." On Washington's 
departure, in June, 177.">, to take charge of the iirmy. 
Reed accompanied him to Boston, and while there 
was offered and acceiited the post of aide to the com- 
mander-in-chief. One of his friends rcmonslniling 
with him on the danger of this step; he rejilied: "I 
have no inclination to be hanged for half-treason; 
when a subject draws his .sword against his prince, 
he must cut his way through if he means afterward 
tositdown in safely. I have taken too active a part in 
what maybe callcil the civil part of opposition, to re- 
nounce without disgrace the public cause when it 
seems to lead to danger, and have a most sovereign 
contempt for the man wlio can plan measures he has 
notspirit toexecute. " Reed became, in fact. Washing- 
ton's confidential secretary as well as his aide, and his 
pen was eiii|)loyed in the |ireparation of many of the 
mo.st imjiortant dispatches of this campaign. Dur- 
ing Ihe autumn and early winter of 1775 be was in 
Philadelphia, actively engaged in political affairs. 
He was chosen chairman of the Pennsylvania com- 
mittee of .safety, and in January, 1776, elected to 
the assembly, where he took a conspicuous ]iart in 
the debates. This assembly had its last meeting on 
the 26th of September, 1776. when it adjourned, thus 
ending the charier government of Pennsylvania. 
The new constitution was proclaimed a few days 
later, and two months after that, the new govern- 
ment was organized. In June, 1776, Reed rejoined 




the forces, at that time in New York, being appointed 
adjutarU-gcneral of the army, a post made vacant by 
the promotion of Gen. Gates, and carrying with 
it the rank of colonel. Soon after this Lord Howe 
arrived, with his plan of reconciliation. He brought 
with him letters of recommendation to Mr. Keed 
from the latter's brother-in-law. De Berdt; which 
were .sent at once to Robert Morris in congress. 
Reed was present at all the interviews with the offi- 
cers sent by Lofd Howe to the commandcrin-chief, 
but the mission proved utterly abortive. Reed par- 
ticipated in the battle of Long Island, on the 27lh of 
August, and the withdrawal of Ihe army upon the 
night of the 2Uth, as also in the battle of White 



OF AMEKICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



75 



Plains and the siege of Fort Washiniiton. After- 
ward, while he was at Fort Lee with the main army, 
an incident occurred which was lortiircd by Gen. 
Chas. Lee into an unjust charge against Kecd. (Jen. 
Lee, in reply to a letter from Heed, by aiiparenlly 
echoing Reed's language, gave to it an exjjression 
which was by no means justified. Lee's letter was 
accidentally opened by Washington who felt deejily 
aggrieved at the contents, and until tliev were ex- 
plained by Reed to the eommaiider-in-cliief, there 
was between the two a not unnatural ccKihu'ss. Lee 
having been captured by the British, it was impossi- 
ble to obtain the original letter to which he had os- 
ten.siblv replied. During the spring and siunmer of 

1777, fteed was with his family, feeling slighted by 
congress for failing to appoint him to a command 
although recommended by Washinglon so to do. 
Late in May, he was made brigadier-gi'm-ral and was 
offered the command of a body of cavalry, but de- 
clined it. On the landing of Sir William Ilowe, how- 
ever, in August, he again joined the army as a vol- 
unteer and distinguished himself at the Krandywinc 
and Oermantown. In September he was elected a 
memtier of the Continental congress, but roiiained 
with the army through that winter, and did not take 
his .seat uiuil Apr. (i, 1778. In May. 177S, three 
commissioners from England arrived in Anu'iica, in 
the hope of securing the influence of prominent col- 
onial statesmen toward restoring harmony between 
the colonies and the mother-country. One of these 
commissioners was Gov. Johnstone, who, with I^ord 
Carli.sle, was sent over by the British government 
especially to treat with congre.ss, he having formerly 
been governor of West Florida, and thus well ac- 
quainted with the colonials. He addressed private 
letters to Francis Dana, Gouverneur Jlorris and Jlr. 
Reed, the committee of congress to which Lortl 
North's conciliatorj' bills were referred, and on 
who.se report the.se overtures were unanimously 
rejected, and the intended etfect of the peace com- 
mission frustrated. The letters written by Gov. 
Joluistone were transmitted to congress, .luly 18, 

1778. It is stated by some of the autborities, that 
these letters, which were writteu with the hoiic of 
obtaining the co-operation of the gentlemen addressed 
in bringing about peace, contained, also, intimations 
of certain honors and emohunents which should be 
bestowi'd upon them in case these elforts were suc- 
cessful. Tills, however, is not at all lU'obable. as 
Gov. .Johnstone was too shrewd a diplomatist tomake 
such a blunder. Besides, he well knew that the 
patriots to whom he addressed himself were not in 
the least likely to respond favorably to propositions 
of this nature. It is stated, however, that direct a.s- 
sertions were made to Mr. Reed, through the agency 
of a Mrs. Ferguson, whose husband was a tory, 
that if he could ellect a reunion of the two countries, 
£10,000 sterling and the best ollice in America in the 
gift of the crown should be at liis dis|iosal. Tbi.s 
otfcr, she is said to have assured 51 r. Heed, came 
from Gov. .Johnstone. The answer attrilnUed to 
him, which is also said to have been written by some- 
body else, in a somewhat similar instance, was, that 
"He wa.s not worth purchasing, but such as he Wiis, 
the king of (Jreat Britain was not ricli cm nigh to do it." 
In .June, 1T7S, he wasagain in<'anip and was prcsi^nt 
at the battle of Monmouth, where he had a horse shot 
under him. He resumed his .seat in congress in the 
middle of .July, and on Dec. 1st was chosen president 
of the Peuu.sylvania executive council, in which jiosi- 
tion he was able to expose the corruption of Benedict 
Arnold who had been appoinle<l to the command of 
Pliiladelphia on the recapture of that city. During 
the next tliree years. Reed threw into the discharge 
of his new duties all his energies, and is saiil to have 
labored in the public cause with an intensity of devo- 
tion which leii to the utter prostration of his health, 



and, eventually, to the premature termination of his 
life. Much of Reed's time and labor, while president 
of Pennsylvania, were emiiloyed in breaking up the 
disastrous financial system which then existed; he .suc- 
ceeded, finally, in 1781, in forcing the as.send)ly into a 
repeal of the legal-tender laws, and thus gave the 
deathblow to a eurrcnc)' whose existence had been 
of the greatest injury to the state. He continued to 
hold his otfice until" December, 1781, the constitu- 
tional limit of service. In his administration he en- 
joved the respect and esteem of the best and wisest 
men of the country, carrying with him to the grave 
the confidence and affection of Washington, Greene 
and Anthony Wayne, but on act'oimt of a certain 
harshness in hisdispo-sition, and because he was a man 
of strong prejudices, he aroused serious enmities on 
the ]iart of such men as Arnold, ('onway, Lee and 
^Mitllin. In 1784 he vi.sited Kngl.and, a sea-voj'age 
having been recommended for his health, but he 
only remained abroad three months. Iteturning, he 
died at his home in Philadelphia, March 5, HS.'"). 

HAND, Edward, soldier, was born in Kings 
coiuily. Ireland, Dec. 31, 1744. He entered 
the British service, and in 1774 was a member of the 
18th royal Irish regiment, which he accompanied 
to America in the capacity of surgeon's mate. 
Settling in Pennsylvania he 
began the practice of med- 
icine, and on the outbreak 
of the war of the revolution 
was appointed lieutenant- 
colonel of a brigade com- 
manded by Gen. William 
Thompson, which was at the 
siege of Boston. He was 
present at the battle of Long 
Island, as colonel, in 1776, 
accompanied Washington's 
army through the .Jerseys 
and fought in the battle of 
Trenton" In 1778, having 
been appointed brigadier- 
general the preceding year, 
he went to AUjany under 
Gen. John Stark, who was 
in command at that post, and 
aceom])anied Gen. John 
Sullivan, when the latter 
undertook his expedition 
through the centre of New 
York again.st the Indians of the Six Nations. In 
1780 he was placed in command of a brigade and 
later became adjutant-general of the army. He was 
a member of congress m 1784, besides filling many 
imjiortant local offices. Gen. Hand is .said to have 
been distinguished in the service for his brilliant 
horsemanship. He died in Roekford, Penn., Sept. 
3, 1802. 

IiE'WIS, Andrew, soldier, was born at Done- 
.sral, Ireland, about 1730. His fatliereame to Amer- 
ica in 1732, and was the fir.st white settler iu 
Augusta county, Va. Andrew evinced a fondness 
for military affairs, and served as major in tln^ regi- 
ment commanded by Washington in the Ohio cam- 
paigns of 1754 and 175."). He led the Sandy creek 
expedition of 1750, and while serving under Grant iu 
17.58, was captured by the French and conllned for 
scmie time at MoiUreal. In 1708 he was a member 
of the commis.sion which negotiated a treaty with the 
Six Nations, at Fort Stanwix, N. Y, In 1774 he 
was made brigadier-general, after which, at the bat- 
tle of Point Pleasant, he disastrously routed the 
Shawnees under Com.stock. March 1, 177fi. at the 
suggestion of Washington, who highly valued his 
skill and bravery, he was appoiiUed brigadier-gen- 
eral in the Continental army, and at Gwvnn's island 
on .July y, 1776, he defeated" the English forces under 




70 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 




a-vy- 



Loiil Dunniorp. Failinj health soon comiu'lled liis 
resiLination. In julililioii to liis services as a soldier 
he was for some years a member of the federal 
conirress, and sat in the Virpnia convention in 1775. 
He (lied in Hedlurd county, Va., Sept. 27, 1781. 

POOR, Enoch, soldier, was born at Andover, 
]ilass., .lune 21, 17;5t), receiving his education in the 
same town, and then scttlini;: in K.\eter, N. II., 
where lie was in business at the time of the battle of 
Le.vinirton. The New Hampshire assembly having 
r(.-solved to raise 3,000 men, Knocli Poor was 
j;iveii command of one of 
the three refiiinents which 
were formed, and after 
licision was evacuated by 
the ihitish he was sent 
witli his connnand to New 
York. Later he joined 
Arnold's expedition to 
Canada. On the retreat 
the Continentals were 
marched to Crown Point, 
where they concentrated, 
jiiennwhile strenjitheninj;, 
under Col. Poor's direc- 
tion, the defences of that 
|iost. which was soon after 
evacuated, against the lu'- 
gent advice of Gen. John 
Stark, Col. Poor and oth- 
ers. On Feb, 21, 1777, Col. 
Poor received his coni- 
iiiis,sion as brigadier-gen- 
eral, and in tlu' Saratoga 
camiiaign against Bur- 
goyne he held a iirominent command. At the bat- 
tle of Stillwater his brigade is sai<l to have borne 
two-thirds of the entire Ameriean loss in killed, 
wounded and missing, while at the battle of Sara- 
toga he led the advance. After Burgoyne's surren- 
der Gen. Poor went to Pennsylvania, where he 
joined AVasliington, .sh.aring with him the Jer.sey 
camjiaign and the sufl'erings at Valley Forge. In 
tlu; summer of 177S, in command of his brigade. 
Poor pursued the British across New Jcr.se}', dis- 
tinguishing himself at the battle of Monmouth, 
where he fought under tile connnand of ],afayette. 
AVhen Gen. Sullivan undcrldok his e.\|)edition 
against theSi.x Nations in 177it, Gen. Poor command- 
ed the 3d, or N<'W Hampshire lirigade. In Au- 
gust, 178(), he was placed in command of a bri- 
gade of light infantry, but he was attacked by a fever 
•whieh residtcd in his death. Gen. Washington had 
the highest esteem for Gen. Poor. He declared 
liim to be "an otlieer of distinguished merit who, 
as a citizen and a soldic^r. had every claim to the 
esteem of his country." Lafayette, too. who great- 
ly admire<l him, at a ban(piet given in his honor in 
New llami)sliire, in liS24, remembered Gen. Poor 
in a toast. The date of Gen. Poor's death was 
Sept. 8, 1780. A line niomimeut now marks his 
grave at Hacken.saek, N. J. 

SPENCER, Joseph, soldier, was born at East 
Ilaildani. Cimn., in 1714. He entered the northern 
army as major in 1758, served in three campaigns 
and for bis services was promntcd tobccolcmel. .June 
23, 1775, he was, upon Washington's rcconimenda- 
tion, appointed brigadier-general in the Continental 
army. He was stationeil at Bo.ston until after its 
evacuation, when he participated in the defence of 
New Y'ork city, the surrender of which, to the 
British, he .strenuously dpposed. Aug. !), 1770. he 
was advanced to the raid< of major-general, and in 
1778 was assigned to the connnand of the patriot 
forces in Kliode Island. He assembled a consider- 
able army at Providence for the expulsion of the 
British from Newport, but after several weeks of 



delay dismissed his troops without having advanced 
against the enemy. The failure of the ex]icdilioa 
causing great irritation. (Jen. Spencer was tried bv a 
court of inquiry, which absulved him frum "all 
blanve in the prenuscs. ('(ingress, however, insi.sting 
upon reopening the matter, he tendered liis resig- 
nation on June 14. 1778. and retired from the .ser- 
vice. The remainder of his life was passed in retire- 
ment. Iledicd.at East lladdam. Conn., .Lan. 18. 178il. 

REED, James, soldier, wiis born at Wobnrn, 
]Mass.,in 17'.'4. lie resid(.>d, at diU'crent limes, in 
Brookticid and Lunenburg. .Ma.ss., and in 1705 
founded the town of Fitzwilliam, N. H., where he 
became a large landowner. He was a cai>lain in 
Sir William .lolinson's campaign against the French 
and Indians in 17.55; .served under Gen. James Aber- 
crombie. at Ticondcroga. in 17.58. and was an olticer 
in Gen. Jclfrcy Ambeist's command in 175!l. When 
the revolution broke out he led in the work of re- 
cruiting soldiers for the jiatriot army. He was 
made colonel of the 2d New Hjimpshire regiment 
in May, 1775, and was active in organizing and 
drilling the forces that gathered at Cambridge. He 
took a gallant and conspicuous )>art in the battle of 
Bunker Hill, being one of the last to leave the in- 
trenchnients. In 1770 he marched with (Icn. Sulli- 
van into Canada, and on the rcticat to Ticondci-oga 
.sutrercd a long and sevcie attack of sinalliiox. which 
left him an invalid for life. 'While ab.sent in Canada 
he had been made a brigadier-general, but owing to 
his enfeebled condition was not able to continue in 
the .service, and was retired on hall'iiay. He died at 
Fitchburir, :\Iass., Feb. i:i. 1807. 

"WADiS'WORTH, Peleg-, soldier, was born in 
Diixbury. ^lass., in 1748. He was graduated at 
Harvard in the class of 1700, tau.uht school for some 
time in Plymouth, and then became a merchant in 
Koxbury. When the revolution opened he raised a 
company of minute-men, with which he enteicd the 
army eneamiied at Cambridge, being appointed 
aide to (Jen. Arlemas AVard. ,Subsequently he was 
made adjutant - .general for Massachusetts, and in 
August, 1770. particijiated in the battle of Long 
Island. He was appointed brigadier-.iieneral of 
militia in 1777, and was captured by the Biiti.sh in 
the Penob.scot expedition of 177!). He was soon re- 
leased but was again taken jirisoner at his home in 
February, 1781. and con Oned in the fort at Castiue 
until the following June, when he succeeded in 
making his escape. In 1784 Gen. Wadsworlli re- 
moved to Portland, and in 1807 .settled on a tract 
of land in O.xford county. Me., granted him by the 
government for his .services. He sat in the .stale 
senate of JIaine in 1702, served in congress from 
1708 until 1807, and was also major-general of the 
Maine militi;i. He died at Hiram, Me., on Nov. 
18, 18-JO, 

GADSDEN, Christopher, soldier and lieuten- 
ant-governor of South Carolina, wasborn in Cbarlcs- 
t(m, S. ('., in 1724. He received his education in 
England. Betuniing to Charleston when he was 
.seventeen years of ii.ge. he was sent to Philadelphia, 
whine he became a clerk with a mercantile tirm. 
He showed such shrewdness in mercantile transac- 
tions that he achieved a re|iutatioii, was soon 
able to enter into business on his own account, and 
to buy back the property which his father had lost 
in play with A(lm. Lord Anson. In 1705 Gads- 
den was one of the delegates to the congress which 
met at New York to jietilion against the stani)) act, 
!Uid it is said of him that even as early as this he 
foresaw and foretold the views of the British gov- 
ernment, and favored most decisive and energetic 
measures of resistance. On the receipt, in Charles- 
ton, of the news of the repeal of the stamp act. Gads- 
den gathered a party of his friends beneath a tree 
whieh thereafter was known as the " Liberty Tree," 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPIIY. 



77 



and then barangued the citizens on the folly of re- 
joifing at the repeal of this obnoxious act, or indulg- 
ing the fallacious hope, because of this, tliat Great 
Britain would relinquish her designs or prelensions. 
He was cliosen a member of tlie congress which met 
in 177-i at Pliiladelphia, was commissioned a colonel 
on the outbreak of the war, and was among those 
who aided in the defence of Charleston in 177(5, 
He was made brigadier - general in September of 
that year, and in 1'778 was a member of tlu^ conven- 
tion which framed the state constitution. In 17H0, 
during the siege of Charleston, he remained in that 
city at the request of Gov. HiUledge, and on the 
capture of the place bj* Sir Henry Clinton, signed 
tlie capitulation. On Aug, 37th, being at the time 
on parole, he was seized by order of Tjord Corn- 
w-allis and carried to St, Augustine, where lie was 
confined for forty-two weeks. He was then otfered 
the liberty of the" town, but refused it, with tlie dec- 
laration that he could enter into no new contracts 
with men who had once deceived him. After An- 
dre's arrest, when retaliation was under consideration 
by the British, Gadsden was among those tlireateu- 
eil. He was exchanged in 17S1, and in 1783 was 
elected governor of South Carolina, but declined the 
po.sition, owins to his advanced age. He died in 
Charleston, S, C., Aug. 38, 1805. 

PORTER, Andrew, soldier, was born at 
"Worcester, Montgomery Co., Peun., Sejit, 24, 1743, 
of Irish parents,"his father. Robert Porter, having 
emigrated from Londonderry, Ireland, in 1720, and 
settled in Londonderry, N. H., whence he afterward 
removed to Montgoniery county, Pemi.. where he 
bought land. Andrew, 
while still very young, ex- 
hibited unusual mathe- 
matical ability, and in 
171)7 was able to start an 
English and mathemati- 
cal school in Pliiladel])hia. 
There he continued until 
1776, when congress ap- 
pointed him a captain of 
marines, ordering liini to 
duty on the frigate Etling- 
bam. He was soon trans- 
ferred to the land service, 
however, with the rank of 
captain, and was rajiidly 
promoted to be major, 
lieutenant - colonel, and 
colonel of Ilie4lh Pennsyl- 
vania artillery. Col. Porter 
was present at the battles 
in Xew Jersey, at German- 
town was personally com- 
mended by Gen. Wasliing- 
ton for his bravery, and was afterward employed on a 
special mission to Philadelphia, to arrange for I iie ma- 
terial required for the siege of Yorktown. He was 
with Gen. Sullivan's expedition against tlie Six Na- 
tions in 1779, this being the last active service lie saw. 
In 1783, having settled upon his farm in Montgomery 
county, he received the otter of a professorship in 
the University of Penns3ivauia, lait declined it, be- 
cause, as long as he commanded men, he w(aild not 
return to flogging boj's. In 1784-87 he was oni' of the 
commis.sioners employed to run the boundary lines of 
Pennsylvania, and also as,sisted in lixing the western 
termination of the ^Mason and Dixon line. In 1801 he 
was made brigadier-general of Pennsylvaniti militia, 
afterward major-general, and in 1809 surveyor-gen- 
eral. He declined the position of secretary of war 
in President Monroe's cabinet, as also an ap)ioiiit- 
ment as lingadier-general in the U. S. army, both of 
which otlices were tendered him in 1812-13 (Jen. 
Porter died in Harrisburg, Penn., Nov. 16, 1813. 




*,-^'n%tcAti,()--Xyeryie/r^ 



HUNTINGTON, Jedidiah, soldier, was bom 
at Norwich, Conn., Aug. 4, 1743. Ilis father, Jaliez 
(1719-8ti), was a wealthy merchant and a leader of 
the patriot cause, wlio served in the Coiiliiiental 
armv from 1770 until 1779, when failing health cirai- 
pelled his resignation, Jedidiah was graduated from 
Harvard in 17(53, and in April, 1775, entered (he pat- 
riot army as captain. He was made brigadier-gen- 
eral in Slay, 1777, and served in Pennsylvania and 
New Ycu'k until the close of the war. In 1778 he 
was a member of the court-martial that tried Gen. 
Charles Lee, in 1780 of the court that condemned 
Maj. Andre, and in 1783 was brevetled major-gen- 
eral. He served as county sheritY and state treas- 
urer, and from 1789 until 1815 was collector of cus- 
toms at New London. He was one of the founders 
of the Society of the Cincinnati, and a man of deep 
piety and charitable impulses. He ilied at New Lon- 
don; Conn.. Sept. 25. 1818. 

DA"VIE, "William Richardson, .soldier, was 
born in the village of Egremont, Eng,, June 20, 1759 
(according to .some autlicnities, 175(5), He came to 
this country with his father, soon after the peace of 
17t)3, whenhewascimtided to the care of his mater- 
nal uncle. Rev. William Richardson, after whom he 
was named, and whoadoiiled him as his .son and heir. 
As soon as he became old enough the boy was sent to 
an academy in North Carolina, and afterward to the 
colle^ge of Nas.sau Hall, Princeton, N. J., at this time 
under the direction of the learneil Dr. "\Vithers])oon, 
the resort of most of the southern youth. Here he 
completed his education, and was graduated in the 
autumn of 177(). (-^n returning home, under the im- 
pression which then quite generally inevailed, that 
the war would not last long, he went to Salisbury, 
where he entered upon the study of the law. In 1779, 
however, he induced a friend to raise a troop of dra- 
goons in which he received a lieutenancy, and on 
being sent to join the southern army, tlie command 
devolved upon him. The troop was attached to the 
legion of Count Pulaski, with whom Capt, Davie con- 
tinued until he was promoted to lie lirigade-major of 
cavalry. At the battle of Slono, June 13, 1779, he 
was severely wounded and was sent to Chariest on, and 
placed in the hospital, where he remained live months. 
On his recovery, the government of Norlli Carolina 
authorized him to raise a troop of dragoons and two 
companies of mounted infantry, of which he was 
given command. He undertook with success the 
difficult task of protecting the country between Char- 
lotte and Camden, and in September. 17H0, was 
promoted to the rank of colonel commandant of the 
cavalry of the state of North Carolina. When Lord 
Cormvallis entered Charlotte, a small village in North 
Carolina, Col. Davie atta(-ked Col, Tarleton's legion, 
which led the British, with such effect (hat it wheeled 
and retired twice, in disorder, seriously cripjiled and 
intimidated. When Gen. Greene assumed command 
of the southern army. Col. Davie was placed in charge 
of the commi.ssary department, wliich he succeeded 
in making exceedingly effective by introducing a 
new .system. On the cajiture of Cornwallis, he re- 
turned home and resumed the practice of law in 
the town of Halifax, on tlie Roanoke, where he soon 
became greatly respected. He was elected to the 
legislature se%-eral times, and was a member of the 
North Carolina conv<'iition on the fedend constitution. 
To himwasdtie in great measure the foundation of 
the I'niversity of North Carolina, the act for estab- 
lishing which was drawn up by him, and passed in 
1789. For a time he wasone of (he commi.ssioncrs 
to .settle the boundary of North and South Car- 
olina. In 1794 he was ai)])oinled major-general of 
militia, and in 1799 was elected governor of North 
Carolina. Soon after this, however, he wasajipointed 
one of an embassy to the French government, which 
succeeded in obtuiuiug the convention of Sept. 



78 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



30, 1800. Soon after his return he was appointed by 
President JelTerson to make a treatywith IheTusca- 
rora Indians ; he then ran for congress, but was de- 
feated, and linall\- retired to his estate in South Car- 
olina, wliere lie died Xov. ^i, 1820. 

WADSWOBTH, Jeremiah, soldier, was born 
at Ilarlldrd. Cuiiu., .luly 1>', 174:1 His father dy- 
intr when he wa.s but a little more tliaii four years 
old. his mother plaeed him under the care of her 
brother. JIatthewTalcot. a niereliant in Middletown, 
laritely engaiied in shippimc. When about eij^hteen 
j'earsof aire, youuj; Wadsworth'.s health becjinie 
seriou.sly afleclid and he was threatened with a de- 
cline, w'hereupon he aecejited the place of a seaman 
before the mast in one of his uncle's vessels. He 
made .several short voyages, durinjr which he en- 
tirely regained Ins health and became tirsi mate, and 
afterward master of a ves.sel. Altogetlier, he was 
at sea nearly ten years, and being faithful and effl- 
cieiil, succeeded in gaining the cnntideuce aud es- 
teem of his employer and of all w lio dealt with 
him. He married Jlehitaliel Russt'll, daughter of 
Kev. AVm. Kussell. of iliddletown, and after his 
mother's death in 1778, took his family to Hartford, 
where, in common with his sisters, he lived in the 
paternal mansion-house. On the outbreak of the 
war of the revolution, he was ai)])ointed deputy 
commis.sary to Col. .Joseph Trumbidl. and on the 
resignation of that officer, congress appointed him 
his successor. On the arrival of the French trdbps, 
be became their comnns.sary, in which capacity ho 




acted inilil the close of the war. His important po- 
sition rendered it necessary for the principal officers 
of both the iVmerican and French armies to hold 
frequent consultations with him. and many of them, 
including the commanderin-cliief, were frequently 
his guests. At the time when Arnold was jierpetra- 
ting his Irea.son at West Point, (icn. Washington 
and Count de Kochambeau were enjoying the h(js- 
pitalily of Col. Wadsworth. In .Jiily. 1783, after 
the cessation of hostilities. Col. Wadswortli went to 
France for tlie purpose of rendering an account to 
the governnu'iit of his charge of the French com- 
missariat. His accounts had been so accurately 
keptthat nodilliculty occurred in tiie si'ttlement, and 
a large balance in his own favor w:is paid to him. 
In the latter part of March, 1784. he went to Eng- 
land, and afterward to Ireland, returning to Amer- 
ica in the autumn after an absence of about fifteen 
months. A considerable jiroporlion of the money 
which he had received from the French government 
he had invested in French, English and Ii'ish goods, 
and these he brought b.ack with liim and sold at 
a good protit in Hartford, I'hihulelphia aud other 
places. He was a member of the state convention 
on the constitmion, waseleeted amemberof the fir.st 
congress, and re-elected to the second and third. 
In May, 170.5. he became a mendier of the assembly 
of the state as well as a mendier of the council, ami 
was annually re-elected to the latter ]iosition tuuil 
1801, when he declined to be again a candidate. He 
originate<l a number of imjiortant improvements in 
agriculture in his neighborhood, through sueces,sful 
experiments made on his own land, besides intro- 
ducing into the state superior breeds, both of horses 



and horned cattle. Col. Humphreys says of 'Wads- 
worth ; "Xoman in this country was ever better 
aciiuainted with its resources or ihe best mode of 
drawing them forth for the public use. His talent 
for, and dispatch of, busines.s was unrivaled. His ser- 
vices at some periods of the war were incalcidable." 
Col. Wadsworth died in Hartford April 80, 1804. 

LABXED, Ebenezer (also recorded as 
Learned), soldier, was born at O.xford. Mass., Apr. 
18. 1728. His father, Col. Ebenezer Earned, is said 
to have been the largest landholder in that town. 
During the French and Indian war. Ebenezer was a 
captain of rangers, being of the party which went 
from Fort Edward to the relief of Fort William 
Henry, and in 1774 he was one of the delepites to 
the |irovincial congress at Concord. Ma.ss. Joining 
the militia, he marched to Cambridge at the head 
of a regiment, just after the battle of Lexington; 
fought at Bunker Hill and during the siege of Bos- 
ton, and shortly iifter was di.sab!ed by a woimd 
which kept him out of the service for nearlj' a 
year. Having been appointed brigadier-general bj' 
congress in Ajiril. 1777, he commanded a brigade 
at Saratoga, and distinguished himself at the battle 
of Stillwater, but soon after that the condition of 
his health forced him to resign from the army. 
In 1789 Gen. Earned was chairman of the Massachu- 
.setts con.stitutional convention. He died at i)x- 
fonl. Mass., Apr. 1, ISdl. 

VAN SCHAICK, Gosen, soldier, was bom 
in Albany, N. Y., in 1737. At the age of twenty- 
one he entered the British army with the comnns- 
sion of lieutenant, and served through the French and 
Indian war. from which he retired with the rank of 
lieutenant-colonel. At the outbreak of the war 
of the revolution. Col. Van Sehaick was placed in 
command of the 1st regiment of the Xew York 
line. He afterward rose to the rank of brigadier- 
general of the regular army, doing specially good 
service against the Indians and at Ihe battle of Mon- 
moiuh, where he was in ci>mmand of a brigade un- 
der Lord Stirling. In 177!) Gen. Van Sehaick c(an- 
nianded the successful expedition against the Onon- 
daga Indians, for which congress pa.ssed a resolution 
of thanks. He was noted for his attention to disci- 
pline, his regiment being raidved as one of the best 
in the American armv. Gen. Van Sehaick died in 
Albany. .l\dy 4, 17S7! 

HAZEN, Moses, soldier, was born at Haverhill, 
!Ma.ss.. in 1733. He was in the French and Indian 
war, serving as a lieutenant in the expeditions 
against Crown Point and Louisbnrg. Accom- 
panying Gen. Wolfe to Quebec in 17.59, he dis- 
tinguished himself in an engagement with the 
French near that city, and also did irood .service at 
the battle of Sillery.'Ain-. 28, 17GII. " Retiring from 
the .service as a lieutenant on half-pay. he took up 
his residence near St. .lohn. N. B.. where he is tand 
to have possessed considerable wealth. When Gen. 
Montgomery made his ex|iedition against Queliec, 
Lieut. Hazcn assisted him with supplies and in 
other ways, an action which led to the destruction of 
his ]n'operty by the British. Congress after\vard 
indemnitie<l him for his loss, and in 1770 he was ap- 
pointed colonel of the 2d Canadian regiment. Col. 
Hazen was with Washington's army at the Brandy- 
wine and at Germantown, and was in the .service 
during the entire war, being made a brigadier-gen- 
eral on ,Iune 29, 1781. He had two brothers, who 
were also otlicers in the American army, and at the 
close of the war the three .settled in Vermont, on 
land which congress had graiUed to them for their 
.services to the country. From .Moses Hazen de- 
scended Gen. William Babcock Hazen {(j. v.). distin- 
guished in the civil war an<l afterward in tht U. S. 
signal sei-vice. Moses Hazen died at Troy, N. Y., 
Jan. 30, 1802. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGUAPHY. 



79 




STJMTEE, Thomas, soldier, was born in Vir- 
ginia in 1784. It is impossible to determine facts as 
to his parentage, or as to his early trainiuj;. He vol- 
unteered against the Freneh in 1755, and was pres- 
ent at Braddock's defeat on the Jlonongaliehi, July 
9th of that vear. He settled, early in life, in the up- 
per region of South Carolina, antl took part in the 
warfare against the Cherokee Indians. At its 
close he accompanied Ocouostotah, or " The Em- 
peror," the celebrated Cherokee chief, on his visit to 
George II. of England, returning home in 1763. He 
was prominent in the ante-revolutionary movements 
at Cliaileston, S. C, and in 
Marcii. 177(1, was apjioiuted 
lieutenant-colonel of the 3d 
S. C. regiment of ritleraen, and 
stationed in the interior of the 
state to overawe Indians and 
loyalists. When Charleston, 
S.'C fell into the hands of 
the British, in jNIay, 1780, 
Sumter, then a colonel, took 
refuge in the swamps of the 
Santee river; and after the 
burning and ravaging of his 
estate, retired to North Caro- 
Ima, where he soon raised a 
la.-ger force than he could arm. 
He" then became one of the 
most active and able partisan 
leaders of the South, and at- 
tained the rank of brigadier-general. July 12, 17S0,he 
attacked a detachment of the enemy on the Catawba 
river, totally routed and dispersed the whole force, 
killed Caiit. Huck, who commanded the British, 
and also Col. Feriruson, who led the tories. It was 
this exploit whicli secured for him. the .same mouth, 
from Gov. Kutleck'e, of South Carolina, his brigadier- 
generalship in the state militia. This success brought 
him reinforcements, and on the 1st of August, with 
600 men. he made a spirited attack upon the post at 
Rocky Mount, S. C, but, being destitute of artillery, 
was driven off. At once, however, he marched 
again.st the fortified post of Hanging Rock, S. C, 
which wa,s defended, Aug. 6th, by 500 men, of 
which no le.ss than 160 were British regulars from 
Tarleton's legion; the remainder were tories from 
North and South Carolina, and from Georgia. Sum- 
ter's attack ift-as a surprise, and, although the fight- 
ing was very severe, his troops annihilated the 
"Prince of Wales's " royal regiment and put to flight 
a large number of tories. At once his men scattered 
throutrh the deserted British camp, seeking plunder 
and drinking the liquor which they came across. Very 
shortly they were into.\icate<l; the British then ral- 
lied, attacked the disordered patriots, and a hot skir- 
mish ensued. The English were, moreover, soon 
reinforced, and Sumter Wiis forced to retreat. But 
the enemv had b(^en so severely handled that they 
did not attempt pursuit. Sumter bore away toward 
the Wraxall river, with many of his wounded men. 
The engagement lasted about four hours, and the 
American' loss was twelve killed and forty-one 
wounded. Hanging Rock, the theatre of the con- 
flict, is'a huge conglomerate lioulder, near the pres- 
ent Lancaster and Camden highwjiy, a few miles east 
of the Ca'awba river. It is shelving, thirty feet in 
diameter, and lies on the verge of the hi.irh bank i>t 
a small stream, nearlv one hundred feet abovj it. 
"Under it tiftv men might lin<l shelter from rain. It 
is said that Andrew Jackson, then thirteen years old, 
was present at this fight. On the 15th of August 
Sumter cut the communications of the British com- 
mander-in-chief, Lord Cornwallis. and captured his 
valuable snpplv train, with its convoy. This was on 
the road from Charleston to Camden, S. C, Sumter 
having been reinforced with 400 troops and two 



field-pieces by Gen. Horatio Gates. On the 16th of 
August Gates himself was overwhelmingly defeated 
at Camden, and Snmter was forced to retreat in haste 
with many prisoners, and with fifty wagons laden 
with spoi'ls. Aug. 18th he encamped near the 
mouth of Fishing creek, S. C, and was there over- 
taken, surprised and completely routed by Tarle- 
toii, who had been in iiursuit. More than fifty 
Americans were killed, and 300 made prisonei-s. 
Tarleton recaptured the British prisoners, all the 
wagons and their contents. Sumter escaped, but 
with such haste that he rode into Charlotte, N. C, 
without hat or saddle. He now lied to the mount- 
ains, where his men gradually came together. It is 
even stated that within three days from his defeat he 
was once more at the head of a considerable force. 
As soon as he could c(3mmand sufticient troops, he 
again took the field in the vicmity of Broad, Eunoree 
and Tiger rivers, maintaining a continual skirmish 
with the enemy, beating up their quarters, cutting 
off their supp'lies, and harassing them by contin- 
ual Incursions and alarms. In October Maj. James 
Wemyss was sent against him with a British corps, and 
on the 12th of November attacked Sumter on Broad 
river. The action which ensued was obstinately con- 
tested, but the patriots were ultimately victorious, 
and Wemyss was captured. Tarleton himself was 
now sent iip with reinforcements, and found Sumter 
posted at Blackstock Hill, in an exceedin.gly strong 
position. On the 20th of November the British colonel 
attacked him. but was repulsed, losing 200 killed 
and wounded, while Sumter's loss was but three 
killed and four wounded. He was, however, wound- 
ed in the right shoulder in this action, and was laid 
up for three months. In ISIarch, 1781, he was once 
more in service, raising three new regiments, and in 
concert with Clarion, Pickens and others, harassed 
the enemy's scattered posts under Lord Rawdon in 
the low country until the close of the war. He was 
so vigilant and lirave that Tarieton gave him the 
name" of the " South Carolina Game-cock." Corn- 
wallis moreover, writing about this time to Tarle- 
ton, said: " I shall be very glad to hear that Sumter 
is in a condition to give us no further trouble. He 
certainly has been our greatest plague in this coun- 
try." Well he might say so, for in Febniary, 1781, 
Sumter had crossed the Comraree river and destroy- 
ed the magazines at Fort Ganby, and then (two days 



:^a^ 




later) defeated an escort of the enemy, caiituring the 
waions and stores they were conveying to Camden. 
Afterward, the British Ma.i. Eraser atta<ki'd him 
with a large force on the Broad river, but was re- 
pulsed, witli loss. May 10. 1781, Sumter captured 
the British force at Orangeburg, S. C, and, sooa 
after the posts at Dorchester and Monk's Corner, 
S. C' Prior to this {Jan. 13, 1781) he had received 
the thanks of congress for his eminent military ser- 
vices. His health failed before the end of the cam- 
paign, and he retired to private life. Gen. Snmter, 
after the war had closed, look the heartiest interest iu 
politics. He wasa incmbiTof the South Carolina con- 
vention which ratified the federal constitution. And 
after the organization of the U. S. govemmeut. 



80 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOP.EDIA 



served from 1789 to 1793 as a representative in con- 
gress from tliat slate, beinsr a strong federalist. He 
voted for locatiiij; the seat of goveninii lit on the Po- 
tomac river. Tlieii lie \v;is I". S. senator from South 
Carolina from ISIIltolSO'J. From the latter year un- 
til isll he was U. S. minister to Brazil. When he 
returned home he was again elected to the U. S. sen- 
ate. Gen. Sumter wa.s the last surviving general of- 
ficer of the war of the American revolution. Tlie 
iiaining of f^irt Sumter, in C'haiieston (S. C.) har- 
bor, was a tribute to his memory, lie died at Cam- 
den. S. ('., .liinc 1. 18;i2. 

VARICK, Richard, soldier, was boni at Hack- 
ensack, N. J., .March '.J.5, 1758. lie received a good 
e(hication, studied law. was admitted to tlie bar 
and practi.sed in New York city. At the beginning 
of the revolutionary war, he volunteered his servie- 
<'s and was appointed a captain and afterward 
military secretary lo Gen, Pliili|i Schuyler. In 1777 
lie was made lieutenant-colonel and saw service at 
the battles of Stillwater and Saratoga. In 17!^3 
Col. Varick was one of Gen. Washington's military 
family, and recording secretary on his stall. He was 
such a warm friend and admirer of Benedict Arnold 
that he is said lo have been driven nearly insane by 
the exposure of Hie latter. From 17S;^ until 17(<"9 
Col. Varick was recorder of the city of New York. 
He was afterward attorney-general "of the stale, and 
for two years mayor of New York city. In 178(3 he 
■was appointed one of the revisers of the .state laws. 
Col. Varick was the third president of the Aineiican 
Bible Society, succeeding Mr. Botidiuot, who suc- 
ceeded John .lay. In 1787 Col. Varick was speaker 
of the New York stale assembly, and for a number 
of years was iiresident of the ^Merchants' Bank. He 
died ill .lerscv City. N.. I.,. July 3(1, 18;!1. 

DAVIDSON, "William, "soldier, was liorn in 
Lancaster county. Pa., in 174(1. When four years 
old he was taken with his family to Kowan county, 
N. C. and received his early education at an acad- 
emy in Charlotte, the county town of Mecklenburgh 
county, which adjoins Kowan. Volunteering his 
services at the laitbreak of the revolutionary war, he 
was ap]>oinled a major in one of the first regiments 
formed by the govenuni'iit of North Carolina. Un- 
der Gen. Nash he marched with the North Carolina 
line lo the main army in New .Ierse_v, where he re- 
mained attached to the command of'Gcn. Wa.shing- 
ton, during llu' ne.xt three years. He was in the bat- 
tles of the Brandywine, Germantownand ^{aiinoiitli, 
and was promoted lo the command of a regiment 
■with the rank of lieutenant-culonel commandant. 
In Novemlier. 1779, the North Carolina line being 
detached from the main army and sent to reinfore'e 
the commanil of Maj.-(4cn. "Lincoln, Davidson ac- 
companied his men, obtaining leave to visit his fam- 
ily, whom he had not seen since the beginning of the 
war. The capitulalion of Gen. Liiicoln and his 
army in iMay, 1780, induced the North Carolina 
loyalists to make some effort toward the aid of the 
British forces. An insun-ection anions;- them broke 
out in the western iiait of the st.afe, and Lieut. -Col. 
Davidson, at the head of some of the militia, was 
sent to quell it. Meeting a party of llie insurgents 
near Calson's Mill, a sharp fight ensued in which he 
■vvas badly wounded, a shot passing through his body. 
He was confiiieil for about two montlis. but on his 
recovery again took Hie field, having been appointed 
brigadier-general by the stale u'oyernment of North 
Carolina. In combination with Gen. Sumter and 
Col. Davie, Col. Davidson exerted liimsclf to resist 
the progress of Lord Cornwallis, and was active in 
collecting militia to sustain CJen. Greene in Ihe same 
purp.)se. On the night of .Ian. ^l. 1781. he was or- 
dered liy Greene lo guard, with lillO men. a ford which 
proved to be the one selected by Lord Cornwallis for 
his passage of the Catawba rfvcr on the followin" 




morning. A considerable force of the Briti.sh crossed 
the stream at what was known as Cowan's foid. 
Davidson and his militia, although far inferior in 
numbers, attacked them, only to be driven into the 
woods. Gen. Davidson fell "on the field, sjiot in Ihe 
breast by a ritie-ball, and died immediately. The 
date of this engagement was Feb. 1, 1781. 

STARK, John, soldier, wa.s born at London- 
derry, N. II., Aug. 28, 1728. His father was Archi- 
bald Stark, a native of Gla.sgow, Scotland, who mar- 
ried in Ireland and .soon after migrated to America. 
In 1730, whi-n .John was eight years old, his father 
removed to Deriylield, now .Manchester, N. 11. .on the 
Jlerrimac river. Jlerc the lioy assisted in clearing 
land for the farm, varying thi"seniploymenl wiihau 
occasional hunting or fishing excursion. April 28, 
1752, having left home with three other boys to visit 
beaver traps, be was taken 
prisoner by the St. Fran(;ois 
Indians, remaining a cap- 
tive for abiMit .six weeks, at 
the end of which he was set 
free on payment of iJKCi by 
a friend, a Jlr. Wlu'elwright, 
of Boston. In order to rejiay 
this money, the boy made 
another hunting exjicditiou 
into the country abcait the 
Androscoggin river, where 
he gathered together enough 
skins to meet his obligation 
to Mr. Wheelwright. In the 
■winter of l~')'i, the court of 
New Hampshire employed 
young Stark to pilot an ex- 
pedition into Coos county, 
and in the following year 
he was sent in the .same direction to learn if the 
French were fortifying. In 1755, actual hiwlililies 
having broken out ■with the Freiu'h and Indians, 
he was commissioned a lieutenant, am] with one 
('apt. Hodgers, raised a company of men who were 
ordered to Fort Edward. In the winter of 1757, 
they were ordered with reiiifcircements to seize cer- 
tain sujiplies on the way from Crown Point to Ti- 
couderoga. They were furiously attacked i:ii route by 
a combined foi'ce of French and Indians. A des- 
perate battle was fought, in which, the .sU])erior 
officers being either killed or ■founded, the com- 
mand devolved u])oii Lieut. Stark. Perceiving that 
the numbers opposed to him were overpowering, 
he onlcre<l a retreat, which he accomplished with 
the coolness and skill of a veteran, bringing away all 
his wounded men and successfully conveying them 
to Fort (ieorge. He was at fince commissioned cap- 
tain, and in 1758 was with Abercronibie in his ill-fated 
attack upon Ticonderoga. The next year Cajil. Stark 
oblained leave of absence and returned home, a.vail- 
iiig himself of the oii|iorlunity to marry Kli/.abeth 
Page. The following spring he returned to bis jiost, 
being present at the reduction of Crown Point, and 
iierving until Ihe conclusion of the Frciuli war. 
During this period he not only aciiuired much mil- 
itary experience, but also gained a leinitation as a 
brave officer in the field and a tactician, .so that, 
on his repairing to Cambiidge after the battle of 
Lexington, in 1775, he I'eceived a colonel's com- 
mi.ssion. In one day he enlisted 80fl men, and in 
the battle of Breed's Hill, .Line 17. 1775. his regiment 
formed the left of the line and actually succeed- 
ed in repulsing three times their number of Welsh 
veterans who had fought so bravely at Jlinden. 
On the evacuation of IJoston, Stark, wilh his regi- 
ment, was ordered to New York, which lie assisted 
in fortifying. In the following spring he was 
.sent to Canada, and when Gen. Gates look com- 
mand of the northern army, he placed Col. Stark 



OF AMERICAN BIOGliAPIIY. 



81 



over a brigade. At the close of the Canadian 
campaign, the hitter joined Washington a few days 
before the battle of Trenton, and in tliat engage- 
ment he eoninianded the van of the right wing. 
Both at Treuton and I'rineeton his etheieney was 
generally reeoiinized. When the army went into 
ft'inter quarters at Jlonistown, Washington sent 
Stark to his native state to raise recruits and obtain 
suiiiilics, a service in which history states he had no 
superior. In the following Ajiril a new roll of pro- 
motions having lieen announced, and a number of 
young colonels whom he outranked having been made 
"brigadiers, Stark felt tlie a|ip:irent sliglit soseriou.sly 
that he resigned his conimissiou and retired to his 
farm. When Burgoyne was making his successful 
onward march, and New Hampshire was called 
ujion to supjjly men to oppose it. Stark was urged to 
take command of her troops. In respon.se to this 
request, he informed the council that he was willing 
to lead the troops, but that he would not place him- 
self under any orders except those of his state. Ilis 
conditions were accepteil and with an independent 
corps he started for Bennington, where he encamp- 
ed. In the meantime, Maj.-Gen. Lincoln had re- 
ceived orders from Gen, Schuyler to march the New 
Hampshire men to the Mohawk river: Stark, acting 
imder his independent commission, refu.sed to let 
them go, though he offered to co-ojierate with the 
others, whenever Bennington, which it was said 
Burgoyne intended to attack, should have been 




made safe. Burgoyne heard of this apparent dis- 
cord and sent Col. Baum to cut off the Americans 
by detail. This brought about the battle of Benning- 
ton which was not, however, fought at Bennington, 
nor even in Vermont, but about si'ven miles from the 
former place, two miles within the New York line, 
the precise spot being in Hoosic, Rensselaer coimty. 
At this time, Burgoyne's movement froni Canada to 
the Hudson, a thorough piece of military tactics, 
was made with the design of forming a junction 
with Sir Henry Clinton and thus cutting the seat of 
war in two. In the evi'ut of its succeeding. New 
England could be cruslied first, .and the South at- 
tacked afterward. This plan might very possibly 
have been carried out, had it not been for Stark's 
gallant light before Bennington and the check ad- 
ministered to Gen. St. Leger. liy Herkimer at 
Ori.skany. On the lOitli of August. 1777. Baum en 
camped on an eminence and erected a breastwork of 
logs. Under him were "200 lories, 100 Canadian 
rangers. 100 of Frazcr's marksmen. .">0 chasseurs, 
370 of Riede.sel's Hessians, and loO Indians. The 
tories and .some of the Hes.sians held the hill, 
the Canadians were placed in .some log -houses 
near by, Hessians lay behind the breastwork and 
some of them within the red(Hibt : the chasseurs 
were placed as skiniiisher.s, while the Indians 
scouted the forest. Stark's force included .about 
1,750 men, of whom about 1,000 came from 
New Hampshire. 500 from 'Vcrniout, while Berks- 



hire coimty, Mass., furnished the rest. The only 
uniforms in Stark's command were the frock» 
with green facings of Col. Herrick's Green Moun- 
tain rangers. Baum had nearly 1,000 men in- 
trenched, about half of whom were veterans, 
while Stark's force, made uj) of volunteers and 
militia, had .seen no tighting of any account. 
On the morning of Aug. 14th Stark formed hi.* 
troops in two divisions of attack, and a reserve. 
His address to his men has become memorable: 
"Sly men, yonder are the Hessians. Thev were 
bought for seven pounds and ten pence a man. 
Are j-ou worth more ':• Prove it. To-night tlie Amer- 
ican flag floats from yonder hill or Molly Stark 
sleeps a widow ! " Stark's plan was to make a, 
feigned attack on Baum's right with 300 men, 
while a considerable force shoidd turn his left flank. 
The remainder were to attack the enemy's centre. 
On the first fire from the Americans, the Indians 
fled in a panic. Baum ojicned with musketry and 
cannon but the Anierican.s were protected by tlie 
woods, and when a quantity of Hessian ammunition 
exploded suddenly, the Americans swarmed over 
the earthworks with clubbed muskets, driving the 
entire force backward down the hill where Stark's 
reserve was waiting to meet them. Late in the after- 
noon, Baum was reinforced by some 600 or 700 
Hessians, and an obstinate and bloody fight follow- 
ed, but the determination, and the accurate and rapid 
firing of the American marksmen decided the sec- 
ond engagement as the first had been decided. The 
Americans lost about 100 men. but the}' secured as 
tro]jhies of victory four bra.ss cannon, 1,000 stand 
of arms, 350 sabres, eight wagon-loads of stores, 
four ammunition wagons, twenty horses and the in- 
struments of two drum-corps. About 700 jirisoners 
were captured, exclusive of oflicers and servants, 
and 207 of the British and Hessians were killed. 
This complete victory, by inspiring the Americans 
with greater confidence, ultimately led to the defeat 
of Burgoyne at Saratoga. In the following month. 
Stark recruited a larger force than he had licfore, 
with which to join Gen. Gates, but on the sur- 
render of Burgoyne he returned home. Early ia 
1778 he was put in command of the northern de- 
partment, where a comliination of tories, peculators 
and defaulters made his position unpleasant, but 
he was able to institute important reforms. He after- 
ward joined Washington at Morristown, N. J., and 
was at the battle of 'Short Hills. In 1781 he was 
again in command of the northern department, with 
headqu.-irters at Saratoga. At the close of the war 
he declined all public office. In 1818 congress 
voted him a pension of sixty dollars per month. The 
body of Gen. Stark was buried on a small hill near 
the Jlerrimac river, where a granite obelisk bears 
the inscription : "Maj.-Gen. Stark." On the anni- 
versary of the battle, in 1891, a limestone olielisk 
over 300 feet in height was deilicated at Bennington, 
with iniposim;- ceremonies. Gen. Stark died at Mau- 
chester, X. H., May 2, 1822. 

THOMAS, John, soldier, was born at Marsh- 
field, Mass., in 1725. He received a classical edu- 
cation and became a leading physician of Kinjrston, 
Mass. In 174(i he acted as suVgeon to a regiment 
.seiTing in Nova Scotia and in 1747 as a member of the 
medical staft' of Gen. Wm Shirley. In nriil he was 
made colonel of a provincial regiment .serving in 
Nova Scotia, on Lake Champlain, and at the cap- 
lure of Montreal in 17fiO. When the revolution 
opened he recruited a regiment of volunteers and on 
Feb. 9, 1775, he was made brigadier-general by the 
provincial conirress. His name not appearing in the 
first list of generals create<l by the Continental cini- 
gress, he withdrew from tlie service but was induced 
by Washington to return, and during the siege of 
Boston, as commander of a brigade, rendered notable 



82 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOP^,DIA 



service to the patriot cause. On the niiiht of 
March 4, 1776, willi 8,000 men, he captured Dor- 
chester Heights and threw iij) intrenchnienis which 
coiniwlled the British to abandon lioston tliree <hiys 
later. March 6, 1776, lie was made major-)j;eneral 
by congress, and after the ileal h of Gen. Jloutgopi 
cry was assij^ued to the command of the ))atriot 
forces operalini; in C'anaihi. He arrived at Q\iebec 
Slay 1st, and, finding that his command was seriously 
depleted by di-sease and deatli, and that tlie term of 
tnlistinent"of 300 of the .soldiers had expired, he at 
once ordered a retreat. Durini; the march toward 
the frontier he was attacked bv smallpox. He died 
at Chaniblay, near Montreal, .Tune 3, 1776. 

CLARK, George Rogers, soldier, was born in 
Albemarle county, Va., Nov. Ill, 1752. Hiseariy life 
was jiassed in his native state, where, besides having 
the ordinary and rather rude school advantages of the 
locality and the period, he fell un<ler the tuition of a 
Scotch teacher of ability. This Scotchman had emi- 
grated to that section of country, 
where he had a few select jHiiiils, 
among whom was .Janies JIad- 
ison, afterward president of the 
United States. Thus young Clark 
received a fair general education, 
on which foundation he .set out 
to fit himself for the profession 
of a surveyor. This was, at the 
time, one of the most profitable 
lines of business in the southern 
colonies, where the constant ad- 
vent of fresh immigrants, involv- 
ing the laying out of boundaries 
and the division of estates, gave 
surveyors all they wanted to do. 
While Clark was still under age, 
he was surveying on the upper 
Ohio, wherc^ land could l)e ob- 
tained on easy terms, and where 
he sunn made himself owner of a farm. He, however, 
shared the prevailing rom.-uitic sentiments of the pe- 
riod; and when Gov. Dunmore made his canijiaign 
of defence against the Shawnee uprising, Clark went 
with him as a volunteer, and obtaineil his first ex- 
I«'rienee of Indian fighting. The brief war closed 
with a treaty, at the signing of which occurred the 
celebrated speech of Logan, the great chief of the 
^Mingcis. Clark was so adventurous in his disposition 
that he pushed foi-ward, beyond the settlements, into 
Kentucky, where he surveyed lands, and where the 
freipient conflicts with the Indians gave him an ex- 
perience of the greatest value to himself and his 
people. In fact, he grew to be recognized as the 
protector of all the early settlements in Kentucky, 
Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and .southwestern Pcimsvl- 
vania, and a terror to the red men. who were eontin 
ually being irritated into warfare by British agents. 
In 1776 he received the appointment of a major of 
militia, and he was chosen a delegate to the Virginia 
convention, but was not present during the .session. 
The next year he was promoted to be lieutenant-colo- 
nel and raised a small force, with wliicli he guarded 
the western frontier, liarassing llie Indiansand burn- 
ing the Freneli and Indian villages. In February, 
177i), with less than 200 armed men. Col. Clark at 
tacked, at Vineennes. a fort garrisoned by the British, 
and cai)tured it. He even conteuiplali'd an attack on 
Detroit, from which he was oidy deferred by the 
.smallness of his command. The next year the Sliaw- 
nees again eonmiitted many (ail rages, whereupon 
Clark succeeded in increasing his force, and success- 
fully attacked the Indian.s, defeating them utterly 
and burning their villages. In 17S(1 lie was commis- 
sioned a brigadier-general of the Conlinental army, 
and at once prepared for his long-designed attempt 
on Detroit, which was a constant menace to the 




frontier settlers, inasmuch as it was a centre for the 
a.s.semblage of reinforcements of British and Indians. 
He was unable, however, to make the expedition. 
The next year (17H2) he reconquered a section of 
Kentucky which had been overrun bv the Indians, 
and drove them, finally, farther west. " These Indian 
attacks, it is to be reniembered. were made on the 
settlement which is now the city of Liaiisville. While 
Gen. Clark was admireil and respected by all who 
knew him, and, in fact, conquered for the I'nited 
States the whole of the country to the northwest of 
the Ohio river, he was never adeipiately rewarded 
for his services — a fact that enibiitered his latter 
days, which were passed in Louisville at the home 
of his si.ster. In all resjK-cts he was a man peculiarly 
fitted to perf(jrm the hazardous duties which de- 
volved upon him, and he did more than the acutest 
human sagacity wiaild have dan-d to anticipate. 
He was looked" upon as the father of the broad sec- 
tion of country which he had reclaimed from the 
.savage tribes. He died near Louisville, Ky., Feb. 
18, 1818. His remains at present lie in an iinknown 
grave in a cemetery at Louisville. 

GREATON, John, .soldier, was bom at Rox- 
bury. Mass., March 10, 1741. Prior to the outbreak 
of the revolutiomiry war, he kept an inn at 
Roxbury, where he was also an ofhcer of the state 
militia. July 12, 177"), he was a]ii>ointeil colonel of 
the 24th Jla.ssachusetts regiment, and three months 
afterward colonel of the 36th, and, later, colonel 
of the 3d Ma.ssaehiisetts of the Conlinental line, 
taking part in the siege of Boston in a way to 
do great damage to the British. On Aiir. I."), 1776, 
Col. Greaton was sent to Canada; the following De- 
cember he joined Washington's army in New" Jer- 
sey, and later he was sent to West I'oint, where he 
was attached to the division of Gen. Heath. He re- 
ceived the appointment of brigadier-general from 
congress Jan. 7. 17s3, an<l died'at Ro.\bury, Mass., 
Dec. 16th nf the .-.nme vear. 

WOOSTER, David, soldier, was horn at Strat- 
ford, Conn., March 2, 1710. He was sent to Yale 
College, where he was graduated in 1732, and the 
next year he was employed as captain of a vessel 
armed by the colonies to guard and iirotccf the coast 
during the war between England and S]iain. Soon 
after this he married the daughter of 'I'liomas Clap, 
president of Yale College. He took an active part 
in the old French war, being a captain in the reg- 
iment of Col. Burr, which was 
.sent as a part of the Conneclicut 
troops against Louisburg. and he 
greatly distinguished himself at 
the siege and capture of thai 
place, remaining after the caplu re 
to assist in garrisoning the fort- 
ress. He was afterward selected 
to go to Emrland in command of 
a cartel-ship, was received in 
Londim with marks of honor, 
was presented to the king, and 
became a great favorite at court. 
The king admilled him into the 
regular service ami lie was made 
a captain in Sir William I'cp- 
perell's regiment with half jiay 
for life. After the peace of Aix- 
la-Chapelle he retuined to his 
family, but the commencemenl of I he French and 
Indian war in n.").") again <"dle(l him lo the field as 
colonel of the 3d Conneclicut regiment. He .served 
until the end of the war in 17(i3. having, in the mean- 
time, been promoted to the rank of brigadier-general. 
He then settled in New Haven, where he was ap- 
pointed collector of the customs. A\'hen the war of 
the revolution broke out (Jen. Wooster, idlhough 
sixty-live years old, an officer in the regular British 




'^m^'U^^v^ 



OF AMERICAN BIOGKAPHY. 



83 



army ou half-pay, and a revenue officer, resign- 
ed Ihe titles and emoluments to devote himself 
to the cause of the patriots. He was one of the 
originators of tlie exjiedition against Ticonderoga, 
■whieli ca|)tuied that siroughold 3Ia)' 10, 1775. On 
the 22d of .June following. Gen. Wooster was third 
on the list of eight brigatlier-generals appointed by 
congress. Ilehadaconuuaud under Montgomery, in 
Canada, during the imfortimate camiiaign of i77(>, 
and on returning was made the subject of a covut of 
inquiry b_v whicli he was acquitted of all blame in 
connection with that disastrous expedition. Gen. 
Wooster was then apjiointed major-general of the 
Connecticut militia. Duringtbe winter of 177t)-77, 
be was employed in protecting his state against the 
enemy, being in connuaud at Danbiuy when Gov. 
Trjon attacked it in April, 1777. Gen. Wooster was 
shot while annoying the enemy's rear-guard with 200 
men. He was taken to Danburv, and died there 
Way 2. 1777. 

NIXON, John, soldier, was born in Philadel- 
phia, Pa., in 17*!. His father was a wealthy ship- 
ping merchant who left his son his business at his 
death in 17.5(5. .John Nixon was among those who 
signed the nonimportation agreement of 1765, from 
which time ou he was one of the leaders of the pa- 
triot cause in Philadelphia. He was a member of the 
first committee of correspondence and of the com- 
mittee of public safety, served in the provincial 
conventions of 1774 and 1775, and in April. 177.5, 
was chosen lieutenant-colonel of the 3d Philadelphia 




battalion. In ^lay, 1770, he commanded the de- 
fences of the Delaware, from which he was trans- 
ferred in .July, 1776, and was assigned to the com- 
mand of the city guard of Philadelphia. He was 
the first to read the declaration of independence to 
an assemblage of citizens after its adoption. In the 
summer of 1776 his battalion served at Audioy. In 
the following December, Xix(in, having in the mean- 
time sueceetled to the chief command, reinforced 
Washington at Trenton and participated in the bat- 
tle of Princeton. In 1776 Nixon served on the 
navy Ijoard and in 1778 he spent the winter at Valley 
Forge. When a bank to provision the army was 
formed in 1780 he became its first director." lie 
was also one of the founders of the Bank of North 
America, established in 1783, and its president from 
1792 until his death, which occurred Dec. 31, 1,808. 
MEIGS, Return Jonathan, soldier, was born 
at iliddlclown. Conn., Dec. 17, 1734. After the 
battle of Lexington he recruiled a comjiany of light 
infantry with which he joined the patriot army be- 
fore Boston. Being soon after jiromoled to the 
rank of major, he served luuler Benedict Arnold on 
the expeilition into Canada, and was taken prisoner 
during the attack on Quebec. He was released 
early in 1776 and, returning to Connecticut, raised a 
regiment, of which he was made colonel, in 1777. 
In May of that year with a small force he assaulted 
the British garrison at Sag Harbor, L. I., captured 
numerous prisoners without loss, and a large quantitj- 




of arms and provisions. For liis .services on this oc- 
casion congress gave him a vote of thanks and pre- 
sented him with a sword. Col. Jleigs served under 
Gen. Wayne at the capture of Stony Point, and 
thereafter,until the close of the war, was in constant 
and active service. In 1788 he .settled in Ohio, and 
in 1801 was made Indian agent for the Cherokees, 
which office he held during the remainder of his life. 
He tiled on the Cherokee ageuey in Georgia .Jan. 
28, 1823. 

REVERE, Paul, .soldier, was horn in Boston, 
Mass., Jan. 1, 1735, of French descent. His grand- 
father, a Huguenot, lived on the island of Guernsey, 
from which place his father emigrated to Boston, 
where he learned the trade of a gcjUlsmith, and was 
married. Paul, his eldest son, 
was brought up to his father's 
trade, in which he became 
very skilful, being employed 
to execute fine engraving on 
the silver plate which was so 
nnich in use among the old 
colonial families. The Ijreak- 
ing out of the French and In- 
dian war stirring military am- 
bition in the soul of the young 
man, he volunteered his ser- 
vices, received a commission 
as a lieutenant of artillery, and 
for a time was stationed at 
Fort Edward on Lake George. 
After the war he married, re- 
suming his trade of goldsmith, 
and becoming also deeply in- 
terested in the mechanical 
and manufacturing arts in 
general. He learned the art of engraving on copper, 
and produced portraits of distinguished men of the 
time, as well as an engraving which represented 
the repeal of the stamp act in 17()(i. He did other 
Avork with a patriotic tendency, publishing, in 1770, 
an engraved print of the "massacre " in King .street, 
which took place ou JIarch 5 of that year. An act 
of the Briti.sh parliament having made the judges in 
the colonies independent of the jieoiile, he was one 
of the members of a grand jury which refused to act 
in consequence thereof — the last grand jury of the 
crown. In 1775, on the issue of jiaper money by the 
colony of Ma.ssachusetts, he engraved the plates for 
it. He was afterward sent by the provincial con- 
gress to Philadeljihia. where the only powder-mill in 
the coimtry was located, and where he was directed to 
learn the art of making jjowder, with the result that 
ou his returu he .set up a small ]iowder-null, which 
lie managed successfully. Paul Kevere's great 
feat, however, was his remarkable ride, so vigorously 
and poetically described in the verse of Longfellow. 
The night before the battle of Lexington he had en- 
gaged to carry, express, from Gen. Warren to Messrs. 
Adams and Hancock, thii news of the actual move- 
ment of the British from Boston, in pursuance of 
their design to make a descent u|ion Concord for the 
.sake of the stores and arms which were there. 
Warnetl by a signal given by a comrade in Boston, 
Paid Revere rode at fidl speed from Charlestown to 
his destination, arousing, as he passed, in the still 
hours of the night, occupants of the farm-houses, with 
the cry, "The British are coming!" Thus the 
minute-men were ready, the fullowinir day, to meet 
the Hrilisli suldiery when they arrived to carry out 
the object of llieir expedition. Paul Revere .succeed- 
ed in eluding the jiiekels which had been placed by 
Gen. Gage on the roads between Boston and Lexing- 
ton, and reached Ihe latter place before the head of 
the British coluum, which, on its arrival in the early 
morning, was opposed by about seventy militiamen 
who hatl formed on the town common under com- 



84 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 




manrl nf dipt. Jnhn Parker (17. r.). The British under 
Maj. Pilcaini atlackeil this little hotly, wliicli stuh- 
boruly held its ltciuikI until a niiinlier ipf the men 
had tallen. dead orudiinded. when they retired, keep- 
ing up a seatlerini; lire on the British. The latter 
stieeeeded in their ohjeet 
at Lexinsiton and Con- 
cord, hut the liirhtini; tired 
the souls of the patriots, 
awakeninjr the spirit 
which eventually freed 
the colonies. Paul Revere 
was one of those who 
planned the destruction of 
the tea in Boston harbor, 
and in the summer of 
1779 lie wa.s a member of 
the imfortuuatc Penob.scot 
expedition. After the war 
closed he set up a furnace .-it Canton, near Boston, 
where he emploj'ed himself in castinii church bells, 
prospering in his work, and educatini; a lar<;e family 
of children. He died in Boston in Jlav, 1818. 

MORGAN, Daniel, soldier, was born in Hunt- 
erdon county. X. J., in the winter of 178(i. He 
was of Welsh extraction, but further than that, the 
facts in connection with his ancestry are unknown. 
He always m.anifested extreme reticence in rcirard to 
his orijrin and early life, but when he made his first 
appearance in Virginia, at the age of seventeen years, 
he co\ild read but in(litrereutly,"wrote a hand barely 
legible, and had only an imperfect knowledge o"f 
the fundamental rules of arithmetic. His manners 
were ru<le and uniiolished. It is supposed that he 
had previously been emjiloyed by his father in the 
out and indoor work of an herb farm. Disagreeins 
with his father, he left him to make his ow'^n way 
in the world. In the winter of 1733 he obtained 
work for a brief period at Carlisle, Pa. During the 
spring of the same year lie worked upon a farm at 
Charleston (now^ .letl'erson), Va. Being determined 
to make his way he next took charge of a sawmill. 
Next he became Icamsler in private employ, and at 
the end of two years had earned cnouah to "purcha.se 
a horse and wagon for himself. In 17.35 he u.scd these 
as a teamster in the armv of the unfortunate Endish 
general, Braddock, after whose defeat at the Jlouon- 
gahela, .lulyOth, he was eniraired in transporting the 
sick and wounded back to Pennsylvania. He was 
already distinguished for extraordi'narv strength and 
bravery, as well as for an indoniitable spirit. Con- 
tinuing to haul supplies to the troops along the 
Virginia frontier, in the spring of 17.3(i, he was 
abused by a British oHicer, who 
tinally struck him with the tiat 
of his sword. j"Morgan forllnvilh 
knocked him down, but it was 
:i dear blow for him. since it cost 
lim the iiiliictjoii of oOO lashes 
I lid on his bare back. The otli- 
■rr subseipienlly acknowledged 
iliat he had been in the wrong, 
and made |)ublic aiiology, and 
from tli.-it moment it is sa"id that 
."Morgan dismissed all resentment. 
In I7.')7 Morgan was one of the 
volunteer militia who went to 
Kdward's fort on the Cocapelion 
river, twenty miles northwest of 
Winchester, Va., in consetpience 
of an Indian ui)rising. This is 
believed to have lieen liis tir.st ' 
military .service. A biographer ((Jiaham) states that 
his acquaintance with George Washington began at 
this time; at any rate his courage and prowi'ss in 
lighting Indians on this exi)edition brought him into 
general notice. In an Indian campaign in 1758, 




having received an ensign's commission from Gov. 
Dinwiddie, of Virginia, he was nearly killed by a 
.savage, who shot him through the back of the neck, 
the ball grazing the left side of the neck-bone, i)as.s- 
ing through the mouth near the socket of the jaw- 
bone and coming out through the left cheek. In its 
pa.s.sage, it removed all the teeth on the left side, 
without otherwise materially injuring the jaw. He 
was on horseback at the time, and. wounded as he 
was, he roile back to the fort, grasping his horse's 
neck with both arms, hotly pursued by the Indian, 
who, with a yell of rage" when he found himself 
distanced, threw his tomahawk at Morgan, without 
elfect, and gave up the chase. This was the sole 
wound that he received during his long military 
career. This Indian service comjileted, lie re- 
turned to Frederick county, Va., where he had 
become very jiopular. It is on record that his morals 
had greatly sullercd in army life, although he was 
.still indusirious and .saving. His marriage about 
this time, however, with Abigail Bailey, a young 
woman of great beauty and 
force of character,albeit of poor 
family, had the most decidetl 
iutluence in reclaiming him 
from evil associates and habits. 
He christened the home which 
they soon established, "The 
Soldier's He.st." Peace was 
shortly afterward established 
between France and Great Brit- 
ain, but Pontiae's (Indian) war 
breaking out immediately after. 
>Iorgan became a lieutenant 
in a regiment of militia. 1,01)0 
strong, which was raised by the 
state of Virginia to serve tjiere- 
in. When tlu' Indians were sub- 
dued, he returned to his home 
where, for nine years, he led a 
farmer's life, having acquired 
a considerable quantity of valu- 
able land by grants for his mil- 
itary service, and was regard- 
ed as a man of .sul)stance. Dur- 
ing tln-sc years his wife contrib- 
uted not only to his .social com- 
fort and material pro]ierity, but 
also to his iiitelleclual develop- 
ment, his leisure hours l)eing 
largely dcvoleil to reading and 
mental improvenunt. In 1771 
he received a commission from the acting governor 
of Virginia as c.iplain of the militia of Frederick 
county. In 1773 he served on the Virginia frontier 
in Lord Dunmore's Indian war, at the close of which 
the brave but unfortunate Indian chief, Logan, made 
theeloquent speech so widely' exploited in the school- 
books of one or two generations since. In the winter 
and s]n'ingof 1773 Jlorgan was at home with his fam- 
ily, but when the .Vmerican revolution broke out in 
the colony of Massachusetts, and the Continental con- 
gress called for ten comiianies of riflemen to be raised 
in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia, to join 
Wa.shington's army, Morgan was sek'cted as the 
captain of one of the two Virginia com|)anies by 
the unanimous vote of the committee of his (Fred- 
erick) county. He at once raised the company, 
tilling it with ninetv-six young, hardy and enthu- 
siastic woodsmen, started from A\'inchester, Va., 
with them, early in .Inly, and in twenty-one days 
reached Cambridge, Mass.. and the American cam)), 
having traveled 000 miles without losing a man 
by si<-kness or by desertion. His company was 
oiic of the first to report at Bo.ston. At the end 
of six week.s, by his own request, he was detail- 
ed with his company on the expedition to Que- 




OF AMERICAN BIOGBAPHY. 



85 



bee, under the command of Benedict Arnold, wliich 
left Cambridge, ou Sept. 13th. In iliis his com- 
pany led the van, following the footsteji.s of the 
exploring party, examining the covmtry along the 
route, freeing "the .streams from impediments, etc., 
etc., and suffering, in common with the whole com- 
mand, almost incredibly before reaching the St. 
Lawrence river, which Morgan's riflemen were the 
first to cross, on the 13th of November. Jan. 1, 

1776, the American troops attacked Quebec. Morgan 
led the assault upon the northern and western ex 
trcmities of the lower town, assuming command of 
all the forces when Montgomery was killed and 
Arnold wounded. His company took a battery 
which was in front of tliem, driving the British from 
their guns by almost superhuman exertion. Then, 
plunging on into tlie city streets, fighting as he went, 
he shortly found himself and his company far in 
advance of the American infantry, and without sup- 
port. Finally, being surrounded, Jlorgan and his 
riflemen were forceil to surrender, a result which so 
overcame him that he wept like a child. With his 
men he remained at Quebec as a prisoner of war 
until the 10th of August, when they were all dis- 
charged ou parole and set sail for New York, 
reaching Elizabethport, N. J., Sept. 11th. After 
a brief stay at his home in Virginia, in the month 
of November, congress appointed Jlorgan, on the 
reconnuendation of Gen. Washington, colonel of the 
11th Virginia regiment. At the close of the year, 
having been notified of his release from parole, 
and received his commission, he was instructed to 
commence recruiting for the ranks of his regiment; 
but before he could complete its enlistment lie was 
summoned to join the army with the men he had. He 
reached Washington's camp at Morrislown, N. J., 
•with 180 riflemen about the beginning of April, 

1777, and was welcomed by the commander-in-chief 
with marked consideration. A corps of picked 
sharp-shooters, .500 in number, called "rangers," was 
immediately formed, of which he was put in com- 
mand. His force was placed in the forefront of the 
army, charged with the duty of observing the enemy, 
and, in case of movement by them, of falling upon 
their flank. The very day, June 13th, upon which 
Morgan assumed command. Lord Howe advanced 
from New Brunswick, N. J., and the rangers entered 
on the discharge of their duty, attacking and 
harassing the British in several spirited encounters. 
In a few days Howe retired toward Aniboy, N. J., 
having failed to draw Washington into an engage- 
ment, and Morgan's force immediately pushed for- 
ward to aunoy him. Sharp tigbtiiig took place, in 
which Morgan greatly distingufshed himself. After 
the British reached Staten Island, Morgan was 
posted at Chatham, N. J., and when the enemy 
went by sea to Philadelphia he hastened on across 
country toward the same city. Thence, in view 
of the rapid approach of Burgoyne from Canada, 
and because Morgan's riflemen were sure to prove 
very valuable in fighting Burgoyne's Indian aux- 
iliaries, he was sent to the army of Gen. Gates by 
the commander-in-chief. Tlie riflemen played an 
important part in the engagements which preceded 
Burgoyne's surrender, fully justifying the state- 
ment of Gen. Washington in a letter to Gov. Clin- 
ton, of New York, dated Aug. Kith : " I expect the 
most eminent service from them, and I sliall be 
mistaken if their jtresence does not go far toward 
producing a genera! desertion among the savages." 
To this may be added the words addressed to Mor- 
gan after the surrender, by Burgoyne himself, who 
took the American by the hand, saying : " Sir I you 
command the finest regiment in the world." Mor- 
gan was soon after »ii)iroach<'d by Gates and confi- 
dentially informed by the latter, in person, that the 
main ariny was extremely dissatisfied with the conduct 




of the war by Washington, and that several of the best 
ofticersthreateued to resign ludess a change took place. 
Morgan is said to have perfectly comprehended 
Gates in this confidence, and to have sternly replied: 
" I have on(' fa\'or to ask of you, sir, which is, never 
to mention that detestable subject to me again ; for 
under no other man than Washington, as com- 
mander-in-chief, would I ever serve"" In Gates's 
dispatches concerning the Saratoga battles, Morgan's 
services were not, therefore, ileemed worthy of more 
than a cursory notice. His name was not even men- 
tioned in the otficial account of the surrender, to which 
he had most eminently contriliuted A little later the 
" rangers " were recalled l)y W'asliington to his army 
in Pennsylvania, which they rejoined Nov. 18th, at 
Whitemarsh, near Philadelphia. Howe essayed an 
attack upon Washington's forces on the 7th of 
December, but his advance columns were so severely 
handled by Morgan's riflemen that he retired to 
Philadelphia, whence he had come. Reports in that 
city placed the British loss in this encounter at 500, 
while ^lorgan lost only twenty-seven. When the 
American troops went into winter quarters at Valley 
Forge, Pa., Morgan returned to his home at Win- 
chester, Va., where he spent sev- 
eral weeks. Ou re-entering the _-, , 
camp in the spring of 1778 he 
took post at Radnor, Pa., and 
was engaged in various slight 
movements upon 
the enemy, par- 
ticularly thwart- — '-r^l 
ing its efforts to 
attack. When, in 
June, Clinton led 

his forces out of ' ' ' "~ -~">'^i.^V 

Philadelphia on 

their way to New York, Morgan and his command 
gained a position upon the British right flank which 
enabled him to seriously harass them. JVIorgan was 
not present at the battle of Monmouth, N. J., June 
28th, but after the fight he continued his work of 
following up Clinton's army, doing all possible dam- 
age to its re.ir until its arrival at Sandy Hook, 
whence it embarked for New York. Jlorgan's connec- 
tion with the rangers was terminated byhis appoint- 
ment to the command of Woodford's brigade, .shortly 
after he rejoined the main army at Paramus, N. .1. 
He had no special service thereafter in connection 
with Washington's troops, although he was com- 
missioned colonel of the 7th Virginia regiment in 
March. 1779. In June of that year, partly on account 
of ill health, and partly by reason of dissatisfaction 
with the policy of congress in promoting military 
adventurers from other countries to jiosts of coni- 
mand in the army over the heads of faithful and 
successful native officers, he resigned his commission 
and went home to Virginia and to his family. The 
city of Charleston, ST C, having fallen into the 
hands of the enemy. May 13, 1780,"by the summer of 
that year congress" had jn-epared itself to undertake 
the task of saving the southern states to the cause 
of colonial independence, and had appointed Gen. 
Gates, the victor at Saratoga, to the command of the 
southern department. Gates, who resided in Virginia, 
at once informed Morgan that he would probably be 
summoned to serve in the .same region. In Septem- 
ber, 1780, Morgan joined Gates at liis head(inarters at 
Hillsboro', N. C, and was soon after made brig- 
adier-general in the army of the United States liy 
act of congress. His services in the southern anny, 
after the appointment of Gen. Nathanael Greene 
as Gates's successor, and after Greene's assump- 
tion of the command in December, 17S0. arc ainjily 
detailed in the standard histories and in the lives ()f 
Morgan, one of which has been named in this sketch. 
Morgan commanded the second of two divisions 



86 



THE NATIOXAL CYCLOPiEDIA 



into which Greene cut the southern patriot army. 
In the eventful canijiaign which ensued, occurred 
the sanguinary conflict of Cowpens, S. C, Jan. 17, 
1781, wliich has been pronounced tlie most brilliant 
battle of the revolutionary war, in point of tactics, 
as it certainlv was markedly effective for its 
defeat of the "British. It otTered one of the most 
decisive exhibitions of military ability which any 
American force had ever (lis])layed. the English loss 
being almost equal in number to the American force 
engaged. Then came the feat of genius by which 
Morgan rejoined Greene across the fords of the 
Catawba riv<'r. while his ]iowerful antagonist. Lord 
Cornwallis. was nearer to those fords than he was. 
Close upon this followed Morgan's part in the move- 
ments wliich preceded the battle of Guilford Court- 
House. N. C., which battle Cornwallis was forced 
to make to save Virginia. It was at this time, and 
prior to that battle in Februaiy, 1781. that Morgan's 
old foe. .sciatica, attacked h"iin with such effect 
that he was compelled to withdraw from the army 
and go to his home. For some time previously his 
duties had been performed in great bodily pain. 
His disease alloweil him no further military service, 
save in the sui>pression of the Claypool (tory) insur- 
rection in Virginia, in the .summer of 1781, and an 
attempted co-()peration with the Marquis de Lafayette 
against Cornwallis. in which he was invested with 
the command of all the light American troops and of 
the cavalry. But his bcKlily trouble attacked him 
afresh and so disabled him that he was compelled to 
seek the repose and care of home and family. This 
was in August, 1781. The surrender of Cornwallis 
to Washington took place 
- .-^ „ I -• Oct. 19th. ^While Washing- 

yt^ -' J^ ~. ton was besieging the British 

'jv' ""^ J/ .- „ leader in Yorktown, Va., 
y? ^^ — ^ vi^_ Morgan wrote to him a let- 

ter of congratulation and 
hopefulness. In the reply 
which the commander-in- 
chief immediately .sent, he 
.said: "Be assured that I 
most sincerely lament your 
present situation, and esteem 
it a peculiar loss to the Unit- 
ed States that you are at this 
time imable to render your 
services in the field. I most 
sincerely thank you for the 
kind exiuession of your 
good wishes, and earnestly 
hope that you may soon be 
restored to that share of 
health which you may desire, and with which you 
may be useful to your country in the .same eminent 
degree as has already distinguished your conduct." 
The closing years of Oen. Morgan's life were spent 
in the bosom of his family and in the cultivation and 
improvement of his farm at Winchester. Va. He 
became wealthy, owning, in the year 1796, not less 
than 350,000 acres of land. He had cultivatcil his 
mind and improved his maimers, his lovely wife was 
1^ centre of attraction, and his home becaiue the re- 
sort of people of the first social rank. In 1790 he 
received from the U. S. congress the gold medal 
voted to him, years before, for the Cowpens victory. 
In 1795, as major-general, he had a brief command 
in the army which put an end to the whiskey insur- 
rection in western Pennsylvania. He was elected to 
congress in 1796. as a federalist, and zealously support- 
ed the administration of Prcsiilcnt John Adams. The 
statue shown in the engraving was dedicated in 1881 at 
Spartansburgh, S. C. Gen. Morgan died at Winches- 
ter. Va.. Jtdy 0, 1803, and in the processicm wliicli es- 
corted his remains to the burial-ground in that place 
were several members of the rifle company which 




Morgan raised and led to Boston in 1775. Gen. Mor- 
gan, it is .sjiid, died in the a.s.surance of the Christian 
faith. A horizontal slab marks his last earthly rest- 
ing-place. 

FEBIGEB, Christian, soldier, was born on 
the island of Fuenen, Denmark, in 1746. Being left 
an orphan at the age of sixteen, he was .sent to a 
military school, after leaving which he accompa- 
nied to Santa Cruz an uncle who had been appointed 
governor of that island. In 177'3 he visited North 
America with a view to establish business relations, 
and in the following vear entered into commerce 
with the New England colonies. Becoming deeply 
interested in the American cause at the outbreak of 
the revolution, on Apr. 28. 1775, he joined a 5Ia.ssa- 
chusetts regiment, quickly rose to be adjutant, and 
on the 17th of June following was present at Bim- 
ker Hill, where he distinguished himself. Accom- 
panying Arnold on his expedition to Quebec, he was 
taken prisoner at the storming of that post on the 
lastday of December, 1775, and was<lelained in Can- 
ada until September, 1776, when he was sent with 
other prisoners to New York. Having in the mean- 
time lieen appointed a lieutenant-colonel of the 11th 
Virginia, he was able to join his regiment on Jan. 1, 
1777, and in the following Se])teiuber, became 
colonel of the 2d Virginia. He was in the cam- 
paign of Philadelphia, "and afterward in the battle 
of the Brandywine. At Germantown he held 
the right ; with 4.000 men and two gims at Mon- 
mouth, he acquitted himself brilliantly: and in the 
attack on Stony Point he conuuaniled the right 
of the line and succeeded in personally capturing 
the British commander. On Sept. 1. 1780, Col. 
Febiger was ordered to Philadelphia, where he re- 
mained for a time, forwarding .supjilies to the army. 
Later, while in Virginia on recruiting duty, he as- 
sisted at the surrender of Lord Cornwallis. retiring 
from active service. Jan. 1. 1783, and was brevetted 
brigadier-general in the following September. He 
then settled in Philadelphia, engaging in busine.s.s, 
becoming the treasurer of Pennsylvani,-i. Nov. 13, 
17S9, a iiosition which he contiiuicd to hold the re- 
mainder of his life. He died in Philadelphia, 
Pa.. Sept. 20. 1796. 

■WARNER, Seth, soldier, was bom at Rox- 
biiry. Conn., Slay 17, 1743. His father was a phy- 
sician who removed to Bennington, Vt.. about the 
time when the young man was of age. Seth there 
became noted in the dispute between New York and 
Vermont as to jurisdiction over the territory in 
which Bennington lay, and, as one of the leaders 
of this distnibancc, was outlawed by the state of 
New York, in 1774. But this intei'state difficulty 
was lost sight of through the opening of the greater 
struggle, in 1775. Seth Warner mar<lied with Ethan 
Allen to the reduction of Ticondi'roga. anil was com- 
missioned by congress, which refused to revoke the 
conuuission, although the legislature of New York 
protested against it on .several occasions. Ai>iioiMted 
colonel, he raised a regiment and joined Gen. ^Mont- 
gomery in Canada; but, on the approach of winter, 
his men were discharged. After the death of Mont- 
gomery, he raised another body of troops with 
which" he marched to Quebec, afterward covering 
the retreat to Ticonderoga. Being forced to abandon 
Ticoiideroga, July 6. 1777, he was overtaken by the 
enemy on thi' following day. at Ilulibardton, where 
he was with two other regiments, commanded by- 
Hale and Francis. Hale smrendered with his regi- 
ment, and Francis was killed, but Wanu-r^made 
good his retreat to Manchester. Aug. 16. 1777, Col. 
Warner came to tlie aid of Gen. Stark, and by de- 
feating the reinforcement of the enemy, particijtated 
in the renown of the victory of Bennington. He 
then joined the armv under Gen. Gates. Col. 
Warner died Dec. 26, "1784. 



n 





■r'^^ocA ^y^ /yo/n^oyt^H^ 



COPYRIGHT, 1892, BY JAMES T. WHITE & CO. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



87 




^yt^t^ /^u/^a^*H^ 



PUTNAM, Israel, general in the revolutionary 
■war, was burn iu Salem, Mass., Jan. 7, 1718, the 
tenth of eleven children. It is stated tliat the house 
in which Putnam was born is still standing on the 
turnpike, half-way between Newburyport and Bos- 
ton. His family migrated from England iu the year 
1634, and settled in that part of Salem known as 
Danvers. The great-grandfather of Israel was John 
Putnam, his grandfather's name was Thomas, and 
his father's name was Josejili. 
Very little is known of his early 
life. He was brought up on 
his father's farm, and receiv- 
ed only a desultory education 
from the log .scliool-houses, 
which furnished about all the 
instruction there was to be 
hail m the eoiuitry parts of 
Kew England at that time. 
Fiu-ther than this, he is said to 
have been a courageous and 
somewhat reckless boy, but 
not quarrelsome. In 1739 
he married Hannah Pope, a 
daughter of John Pope, who 
lived in Salem, and by whom 
he had four sons and six 
daughters. In 1740 Putnam 
migrated from Salem to the 
town of Pomfret, Conn., where he had purchased 
a tract of land for a farm, and which is now in- 
cludeil iu the town of Brooklyn. It is stated that 
the outlines of the foundation of his house may still 
be traced in the turf, as also the well which he dug. 
Here, it is related, Israel Putnam farmed, planted 
orchards, gathered flocks and herds together, and 
even hung out a sign on one of the old elm-trees 
■which stood in front of hi.s door, which informed 
travelers tliat there could be found entertainment for 
man and beast, but there is very little besides con- 
jecture to give any impression as to Putnam's hfe at 
this time, excepting the well-known anecdote about 
his encounter witli the she-wolf in her cave, into 
■which he followed her with a torch in his hand, 
and succeeded in shooting her dead, dragging her 
out with great exultation. As the wolf in question 
had slaughtered many sheep, not only from his own 
fold but from those of the neighborhood, her destruc- 
tion was the cause of general rejoicing, and Putnam 
became a hero to everybody. From the period of 
this successful struggle with the she-wolf, whieli 
■would appear to have been about 1741 or 1742, until 
the outbreak of the French and Indian war in 1735, 
nothing is known of the life of Israel Putnam. His 
biographers have been .satistied with assuming that 
he was engaged in his farming operations, and th.at 
there was no particular reason why anything further 
should be known about him. Accordingly, his pub- 
lic life certainly begins with the year 1755, vehen he 
received an appnintment as cajitain of a company of 
provincial soldiers, volunteers from Connecticut; and 
although it is alleged by his biographers that Putnam 
had had no previous military experience, vet it is 
stated, and is a curious fact, that he had no rtitticulty 
in attracting to his .standard "a crowd of the finest 
young men the whole colony atl'ordcd." The first 
expedition upon which Putnam and his company 
was sent was for the jiurpose of reducing Crown 
Point, a fortified iiosition on Lake Cliamjilain. Thi.s 
was an enterprise of the colonv of M:issa<-husett.s, 
aided by Comieelicut and New York, and the com- 
mand of the exjH'dition was in the h.-inds of Gen. 
William Johnson. The troojis met at Albany, and 
in August, 1755, set out for the purpose of attacking 
Baron Dieskau, who was in command at Crown 
Point. On their > ay the troojis began the erection of 
the fortilicaliou afterward known as Fort Edward, 



and Dieskau, with his French troops and Indians, 
hearing of this, set forth from Crown Point, design- 
ing to attack the Americans. The two armies met 
at the southern end of Lake George, and a severe 
battle ensued, in ■ndiieh the Americans were at first 
beaten back, but the main body coming up attacked 
the French so fiercely that they were completely de- 
feated and put to flight, while Baron Dieskau was 
severely wounded, afterward dying from his injuries. 
In this battle, among the .slain, was the famous Mo- 
hawk Indian chief, Hendricks, who had been a fimi 
friend to the English; and Joseph Braut, another 
celebrated Mohawk, then only a boy of thirteen, is 
said to have taken an active part in the conflict. It 
was after this fight that Putnam reached the camp at 
Lake George, and his services were now used as a 
scout and ranger, continually harassing and surpris- 
ing the enemy, alarming their pickets, and keeping 
watch on their movements. It was found that Crown 
Point was too strongly fortified to be attacked with 
any chance of success with the force at hand, and 
the army was accordingly disbanded, leaving 600 
men to garrison Fort Edward and Fort AVllliani 
Henry. During the next year's campaign, Putnam 
still had a eomiiany, and the army was under the 
command of Gen. Abererombie, itJs objective point 
still being Crown Point. Montcalm, however, met 
with such success that the English and Americans 
were thrown almost altogether on the defensive. A 
great many anecdotes are told of Putnam's prowess 
and courage during this campaign. On one occa- 
sion he is said to have headed an expedition of 100 
men in boats, sent out to recapture a quantity of 
stores which had beeu seized by the French. The 
expedition sailed down Lake George, landed, en- 
countered the French while lying in ambush, and 
sunk most of their boats, and killed a large number 
of the occupants. In 1757 Putnam received a ma- 
jor's commission from the Connecticut legislature, a 
fact which shows that he was certainly held in high 
esteem by those under whose command he had serv- 
ed, and probably, through them, by the government. 
Early in this same yt-ar abundant forces arrived 
from England, the whole being imder the command 
of Lord Loudoun, a man who had no such capacity 
for warfare as had the Marquis de Montcalm, the 
French general, who, with his officers, had, up to 
this time, outwitted the British at every point. Lou- 
doun's first move 
in this campaign 
proved a fiasco. 
He designed to at- 
tack the fortress 
of Louisburg, but ' 
waited so long 
that he learned 
of the complete 
protection of that 
point before he 
was ready to 
move against it. 
In the meantime, 
Montcalm deter- 
mined to make 
an attack upon Fort. William Henry, -where Gen. 
AVebb was in conmiand, with the result that 
that position was obliged to surrender, being in.suf- 
ficiently niann<'d. The men who were in the fort 
were paroled by Montcalm, Init on leaving the forti- 
fication they were attacked by the Indians, when the 
horrible massacre, since pre-eminent in history among 
biUcheries of that sort, took place. Fifteen liundred 
imarmed men were ruthlessly cut down ujion the spot 
where they had been solemiily promised luotection. 
Putnam, who had been ordered to escort Gen. Webb, 
■who had retired from Fort William Henry to Fort 
Edward, was afterward sent back, and his descrip- 




88 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



tion of the scene which met liis paze on arrivinjr nt 
the deserted position jrives a grapliic picture of its 
horrors: "The fort was entirely demolished: the 
barracks, outhouses, and l)uil<lin>;s were a heap of 
ruins: tlie cannon, stores, boats, and ves.sels were all 
carried away: the fires were still burning, the smoke 
and stench "offensive and suUocatinsr. innumerable 
fragments, human skulls and hones and carcasses 
half consumed, were still frying; and broilintr in the 
decaying tires. Dead bodies. niaULtled with knives 
and tomahawks in all the wantonness of Indian 
fierceness and harharity, were everywhere to be 
seen. More than one hundred women, butchered 
and shockin;.dy manirled, lay upon the <rround still 
welterinij in their jrore; devastation, barbarity, and 
horror everywhere apiicarcd. and the spectacle pre- 
sented was too diabiilical and awful either to be en- 
dured or described." From Fort William Henry 
Putnam went to Fort Edward, where he remained 
durini; that winter, and where, at the risk of his life. 
he succeeded in savini; the maga/.ine, containing 
fifteen tons of powder, at a time when the barracks 
caught fire, and the tlames were rapidly approach- 
ing the powder. In the campaign of IToS Aber- 
crombie attacked Fort Ticiind<Toga. at that time 
garrisoned by 4.000 men under Montcalm. Lord 
Howe was second in command of the Biitish, and 
Putnam acted as advance guard and scout, with 1(10 
men under liim. At the very first tighting which 
took place. Lord Howe was sliot down. His remains 
W'cre afterwaid carrieil to Albany, where they were 
temporarily buried. The attack on the works was 
made by a storming-part.v of English soldiers, who 
were cut down immereifully, although they showed 
the greatest bravery. Altogether, it was a rash and 
inconsiderate expedition, in which tlie British array 
lost 2,000 men, and 3,o00 stand of arms. In the final 
retreat, Pulnam replacecl Howe as aide to Gen. 
Abcrcrombie. During the following summer. Put- 
nam performed one of his hare brained feats liy dash- 
ing down the rapids of tlie upper Hudson in an open 
boat, to escape a |iarty of Indians. In August, he 
was sent to overtake a parly of the enemy, which 
had captured a large ((uantity of valuable stores 
from the British, and was himself made prisoner by 
the Indians, anil bound to a tree, where, after the 
engagement, the French and savages amused them- 
selves b.v torturing him in different ways, and in the 
end came near liurning him at the stake, when he 
was saved through the kindness of a French officer. 
He was taken to Tieonderoga. and brought as a pris- 
oner before Montcalm, who sent him luider escort 
to Montreal, where he was finally exchanged. In 
1759 Putnam was promoted to the rank of lieutenant- 
colonel. During this year Gen. Wolfe fell in the 
midst of victory Ix'torc (Juehee. Tieonderoga and 
Crown Point were capturi'd bv Gen. Amherst, and 
Putnam went with the latter on his expedition to 
capture Montreal. This was accomplished, and the 
Canadas passed into the hands of the British. While 
on this expedition, Putnam was the hero of another 
of his extraordinaiT enterprises, in capturing two 
armed ves.sels which guarded the entrance to the 
river Oswegatehie, and the fort which Amherst 
fomid it necessary to seciu'c. Putnam took a few 
men with him in a boat after nightfall, and getting 
under the vessels' sterns, drove wedges on each side 
of the rudders, and lailh the vessels were driven 
ashore by the wind, when they were siu'rendered to 
the British. In 1703 the Briti^h government sent a 
large naval force against Havana, but a iiestilenee 
broke out. ami of 10,0110 men nearly lialf were swept 
away. The coliaiies .sent rcinfoicements and Lieut. 
Col. Putnam took cimimand of the ConnecticiU con- 
.tingentof 1,000 men. Unfortnnalely. the ship im 
which Putnam sailed was wrecked oft' the coa.st of 
Cuba. The men const rueteil rafts, and succeeded in 




landing, and aftersvard in reaching Havana and 
ioining the main hody when the attack on the foil- 
ilications of the Cuban city was made, and it fell into 
the hands of the British, by whom, however, it was 
restored to Sjiain the following year. During 17()3 
Putnam, with a Connecticut regiment, was sent up 
to the frontier, where there was some Indian fight- 
ing. Detroit being menaced. A permanent iieace was, 
however, made with them soon aftei-ward, and Put- 
nam returned to his ('(vnnecticut farm. He had not 
been long at home when his wife sickened and died, 
a terrible blow, which he is said to have felt deeply. 
From this time until 1775 there is no record of 
Putnam's life. In April of that year, the news of 
the battle of Lexington is .said to have reached him 
while he was |>lowing on his farm, and it is stated 
that he left his plow in the field, turning his oxen 
loose, and rode to Cambridge, a distance of sixty- 
eight miles, in one day. At Cambifdge he attended 
a council of war. but as he was immediately after- 
ward .sent for by the Connecticut legislature, then in 
session at Hartford, to confer with them, he return- 
ed; a regiment of troops was organized, with Put- 
nam at their head, and he was coniinissioiied as 
brigadier-general. A week later he was back at 
Camhridge. It is said that the British offered Put- 
nam the rank of ma.jor-general in the British army, 
a large sum ,)f money, and generous provision for 
his family, if he would adhere to the side of the 
mother-country. This liiibe. however, had no effect 
upon the old general. Arrangements were now made 
to erect a line of fortifica- , . ., 

tioiis all around Boston, 
and Putnam interested 
himself with great energy 
in this work. On .lune 6th 
there was an exchange of 
l^risoners between the two 
arniii's, when Gen. Put- 
nam and Dr. AVarrcn act- 
ed cai behalf of the Ameri- 
cans,and the exchange was 
effected at Charlestown. 
Putnam was with Prescott 
on the night of the Kith 
of June, when Breed's Hill, ever since known as 
Bunker Hill, was fortified by an expedition ordcn'd 
by a council of war. and botJi Prescott and Putnam 
are .said to have handled the spade themselves, in the 
pro.seeution of this memorable work. During the 
fl.irhling the next day Putnam was in charsre at In- 
nian's farm, and as soon as he discovered the inten- 
tion of the enemy to attack the Continentals, he at- 
tem))ted to throw u]) intrenchments on the actual 
Bunker Hill, which was contiguous to Breed's, and 
cominniidcil the l.-itt<'r. In this, howevi'r. he was 
thwarted by the suddenness of the action. Pntnam's 
Conneetieiit troops, when the provincials were final- 
ly rcinilsed. succeeded for some time in keeping 
file Briti.sh in check until the main body could make 
good their retreat. At the last he is said to have 
taken his stand by a field-piece, which had been de- 
.serted. and biced' tlie rapid advance of the British, 
who rushed ba'ward with fixed liayoiiels, determined 
not to irive it np. Col. Trumbull, in his battle-]iieee 
in the capitol at Wasliington. has reiucsented Put- 
nam deb-ndinu; this field-piece, and clad in a siilendid 
blue and scarlet uniform. As a matter of fact, he is 
said to have been in his shirt-sleeves, with an old 
felt hat on his head. In July. 1775, when Washing- 
Ion took coiuinand, Putnam was commissioned a 
ma.ior-s^eiieral. lieing one of four to receive that 
honor from congress. On the evacuation of Boston, 
he was placed in command at New '\'ork. and after- 
ward took ])art in the liattle of Long Island. Xew 
York heins: evacuated, he was ordered to Phila- 
delphia to fortify that city. In the summer of 1777 




OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



89 




'^^1 Putnu ^ y 



Putnam was in command in the Highlands of New 
York, but was removed on account of the surprise 
and loss of Forts Montgomery and Clinton. In 1779, 
Tvhile stationed in Connecticut, one of his outposts, 
now known as West Greenwich, was attacked by the 
enemy under the well-known Gov. Tryon. The 
place was then called Horseneck. Putnam was there 
himself with a small force of only 1.50 men and two 
iron cannon. These pieces were loaded and fired 
several times, doing considerable execution, imtil a 
party of dragoons, supported liy infantry, were or- 
dered to capture them. Putnam directed the retreat 
of his men into a swamp near by, and just as the 
dragoons had nearly reached him he pushed his 
horse down a precipice, riding over a fearful descent 
among the stones, and landing safely at the foot of 
some natural stone steps, which formed the ascent 
from below, and down which his horse had safely 
carried him. He rode to Stamford, collected the 
militia, formed a junction with his own troops, pur- 
sued Tiyon, and took tifty prisoners. The army 
now going into winter quarters, Putnam returned to 
his home for a few weeks, hut on starting for Hart- 
ford to rejoin his troops was seized with paraly- 
sis. He was carried to his home, where he re- 
mained during the remaining eleven years which 
elapsed before his death, which occurred on May 
19, 1790. 

CADWALADEB, John, soldier, was born in 
Philadelphia, Jan. 10, 1743. Although thirty-three 
years of age at the time of the outbreak of the war, 
and a very prominent and able officer thereafter, 
nothing seems to have been recorded regarding the 
early life of Gen. Cadwalader. It is known that, at 
the time of the battle of Lexington, he was in com- 
mand of a volunteer company in Philadcl))liia, which 
was p(.)pularl_v known as the "silk stocking compa- 
ny." This would appear to have been an organization 
from among the HHe of the voungmen of the Quaker 
City, but there can be no doubt that the company 
was well drilled and di.sciplin(^d, as nearly all of its 
members afterward received commissions in the 
army. Cadwalader was an active member of the 
committee of safety, until he was appoiulcil colonel 



of one of the city battalions. Later, he was commw. 
sioned a brigadier general under the state govern- 
ment, and during the winter campaign of 1776-77, 
he commanded the Pennsylvania troops. Gen. Wa.sh- 
ington's determination to cross the Delaware above 
the " Palls " with his main division on the evening 
of Christmas, 177G, for the pur]io.se of attacking 
Trenton, included the simultaneous crossing of the 
river at lower points by two smalU^r divisions of the 
army. One of these divisions, imder Gen. Ewing, 
was to land at the ferry, below Trenton, in order to 
prevent any movement of the British fnjm Trenton 
toward their i)osts at Bordentowii and Burlington. 
Gen. Cadwalader was to make, if possible, an attack 
upon Burlington, his ordersfrom (ieu. Washington 
being: "If you can do nothing real, at least create 
as great a diversion as possible." The cro.ssing of 
the Delaware, on and through the ice a few miles 
above Trenton, has been celebrated in picture and 
story. Washington accomplished the feat with great 
difficulty; but below Trenton the floating ice render- 
ed it impossible for the other divisions to cross, so 
that a part of the British force in Trenton succeeded 
in retreating in the direction of Bordeutown, and it 
was not until the 37th that Gen. Cadwalader was 
able to move his division across from Bristol to the 
Jersey side. The strength of the British position at 
Trenton being much greater than Washington had 
supposed, and the British force larger than his own, 
the commander-in-chief aban- 
doned this position to make the 
attack upon Princeton, which 
occurred Jan 3,1777. This was 
the first engagement in which 
Gen Cadwalader took part. 
Gen. Washington, writingshort- 
ly afterward to the president 
of congress, descrited him as 
" A man of ability, a good dis- 
ciplinarian, firm in his princi- 
ples, and (if intrepid bravery." 
In September, 1777. the British 
army landed at Elkton, Md., 
and it became necessary to or- 
ganize and equip the militia on 
the eastern shore. Washington 
accordingly wrote to Gen. Cad- 
walader, requesting his co-oper- 
ation in this duty — a request 
which was at once complied with. The latter shortly 
afterward joined the army under Washington, tak- 
ing part in the battle of Brandywine. He also 
served as a volunteer at the battle of Germantown, 
and, during the winter, was engaged in partisan ser- 
vice on the flanks of the enemy. He was afterward 
again in Maryland, engaged in recniiting on the 
eastern shore. Early in the spring of 177'S he wrote 
to Gen. Washington, stating his purpose to rejoin the 
army, and received from Washington, in reply, the 
following. " We want your aid exceedingly, and the 
public, perhaps at no time since the commencement 
of the war woidd be more benefited by your advice 
and assistance than at the present moment, and 
throughout the whole of this campaign, which must 
be important and critical." Later, in regard to a 
special detachment of about 400 Continental troops, 
with some militia, who were to hara.ss the rear of the 
enemy, then moving through New Jersey toward 
New "York, Chief Justice Marshall said: "If Gen. 
Cadw.-dader ccnild be prevailed upon to command 
them, he would be named by Wa.shington for that 
service, as an officer in whom full confidence might 
be i)laced." Cadwalader engaged in it with alacrity. 
By all of this it would appe^ir that Gen. Cadwalader 
held rather a ])eculiar relation toward Washington, 
and toward the exi.sting struggle; the fact being that 
he was a man of enormous fortime, whom it was 




J^>-;^7T^£tP^,c/a,^8-eW" 



90 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



very desirable to engage in the service of the colo- 
nies, and who appeju's to have had more of his own 
■way when in tlie ser\'ice than any of the other offi- 
cers. The conclusion of tlie movenieut throiigli New 
Jersey was the battle of >I(jnniouth, which was 
fought June 28. 1778, and in which Gen. C'adwala- 
der was engaged. It was at lliis time that the cele- 
brated cabal was formed against Gen. Washington, 
known as " Conway's Cabal," from Thoma.s, called 
the Count de Conway, an Irishman, who has the 
evil repute of having been the leader of the consjjir- 
acy which aimed to overthrow Washington and put 
Gen. Gates in liis place. Cadwalader's feeling was 
strongly enlisted in behalf of Wa.shiugtou, whose 
contidence and friendly regard he had imiformly en- 
joyed, and who.se opposition to this cabal brought 
him into a duel with Gen. Conway. Authorities dif- 
fer as to the process by which this was reached. One 
story is, that Cadwalader challenged Conway on ac- 
count of the latter's attacks upon the coniniander-in- 
chief. Another, which seems more probable, is, that 
Gen. Cadwalader's animadversions upon Gen. Con- 
way's behavior at the battle of Germautown caused 
the latter to send a challenge. AVhichever of these 
two statements may be the correct one, the challenge 
passed and was accepted, and a duel was fought near 
Philadelphia, July 2'i, 1778, in which Conway was 
shot in the mouth and fell, .severely injured, and, as 
it was thought at the time, mortally; though he idti- 
mately recovered, and left tlie country. His antago- 
nist was unhurt. Gen. Cadwalader was never in the 
United States military service. When not in the field 
with his command in the Pennsylvania line, he acted 
in battle either as a volunteer or under specified or- 
ders for particular service. This arrangement was 
of his own making, as he was twice appointed by 
congress a brigadier-general, and declined the ap- 
pointment. .Subsequently Gen. Cadwalader was a 
member of the legislative assembly of ]Maryland- 
His daughter married David ^Montague, afterward 
Lord Erskine. After Cadwalader's death, Thomas 
Paine, who had Iieen considered his enemy through 
life, wrote an epitajih in the form of a monumental 
inscription, for a Baltimore newspaper, which ran as 
follows: 

In memorv of 
GENERAL JOIIX CADWALADER, 

Who died February the 10th. 1786. 

At Shrewsbury, his seat in Kent county, 

In the forty-fourth year of his age. 

This amiable, worthy gentleman. 

Had served his country 

With reputation 

In the character of a soldier and a statesman: 

He took an active part and had a principal 

Share in the late Revolution; 

And, although he was zealous in the cause 

Of American freedom, 

His conduct was not marked with the 

Least degree of inalevolenc'e or jiarty spirit. 

Those who honestly differed from him in opinion, 

He always treated with singular tenderness. 

In sociability and cheerfulness of temper. 

Honesty and goodness of heart, 

Independence of sjiirit, and warmth of friendship, 

He had no sviperior, 

And few, very few, equals. 

Never did any man die more lamented 

By his friends and neighbors; 

To his family and near relations 

His death w.ms a stroke .still more .severe. 

IK'VINE, 'WiUiam, soldier, was born near En- 

niskillen, Ireland, Nov. H, 1741. His grandfather 

was an officer in the corps of the grenadiers, who 

Ifought so desperately at the battle of the Boyne. 

iWiilinni became a student of the celebrated ' Dr. 

|( 1. ^Iiniii. after leaving whom he rose to be a com- 




Iff^^^yO-iyU^ 




petent surgeon and physician. He was aiii>oinfed 
surgeon on board a British man-of-war. while still 
under age, and saw much service during the war 
between Great Britain and France. In 176;i he came 
to America, locating at Carlisle, Pa., where liis tal- 
ents and large experience soon gained for him a lib- 
eral practice. At the beginning of the troubles 
which resulted in the revolution, he was active in 
stimulating the people of Penn- 
sylvania to a feeling of patriot- 
ism and opposition to Great Brit- 
ain. This was no light task, as 
there were a large number of the 
Society of Friends in Pennsyl- 
vania, who were opposed to war, 
imder any circumstances, while 
the great proprietary interests in 
that state were strongly in favor 
of the crown. ]Mr. trvine. how- 
ever, as a member of several pre- 
liminary conventions, succeeded 
in awakening the desired interest 
in the cause. In January, 1776. 
he rai.sed a regiment, oi' which 
he was put in com-nand, and in 
the following June he was sent to 
Trois Rivieres. There he joined 
Gen. Thompson's brigade in a disastrous attack 
which was made upon the British shortly after. 
Gen. Thompson, Col. Irvine and nearly two hun- 
dred sidiordinate officers and privates were taken 
prisoners in this affair and sent to Quebec. Col. Ir- 
vine was not exchanged until 1778, when he was 
put in command of the 2d Pennsylvania bingade, 
being promoted to the rank of brigadier-general, 
May 12, 1779. He was with Lord Stirling in the ex- 
pedition again.st Staten Island, and also with Gen. 
AVayne. at Bull's Ferry, in .July, 1780. In 1782 he 
was sent to Pittsbvirg (Fort Sitt), under orders to 
guard the northwestern frontier, a delicate duty, on 
account of the .strong animosities between the peojile 
of that region and those of western Virginia. Gen. 
Irvine succeeded, however, in reconciling the two 
contending factious. In 1780 he was elected to 
congress, and he was also a member of the Pennsyl- 
vania convention, which ratified the federal consti- 
tution. In 1704 he commanded the Pennsylvania 
troops sent out to suppress the " whi.skey " rebel- 
lion. Having settled in Philadelphia, he was ap- 
]iointed superintendent of military stores, in 1801. 
He was also president of the Society of the Cincin- 
nati, of Pennsylvania. He died at Philadelphia, 
July 20, 1804. 

TALLMADGE, Benjamin, soldier, was born 
at Brook Haven, N. Y., Feb. 2.5, 17.54. He was 
graduated from Yale College in 1778, and taught 
school for three years, at the end of which he entered 
the Coimectieut service, and was conuuissioned a 
lieutenant. June 20, 1776. In the following Decem- 
ber, he was made captain, and, in the spring of 
1777, major. He was a special favorite of the ciun- 
mander-in-chief, being frequently given a .sejiarate 
conuuand, and p\it in charge of important duty. 
He fought at .Short Hills, Brandywine and Gernuin- 
town. and di<l good service at Monmouth. In Sep- 
teml)er. 1779. he was promoted to be colonel. At 
this time, he captured several hundred tories on Long 
Island, a feat for which he was liighly ju'aised On 
the occasion of the execution of Audii-, Col Tall- 
madge was in command, and accompanied the un- 
fortunate young English officer to the .scalTold, his 
acquaintance with Andre causing him to feel the 
deepest regret for the Englishman's death, and the 
manner of it, and he put on record his warm affec- 
tion for the victim of Benedict Arnold. After the 
war Col. Tallmadge was a member of conere.ss for 
many years. He married the daughter of William 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



91 



Floyd, one of the signers of the declaration of inde- 
pendence. A granddaughter of Col. Talimadge 
married William Curtis Noyes (q. v.), the distin- 

fuished New York lawyer. Col. Tallmadge died at 
litchficld. Conn., March 7, 183.5. 
MACDOXJGAIili, Alexander, soldier, was born 
in Scotland in 1731. His father emigrated to New 
York in 1755, and at one time owned alarm in the up- 
per part of Manhattan i,sland, from which he supplied 
milk to the citizens of New York. Alexander assisted 
his father in this business as well as on the farm. 
He went to sea for a time, and during the French 
and Indian war commanded a privateer, afterward 
settling in New York where he became a printer. 
In 1770 he published an address to the colonists, for 
which he was arrested and thrown into prison on a 
charge of liliel. .July 6, 1774, he presided at a great 
asseinblv of the people held in the suburbs oJ the 
city of ^ew York, preparatory to the election of 
delegates to the first Continental congre-ss, and it was 
at this meeting that Alexander Hamilton, then seven- 
teen years of age, made his tirst appearance as a 
public orator. In .June, 1776, MacDougall was ap- 
pointed colonel of the 1st New York regiment of 
militia. He was promoted to be brigadier-general the 
following August, and in October of the next year 
he was made a major-general, commanding in the 
action at White Plains, and taking part in the battle 
of Germantown. He was elected a delegate to 
congress in 1780, was re-elected in 1784 and was 
afterward a member of the New York state senate. 
He was the first president of the New York state 
branch of the Society of the Cincinnati. His only 
daughter married .John Laurence, the judge advo- 
cate-s.'-cneral at the trial of JIajor Andre. Gen. Mac- 
Dougall died in New York city .June 8, 1786. 

WILLIAMS, Otho Holland, soldier, was born 
in Prince George's county, Md., March 1, 1749. He 
was descended from early Welsh settlers of that re- 
gion. Being taken to Frederick coimty in infancy, 
and orphaned in 1761. he was placed 
in the county clerk's ofRce, of which 
he, in time, .secured full charge. He 
left this position, however, for a sim- 
ilar one in Baltimore. In the tirst 
montlis of the war, he went to Bo.ston, 
as first lieutenant in Price's rifle corps. 
He soon became captain, and. in 1776, 
major of a regiment of riflemen from 
JIarjdand and Virginia, wlio made a 
stout but vain resistance wlien attack- 
jed by Hessians at Fort Washington, 
Nov." 16, 1776. WilHaras was taken 
prisoner, but being badly wounded, 
he was, for a time, paroled in New 
York. Soon, however, he was ac- 
cused of corresponding with Washing- 
ton, put in a cell with Ethan Allen, 
and so cruelly treated that liis consti- 
tution received permanent injury. Kxchanged 
early in 1778, he foiuid that the 6th ^laryland.' of 
which he had been given command, was little more 
than a company, and complained to tlie governor 
that a regiment witliout a colonel would be of more 
use than ' 'a colonel without a regiment. " After being 
engaged at Monmoiuh, he was sent soulli, with De 
Kalb, in April, 1780. In that section, where most 
of the inliabitants seemed to liim "aliaiidoned, 
vicious vagrants," he was to make liis reputation. 
At Camden, Aug. 16tli, he rashly advised Gen. Gates 
to attack, with raw trooiis, who dropjied their 
muskets and ran. Gen. Greene made him adju- 
tant-general. In the n^treat, he commanded the rear 
guard, with which lie impe<led the pursuit by Corn- 
wallis. He rendered gooil service at Guilford Court- 
House, March 1.5, 1781, and Hobkirk's Hill, Apr. 20th. 
At Eutaw Springs, Sept. 8th, he led a brilliant charge, 




i^A/.'H-lU:o.c^ 



which won the field. In May, 1783, he was promoted 
to brigadier-general, a promotion which caused jeal- 
ousy among the colonels. When the Order of 
the Cincinnati was founded, Nov. 21, 1783, he was 
made its treasurer. His character and abilities were 
very highly esteemed by tho.se who knew him best. 
He went to Barbadoes, in 1793, in a vain effort to 
escape pulmonary troubles, and died at Woodstock, 
Shenandoah Co., Va., .July 16, 1794. A sketch of 
his life, by O. Tiffanv, appeared in 1851. 

PRESCOTT, 'William, soldier, was born at 
Groton, Mass., Feb. 20, 1726. His family were 
early English settlers in Mas.sachusetts, his father 
being Jutlge Benjamin Prescott. William Pres- 
cott is first'heard of in the French and Indian war, 
as a lieutenant of the provincial troops which cap- 
tured Cape Breton in 1758. His conduct during 
that campaign so approved itself to the British gen- 
eral in command, that he was offered a commission 
in the regular army, but declined it to return home 
to his family. From this time until the approach of 
the revolutionary war, Prescott 
remained on his farm at Pep- 
perell, filling certain town of- 
fices, and enjoying the esteem 
and affection of his fellow- 
citizens. On the outbreak of 
the trouble between the colo- 
nies and the mother-country 
he took a deep interest in af- 
fairs, and in 1774 received the 
appointment to command a 
regiment of minute-men which 
the provincial congress had 
organized. On receiving no- 
tice in April, 1775, of the in- 
tended operations of Gen. Gage 
against Concord, he marched 
his regiment to Lexington, but 
the British detachnient had 
retreated before he reached 
there. Prescott then joined 
the army at Cambridge, a great 
part of his officers and pnvate 
sohiiers volunteering to serve 
with him for the first campaign. 
On the 16th of June three regi- 
ments were placed under Col. 
Prescott, who was ordered to 
Charlestown, to take posses- 
sion of Bunker Hill, and to throw up works for 
its defence. At this time the British force in Boston 
numbered about 6,000 effective men, including regi- 
ments and parts of regiments of the very Hiie of the 
British army, besides six companies of rtiyal artillery 
and two battalions of marines. These troops were 
in barracks or intrenched camps on Boston Com- 
mon, "the Neck," and "Fort Hill," on the east; 
Copp's Hill, on the north, and Beacon Hill on the 
west and south. On Copp's Hill was a battery 
commanding Charlestown. and strong works had 
been carried across "the Neck." toward Roxbury. 
In the actual conflict at Bimker and Breed's hills, 
tlie numbers on each side were about ecpi.al. fluctu- 
ating during the day between 2,000 and 3.000 men, 
tliough prolialily not more than 1,,500 Americans 
manned their lines at any one time during the en- 
gagement. The he.adfpiarters of the Americans were 
at Camljridgc, where Gen. Artcmas AVard. who was 
in nominal command, remained during the action. 
The fighting was .supposed to be controlled by a 
committee of .safety, but practically Col. Pre.scott 
was in command, with Warren. Stark. Putnam and 
others to assist him. On the morning of .June 17, 
1775, heavy cannonading aroused theinliabitants and 
garrison of Boston — from whose housetops and emi- 
nences large bodies of provincial militia could be 




92 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOP iEDIA 



seen busily at work, intrenching Breed's Hill, in 
Cliarlestown. Tlie Britisli sliips of war lying in 
the stream had opened their batteries upon the ad- 
venturous workmen, wliile the battery of field guns 
on Copp's Hill also assailed tliem. Gen. Gage quick- 
ly ordered ten com)ianies of liglit infantry, ten 
of grenadiers, and some eonijiaiiies of royal artil- 
lery, with twelve guns, under command of Gen. 
Howe, to attack the Americans and dislodge tliem 
from their position. Tliese troops embarked ahoul 
noon, in two divisions, and laniled witlioul ojiposi- 
tion at Morion's Point, near the head of the i)re.sent 
Chel.sea Bridge. Among tlio.se who were in the boats 
a.ssisting in transi)orling the troops, was Cuthbert 
Collingwoixi, afterward Adinl. Lord Collingwood, 
of the British navy, who was Lord Nelson's second 
in command at the great na\al battle of Trafalgar. 
On landing. Gen. Howe formed his troops in three 
lines, and then, perceiving what he had to encoun- 
ter, sent back to Boston for reinforcements. Since 
midnight of the IGth the Americans had thrown up 



important. In the meantime some few reinforce- 
ments had reached the Americans, while Gen. 
Howe's force had been strengthened by tlie 47th 
regiment, the 1st marine battalion under Pitcairn, and 
■some additional companies of liglit infantry and gren- 
adiers. About '3 o'clock in the afternoon the fight- 
ing began by a discharge flora the British artillery, 
wliile Howe deployed his troops in columns of 
attack. The grenadiers marched directly for the 
rail fence, while the light infantry moved by the 
right totlank it, and clear the ground beliind it." This 
attack Gen. Howe personally superintended. On 
the left, all the other regiments advaiicec! in line, 
under Gen. Pigott. against the breastwork and re- 
doubt. Howe's idea was to break through the 
American left, and attack the redoubt and brea.st- 
work from the rear, thus cutting off the line of retreat 
of the Americans. The plan was a good one, but, 
unfortunately for the British.they failed to capture the 
rail fence until it was too late for the rest of the 
scheme to be of service. The British troops began 





PU[NOFTHEB/{TTLE^ 
Qj BUNKER HILL 




a redoubt about eight rods square, with an embank- 
ment upon its left flank, extending about 100 yards 
towards the Mystic river, the work having" been 
performed by I'OOO Massachu.setts and Connecticut 
men, commanded by Col. Prescott. This fortified 
position was Breed's Hill, a neighlioring eminence to 
Bunker Hill; it was selected as offering the best ojipor- 
tunity for defence. The line to the Mystic river was 
completed by a low stone wall toiijieil with wooden 
rails near the base of Bunker Hill, the whole being 
strengthened with fence-rails and anything else con- 
venient. Here Connecticut and New Hampshire 
men, under Knowlton, Stark, and Reed, manasied 
two light .six-pounders while defending their rude 
breastworks, and performed terrible service later 
on. The right of the redoubt, was prolonged by de- 
fences similar to those on the left. Gen. Putnam, 
who had seen service in the French and Indian war, 
is said to have done good work in stimulating tlie 
courage of his men, and in gaining advantages of 
position which his experienced military eye saw were 



firing as soon as they came within musket -shot of the 
American works ; but the provincials, who had 
been ordered to reserve their fire until they could 
see the whites of their enemies' eyes, remained silent 
until the Engli.sh battle-line crossed the fatal lioun- 
dary. Then a blaze ran along the whole line. The 
hill shook, and when the smoke lifted, whole com- 
panies had withered away, while the bugles were 
.sounding a recall, and the British veterans were re- 
treating to the shore, followed by the exulting 
cheers of the Americans. The .same policy was fol- 
lowed all along the American line, with the same le- 
sult. Naturally, Howe was enraged at this sudden 
check, and iierceiving that Cliarlestown gave some 
cover to provincial marksmen, ordered it set on tire. 
This so exasperated the Amerii-aiis that when tlie 
British made their second attack the slaughter was 
even more terrible, many valuable olfieers falling 
its victims. The situation was iierceived from Bos- 
ton, and a second reinforcement of marines was .sent 
to Howe, while Gen. Clinton himself crossed in a 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



93 




boat, and with Howe and Pigott lod the liglit. in- 
fantry and grenadiers for their tliird attaek on tlic 
breastwork and rail-fenee. By tliistinie powder was 
becoming searce with tlie provineials, and the IJiit- 
isli artillery had driven the defenders ot' the breast- 
works into the redoubt. A deadly volley staggered 
the Britisji column, but it pressed on, and this 
time flowed over the rampart for a hand - to - hand 
encounter with the brave garrison. The light wa.s 
practically over, and the day lost to the Amer- 
icans, though they contested it while retreating. 
Brave Dr. Warren {q. v.), who had come out and vol- 
imteered as a private soldier, was left on the field. 
Slowly the provincials gave groiuid as the enemy 
advanced, but soon, despite the efforts of Preseott, 
Putnam, and the other officers, the r<'tr(;at, became a 
rout. Howe's troops bivouacked on the ground, 
and passed the night lying on their arms or throw- 
ing up intrenehments. "More than 1,000 of the 
flower of the Briffsh soldiery lav dead and wounded 
in front of the American lines. The Americans lost 
over 400 in killed and wmuidcd, and live of the si.x 
small field-guus which they took into action. They 
took a more advanced position 
than the one they bad occupied 
on the peninsula, and from that 
day the head of a ]5rilish column 
was never seen on the shore of the 
mainland, the contest for the pos- 
session of Boston being reduced to 
a question of artillery practice. 
From a report of the share of the 
4th, or " King's Own " regiment 
in the battle of Bunker Hill, is 
extracted the following: "The 
King's troops had to advance on 
a hot simnner's day in tlu^ face 
of a sharp and weH-dirccled fire, 
and to ascend a stecj) hill cov- 
reaching to tlieir knees, and in- 
tersected with walls and the fences of various en- 
closures. Twice they were stopjjed, and twice they 
returned to the charge, and by their luidaunted res- 
olution and steady perseverance they eventually 
triumiihed over twice their own numbers, and car- 
ried the heights at the point of the bayonet. This 
proved one of the most sanguiuaiy battles on record, 
and the superiority of the British troojis was jire- 
eminently displayed. The two tlauk companies of 
the ' King's Owii ' had one sergeant, and thirteen 
rank and file killed, and two captains, two lieuten- 
ants, one sergeant, one drummer, and twenty-nine 
rank and tile woimded." Gen. Bnrgoyne witiicssed 
the battle from Copp's Hill, while he and Lord Percy 
remained on duty in Boston. Tlie former cannon- 
aded the American force at Roxbury, from the Brit- 
ish lines on Boston Neck, in order to prevent rein- 
forcements being dispatched to the battle-field. In a 
letter to Lord Stanley, Burgoyne says: " Howe's dis- 
positi(}n was extremely soldierlike ; in my oiiinion it 
was ])erfect. As his first arm advanced up, they met 
with a tho\isand impediments and strong fences, and 
were much exposed. They were also very much 
hurt by the musketry from C'harlestown, though 
Olintoti and I did not perceive it till Howe sent us 
word by boat, and desired iis to set lire to the town, 
■which was immediately done; we threw a jiarcc'l of 
shells, and the whole was instantly in tlames. Our 
battery afterward kept np an incessant fire on the 
heights. It was seconded by a number of frigates, 
floating batteries and one ship of the line. " This let- 
ter shows imder what terrible firing the Americans 
held their own, although totally inexperienced in 
fighting, and with only the slightest of fortifica- 
tions to strengthen their position. The Americans 
being defeated, and the king's troops in po.s,session 
of the intrenehments, Jlaj.-CJeu. Howe sent to Lieut.- 



ered with erass. 



Gen. Gage for an additional reinforcement of troops, 
and obtained four regiments of foot, the 3d bat- 
talion of marines, a company of artillery, and six 
pieces of cannon. Their vu:toiy had gained for 
them about 140 acres of fine lands, with all the 
gardens and orchards lielonging to C'harlestown — a 
matter of considerable importance to the British, 
who were holding Boston, .since they could he sup- 
plied with plenty of vegetables andfruit. The ex- 
act number of officers and men killed and wounded 
on the British side was 1,041, of whom ninety- 
two were officers. Dr. AV;irren was wounded and 
lying in the trenches, when a Britisli soldier per- 
ceiving him, prepared to rim him throuirli the body 
with his bayonet. The doctor desired tlial lie would 
not kill him; he was badly wounded, he .said, and 
could not live a great while longer. The soldier 
thereupon swore that he would kill him for doing 
more mischief than anyone else, and immediately 
ran him through tiie body. The doctor luid been 
conspicuous during the eiigagenient, in a light-col- 
ored coat, with a white satin waistcoat laced with 
silver, and white breeches with silver loops, which 
the soldier was seen to strip from his body. He was 
suppo.sed by the British to be the eonunander of the 
American army on that day. Col. Preseott lost 
nearly one-quarter of his own regiment in the ac- 
tion. AVhen he was at length forced to tell his men 
to retreat, he was one of the last who left the in- 
trenehments. He was so convinced that the enemy 
were disheartened by the severe and imex|)ccted loss 
which they had sustained, that he ivquested the 
commander-in-chief to give him two regiments, and 
he would retake the position tlie same night. In re- 
gard to the disputed command at Bunker Hill, Ban- 
croft says: " No one apjieared to have any connnand 
but Col. Preseott, and his braveiT caii never be 
enough acknowledged and recorded." I'rcseott con- 
tinued in the service until the beginning of 1777, 
when he resigned, and returned home; but in the 
autumn of the same year he went as a volunteer to 
the northern army, under Gen. Gates, and assisted 
in the capture of <5en. Burgoyne. This was his last 
military service. He was subsequently, for several 
years, a member of the Massachusetts legislature, 
and died on his estate at Pepperell Oct. 18,"l79.5. 

DEARBORN, Henry, soldier, was born at 
North Hampton, N. H.. Feb. 23, n.il. He was a 
descendant of Godfrey Dearborn, who, with a son 
Henry, came from E.xeter, Eng., and settled at Ex- 
eter, N. H., in 1639, afterward 
removing to Hamjiton, N. H. 
Henry Dearborn, the .subject 
of this sketch, after complet- 
ing his academic education, 
studied medicine with Dr. 
Hall Jackson, of Portsmouth, 
N. H., and in 1771 began prac- 
tice at Nottingham Square. 
On the day when an express 
]iasscd through the town with 
the news of the battle of Lex- 
ington, young Dearborn gath- 
ered together sixty volunteers, 
and marched with them to 
Cambridge, sixty -five miles 
distant, reaching there early 
the following morning. He 
was .soon appointed a captain 
in Col. Stark's regiment, and 
on .lum^ 17, 177.'j, particiiiat- 

ed in the liattle of Breeds Hill, after having marched 
across Charlestown Neck under a galling fire. In 
September of the .same year he accompanied Arnold 
in the expedition to Quebec. The hardships and 
sulTcrings of the troops were almost incredible. Gen. 
Dearborn having left on recortl the fact that on the 




94 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



march the men were obliged to kill and eat a dog, 
■which bcloiiired to him, aud was a great favorite. 
He himself was taken ill with a fever, and was left 
by the way in a cottage on the banks of the Chau- 
diere river without a physician. For ten days he 
was not expecte<l to live, but he recovered, and re- 
joined his company in lime to assist at tlie attack on 
Quebec. In this action he was cajiturcd. aud taken 
to Halifa.x, X. S.. and was not exchanged until the 
spring of 1777. He was then appointed a major, and 
particularly noticed, in dispatches, for his tightiug at 
Ticonderoga. At the battle of Monmouth, after 
Lee's retreat, the regiment in which Dearborn was 
lieutenant-colonel, made a splendid charge upon the 
main line of the enemy, forcing them into flight. Be- 
ing asked by Washington, ' ' What troops are those ? " 
he replied, " Full-blooded Yankees from New Hamp- 
shire, sir." Dearborn accomp.inied Gen. Sullivan in 
expeditions against the Indians, aud was present at 
the .surrender of Cornwallis. During 1782 he did 
garrison duty at the frontier post of Saratoga. At 
the close of the war he settled on the banks of the 
Kennebec river, wli<'r(' hv engaged in agricultural 
pursuits. Five years later, Washington appointed 
him U. S. marshal for the state of Jiaine. He was 
twice elected member of congress, and on the acces- 
sion of Jefferson to the presidency, in 1801, he was 
appointed secretary of war, a position which he con- 
tinued to hold for eight vears, when he was made 
collector of the port of Boston. The war of 1813 
brought Col. Dearborn to the front again as a sol- 
dier, and in February of that year he was commis- 
sioned major-general in the L'. S. army. The fol- 
lowing spring he captured York, in Upper Canada, 
and Fort George. After the war he commanded the 
military district of New York city. In .July, 1823, 
he sailed for Lisbon, having been appointed by 
President Monroe minister plenipotentiary to Portu- 
gal; but after two years he tendered his resignation, 
and returneil home. (Jen. Dearliorn jiublished an 
account of the battle of Bunker Hill, making charges 
of cowardice against Gen. Putnam, which engaged 
him in a controversy with the hitter's .s<m, Daniel 
Putnam. Gen. Dearborn died at Roxbury, Mass., 
June 6, 1829. 

ST. CLAIB, Arthur, soldier, was born at Thur- 
so, Caithness, Scotland, in 17;!4. His lather, the youn- 
ger son of anoble family, died at an early age hum the 
effects of hiiih living. His mother 
supplied to the boy, however, the 
aid and counsel due from the 
father, and Arthur was entered at 
the University of Edinburgh, and 
in due time indentured to Dr. Wil 
liam Hunter, of London, to acquire 
a medical education. When his 
mother died, in the winter of 
17.5G-.")7, he ])urcha.sed his time 
with the money he had inherited, 
and obtained an ensign's commis- 
sion in the (iOth or Royal American 
regiment of foot. .Afay 28. 175H, 
lie was before Loui.sburg, N. S., 
with the British and colonial 
forces under (Jen. Jeffrey Am 
herst. Gen. Wolfe and other noletl 
Englishmen. He served al.so, un 
der Gen. Wolfe, in the campaign 
\\u; caiiture of Quebec, Sept. IB. 
Clair who. then a lieutenant, seized 
the colors which had fallen irom the hands of a dy- 
ing soldier on the Plains of Abraham, and bore them 
until victory had been won by the British. When 
the siege of Quebec had been raised by the French, 
St. Clair obtained a fiulough, and married, at Bos- 
ton, Ma.ss., Miss Phcebe, daughter of Balthazar Bay- 
ard, who,se mother was a half-sister of Gov. James 




_X/ • '~/<Z' 'Ufiyt^l/' 



which 
17.59. 



issued in 
It was St. 




Bowdoin. By a legacy his wife .soon afterward 
received the sum of £14,(K)(), aud this, with what he 
had saved from his own fortune, made St. Clair a 
man of wealth. In April. 17(i2, he resigned from 
the army, aud spent some time in Boston. In 17(>4, 
with his young wife, he removed to Bedford in 
western Pennsylvania, and then to the Ligonier val- 
ley, in the sjime province. Here he had secured a 
large tract of land, partly by purcha.se and partly 
by grant from the king, for his services in the French 
war, which he proceerled to improve, erecting a fine 
residence, grist-mill, etc. In 1770 he wivs made sur- 
veyor of the district of Cumberland, justice of the 
court of (jujirter .sessions and common pleas, and 
member of the governor's council. The next year 
the governor made him justice of the court of ]3ed- 
ford county, recorder of deeds, 
clerk of the orphans' court, and 
prothonotary of the court of com- 
mon plea.s; and in 1773 he receiv- 
ed similar appointments for the 
newly created county of West- 
moreland. In Deeendjer, 177."), he 
was eommis-sioned as colonel by 
President Hancock of the Ameri- 
can Continental congress, and 
forthwith took leave, not only of his wife and 
children, but, in effect, of his fortiuie. to embark 
in the cause of liberty and the imited colonies. 
"I hold," he wrote to .James Wilkinson, "that no 
man has a right to withhold his services when his 
country needs them. Be the s;icrifice ever so great, 
it must be yieldeil upon the altar of patriotism." 
Resigning all his civil otiices, he received instructions 
to raise a regiment to serve in Canada; did raise 
the 2d Pennsylvania, the "crack" regiment of the 
province, and in about six weeks had its ten com- 
panies, not a man wanting, at Philadelphia, ready to 
depart for Quebec, which (ilace they reached Slay 
11th, just in time to cover tlie retreat of the Ameri- 
can army. He commanded in the disastrous tight at 
Three Rivers, after the death of Gen. Thompson, 
and subsequently advised to good pini>ose in the 
withdrawal of the colonial troops to Ticonderoga, 
where he served, in the summer of 177(5, as presiding 
officer at eourls-martiid and in routine court duly. 
Aug. 9, 1771!. being elected a brigadier-geiienil by 
the Continental congress, he joined Gen. Washing- 
ton in New Jersey. He pa.s.sed the winter of 177(}- 
77 at Morristowu, N. J. He was in the battle of Tren- 
ton. Dec. 2(i, 177(), and in that of Princeton. Jan. 3, 
1777, and proved himself, as well, one of the most ca- 
pable, as he was one of the most trusted, of counselors 
in militiiry operations. In recognition of his useful .ser- 
vices, he was made major-general by congress Feb. 
19, 1777. There and then was formed that allach- 
menl of Washinglon for Si. Clair, which endured so 
long as he lived. .St. Clair was next ordered to an im- 
portant post in the noithern de)iartment, namely. Fort 
Ticonderoga, N. Y., where it had been planned to ar. 
rest the progress of the British army in its advance 
from Canada. But its garrison was inade(|uate; 
there was no prospect of s|)ee(ly reinforcement, aud 
little sub.sisleuce for the Iroojis; instead of six com- 
panies of artillerists, as required, there were only 
two; had roads had prevented the transportation of 
.stores, and apjieals to the committees of the New 
England states had brought no relief. June 2. 1777, 
the new commander reached the fort only to find 
the small g;irrison badly armed, worse clad, and 
without niaL''azines. He endeavored to complete the 
works in ;uid around the fortress on the plan of 
congress, although they were, as he wrote to a dele- 
gate in that bofly, in worse condition than when he 
la.st saw them, and required ten thousand men to de- 
fend them, while he had not more than twenty-two 
hundred — and more, most justly to the same effect. 




OF AMERICAN BIOGKAPHT. 



95 



closing his letter thus : " If you sliould not hear 
fr(.)in ine again, which may probably be the case, re- 
' member that I have given you the account of our 
situation, ami ilo not suffer my reputation to be mur- 
dered, after having been sacriticed myself." Scouts, 
which he sent out to get news of the enemy ap- 
proaching under Burg03-De, were slain by Indians: 
few returned. Tlie failure to fortify Sugar Loaf 
Hill (or Mount Defiance), a rugged eminence at the 
southern e.'itremity of Lake Champlain, however in- 
evitable in the circumstances of St. Clair's environ- 
ment, was fatal to any possibility of holding his po- 
sition, and when St. t'lair found it occa])ied by the 
British, and llieir artillery commanding his fort, he 
knew that resistance would be hopeless. To remain 
in Ticonderoga was to lose his little army; to evacu- 
ate would be to sacrifice himself, not only because of 
the intrinsic importance of the fortress as a barrier 
against the Engli.sh, Canadians and Indiaus, but be- 
cause the impression was widespread throughout the 
northern colonies that an effective stand could and 
would he made here against the British. A council 
of general olHcers unauimously decided to withdraw 
from the fortifications, which was dune on the night 
of the 6th of July, 1777, not, however, without're- 
vealing the American retreat t(j the British^an inca- 
pable French general, Fermoy, disobeying e.\])ress 
orders by firing his quarters as lie left them, about 2 
A. M. St. Clair's rear-guard, under Col. Selh War- 
ren of New Hampshire, was overtaken by Gens. 
Fraser and Kiedesel of the British army and badlj' 
handled in a hotly contested engagement. .July 13th 
St. Clair reached" Fort Edward, N. Y., with about 
2,000 Continental troops, and these .served as a nu- 
cleus fvr a new army. The militia of neighboring 
New England states came in to him, and on the 14lh 
he wrote to cougre-ss : " I have the most .sanguine 
hopes that the progress of the enemy will be checked, 
and may yet have the satisfaction to experience that 
by abandoning a post I have eventually saved a 
.state." But the clamor which arose over this evacua- 
tion, consequent upon the mistaken impre.ssion which 
had been diffused throughout the colonies as to the 
strength of the po.st under St. Clair's ccmimand, and 
as to his resources, was such, as, for a time, sadly 
obscured his reputation, and even affected the mind 
of Washington himself. Ultimately, however, the 

feneral public verdict was that formulated by 
ared Sparks, the historian, who wrote: "Time 
proved that In had acted the part of a skillful and 
judicious ollicer." In September, 1778, a court- 
martial, of which Maj.-Gen. Benjamin Lincoln was 
president, gave a juiigment upon the charges which 
were brought against St. Clair in connection with 
the Ticonderoga surrender, as follows : "The court 
having duly considered the charges against Maj.- 
Gen. St. Clair, and the evidence, are unanimously 
of opinion that he is not guilty of either of the 
charijes preferred against him. and do unanimously 
acquit him of all and every of them, with the high- 
est honor. " After the surrender, St. Clair left the 
northern de]iartment, in obedience to orders from 
congress. Pending the decision of his case, which 
has been .stated, he joined Gen. Washington in the 
field, becoming a member of his military family, 
acting as a voluntary aide-de-camp at the battle 
of the Brandywine, where he had a horse shot under 
him: sharing the sufferings of Valley Forge, faith- 
ful to Washington in the midst of the noted cabal 
against him. It was from St. Clair's division that 
soldiers were taken to lead the column that success- 
fully a.s.saulled the British works at Stony Point, 
N. v., .luly 12, 1779. This divi.sion also held" the post 
of honor throughout the campaign of 17K0, in which 
his services were arduous and valuable. He was 
one of a ccmimission to arrange a cartel for the ex- 
change of prisoners, and received the command of 



the corps of light infantry then newly formed, in the 
ab.sence of the Marquis de Lafayette, who was his 
close friend. He was appointed to the command at 
West Point, N. Y., upon the discovery of Benedict 
Arnold's treason, and in October he was a member 
of the court-martial that coudenuied Maj. Andre. 
When the American armies marched soutliward, in 
1781, preceding the final struggle, St, Clair was left 
in Pennsylvania for recruiting purposes, but soon 
joini'd the troops before Y<irkto\vn, in Virginia, 
although not until the articles of capitulation had 
been signed by the Briti.sh commander. Thence he 
joined Gen. Nathanael Greene in Soiuli Carolina, 
where he remained until the summer of 1782. In 
178;! he was engaged in Pennsylvania, in closing up 
the army accounts, furlonghi"iig veteran soldiers, 
etc., etc., and in the monili of .June, in connection 
with members of the .state executive council, quieted, 
without bloodshed, a .serious disturbance among the 
inipaid Pennsylvania troops. After the war, he 
found himself ruined, financially, but satin congress 
as a Pennsylvania delegate, from Feb. 20, 178(i to 
Nov. 28, 1787, being cho.sen its president Feb. 2d 
of the latter year. Oct. 5, 1787, while yet president 
of the legi-slature, he was made governor of the 
Northwest Territoiy. His services in this position 
were of very great value. p;irticularly in applying to 
the Indians the benevolent jirovisions of the ordi- 
nance of 1787. His caiujiaign against the Indians in 
1791, which resulted in the surpri.se by which his 
army was routed (Nov. 4lh), and his exoneration at 
the hands of a congressional investigating com- 






^^^^-^sfen. 




-i-xnev-'tj' 



mittee, are amply set forth iu the "Life and Pidilic 
Services of Arthur St. Clair " by AV. H. Smith (Cin- 
cinnati, O., 1882, 2 vols.). Removed from office on 
political grounds by President Jefferson, in 1802, he 
returned to Ligonie"r, Pa., and there sought to gather 
from the wreck of his fortunes sufficient resources 
for the evening of his days. His endeavors tc secure 
the settlement'of ju.st claims against the V. S. gov- 
ernment were vain, and although, in addition to an 
annuity of .fGOO per year he had a congressional 
pen.sioii of |(50 per month, the closing portion of his 
life was jjassed in poverty. Even the congressional 
pension was .seized r>n by one of his creditors, at 
the door of the U. S. treasury. He was ultimately 
driven out of bis house t'o barren lands five 
miles di.stant from it, where he supported himself 
and his daughter by selling .su|)plies on the road 
side to the wagoners who traveled over the road. 
Aug. 31, 1818, in his eighty-fourth year, he un- 
dertook to go to Young.stown, three miles dis- 
tant, for S(mie necessaries, but was found dead in 
the course of the day within a mile of the village, 
h.'iving been thrown from his wagon. In the ceme- 
tery at Greensburg, Pa., is a neat sandstone monu- 
ment, erected by aMasonic lodge, with this inscrip- 
tion : "The earthly remains of Major-Geueral Ar- 
thur St. CMair are" deposited beneath this Inuuble 
monument, which is erected to supply the place of 
a nobler one due from his countrj'." 



96 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



PARKER, John, patriot and soldier, was boru 
at Loxiiiixidii, Mass., ill 1759. His Eiigli.sh ancestors 
came from the parish of Browusliolme in the county 
of York, and were resjieetahle and tlourishing early 
in the si.xteeiitli ceiUiiry. Thomas Parker came 
over in 1G3.5, and settled" al Lynn, Mass., where he 
was made a freeman in 1037, removed to Readins, 
Mass., in 1640, and was one of seven who founded 
the first church there, of which he was a deacon in 
KUo. The military spirit was stronjr with him and 
with his posterity." Jonathan Parker, one of them, 
was in Kin.i? Pliilip's war. .'ohn Parker, another, 
left Keadin;;, and settled in Camhridire Farms, now 
Le.\in;;ton,"Ma.ss., in 1710. lie was ihe father of the 
subject of this sketch, who was liimself the grand- 
father of Rev. Theodore Parker, of Hoston,"jlass. 
(tj. v.). He was a sergeant in the French and In- 
dian war, 1749-59, and "was at the taking of Quebec. 
On the 19th of April, 1775, about 1 p. M., he was sum- 
moned, as captain of the town minute-men, from his 
home at Lexington, .Mass., to the meetinghouse 
green. He was ill at the time with troubles' which 
grew, by neglect and exposure, into the disease of 
which he died a few months later. He resided 
about three miles from the meeting-house. Being 
informed " that there were a number of regular (Brit- 
ish) officers riding up and down the road, talking 
and insulting people," he issued the orders which 
assembled his company, and liastened to his miuis- 




■ ^.B^ttle "f LexiMtofj . 



ter's (Rev. Jonas Clark) side. He concluded " not to 

meddle or make, it is .said, with said regular troops, 
unless they should insult or molest us." At the ap- 
proach of the body of regulars, which was 900 
strong, he formed his nwn little troop of seventy men 
into the first line of Ihe revohiticm, and bade them 
charge their pieces with powder and ball. A scatter- 
ing and ineffective tire was their response to the 
three volleys which the British delivered; after this 
Capt. Parker t<il(l them to disperse and take care of 
themselves. Fifteen men had fallen; seven of these 
were killed, including Jonas Parker, "the strongest 
wrestler in Lexington, pierced with both ball and 
bayonet." The men ili.spersed for a time, to .join, in a 
few hours, the great uprising of the country, which 
followed the regulars to Boston with the Rev. Jonas 
Clark's Sunday doctrine (of forcible resistance to 
British oppressi(in) pnielically administered all along 
the road. Capt. Parker was not loo ill to engage far 
and well in this pursuit, being absent from ills home 
from after 1 i". M. until twelve o'clock at night. 
He was also at the bailie of Bunker Hill. June 17, 
1775, in eommaini of troops, but not engaged on ac- 
count of sickness. The king's arm, which he took 
from a grenadier of the 43d regiment (the first 
weapon captured in the revolution) and liis sunlight 
fowling-piece, which he had carried at (Jnebec, stood 
by the door cjf the Rev. Theodore Parker's study, at 
Boston, unl il the executors of bis will consigned them 
to the keeping of the state of Massachu.setts. They 
now hang in the Jlassachusetts senate chamber. The 
grandson of Cajit. Parker (Rev. Theodore Parker) 
added a few fads to the foregoing record, in a letter 
to Mr. George Bancroft, the historian, dated Boston, 
8ept. 10, 1858. He said: "At the battle of Lexington, 




when Cajit. Parker drew up his men as the British 
were nearing, he urdered every man to load his piece 
with powder and ball. ' Don't fire unless tired upon; 
but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here!' 
When the battle was re-enacted in 1820 (or there- 
about) his orderly .sergeant t(H)k the captain's place, 
and repealed the words, adding, ' for them is the 
very words Cajitain Parker said.' Besides, some of 
the soldiers, wlien they saw the fiash of the British 
guns, turned to run; he drew his sword and said. 'I 
will order the first man shot that offers to run!" 
Kobody ran until he told them ' Disperse and lake 
CJire of yourselves.' " (See Life of Theodore Parker 
bv John Weiss, vol. i.) Capt. Parker died Sept. 
17, 1775. 

MOULTRIE, ■William, soldier, was born in Eng- 
land in 1731. Dr. John Moultrie, his father, brought 
him to CharlesiDU, S. C, in 1733, where he continued 
to reside. In early manhood he dis- 
tinguished him.seif in an expedition 
of Ihe province against the Cherokee 
Indians, commanding a light infant- 
ry compaii}' in the re.iriment of Col. 
James Grant (1701), of which com- 
pany the renowned Francis Marion 
was a lieutenant. He was a mem- 
ber of the South Carolina provincial 
congress, which met at Charleston 
in January, 1775, from the parish of 
St. Helena. He was chosen colonel of 
the 2d South Carolina infanlry, and 
at once engaged actively in providing 
for the protection of the city. Pos- 
session was taken of Fort Johnson, 
on James Island, and this position 
was supported by a neighlxiring camp and battery. 
A flag being needed for signals, Moultrie devised 
one — "the first American flag displayed in S<iuth 
Carolina." Its color was blue, adapted from the 
clothing of the state troops, and the crescent, which 
api>eared in the right corner, was taken from a 
badge worn in their caps by two regiments who gar- 
risoned the fort. A battery was also erected 
under Jloullrie's supervision, at Haddrell's Point. 
On the 3d of March he took command of the fort 
in process of erection on Sullivan's Island. Jime 
SS. 1770, the British fleet, under command of Ad- 
miral Sir Peter Parker, which had brought from 
New- York the forces of Sir Henry Clinlou, began 
its attack upon the defences of Ihe city. The fortifica- 
tion of which Moultrie had command bore the brunt 
of it, having (hirty-one guns, but a ridiculously inade- , 
(piate sujiply of powder, tliere being but Iweniy-eight 
rounds for Iwcnlysix cannon. The heavy eannoii- 
adingof the fleet was delivered upon lliefortal :i (lis 
tance of 350 yards, the balls hilling the mark al which 
they were aimed, but sinking harmlessly in the soft 
palmetto logs, of which Ihe fortification was con- 
structed. But the American fire was delivered up- 
on the fleet with fearful ell'i^cl. Carefully husband- 
ing his scanty aniHiuiiilion, Moultrie, coolly smok- 
ing his pil)e. directed his men to single out the 
Bristol, the British flagship. Every shot seemed to 
have told, and at one lime only Admiral Parker re- 
mained upon the (luarterdeck. The sun went down, 
but the conflict continued luitil 9 v. m., when the 
British admiral drew off his shijts. The day's work 
was over and Charlesion was delivered for nearly 
three years from an attack by the English. In rec- 
ognition of this defence of Sullivan's Island, the 
Continental congress made .^louUrie a brigadier-gen- 
eral of the'regular army, and in the palmetto .seal of 
his own stale his victory has also a lasting commem- 
oration. II(; was thereafter foremost in the few mili- 
tary operations which were carried on in the prov- 
ince prior to the cajiturc^ of Charleston by the 
British troops under Sir Henry Clinton, 12th May, 



1 





CCVRiOHT, 189J. BY JAMES T WHITE & CI). 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



97 



1780. These embraced liis defence nf Beaufort, 
8. C, agaiust a British force under Col. Gardner, in 
February, 1779, and hiler, April of same year, his 
hindrance to the advance of Gen. Augustine Pre- 
vost toward CUuirlestou, until the city was placed in 
condition for defence: his attack upon Prevost, at 
John's Island, in the Stono river, as the British gen- 
eral fell back before Geu. Lincoln's forces, and his 
part in the ill-starred siege of Savaunah, by the 
Americans, in October, 1779. He was commandant 
at Charleston when it surrendered to the British, and 
was a prisoner on parole from that date until Febru- 
ary, 1782, when he was " regidarly exchanged, with 
a lunnber of other Americans, by composition, for 
Lieut. -Gen. Burgoyne, of the British forces, ami 
late a prisoner of war to the United States of 
America." During the interval he was otl'ered the 
command of a British regiment at Jamaica, W. 1., 
If he woidd desert the Aiuerican cause, but his an- 
swer was: " Not the fee simple of all Jamaica 
should induce lue to part with my integrity." When 
he was freed from parole he visited the camp of 
Marion and (ireene. and bore an exultant part at the 
evacuation of Charleston by the British. He was 
then made a major-general by the U. S. congress. In 
1785 he was chosen governor of South Carolina, and 
again in 1794. The prtparatiou and issue of " Me- 
moirs of the American Revolution so far as it Re- 
lated to the States of North and South Carolina and 
Georgia" (New York, 180'3), a repository of orig- 
inal documents, with brief comments of the writer, 
occupied the closing years of his life. He died at 
Chariest on, S. C, Sejit. 27, 1805. 

SCHUYLER, Philip John, soldier, was born 
at Albany, N. Y., Nov. 20, 1783. John Schuyler, 
his father, was the son of that John Schuyler who, 
in August, 1090, at the age of twenty-two years, led 
a force of " twenty-nine t'hristians and one hundred 
and twenty savages " into Canada to fight the French 
and Indians, who had, earlier in 
the year, set fire to Schenectady, 
N. v., and butchered its unsus- 
pecting inhaliitants. This grand- 
father's father, Philip Pieterson 
^-^ , - ' Schuyler, came to the New 
?f^p^' -i World from Aiusterdam, Hol- 

land, in KioO, and married Mar- 
i::iret van Slechtenhorsl.at Rens- 
M'laerwyck, on the 12th of De- 
cember of that year. These 
two were the progenitors of the 
Schuyler faiuily in America. 
The father of Philip Schuyler 
died when he was eight years 
old, and as the eldest of tive 
children Philip inherited all the 
real estate of his parents: his 
guardianship and that of the 
other children vesting in the 
mother, Cordelia van Cortlandt 
S., a person of excellence, in 
the prime of early womanhood. Philip also in- 
herited a fine estate at Saratoga, which came to 
him from an uncle who was murdered by Freuch 
and In(li;ins iu 1745. At the age of tifleen. ho 
was placed in a school at New Rochellc, Westchester 
Co., near New York city, but was conlined to his 
rooin for a whole year with hereditary gout, the 
first appearance of a malady which tormented him 
all his life, notwithstanding he was always active, 
and teiu))cratc in eating and drinking. In spite of 
his illness, he hardly relaxed his studies for an hour, 
mathematics aiul the exact sciences being his favor- 
ites. He also aciiuired a full knowledge of the 
French language. In his eighteenth year he was 
deep in the wilderness, on the borders of the Upper 
Mohawk river, ou one of the wild trading and 




hunting excursions with Indians in which most 
young Albanians were then engaged. When he 
was about twenty years of age, on another of 
these, the Oneida chiefs, to testify their regard for 
him, exchanged names with him, by which trans- 
action they considered that both parties were hon- 
ored. Several of the Indians assumed his sur- 
naiue. From that time no man, save Sir William 
Johnson, ever exercised a greater influence over the 
more easterly tribes of the Iroquois confederacy 
than Pliilip Schuyler — an influence which was sub- 
setpiently of the utmost moment to his country. 
Sept. 17, 1755, he married Catharine, daughter of 
Col. .Tohanues van Rensselaer, of Claverack, N. Y., 
having come into possession of his estate in 17.54, 
when he forthwith proceeded to share his patrimony 
with his brothers and sister. The tinal French and 
Indian war, which lasted seven years and terminated 
in the collapse of French authority in the New 
World, was then begimung, and Schuyler had al- 
ready recruitcti a comjiany of 100 men for service 
therein; had been made its captain, and had tasted 
lighting at the battle of Lake George, Sept. 8, 1755. 
The winter following was spent by him in military 
service at Fort Edward, N. Y. In the succeeding 
spring he was commissary for the English colonel, 
John Bradstrcet, (ten years earlier lieutenant-gov- 
ernor of St. John's, N. F.), in an expedition to 
Oswego, N. Y. On the way back to Albany, in a 
sharp fight with Freuch regulars, Canadians and In- 
dians, nine miles up the Oswego river, he displayed 
great intrepidity and great humanity. This was 
the beginning of an intimacy between Schuyler and 
Bradstrcet, which continued while both lived. In 
1757 he left the service and remained for some time 
in private life. But he appeared as deputy cjuarter- 
master-general in the spring of 1758, in connection 
with Col. Bradstrcet, and acted with that officer when, 
after the British defeat at Ticonderoga, he led a suc- 
cessful expedition against Fort Frontenac, at the 
foot of Lake Ontario. In the camjiaign of 1759, 
Schuyler was at Albany, actively engaged in for- 
warding supplies to the army then aUe^npting co- 
operation in the conquest of Canada under Gen. 
Jeffrey Andierst. At the solicitation of his friend 
Bradstrcet, Schuyler went to England toward the end 
of the year 1760, "to settle with the British government 
the former's accounts as quartermaster-general. In 
the summer of 1701 he returned home, to find public 
feeling deeply stirred by the causes which ulti- 
mately brought about the decisive rupture between 
the American colonies and the parent country. He 
was called into the service of tlie colony in various 
civil employments. After the peace of 1703, he was 
also engaged in managing his own private affairs, 
which more and more called for his attention. He 
had been a frequein jnirchaser of real estate in the 
Hudson and ^lohawk valleys, and had interest in 
lands about Fort Edward. >I. Y., and in the Van 
Rensselaer property, Columbia coimty. Large tracts 
of land were his iii Dutchess county, N. Y.Tand in 
the manor of Cortlandt. His Saratoga estate was 
the most troublesome of all, for it was improved, 
and had mills on it of considcr.able importance. 
He owned a schocmer, named The Mohawk, trading 
on the Hudson: also two or three .sloops, and was 
active in juomoting emigration from Europe to the 
wild lands of the West." In 1704 he was elected a 
nieniber of the Society of Alls iu London, Eng. 
The same year he was ajipointed, by the general as- 
.sembly of New York, one of the commissioners, on 
the part of his province, to manage a controversy 
over the partition line between New York and JIas- 
sachu.setts. He was also an active particiiiator in 
thedisputes then oecurring bctweenthe authorities of 
New York and the people of the New Hampshire 
Grants (now the state of Vermont), upon a similar 



./J 



98 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



question, and was hence most thorouiilily disliked 
by all will) rciiarded New York as an u|i|)ressor in 
the niatli-r. In the excitement prior to tlie American 
revolution. C'apt. Schuyler was an active but a con- 
servative politician, espousing the cause of his coun- 
try at the beginning of the controversy, lie was 
connected witli the commis.sary depart inent in some 
way in 17(iT. and in August of that year was iu- 
strinnental in the formation of a militia regiment, of 
which he became colonel, his conimaud comprising 
large portions of the present N'ew York counties of 
Saratoga, Kensselaer and Washington. He was, at 
this time, very much engaged, moreover, in the cul- 
tivation of fla.x and hemp, and erected a tla.x-mill 
(near New Y'ork), the first of the kinti in America, 



.Mhr 




for which the Society for Promoting Arts voted 
him a gold medal. In March, 1768. he was elected 
one of the two representatives of the city and 
county of Albany, in the colonial assembly. In 
that body he took a conspicuous position, particu 
larly as a member of special committees, nor was it 
long before he was known as the leader of the 
colonial party within it. .Jan. 3, 1769. the royalist 
governor. Moore, dissolved this assembly and or- 
dered a new election. Schuyler was rechosen by 
a very large majority. In this house he also took 
and maintained a leading position. Nov. 1, 1769, 
he joined in the celebration, at New York, of the 
anniversary of the day on whicli the British stamp 
act was to have gone into effect, but did not. When 
this assembly passed a vote is-suiug bills of credit to 
the amount "of £120.000, to sustain the royalist gov- 
ernment, the iiojMdar party raised the cry of alarm 
in the city and province, and Schuyler was, by voice 
and vole, the most active and pronounced oppo- 
nent of the measure, while, at the same time, he 
preserved friendly personal relations with his adver- 
saries. In December. 1770, Edmund Hurke was ap- 
pointed agent in London for I he jirovince of New 
Y'ork, having been nominated by Schuyler. Schuy- 
ler continued a memlier of the house, which re- 
mained a loyalist body, until 1775. occupied mean- 
while, among other things, with the attempted ad- 
justment of boundary lines between New Y'ork and 
Massachusetts. The controversy with the people of 
the New Hampshire Grants was renewed, and by 
reason of his insistence upon New York's rights in n; 
Schuyler .secured a still larger measure of personal 
impojudarity among New Englanders, During a part 
of this year he was in feeble health, and could uot ac 
cept the nomination of the Albany city couunittee of 
correspondence to represent that district in the Con- 
tinental congress, which met at Pliiladelpliia in Sep- 
tember, but he was chosen a dcleiiale from New 
York to the second Continental congress at Phila 
delphia, May 10, 1775, by a convention of New 
Y'ork counties, and took his seat in that body Jlay 
15th. There he was on a committee with George 
■\Va.shington, to prepare rules and regulations for 
the Continental army, anif on the 15th of .lune was a]i- 



pointed one of the four major-generals of the Conti- 
nental forces of which AVa.shiugton became, on the 
same day. commander in-chief. On the 21st of 
.June, with Gen. Washington, he set out for the 
North, and at New York city, June 25th, was as- 
signed to the command of the northern department, 
which included the whole of the jiroviuee of New 
Y'ork. Affairs on Lake Champlain demanded and 
received his til's! and most earnest attention, for the 
po.s.ses.sion of Canada, either by an alliance in the 
cause, or by (x)n(iuesi, was held to be of the greatest 
imiiortanee to the Aineiicans. He found the aspect 
of things connected with the republican cause in 
northern New York unpromising. The Indians were 
becoming disattected. and there was controversy at 
Ticonderoga between the American militia othcei'S 
who were in charge there after its capture by Ethau 
Allen. The Continental congress forlhwilh ap- 
pointed a board of Imlian conimissiouei-s for Schuy- 
ler's depart ment and placeil him at its head. He 
was far more successful in tem|)orarily pacifying the 
Indians than in educing order and subonlinalion 
among the militiamen, ororsranizing an army for the 
movement upon Canada. 1 he troojis he thought to 
raise in New York and its neighboring colonies 
were slow in asserabliug. military .■iupjilies could not 
be secured, quarrels between otlicei-s were not un- 
common, and conditions which would have daunted 
any liiit the most determined and re,sourceful s|)irit 
multiplied about him. After the exercise of the 
greatest diligence and energy, he found himself little 
prejiared either for offensive or defensive warfare. 
He was finally enabled to s<'nd forward some troops, 
under Gen. Richard Jlontgomery. whom he himself 
joined at Isle la .Moiie, near the loot of Lake Cham- 
plain, on the morning of Sept. 4, 1775, with the pur- 
pose of further advance toward Canada. This ad- 
vance was made, but inelTectually, Schuyler's forces 
going to within two miles of St. .John's, and then 
turning back to the Isle an Noix, in consecpience of 
information received concerning the strength and 
plans of the enemy. The bad conduct of his troops 
in what he termed a •'scandalous want of subordi- 
nation and inattention to orders," went far toward 
impressing him with the hopelessness of tnilitary 
operations in which they should have part; his 




health was of the poorest, fever and rheumatism 
having reduced him to a skeleton, and he. therefore, 
transferred the general comm;uid to Montgomery, 
who went forward and look St. .lobns by siege, and 
then occupied Montreal, moving on in Canada until 
he made junction with Benedict .\rnold. at the head 
of a co-operating expedition from Washington's army, 
after which he lost his life, Dec. 31, 1775, in the 
attack upon Quebec. While tlie.se operations went 
on. no otlieer was more viirilant and active than 
Schuvler, who had his he,id((Uarlers at Albany, in 
his elYorts to proviile for the wants of men at the 
front, or to meet the exig<'n<ies of the service in 
every conceivable directiim — and this under a pres- 
sure of disease, a burden of (.eticiency in co-opera- 
tion, and a load of vexation from the conduct of 
troops about him. which impelled him to give notice 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



99 



to Washington, before the year was out, of his pur- 
pose to resign from the army. But. from this both 
Washington and congress dissuaded him. For the 
further record of his service as major-general, until 
his retirement iu 1777, the "Life and Times of Philip 
Schuyler," by B. .J. Lossing (^ v., N. Y., 1S73), may 
be consulted. It need only be said here that, sub- 
jecteii to the merciless open hostility of enemies in 
New England and elsewhere, hampered by the ef- 
forts of Gen. Horatio Gates to deprive him of his 
command that he might secure it for himself, cal- 
umniated as a man and as an otHcer, he labored faith- 
fully and will] large success in the administration of 
his department, and twice received from a Continental 
congress, which would not support him, entire and 
formal vindications against the malice of his traduc- 
ers. Even when he was superseded by Gates, in 
August, 1777, he continued his labors for the good 
of his country; and was present, in civilian's dress, 
at the headquarters of Gates, Oct. 17th, to congratu- 
late the latter on a success, in connection with the 
surrender of Gen. Hurgoyne. for which his own vise 
forethought and almost sleepless activity had paved 
the way. It was not until October, 1778, however, 
that he seciu'cd the second vindication already re- 
ferred to, iu the verdict of a military court-martial, 
of which Maj.Gen. Benjamin Lincoln was presi- 
dent, which unanimously voted that he was not 
guilty of any neglect of duty, as charged, and 
therefore acquitted him with the highest honor. 
This verdict, to all intents and jiurposes. hushed the 
voice of detraction, and no whisper against Schuy- 
ler as a brave, .skillful and judicious military com- 
mander was heard during the remainder of his life — 
a period of political tempests, in which he was an 
active i)artici[)ant. and for more than sixty years fol- 
lowing his death the great inijiortance of his services 
in the northern department was never questioned. 
Chief Justice Kent, of New York, writing of him, 
Siiid: " In acuteness of intellect, profoundthought, 
indefatigable activity, e.xhau.sl less energy, pure pa- 
triotism and persevering, intrepid public efforts he 
had no superior. " To this may be added the state- 



JAW \ 







ment of Daniel Webster: " I was brought up with 
New England prejudices .against him, but I consider 
him as second only to Washington in the services he 
rendered to the country iu the war of the revolution. 
His zeal and devotion to the cause under difficulties 
■which would have paralyzed the efforts of most 
men, and his fortitude and courage when as.sailed 
by malicious attacks upon his public and private 
character, every one of which was jirovcd to be 
false, have iiniire.s.scd me with a strong desire to ex- 
press publicly my sense of his great qualities." His 
subsequent course may be succinctly stated. He 
persisted in resigning his office in the Continental 
army, although congress and Gen. Washington 
alike urged him to remain. The former body finally 



voted, Apr. 19, 1779, " that his request be complied 
with." But he continued, although disconnected 
from the military service, the great eye of the 
northern department, vigilant to detect all hostile 
movements, and quick to give information. He 
kept up a correspondence with the invsident of 
congress and commander-in-chief, on public affairs, 
during the whcjle of 1780, and those ollicers relied 
more on him for correct information than upon any 
other man. As president of the board of Indiau 
commissioners his duties were arduous, but they 
were successful, and he held a large jiortion of the 
Six Nations to their neutrality. For a period he 
divided his time between congress and Gen. Wash- 




ington's headquarters at Morristown, N. J., being 
the trusted coun.selor of each. AVhen he was ap- 
plied to by Robert Morris, in 1781, after he took 
charge of the finances of congress, he furnished to 
the army a thousand barrels of flour at the shortest 
notice, although he was plainly told that there was 
not an unappropriated dollar in the U. S. treasury, 
and that it would take some time to raise any funds. 
!More than one attempt was made to abduct him and 
carry him captive to Canada. In 1781 he became 
state senator for the western district of New York, 
and served in this capacity until 1784; then, again, 
from 1786 to 1790, and a" third time frcm 1792 to 
1797. He had no confidence in the federation of 
the United States as a national system, but was the 
warmest of advocates and promoters of the federal 
Union. In 1788 he and Rufus King were chosen the 
first senators from New York, and lie held the office 
from the time congress assembled in 1789, until 
March, 1791. In 1797 he was unanimously re-elected 
to the U. S. senator.ship, but his poor health did not 
allow him to hold the office, even for one year. 
Meanwhile he was busy in labors for the promotion 
of great public works in the state of New York. 
For him may be claimed the paternity of its canal 
system. As early as 177)5 he had projected a canal 
between Lake Champlain and the Hudson river, and 
in later years urged the construction of the watens-ay 
now known as the Erie canal. His last days were 
embittered by family attlictions, one of the heaviest 
being the death, .luly 11. l.'^04, of Alexander Ham- 
ilton, who had married his daughter Elizabeth, and 
with whom his personal and political relations had 
been very elo.se. He died on Sunday, Nov. 18, 
l.S(U, at his mansion at Albany, N. Y., which had 
been, for more than forty years, the seat of generous 
hospitality, and the centre of the best social inter- 
course. His remains, after removal from the burial 
vault of the Van Rensselaer and Schuyler families, 
at Albany, where they received military honors, 
were finally deposited in the Alb.my rural cemeterj'. 
In 1870 a Doric column of light Quincy granite, 
thirty feet iu height, was erected over them. 



100 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 




./fil^iry^a. 



MONTGOMERY, Richard, was born at Con- 
voy House, uiar Haphoe, Ireland, Dec. 2. 1T36. He 
was the son of Thomas Montgonicry, an Irish mem- 
ber of the British parliament. Wlien quite young, 
Ricliarfl was placed at Trinity College, Dublin, 
from which institution he was graduated. At the 
age of eighteen he entered the Hritish army a.s 
ensign in the 17th infantr\'. which was shortly 
afterward ordered to America, to 
take part in the e.vpedition against 
Louisburg. They sailed in 1757, and, 
early in the following year, a.ssem- 
bleff at IIalifa.\, preparatory to em- 
barking for Louisburs;. During this 
siege Jlontgomery made a reputation 
for a knowledge of military tactics 
quite unexamjiled in an officer of his 
age. ContinuiuL' during the ne.\t 
five years to empliasize the good im- 
pression which had already been 
made by his actions in this country, 
he was promoted to be captain in 1762. 
He was then ordered to the West In- 
dies, and in the expeditious against 
Martinique and Havana, maintained 
his reputation for skill and bravery; 
while, at the same time, endearing 
himself to his command by the kind- 
ness and compassion with which he ministered 
to the wants of his soldiers amid all the calami- 
ties which attended them in a tropical climate. At 
the close of the war Montgomery was given permis- 
sion to return to E\ir(ipe, where he remained until 
1772. During that period he maile the intimate ac- 
quaintance of many of the liberal members of par- 
liament, among whom were I.saac Barre, Edmund 
Burke and Charles .lames Fox. Becoming annoyed 
because of the fact that his claims for further pro- 
motion were neglected, Montgomery sold his com- 
mission and. returning to America early in 1773, 
purchased a farm at King's Bridge, X. Y.^ and, soon 
after, married Janet, the eldest daughter of Judge 
Robert R. Livingston, one of the judges of the .su- 
preme court of the province, and subsequently a 
member of the Continental congress. He also pur- 
chased a fine estate on the banks of the Hudson, but 
during his married life he resided at his wife's res- 
idence, called " Gra.ssiuere, " near Rhiuebeck. X. Y. 
When the dispute between England and licr colonies 
became serious, Montgomery took a lively interest, 
and in April, 177.5, was elected to represent Dutchess 
co\mty in the first New York provincial convention, 
whicli was held in New York city. In June of the 
same year the Continental congress appointed four 
major and eight brigadier gencrtds, among the lat- 
ter, Moutgomeiy, who was naturally greatly flatter- 
ed by su(-li an unexpected selection. He was the 
second on the list, and the only one who was not 
from New England. The name of Montgomery is 
inseparably blended with the history of the expedi- 
tion against Quebec. Expert military writers on 
that undertaking have agreed that it was a sad proof 
of the necessity of experience among the leaders of 
so important and novel a movement as a war of in- 
dependence. As a matter of fact, the expedition 
■was undertaken upon insufficient data, and, as a 
necessary consequence, all'its movements were des- 
ultory and almost entirely controlled by circum- 
stances. Congress was led to ]ilau the invasion for 
several rea.sons. The population of Canada was 
mostly French, divided between a disposition to as- 
sert their own independence and an inclination to 
join the movement of their southern brethren. 
Meanwhile, the Indians of the province were far 
more numerous than the whites, and, as was well 
known, would take part with the stronger side. In 
addition to these facts, the contiguity of Canada to 



the American colonics gave the British an excellent 
opportunity for entrance into New York and New 
England, which it was highly important should be 
stopped. If congress had been thoroughly informed, 
and had possessed means sufficient to carry out their 
plan, the expedition would, no doubt, ha%'e been 
crowned with success. According to the plan de- 
termined upon, the Continental army was to enter 
Canada liy two routes. The first division, con.sisting 
of 3,000 men, was to proceed up the Sorel. with a 
view of acting against Forts St. John's and Chambly; 
having captured which, they were to cross the St. 
Lawrence and seize Jlontreal. Meanwhile, the sec- 
ond division, comprising 1,000 men, would march 
along the Kennebec to its head, and then across the 
country to Quebec, with the design of effecting a 
union with the main array, preparatory to a simul- 
taneous attack upon that city. The entire force was 
under the command of JIaj.-Gcn. Schuyler, and Gen. 
^Montgomery was second. He conmianded, directly, 
the first division, and had reached Ticonderoga, 
when he learned that Sir Guy Carleton, the military 
governor of Canada, was organizing a n.aval force to 
act on Lake Champlain, with the intention of pre- 
venting the cro.s,sing of the Ameiican troops after 
their arrival at the St. Lawrence. Montgomery 
made up his mind to take possession of the Isle Aux 
Noix, in the lake, and, with 1,000 men and two 
pieces of cannon, embarked on the lake. He suc- 
ceeded in reducing the fortresses of St. John's and 
Chambly, and, having been joined by JIaj.-Gen. 
Schuyler, moved against Montreal, where he dis- 
playeVl so bold a front that, on Nov. 12, 1775, it sur- 
rendered. He thus obtained pos.session of all the 
armed force and stores of the town, with eleven ves- 
sels, and their armaments, in the harbor — Gen. Carle- 
ton having retreated with his fleet, and with great 
difficulty escaped to Quebec. All of this, however, 
was only prefatory to the main object and necessity 
of the movement in Canada. L'ntil (.Quebec should 
have surrendered, what had previously occurred in 
the way of success could only be counted as episodes 
incidental to a war of iuva.sion, and without ultimate 
effect. Indeed, as Montgomery wrote, himself, to his 
father-in-law, Robert K. Livingston, at the time a 
member of congres.s, the most ditlicult and danger- 
ous part of the undertaking remained before them: 
"I need not tell you that until Quebec is taken 
Canada is unconquercd; and that to accom|ilish this 
we must resort to siege, investment or storm. The 
first of these is out of the question, from the difficul- 
ty of making trenches in a Canadian winter, and the 
greater difficulty of living in them if we could make 
them; .secondly, from the nature of the soil, which, 
as I am at present instructed, renders mining im- 
liracticable; and. were this otherwise, from the want 
of an engineer having sufficient skill to direct the 
process; and. thirdly, from the fewness and lightness 
of our artillery, wliich is quite unfit to l>reak walls 
like those of Quebec." Montgomery went on to .ssty 
that investment of the position had fewer objec- 
lions, and might be successful, provided he coidd 
shut out from the garrison of the town the necessary 
.supplies of food and fuel during the winter. This 
however, would require a large army, while his i 
amounted only to 
abovit 800 combat- 
ants. He accordingly 
asked for reinforce- 
ments, at the same 
time suggesting that 
.storming the iiosition 
might be practicable 
even with his force. 
The latter course of 
action was finally 
determined upon by 




'^^-^Z 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



101 



a counsel of war called by Montgomery. Gen. Ar- 
nold, with his division, having crossed the St. Law- 
rence on Nov. 19th, and being joined by iloutgom- 
«ry on Dec. 4th, a demand was made upon Gen. 
Cilrleton to surrender, witli tlie residt that the flag 
was fired upon and returned. In the meantime the 
siege was being carried on, e.xceiit while the flag of 
tnice was demanding a surrender; and on Dec. 
31st, during a heavy snow-storm, the final assault 
was made. " Gen. Montgomery divided liis force into 
four .sections, two being sent to make feints in differ- 
ent directions, while Montgomery and .Vrncild ad- 
vanced against the lower town, "the object of real 
attack. The first barrier was rapidly carrietl, and 
the troops, after a moment's pause, pushed on, 
Montgomery with his own hands assisting in pulling 
■up some pickets which hindered the march. Near 
this place another l)arrier had been laid across the 
road, and in the windows of a low house which over- 
looked it were planted two cannon. On the appear- 
ance of Montgomery with his force upon a little ris- 
ing ground at a distance of about twenty or thirty 
ya^ds, these cannon were discharged, and the gen- 
eral, who was in advance with liis two aides-de-camp, 
fell dead. The division immediately retreated on 
learning of the fall of their commander, and was fol- 
lowed by that of Gen. Arn<ild. An attack by the gar- 
rison resulted iu eapluring about 401) of the Amer- 
icans. The feeling within the walls of Quebec at 
the death of Jlontgomery was almost as regretful 
as among tlie soldiers whom he led. Sir Guy 
<'arleton and others of the officers of the garrison 
had been with him at the siege by Gen Wolfe, 
and respected and a(lmire<l him. The Englishmen 
buried him with the honors of war. It is stated that, 
at the news of his death, "the city of Philadelphia 




■was in tears. Every person seemed to have lost his 
dearest friend." It was not only in America that 
the death of Montgomery made a profound impres- 
sion ; Edmund Burke in the Biitish parliament 
spoke in reference to it, contrasting the condition 
of the 8,000 men starved, disgraced and shut up 
within the single town of Boston, with the move- 
ments of the hero who. in one campaign, had con- 
quered two-thirds of Canada. Jlontgomery is de- 
scribed as having been tall, of fine military presence, 
of graceful address, with a bright, magnetic face, 
winning manners, and the bearing of a prince. High 
on the rocks over Cape Diamond, along whicli this 
brave otlicer led his troops on that fatal winter morn- 
ing, .stands tlie inscription: "Here Major- General 
Montgomery fell. December 31, 1775." Congress 
proclaimed for him "their grateful remembrance, 
respect and high veneration, and, desiring to trans- 



mit to future ages a truly worthy e.xample of pat- 
riotism, conduct, boldness of enterprise, insuperable 
perseverance and contempt of danger and death," 
there was raised by their order, in front of St. Paul's 
churcli. New York city, a marl)le monument, shown 
in the illustration, which was made in France by 
order of Franklin. The remains of Gen. Montgom- 
ery, after resting for forty-two years at Quebec, 
were, by a resolution of the New York legislature, 
brought to the city of New York on the 8lh day of 
July," 1818, and d"epo.sited with dignified solemnity 
near the memorial, which bears the inscription: 
THIS MONUMENT 
was erected 
By order of Congress, 2.5th .January, 1776, 
To transmit to jioslerity 
A Grateful Remembrance 
of the 
Patriotism, Conduct, Enterprize and Perseverance 
of 
MAJOR GENERAL RICHARD MONTGOMERY 
who after a series of successes 
Amidst the nio.st discouraging difficulties. 
Fell in the attack on Quebec, 
31st December, 177.5. Aged 38 years. 
Montgomery's life was written by John Armstrong, 
forSparks's" " .\nieriean Biography " (Bo.ston, 1834). 
AMHERST, Jeffery, siildier, was born at Riyer- 
head, Kent. Eng., Jan. 29, 1717. Having early dis- 
covered a preference for a military life, he received 
his first commission in the British army iu 1731. 
In 1741 he served as an aidede-canip on the con- 
tinent, and fought in the battles of Det- 
lingen and Fontenoy, and afterward as 
aide to the Duke of Cumberland, iu the 
battle of Latfedt. In 1758 he was re- 
called to England, and at the suggestion 
of William Pitt was commissioned major- 
general and ordered to the American 
service. He sailed from Portsmouth, 
March 16th iu that year, in command of 
the troops destined for the .siege of Louis- 
burg, captured that stronghold on Jidy 
2(;ih, and at once took pos.ses.sion of the 
island of Briton. He then succeeded 
Abercrombie in command of the army in ^ v.,' 

North America. It was in 17.59 that the 
conquest of Canada was determined upon, the plan 
being to take all the strongholds of the French in 
that country by three armies moving simultaneously. 
These armies were commanded by Wolfe, Amherst 
and Prideau.v. In the spring of that year Gen. 
Amherst made his headquarters at Albany, and 
organized his force, which moved in the early part; 
ofthe summer, reaching Ticondcroga on July 22d. 
He at once invested that stronghold, wliicb on the 
27th was deserted by the French and fell into his 
hands. Crown Point was captured immediately 
after and Amherst's troops went into winter ipiarters 
at the end of October. The following year (1760) he 
embarked on Lake Ontario, proceeded down the St. 
Lawrence, and on the 8tli of Sepleuiber Montreal 
and all the other places within its jurisdiction capit- 
ulated. Gen. Amherst was made governor general 
over the British iio.s.se.ssions in America, and con- 
tinued in conunaud until the close of 1763, when he 
returned to England In 1776 he was created Lord 
Amherst, was in command of tlie British army in 
England in 1778. received an imporlant court po.si- 
tion in 1782, and was made Baron Amhei-st of 
Montreal in 17S7. In 1793 he was ag.iin in com- 
mand of the army in Great Britain, hut two years 
later was sujierseiled liy the Duke of York. The 
aged .soldier, being deeply chagrined by thisaci on the 
jiarl of the government, refuseil liie olTer of an earl- 
dom but accepted the otlice of field marshal in July, 
1796. He died at his seat iu Kent, Aug. 3, 1797. 




102 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 




WOLFE, James, major-general in the British 
army, was born in Westerham, Kent, Eng.. Jan. 2, 
1727. His father was Lieut. -Col. Edward Wolfe, 
who served with distinction in the campaigns of 
Slarlborough. The boy received his education at 
Greenwich, and advanced .so rapidly in military 
knowledge, and displayed such muisual abilily. that 
when only sixteen he served in the battle of I)ettin- 
gen as adjutant of his regiment. In 174.') the elder 
Wolfe was a major-general com- 
manding a division engaged in the 
suppression of the Scottish rebel- 
lion, while his son, only eighteen 
years old, was a major ami deputy 
quartermaster-general in the same 
service. From 1747 to 1757 Wolfe 
was in the Netherlands, in Scot- 
land, Ireland, and in England, 
sometimes in active service, but 
much of the time in garrison duty. 
He was in America in 17.')H, and 
with the rank of brigadier-general 
commanded a division under (Jen. 
' Amherst, at the .siege of Louisburg. 

On his return to England he was 
promoted to be major-general, and ordered by Will- 
iam Pitt to take command of an expedition to Can- 
ada. He arrived at the island of Orleans, near Quebec, 
late in .Tune, n.Ml, having a large fleet and a force 
of H.liOO men. The Frcnich were under the com- 
mand of the .Marquis de .Montcalm. Wolfe placed 
batteries at Point Levi and on the island of Orleans 
and on the last of .luly attacked the French in- 
trenchments at Montmorency on the left bank of the 
St. Charles; but. being met by a .severe tire from 
the enemy, who were very strongly po.sted, his 
troops were obliged to retire to the island of Or- 
leans. Wolfe was now a good deal discouraged, 
and the tleet not having co-operated with him as was 
expected, he sent back me.ssages to the government 
of England with an earnest remonstrance again.st 
this course. Chagrined because of his failure at 
Montmorency, the unusual heat, with anxiety and 
disaiipoinlment, laid him low with fever. For a 
month his life was in danger. He announced, how- 
ever, that the comu'il of war had determined upon 
an attack. A elo.se examination of the French 
citadel induced Wolfe to make an effort to effect a 
landing above the city, and by scaling a precipice 
to gain tin- heights back of the town, where it was 
but slightly fortified. Accordingly, on Sept. 13th, 
before daybreak, he landed about ."i.OOO men nearly 
a mile above Cape Diamond. By the aid of the 
rugged projections of the rocks and tli(^ branches of, 
trees anil plants growing on the cliffs, access to 
the heights was obtained, where there was found 
only a four-guu battery with a small guard, which 
was quickly dispersed. 
The whole army was 
soon on the heights of 
Abraham. Recognizing 
the d.-iiig<'r of llie situa- 
ti(ni, .Monlealm cro.s.sed 
the St. Charles and 
marched to attack the 
British army. In the be- 
ginning of the action, 
Wolfe was twice severe- 
ly wounded, once in the 
wrisi .•Hid again in the 
groin. He, liowi'Ver, con- 
tinued to lead and cheer 
on his men, and was head- 
ing a ch.arge of the grena- 
diers when a third .shot stnick him full in the breast. 
and he fell in the agonies of death. Wolfe w.as in 
every way a marked character. Horace Walpolc 




wrote of him: "Ambition, industry, passion for 
the service were conspicuous in him. He seemed to 
breathe for nothing but fame, and lost no moment* 
in qualifying him.self to comjiass that object. Pre- 
sumption in himself was neces.sary for his object, 
and he had it. He was formed to execute the designs 
of such a master as Pitt." On the night of the 12lli 
of September, as he stood wrapped in his ndlitary 
cloak, his otlicers around him in the boats which 
were gliding down the St. Lawrence in the dark- 
ne.ss, he was heard to rejieat jiortions of Gray's 
"Elegy in a Country Churchyard, " and Wolfe then 
turning to his companions declared that he woidd 
rather have been the author of those lines than to 
compass any height in his jirofession. On the field 
of battle the next morning, as he lay in a swoon, 
some one cried; "They run! see how they run I" 
"Who runV" said Wolfe, like one roused from 
sleep. "The enemy," was the answer: "they 
give way everywhere." Wolfe gave an order 
that a regiment" be .sent to cut off iheir retreat, 
and then turning <in his side, murnuired his last 
words: " Xow God be praised. 1 will die in peace." 
Five days later tjuebec surrendered, leaving the 
English "masters of Canada. The body of Wolfe 
wa.s carried to England, and a monument to his 
memory was erected in Westminsler Abbey. A 
marble" statue of him was ordereil by the Massachu- 
setts assembly. The spot where he fell is marked 
by a small ei">lunui. ami in the govermneni gardens 
at Quebec there stands an ol)elisk sixty feet in 
height, erected in honor both of Gen. Wolfe and of 
jMoutcalm, who met his death in the same bailie. 
AVolfe's life was published by Kobert AVright (Lon- 
don, 1H()4), and in Parkman's "Monlealm and 
Wolfe" (Boston, iss.^t. The date of General Wolfe's 
death w.-is Sept. i:!. 17.")4. 

ABEKCBOMBIE, James, -soldier, was born 
in Scotland, in 1701), and was the descendant of a 
wealthy Scolcli family. He entered the 
British" army, ami became colonel Apr. 
lt>, 174(). Jan. 31, 1750, he was made a 
major-general; JIarch 31, 1759, was com- 
missioned lieutenant-general; and gen- 
eral, Jlay 25, 1772. In June. 1776, he 
was sent to America, and held chief com- 
mand of the British and colonial forces 
until the arrival of Loudon in the fol- 
lowing August. When Loudon left the 
country in 1758, Abercrombie again took 
command. .lulv 8, 175S, at the head of 
15.000 men he attacked Fort Ticonderoga 
in the province of New '\'ork. then in the 
possessii in of 1 he French, w il h t he bayonet , 
a piece of folly, it is said, which cost the lives of near- 
ly 2,000 brave men. Abercrombie still further ex- 
hibited his incapacity by iuuiece.s.sarily retreating to 
his intrenched camp on the south side of Lake 
George. Superseded by JelTery AndiersI, he re- 
turned to England in 17'5!), and as a member of par- 
liament supporte<l the arbitrary measures which re- 
sulted in the inde.pendence of the Unilcd Slates. 
He died as (U'liulv irovernor of Stirling Castle, in 
Scotland, .\i>r. -.'S,' 17M. 

ABERCROMBIE, James, soldier, was born in 
1732, th<; son of Gen. James Abercrondiie. He was 
a lieutenant-colonel in the Brilish army. an<l was 
morlallv wounded at the battle of Bunker Hill. He 
was a c'aiilain in llic 42d Highlanders, Feb. IG, loW; 
aidede camp to Gen. JelVery AndiersI, May 5, 175!); 
major 78th regiment, Jnlv 25, 1760; lieulenant-colo- 
nel, March 27', 1770. He" led the grcnailiers to the 
assault in the ;ielion in which he lost his life; was a 
brave and noble-hearled soldier, and while ho was 
borne from the Held, lie besTL'ed his men to spare his 
old friend, (Jen. Israel Putnam, of the American 
army. He died on June 24, 1775. 




,^r^~^>i 





m2^ 



C0PYR1QMT, 1892, BY JAUFS T. WMlTf 4 CO. 



OF AMEKICAN BIOGKAPHY. 



105 




ADAMS, John, second president of the United 
States, was born in Braintree, JIass., Oct. 30, 1735. 
He was tlie great-grandson of Henry Adams, a Pu- 
ritan, wIki emigrated from England to Jlassachu- 
setts in 1640. His father, Jolin Adams, was a dea- 
con of the cliurch and a selectman. His mother, 
Susanna Boylston, was a daughter of Peter Boylston, 
of Brookliuc, JIass. The father was a farmer of 
small means and also a shoemaker, but he managed 
to give his son. being the eldest, the beuelit of an 
education at Harvard, from which he was gradu- 
ated in 1755, and soon after received his degree 
of Bachelor of Arts and went to Worcester, Mass., 
■where he became a teacher in the grammar school. 
He was ambitious, and if he had 
licissessed the ncc<*ssary iutlucnce 
would have entered the army. He 
also thought somewhat of making 
theology his jirofession; at the 
same time his mind turned nat- 
urally to politics. When in his 
twenty-first year he wrote a letter 
to a friend, containing the follow- 
ing: ■■8oon after the Kcforma- 
tion, a few peojile came over into 
the new world for conscience' 
.siike. Perhaps this apparently 
trivial incident may ti'ansfer the 
great seat of emiiire into Amer- 
ica. It looks likely to me; for if 
you can remove tlie turbulent gal- 
licks, our people, according to the exaclcst computa- 
tions, will in another century become more niunerous 
than England itself. Should this be the case, since 
we have, I may say. all the naval stores of the 
nation in our hands, it will be easy to obtain the mas- 
tery of the seas, and then the united force of all Eu- 
rope will not be able to subdue us. The only way 
to keep us from setting up fi>r ourselves is to disu- 
nite us. Divide et imperii. Kec]) us in distinct col- 
onies, and then some great men in each colony de- 
siring the monarchy of the whole, they would destroy 
each other's influence and keep the coimtry in 
equililmn." In October, 17"iH. Adams gave up teach- 
ing school at Worcester, and having already .studied 
law was admitted to tlie bar. and pos,se.ssing a clear, 
sonorous voice, lluency of speech, and quick concep- 
II— 1 




Jif^Jdamf 



tion, rapidly became popular and respected. On Oct. 
25, 1764, Jir. Adams was married to Abigail Smith, 
a daughter of the minister at Weymouth, and a per- 
son rather above him in social position. She proved 
a good wife and mother and made his home a happy 
one. In the same year as his marriage, Jlr. Adams 
was chosen selectman and assessor and overseer 
of the poor of the town of Braintree, and he now 
began to interest himself in politics. He was selected 
as "one of the coun.sel of the town of Boston, with 
Jeremiah Gridley, the head of the bar, and James 
Otis, the famous orator, who took the stand that 
the unpojralar stamp act was void, becau.se parlia- 
ment hatl no right to tax the colonies. The repeal 
of this act soon after ended the matter. About this 
time Adams began to write on taxation in the Bos- 
ton " Gazette," and soon some of his arginnents %vere 
reprinted in the London papers. In 176H he removed 
to Boston, and two years later was elected to the gen- 
eral court, though at the same time he was retained 
to defend C'apt. Preston for his share in the Boston 
massacre, the latter being acquitted in spite of the 
great prejudice existing in regard to the affair. In 
the general court he began to be considered a leader 
of tiie patiiot party. 'Though he soon resigned, he 
was consulted on all important matters by Gov. 
Hutchinson. On the organization of the lir.>;t Conti- 
nental congress, which met at Philadelphia in 1774, 
Jlr. Adams was one of the five mcmbeis who repre- 
sented Massachusetts, Of this gathering he wrote : 
"It is such an as.sembly as never before came to- 
gether on a sudden in any ]iart of the world. Here 
are fortunes, abilities, learning, ehxpience, acute- 
ness, equal to any I ever met with in my life. Here 
is a diversity of religions, educations, manners, inter- 
ests, such as it woiijd seem impo.ssible to unite in one 
line of conduct." The battle of Bunker Hill re- 
moved the last shadow of a doiibt in the mind of Mr. 
Adams conceniing the policy of insisting for the fu- 
ture upon the pos.sibility of reconcili;ition. and he 
became conWnced that this could not be accom- 
jilished. He accordingly addressed himself with 
.s|)irit to the work of slinnilating congress to take 
the most decisive measures in preparation for the in- 
evitable conflict. This congress substantially de- 
clareil war against England by ajipoiiuing a commit- 
tee of safely, seizing the provincial revenues, ap- 



106 



TUE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



pointing general officers, collcctinijc stores anfl besin- 
niniT to form an army. In a letter written at this 
ciisis, Adams deelareff : "The die is now cast. I 
have passed the I{iil)icon. Sink or swim, live or die, 
survive or perish, with mj- country is my unalterable 
determination." Adams distinguished himself in 
congress by his cap.icity for business. He was a 
liard worker, chiefly in connnittees, and especially val- 
uable on the naval committee. His rules then writ- 
ten for it are the basis of our ]iresenl naval code. 
He was also chairman of the board of war, and dur- 
inj; the sixteen months in which he remained in con- 
gress he was luitiring in his devotion to the cau.se, 
ri.sing at four o'clock in the morning and working 
until ten o'clock at night. Adams claimed that he 
first suggested Washington for the chief conunaixl. 
Late in ITTo he was appointed chief justice of Mas.sa- 
chusett.s, but never took the seat, resigning during the 
next year. Adams was i n favor of the adoption of sel f- 
goveinment by each of ttie colonies; afterward could 
come a confederation, and then treaties with foreign 
powers. On May K5, 1776, he carried in congress 
his firet proposition, and the others naturally fol- 
lowed. The declaration of independence was signed 
on July 4, 1776. Adams said: "It will be the most 




-B.rtfipliice' 



memorable epoch in the history of America. It 
ought to be .solemnized with pomp and parade, with 
shows, games, guns, bells, bonfires, from one end of 
this continent to the other and from this time forev- 
ermorc. You will think me trans])iirted with iMithusi- 
asm, but I am not. 1 am well aware of the toil, and 
blood and treasure tliat it will cost us to maintain 
this declaration and support and defend these? .states, 
yet through all the gloom I can see the ravishing 
light and glory; 1 can see that the end is worth more 
than all the means, and that posterity will triumph 
in that day's transactions, even although we shall rue 
it. which I trust to (4od we shall not. " The optim- 
ism of Adams regarding (he oulcome of the situali<in 
in which the congress had ]ilaccd themselves must 
h.-ive h.ad its elfcci upon those about him. The loss 
of New Y'ork and the retreat through X(?w Jersey 
excited in him more indignation than discoiirage- 
nu'Ut. He took comfort in even,' item of favorable 
intelligence, and made out of every disa.ster an occa- 
sion for urging amen<lmcnt in those p:iniculars in 
which error's had become apiiarent. M.-i;i .vliile Dr. 
Gordon, historian of the revolution saii! of him: " I 
can never think we shall finally f.iil of si;ece.ss while 
heaven continues to the congre>;s the life and abili- 
ties of Mr. John Adams. Inn wopl. [delivertoyou 
the opinion of every man in the luiuse, and I add 
tliat he possesses the clearest h i.l of any man in 
congress." In the latter part <f 1777 Mr. .Vdams 
was appointed minister to France, for which couu- 



try he embarked Feb. 13, 1778, accompanied by his 
son, John Quincy Adams, at that time a boy of tea 
years, and he remained abroad until midsummer, 
1779. It was designed that he .should supersede Si- 
las Deane, one of the commissioners sent to form an 
alliance with France, but this alliance Imd already 
been completed and Benjamin Franklin commis- 
sioned an ambas-sador. On his return to the United 
States, Mr. .Vdams was made a member of the 
Ma.s.sachusetts constitutional convention, but took 
time to prepare an elaborate review of the different 
nations of Kurope in their relation to the interests of 
the United States, and which is said to be one of the 
ablest of his many able papers. In October lie was 
appointed commissioner to Great Hritain, having 
two coraniLssions, one to negotiate a trejity of ]>eace, 
the other a treaty of commerce with Great Hritain, 
and he sailed at once for France, from there going 
to Holland, where he succeeded in arranging the 
second alliance entered into oy the X'uited Stales as 
a sovereign jiower. This occurred on the 7lh of Oc- 
tober, 17S3, and being the exclusive result of his own 
labors, Mr. .\dams raidied the act as one of the 
greatest triumphs of his life. A.s,s()ciated with Ben- 
jamin Franklin and John Jay. Mr. Adams continued 
to work for a treaty of peace, the iirelimiuary articles 
of which were signed Nov. SO. 1783, by the conunis- 
sioners. After the peace had been concluded, Adams 
was sent as minister to England, although he greatly 
desired to return home. He left France and sailed 
for England on the ioth of October, and soon foimd 
himself engaged in new labors which might extend 
bis residence abroad for an indefinite time. In the 
summer of 1784, however, he was joined by Mrs. 
Adams, accomiiaiiicd by his only daughter, and their 
arrival reconciled him to the condition of atfairs. 
While in London Mr. Adams pre]iared his " Defense 
of the American (^'(institution," a work which sub- 
jected him to the charge of anti-repuljlic-m ami even 
monarchical tendencies. In 1787 ilr. Adams asked 
leave of congress to resign his position and rel urn home 
to private 1 i fe. Let t ers of recal 1 were acc( ird i n gly sen t 
out by congress in Febr\iary, 178S. L'nfortunately, 
with the exception of the negotiation of the trc:ities 
of peace and of conunerce, not one of the important 
objects which Mr. Adams had endeavored to g;un in 
England had been etfected. He was civilly, but 
coldly, treated while in England, and his situation 
was anything but agreeable. The prevailing senti- 
ment iu British councils was that of .supercilious in- 
difference to the wishes of the new United States gov- 
crnni'^nt. That Jlr. Adams was disappointed in not 
brint^ng about a reconciliation between the two 
couiitries is undoubted, and as some compensali<in 
for this disappointment congress passed the follow- 
ing resolution: "That congress entertains a high 
sense of the services which Mr. Adams has rendered 
to the United Slates iu the various important trusts 
which they have from time to lime committed to 
him, iuul tiiat the thanks of congress be presented to 
him for the jiatriolism, perseverance, integrity and 
diligence with which he hath faithfully and ably 
served his country." Under the newly organized 
federal government Adams became vice-president, 
and it is said of him that he probably gave more 
casting votes in the senate than all vice presidents 
since, having given aboiU twenty, nearly all in sup- 
port of ■\Viishingtons policy, or on some important 
organic Ijiw. Up to this time Adams anil Jetlei-son 
had generally found themselves iu agreement, but 
the French revolution came to sejiarate their opin- 
ions widely. Adams considered the outbreak a grent 
evil and had no hesitation in so inononncing it, 
while Jefferson, as is well known, supported it as a 
nntrked illustration of his favorite democratic prin- 
ciples and philosophy. It was this difference be- 
tween Adams and Jeil'ersou which at the time of the 



OF AMERICAN BIOGKAPHY. 



107 



second presidential election caused the friends of tbe 
latter to nominate George Clinton for vi(c-|iresident 
ajrainsl Adams, witli the intention of dcfraliiii;' him. 
The fact that Washiuirton declined a candidacy for 
■» third term brouglit about the first actively partisan 
contest for the presidency. There were five candi- 
dates, more or less, in the field, inchulinir Adams, 
Hamilton, Jay, Jetferson, and Thomas Pinckney. 
In the electoral college Adams finally prevailed, hav- 
ing seventy-one votes to .JefTersou's sixty-nine. It 
was cliarired by Adams that Hamilton divided the 
vote of tlieXorth and East, and that, with other con- 
temporaneous troubles, liroke up the federal party. 
As a matter of fact, a single voice in Virginia and 
one in X(n1h Carolina turned the scale. Jlr. Adams 
took the presidential chair with his country torn by 
dissensions, which were, moreover, increased by the 
troubles arisin.g from the tremendous contest raging 
between the countries of Europe, but the spirit of 
Adams, though perhaps sluggish in periods of po- 
litical calm, was at the time fully called oiU. That 
be felt the situation deeply is shown by the follow- 
ing lines written to his wife: "John Adams must be 
fan intrepid man to encounter the open 
a.ssaults of France and the secret hates 
of England, in concert with all his 
treacherous friends and open enemies 
in his own country. Yet I a.ssine you 
be never felt more serene in his life." 
In his inaugural speech, which was 
well received by the public at large, 
Mr. Adams set forth a comprehen- 
sive view of a policy suitable for the 
chief masislrate of the United States 




'<\ isoa". ^ 



House 



of any party, thus disarm-ing hfs enemies while still 
more firndy attracting his friends. Even the oppo- 
sition declared themselves relieved by this speech 
from much an.xiety, and disposed to await further 
developments of tlie executive policy. Our relations 
with France were at this moment in a critical condi- 
tion. Serious controversies had arisen between the 
two countries, and Mr. Jlonroe. who was minister to 
Versailles, had misinterpreted or disregarded his in- 
structions, thus embroiling us with the wily Talley- 
rand. The exposure of this entanglement aroused a 
strong anti-French feeling and revived the old fed- 
eral party. An offer of mediation by the Dutch had 
met with no success at the hands of the French Pi- 
reetory, which tlirew the burden of quarrel upon 
the American side. W.ir was absolutely im|)en(ling. 
and the positttm in which iir. Adams found liimself 
wasoru'of the ^rravestand most unfortiuiate of crises, 
but Mr. Adams was as shrewd as he was deterndned, 
and he succeeded in averting war between the two 
counlries, but at tbe expense Of his own i)o;.'.darity 
with his party. He nominated asniiuisler to Frame 
"Willinin Vans Murray, at the time minister to the 
Ha'.ru'', an action which produced the most viiilent 
«'Ppo-.iii..n in Ilie cabinet and the senate; he then 
added the names of Oliver Ellsworth, chief justice 
of the supremo court, and Patrick Heury, of Vir- 




ginia, to be commissioners to France, and their nom- 
inations were ratified by the senate. Jleanwhile his 
action in this matter was hotly condenmcd by the 
federalists, and finally broke the unity of the party. 
When the new comnnssion reached France, Bona- 
parte was In power, ami they foun<l no further diffi- 
culty in effecting an amicable arrangement. When 
the election of ISOO came on, the federal part}' was in 
fragments, while the republicans, assunuug to be 
democrats, were strong antl were rapidly growing 
under such skillful leaders as 
Jefferson and Biur; meanwhile 
Adams was still popular with 
the people, but his political oj)- 
ponents loaded him down with 
the French troubles, the alien 
and sedition laws, and many 
sins of which he was not gvulty. 
His jirivate correspondence was 
exposed and, as had been the 
case in regard to Washington, 
be was accused of selecting his 
cabinet under British influence. 
So close, however, was every- 
thing political that it was ob- 
vious the election for presi- ..r.-^, 
dent would be made almost 

impossible. This proved to be the case and it was 
thrown into the house. Jefferson had sevent.v-three 
votes; Burr, seventy-three; Adams, sixty-five; Pinck- 
ney, sixty-four. As a fact Adams bad not been cor- 
dially supported by Hamilton, who was the leader 
of his party. Air. Adams retired from public life 
after an uninterrupted course of service of six-and- 
twenty years, in a greater variety of trusts than fell 
to the share of any other American of his time. His 
life furnishes an excellent illustrati(m of the ingrat- 
itude of parties and of peoples. Prudent and cau- 
tious, yet courageous and inflexible in his determina- 
tion, where sucli qualities were necessary, the repu- 
tation of .John Adams was destineil to sink under a 
weight of undeserved odium, of the same character 
which had even smirched that of the fatlier of his 
country himself. The house of lepresentatives chose 
Thomas .Jefferson for president and Aaron Burr 
for vice-president, and on the day of inaugiuation 
John Adams left office without waiting to .see his op- 
ponent take the chair, and for thirteen years these 
two great men had no further intercourse. Mean- 
while, Mr. Adams returned to his native state, dis- 
graced in the popular estim.ate. the general neglect 
which be experienced being only at last compensated 
for in the election of his son, John Quincy Adams, 
to the presidency of the United States; and so bitter 
was public feeling against him that his alleged mis- 
deeds were even used in the campaign against bis 
.son in 1824. Mr. Adams retired to his estates in 
(Quincy, Mass., and gave himself up to agrieidtural 
])ursuits. varied by the freijueut use of his pen, 
mainly in self-defence. While a resident of Boston, 
he occupied the old Hancock house shown in the 
illustration. Few men have fallen so suddenly 
from high political importance to zero. In the 
last j-ear of his term he received and wrote letters by 
llunisands; in the next year he received saircely 
hundreds. He lost the favor end got the spite of 
both panics, therefore he hail plenty of time on his 
hands for the physical and mcntjd labors which 
thereafter interested him. After Jeffei-son left pub- 
lic life he became reconciled with Adams, and tbe 
two corresponded during the remainder of their 
lives; and one of the most remarkable events in the 
history of the country is the fact that both of the two 
great leadei's died on the sanu' day, and that day, the 
4th of Jidy, 1S21), the .senu-ceutennial anniversary 
of the declaration of indei)endence, in which each 
had taken so endneut a part. 



108 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPiEDIA 




J M< 



a^j 



ADAMS, Abigail Smith, wife of John Adams, 
second president of the I'nited Slates, was born in 
Wej-niouth, Mass., Nov. 2A. 1744. She was of sreu- 
uinc Puritan stock, lier fatlier, the Rev. William 
Smith, havinj: Ijeen for forlv years miuistiT of the 
Congrejratioiial eluircli at NVeymouth ; while her 
mother, whose tnaiden name was Elizabeth Quincy, 
came of a family of preachers. She was the second 
of three daughters. Her jiirlhood was passed at her 
parents' home and at the liouse of her jrrandfather. 
Col. John Quincy, who lived in that 
part of the tiiwn of Uraintree. Ma.ss., 
now called (Jiiincy. Of heryoiithfid 
days, she said herself, in one of her 
_ letters. " Jly early education did not 

^2^m jiarlake of the abundant opportunities 

which thepresent daysotfer, and which 
even the country schools now afford. 
I never was sent to any school — I was 
always sick. Female cducalion in the 
best taiiiili("i went no farther than writ- 
ing and arithmetic; in some few and 
rare instances, music and dancing. " In 
after life, however, Mrs. Adams made 
up for the slightne.ss of her educational 
advantages when yoimg. and became 
thoroughly well versed in Eugli.sh liter- 
ature, and, especially, a writer of cor- 
respondence remarkable for its vivac- 
ity and even brilliancy. Indeed, it is 
said that little woidd have been known of Mrs. 
Adams's per.sonality or of lier work had it not been 
for the letters .she'was in the habit all her life of 
writing to her friends, and especially to her husband, 
when the affairs of llu' struiigliug colonies separated 
bim from her. Her a<'iiuaintance with John Adams 
was not satisfactory to her friends or to the congre- 
gation of her father. It was objected that he was a 
lawyer, and also that, as the sou of a small farmer, 
he was hardly good enough for the minister's daugh- 
ter. Hut the yoimg man obtained the consent of 
her father, and they were married Oct. 25, 1764. 
The Kev. Mr. Smith would ajipear to have been 
po.s.se,ssed of a certain sense of humor, as, in answer 
to the objections of his parishioners to the match, he 
delivered from his pulpit an address from the text 
Luke 7 :33: "For Jnlin came neither eating bread 
nor drinking wine, and ye say he hath a devil." 
Two years before, when his daughter Mary was 
married to Kicliard ('ranch, afterward judge "of the 
Court of conunon jileasnf .Massachusutts. he preached 
from the text Luke 10; 42: ■•And Mary hath 
chosen that good i)art which shall not be taken 
away from her." For ten years Mrs. Adams led a 
quiet life in Braintree or in Boston, her hu.sband be- 
ing frequently away from her. following court on 
circuit, as was the custom in those days. In 1777 
she wrote that out of thirteen years of "married life, 
three had been jiassed in a state of separation. Mrs. 
Adams sympathized with her hu.sband's patriotic 
feelings from the bcgiiming; and the chief topics of 
her letters were in reference to the progress of revo- 
lutionary events. Discussing the throwing of the 
tea into Boston Inirbor, she wrote; "The'fea, that 
baneful weed, is arrived. (Jreat and I hope etfeetual 
opposition has been made to the landing of it." 
AVhile her husband was a delegale to congress she 
was obliged to endure great hardships. She was 
encumbered with four small chihlren, and in some 
peril during the time that the seat of war was about 
Boston. In 1784 Mrs. Adams went to London to 
rejoin her husband, who had been several years 
abroad as one of the commissioners to France", and 
be wa.s then ajipninteii minister to Englan<l. In 
London, her sim|)licity, yet retinenient of uiaimer, 
gained for her many "friends. After her return to 
the United States, her intellectual gift.s, tact, and 




^^^^^^^■^ 



practical knowledge, eminently qualified her to be 
the companion of her husband. She was not les.s 
hel|ifid to her son than to him, and she made many 
sacritices for both and for the sake of her country. 
She (lied in t^uincv, Mas.s., Oct. 28, 1818. 

■WOLCOTT, Oliver, secretary of the trea.siiry, 
was born in Litchtield, Conn., Jan. 11, 1760, the son 
of Oliver Wolcott, signer of the declaration of inde- 
pendence. He was graduated from Yale in 1778, 
init had interrupted his studies the year preceding to 
join the volunteers who so successfully harassed the 
IJritish regulars on their expedition 
to capture the Continental stores at 
Danburv. In 17119 he was vohmteer 
aid to his f.alher in repelling the 
marauding attacks on the Connecti- 
e\it coast, also acting as quartermas- 
ter at Lilchtield. In the meantime 
he completed a ctmr.se at law, was 
admitted lo the bar in 17S1, and re- 
moving to llartrnrd was employed 
in the financial <lepai'tment of the 
state, and in 1784 was ime of the two 
commissioners a|)])ointed to settle the 
state claims against the federal gov- 
ernment. He was the first to hold 
the otiiee of comptroller of the pub- 
lic accounts, serving from 1788 to 
1789, when he was apjiointed audi- 
tor of the treasury under the new 
con.stitution, holding office tnitil his appointment by 
President Washington, in 1791, as comptroller of the 
treasmy. On Feb. 2. 1795, he was made secretary of 
the treasury on the retirement of Alexander Hamil- 
ton. This ofti<'e he filled with integtily and aliility 
dining the remainder of Washington's administra- 
tion, and the whole of that of John Adams. He was 
a stanch federalist, and was bitterly altackeil by 
])olitical op|)oiienfs, who accused the federalist ofb- 
cials of trying to destroy the evidence of peculations 
by setting fire to the treasury building. Nut meet- 
ing with a fidl exoneration by the investigating com- 
mittee, he resigned his office Nov. S. 1800. He was 
immediately appoiiiled by President Adams judge of 
the L'. S. supreme court for the second district, retain- 
ing office until 1802. Returning lo private life, in New 
Y'ork city he engaged in mercantile affaii's. He was 
one of the founders of the Bank of North .\merica, 
and its first |iresident from 1812 lo 1814. Removing 
to Comiecticut. he was cleeted democratic governor 
of the state in 1817. and forten succes.sive years was 
re-elected annually to the .same office. In the first 
year of his office he wasalso president of Iheconveu- 
fion that frameil the new state constitution. On the 
exi)iralion of his official term in Connecticut, he again 
made New York city his home, where he died .lunc 
1, 1833. 

READ, Jacob, senator, was born in South Car- 
olina in 1752. He came from a family honorable i-n 
civil life. After receiving a liberal educatiun at 
home, he was sent to England, where he studied law 
from 1773 imtil 1776, and returning, began practice 
in Charleston. The revolutionary fervor, however, 
carried him beyond jirivate considerations, and en- 
tering the field he served as major of South Carolina 
volunteers, but was imfortimately taken jirisoner 
and confined at St. Atigiistine. Fla. for four years. 
I'lion his release he was .sent to the legislature, and, 
sub.se(inently rc|>resenled South Caiolina in the con- 
tinental congress from 1783 until 1786. On Dec. 7, 
1795, he took his scat in the U. S. senate as a feder- 
alist, serving as i>resident pro tempore in 1797. and 
closing his term March 3. 1801. He was inunc- 
diately appointed by President Adams judge of the 
I'. S. district court of South Carolina, which office 
he held until his death, which took place in Charles- 
ton July 17, 1816. 



OF AMERICAN BIOORAPIIY. 



109 



CABOT, George, secretary of the navy, was 
born in Siilorn. >[ass.. Dec. 3, 1751. A cla.ssical ed- 
ucation fitted him for Harvard, which he entered, 
but left al tlie end of his second j-ear to go to sea. 
Before he was of ase he ro.se to the command of a 
vessel, and was for several years ensraged in foreign 
trade. Abandoning this life in his twenty-fifth year 
he returned to Salem, and, entering with ardor into 
the stirring affairs of the yoimg nation, was made a 
member of the JIassachusetts i)rovineial congress in 
1776. Here he first advocated tho.se principles of 
political economy for wliich he was afterward so 
distiuiiuisbed. Later he became a member of the 
convention that framed the eonslitutioii of Massa- 
chu.setts, anil also of that which adojited the federal 
constitution in 1788. From 17yi until 1796 he served 
with di.stinetion in the U. S. senate from Massachu- 
setts. When the office of secretary of the navy 
was created, he was the first choice of President 
Adams for the po.silion, to which he was appointed 
May 8. 1791, but which he resigned on the twenty- 
first of the month, and retained his scat in the sen- 
ate. He .served in the council of JIassaehusetts in 
1808, and was made president of the Hartford con- 
vention in 1814, being chosen to the latter position 
for his profound knowle<lge of political economy. 
He was a warm friend of A\'ashington anil Hamilton, 
and rendered important service to the latter in the 
formation of bis financial system. The " History of 
the Hartford Convention," |iublisbcd in 1833 by 
Theodore Dwight, will give his views on financial 
policy. He died in Boston Apr. 18, 1833. 

STODDERT, Benjamin, secretary of the navy 
179S-1S01, was. born in Charles county, 3Id., in 1751, 
a descendant of an old Scotch family. His grand- 
father settled in Maryland about 1675. and his father, 
Capt. .James Stoddert, was an olbeer in the old 
French and Indian war, and was killed at the defeat 
of Gen. Braddoek. Benjamin Stoddert was brought 
up as a merchant, but on the outbreak of the war of 
the revolution joined the army; was made ca|itain 
of cavalry, and served actively and with distinction 
up to the time of the battle of Brandywine, when he 
held the rank of major. In that engagement he was 
severely woinided and was obliged to retire. He 
■wassecretary of the board of war, in wbicli position 
he continued until the end of 1781. After the dec- 
laration of peace he settled in Georgetown, D. C, in 
business of general merchandizing, and was very 
successful. In Mav, 1798, he was appointed secre- 
tary of the navy by President Adams to succeed 
George Cabot, being the second to occuiiy that posi- 
tion, and the first to formate a naval force for the 
defence of the infant states. He continued in the 
naval department until March 4, 1801. After- 
ward for a time he was acting secretary of war. At 
the close of Adams's administration lu- devoted him- 
self to settling his business affairs, which had been 
neglected, and he soon afterward retireii to (irivale 
life. He died in Bladensburg, Md., Dec. 18, 1813. 

WATSON, James, senator, was born in New- 
York city A]ir. 6, 1750. He was the brother of 
Ebcnczer \\'atson who was for several years editor 
and iMiblisher of the Hartford "Courant." He was 
graduated from Yale in 1776, and .subscipiently en- 
tering into mercantile affairs in Xew York where he 
amas.sed a large property. In 1791-96 he uas a 
memlier of the a.-isembly, and in 179Sii state senatoi', 
but resigned to take his seat in the V. S. senate as a 
democrat, on the re.sii;nation of .lohn Sloss Hobart, 
serving from Dec. 11. i798, until March 19, 1,801. He 
then resigned and was afterward l*. S. naval agent 
at New York city. He was a member of the Society 
of the Cincinnati. He died in New York city May 
1.5, 1S()6. 

TKACY, Uriah, senator, was born at Frank- 
lin, Conn., Feb. 3, 1755. He was educated at Yale 



College, whence he was graduated in 1778, and 
afterward directing hi.s attention to the law, was 
admitted to the bar in 1781, and ro.se to eminence in 
that profession. He served in the Connecticut .state 
legislature from 1788 to 1793. when he was elected 
to congress as a federalist and served in the lower 
house until 1796, when he became U. S. senator in 
place of .lonatban Trumbull, and remained in that 
position until his death, which was caused by ex- 
posure during the funeral of a fellow-senator. He 
was the first person buried in the congressional 
burying grouncf at Washington. His three daughters 
married tlirce judges, viz.: .ludge Gould, of Litch- 
field, Conn.: .ludge Howe, of Northampton, jMass., 
and .Judge ^Metcalfe, of Dedham, JIass. Senator 
Tracy had a reputation for wit, was an able orator, 
gr.iceful in his mode of delivery and lucid in argu- 
ment. He was an ardent debater, his ideas coming 
rapidly and being eloquently set forth. He was 
greatly admired by his friends and respected by his 
opponents. He died July, 19, 1807. 

VINING, John, .senatoi, was born in Dover, 
Del., Dec. 23, 1758. He was well educated, and 
was but a young man when he was made a member 
of the Continental congress, in which he served 
from 1784 until 1786. He was the only representative 
from Delaware to the first and .second congresses,serv- 
ing from May 6, 17S9, until JIarch 2, 1793, and voting, 
among other measures, for the location of the seat of 
government on the Potomac. He was then elected 
to the U. S. senate on Dec. 3, 1793, resigning his .seat 
March 6, 1798. He died at his birthplace i"ebruaiT, 
1802. ^ 

DEXTER, Samuel, secretary of the treasury, 
was born in Boston, May 14, 1761, He was the 
son of Samuel De.xter, who took an active part in 
the struggles preceding the revolution and labored 
zealously to inform the people of the dangerous 
policy pursued by tlie British ministry. He was 
graduated from Harvard in 1781, studied law under 
Levi Lincoln at Worcester, Mass., and was admitted 
to the bar in 1784 with promi.se of eminence in 
his profession. His commanding ability soon led 
him into public service. He repre- 
sented Massachusetts in the lower 
hou.se in 1788-90, served in the lower 
house of Congress in 1793-95, and in 
the U. S. senate from Dec. 2, 1799, 
until .Jime, 1800, when ifc resigned 
upon receiving an appointment by 
President Aflanis as secretary of 
war. He retained this office until 
Dec. 31, 1800, when he was appoint 
ed secretary of the treasury, and 
remained in the cabinet until the 
close of Adams's administration. 
On his return to the practice of his 
profession, he was retained in im- 
portant cases before the U. S. su- 
preme court at Wasliingtou, in 
which his logical reasoning and the 
strength of his arguments were the basis of his 
success. In 1812, withdrawing from his federal 
a.s.socialions, he .alliliated with the rejiublicans in the 
sup|)ort of President .lefferson's war mea.sures, but 
he repudiated entirely the policy of that party, 
when, in 1816, he was named the reiniblican candi- 
date for governor of Massachusetts. A mission to 
Spain was offered him by President Jladison in 1815 
but declined. He was an ardent su|>porter of the 
tempeiance movement, and was the first president of 
the first society formed in Ma.s,sachu.setls for the pro 
mot ion of that cause. The degree of hh. D. was con- 
ferred upon him by Harvard in 1813. Besides 
political pamphlel.s, he published a poem entitled 
"Progress of Science" in 1780, a "Letter on Free- 
masonry," "Speeches and Political Papers," and 




XXC»« ^j-^-C-^J*^ 



no 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 




■was the author of the reply of the senate to the ad- 
dress of President Adams "ou the death of Waslnng- 
toii. He died ill Alliens. N. Y.. May 3. 18K). 

HILLHOUSE, James, senator, was t)orn at 
Montville, Conn.. Oet. 21. 1754. the son of AVilliani 
Hillhouse, an eminent jurist, legislator and soldier. 
The son .studied in the sehools of his native town, 
and was then sent to Yale Colleire. from whieli he 
was ixraduated in 1773. He be<;an the study of law. 
but on the outbreak of the revolutionary strusrgle he 
volunteered his serviees, and wa.s eaptain of the .uov- 
ernor's foot guards at the time when 
Gen. Tryon invaded New Haven. 
Fmm 17^<0 until 1789 he was a repre- 
sentative in the legislature. In the 
1,'Uter _year he was a memlier of coun- 
cil. In 1791, and until 1795, Mr. Hill- 
house was a member of congress. In 
179G he was chosen U. S. senator to 
fill out the unexpired term of Oliver 
Ellsworth. At the close of that term 
he was re-elected, and again in IMllli 
and in 1H09. He served in the sen- 
ate altogether si.xteen years, when he 
resigned his seat in IsiO, having been 
appointed commissioner of the school 
fund in Conned icut. When Thomas 
Jeffer.son was elected President and 
withdrew from the .senate, Mr. Hill- 
house was a]ii)ointed iiresident pro 
tern. Hewasastrongfedi'ralisl.but he had the opinion 
that the .system of govern menl iidoptedeontained dan- 
gerous tendencies, and as early as 1S08 he iiroposed 
amendments to the constitution for their correction. 
He filled the position of commissioner of the school 
fund of Connecticut for fifteen years, and for fifty 
Vears.frnin 17S2, was treasurer of Yale College. His 
alma mater conferred on him the degree of LL.D. in 
1833. Mr. Ilillliouseuasime of the most public-spirit- 
ed citizens of his lime, and did all in his power to ad- 
vance the interests of his state and the city in which 
he lived. He saved to the state the school fund of 
which he was commissioner, and it is owing to his 
enterprise that New Haven is known as the "Elm 
City," for he set out with his own hands many of the 
stately trees which adorn that beautiful city. In 
1835 Mr. Hilllioiise uiidcrlodU the construction of the 
Farmington and Hampshire Canal, in which he sunk 
much of his properly, a railroad having taken the 
place of the canal. .Mr. Hillhouse married the 
(laughter of Col. M. Woolsev. He died in New 
Haven, Conn., Dec. 39, 1S33." 

BRADFORD, William, senator, was born in 
Plvmpton, Mass., Nov. 4. 1739. He was a descend- 
ant from Gov. Bradford of Massachusetts. He 
studied medicine and practiced for a while in AVar- 
Tcn, H. I., but on removing to Bristol he turned his 
attention to law and soon became one of the most 
eminent practitioners in the state. At the same 
time taking an active part in the revolutionary era. 
lie became, in 1773, a member of the Rhode Island 
committee of correspondence, and served as deputv- 
governor the same year. He was also elected a del- 
egate to the Continental congress, but did not take 
Lis seat. During the bombardment of Bristol by 
the British, Oct, 7, 1775, Gov. Bradford went oh 
board the commanding vessel and treated with Capt. 
Wallace for the cessation of the cannonade. In the 
destruction of iiroperty that ensued his elegant man- 
sion was entirely destroyed. He was elected U. S. 
senator in 1793 and mad<' president of the senate p/'o 
tempore, July (i, 1797. Ijater in the year he resianed 
his seat. Hi> died in Bristol, H. I., July (i, 1808, 

BINGHAM, William, senator, was born in 
Philadel]iliia. Pa., in 1755. After his graduation 
from Philadelphia College in 1708, his ability bring- 
ing him into public notice, he was sent as an agent 



for the Continental congress to ^Martinique, and ap- 
pointed consul at St. Pierre in 1771. He was a del- 
egate in the old congress from Pennsylvania in 1787- 
8l5, and U. S. senator in 1795-1 so 1, acting as presi- 
dent pro Uinpore in 1797. During his term of 
olHee he was a .strongsupporter of President Adams. 
He amassed immense wealth, and in 1793 purchased 
for !f;350,OOO more than 3.(100,000 acres of land in 
Maine, which he described in a pamphlet is.sued at 
the time. He published a "Letter from an Ameri- 
can on the Subject of the Re-straining Proclamation " 
in 1794. He married Anne Willing, a lady remark- 
able for beauty and elegance of manner, who dis- 
pen.sed his great wealth in Philadelphia with lavish 
liospitality. One daughter, Anne Louisa, married 
Alexander Baring, the ne.irotialor of the Websler- 
Ashburton treaty; the other, Maria Jlalilda, was 
distinguished for her three marria.ses into the nobil- 
ity of France and England, He died in Balh, Eng., 
Feb. 7. 1S04. 

HINDMAN, William, senator, was born in 
DorelK'ster county. .Mil., Apr. 1, 1743, the son of 
.Jacob Hiiidman. a wealthy landholder, who was of 
English ancestry, and high sheriff of Talbot county, 
^Iil. His son, being intended for the bar, was sent 
to London and entered at the Inns of Court, where 
he completed his legal studies, and in 1705, having 
retvniie<l home, was admitted to the bar. In 1766 
Jacob Hindmau died, and his son inherited his large 
landed esiate. On the outbreak of the revolutionaiy 
war William Hindiiiaii was made secrelary of the 
Calvert county committee of observation, and was 
appointed to oirry out the resolves of the council of 
safety, which at this time held supreme jiower 
in Maryland. He was a member of the state con- 
vention and treasurer of the eastern shore of 
Maryland from 1775 to 1777. In the latter year he 
was elected to the first senate of Maryland, where he 
served uiilil 1784. being a member of the Conlinental 
congress durin.ir the next four years. From 1789 to 
1793 he was a member of the executive council. He 
was elected to the second congress to complete the 
>uiexi)ircd term of Joshua Seney, who had resigned, 
and .served from 1793 to 1799. He was a federalist 
candidate for congress during the next campaign, 
b\it was defeated, and was sent to the state le.irisla- 
t\ire, by which body he was elected, in December, 
1800, ti) the U. S. senate, where he .served until Xo- 
venibcr, 1801, when he retired from public life. A 
life of Senator Hindman, written by Samuel A. Har 
rison, M.D. . was published at Baltimore in 1880 
He died at Baltimore, Md., Feb. 19, 1823, 

TAZEWELL, Henry, senator, was born iu 
Brunswick county, Va., in 1753. His grandfather, 
William Tazewell, a lawyer, came from Somerset- 
shire in 1715. Orphaned in childhood, Henry was a 
student at William and JIary College, read law with 
an uncle, ro.se to prominence at the bar, and from 
the age of twenty-two was constantly in the jniblic 
service. In the le.udslature, 1775-85, he promoted 
the aboliticm of primogeniture and entail, and the 
separation of church from state. In the convcniion 
of .luiie. 1770. he was a member of the ciiiiimill<'e 
which reported the dcclarati<in of ri.ghts, and the 
state constitution. He was a judge of the Virginia 
supreme court 1785-93, and of the court of appeals 
(m its creation in 1793; in the U, S. senate 1794-99, 
and its president pro tern, in 1795. Asa Jeffersonian 
he opposed Jay's treaty with England. He died 
while the .senate wa-s in session at Philadelphia, Jan. 
24, 1799. 

FOSTER, Dwigrht, senator, w.os born in Brook- 
field. Mass., l)ec. 7, 1757, the son of .ledediah Foster, 
an eminent JIassachu.setts jurist, jud.sre of probate 
and justice of the court of common pleas in Worces- 
ter, who died in 1779. Dwight w.as sent to Brown 
University, whence he was graduated iu 1774, when 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



Ill 



he entered the law office of his Iirother, Theodore, in 
Providence, wliere he studied for sorr'.e time, as also 
later in Nortliiiraplon, Mass. In 1778 he was ad- 
mitted to the bar at Providence, R. I., and the fol- 
lowing year rei-eived a commission as a justice of the 
peace. "On the death of his father, the son, who was 
at that time twcjity-three years of age. removed to 
Brooktield. and was chosen to till his fatlicr's place 
in the constitutional convention of Massachusetts at 
that city. He continued to succeed his father in his 
different offices, being made justice of the jieace for 
the count}' of Worcester in 1781, special justice of 
the court of common jileas in 1793, and also high 
sheritf of the comity in that year. After being a 
member of each branch of the Massachusetts legis- 
lature, he was elected to congress as a federalist, and 
serve<l from 1793 to 1790. In the latter year lie was 
sent as a delegate to the .state con.stitutional conven- 
tion, and was also elected a mcnilier of the U. 8. 
senate, where he remained from 1800 to 1803. From 
1801 to 1811 Judge Foster was chief justice of the 
court of common jileas for AVorccster county. In 
1818 he was a memlier of the Jla.ssachusetts execu- 
tive council. .7\idge Fosti'r is descrilied as having 
been mild and urbane in his manner, and of a large 
and commanding figure. In 17S4 he I'cceived from 
Harvard the desrree of A.>I. Judge Foster died in 
Brodktield, >Ias^s., Apr. 29. 1823. 

SHEPLEY, Ether, senator and jurist, was 
born Nov. 2, 1789, at Groton, Mass., where his 
ancestor .settletl about 1700. The name was then 
Sheple. One of the family, Joseph, oppo-sed the 
adoption of the federal constitution in 1788. Ether 
was graduated from Dartmouth in 1811, in the 
class with Amos Kendall, Joel Parker and Rev. 
Daniel Poor. He practiced law at Saco, Me., from 
1814 to about 1821, and after that at Portland; was 
a member of the legislature in 1819, and of the state 
constitutional convention in 1820, and U. S. district 
attorney for Maine, 1821-38. He was in the senate 
as a democrat, 1833-30, and supported President 
Jackson's removal of the deposits; a judge of the 
state supreme court from 1836, and chiei' justice, 
1848-55. Here his decisions filled twenty-six vol- 
umes of reports. On leaving this post he was n\ade 
sole commissioner to revise the state statutes, 
which appeared in their new forni in ]S.'">7. His de- 
gree of LL. 1). was conferred by Waterville College 
in 1S42, and bv Dartmouth in 1845. He died at 
Portland, Jle.. Jan. 15. 1877. 

SHEPLEY, John, elder brother of Ether Shep- 
ley, was born at Groton, Mass., Oct. 16. 1787. He 
studied for a time at Harvard, became a lawyer, and 
after some years' practice in Worcester county, !Mass. , 
entered into partnership with Ether, at Portland, in 
1825. He was reporter of the Maine supreme court 
183.5-49. and died at Saco, Me.. Feb. 9, 1857. 

STOCKTON, Richard, jiu-ist and senator, was 
born near Princeton, N. J., Apr. 17, 1764. He was 
the son of Richard Stockton, signer of the declara- 
tion of independence. He was graduated from 
Princeton in 1779 in his sixteenth year, studied law 
under Elias Boudinot, and was adniitted to the bar 
in 1784. In 1792 and 1801 he was a presidential 
elector, and in 1796 was elected unanimously to 
the U. S. senate to take the place of Frederick 
Frelinghuysen, resigned, serving until 1799, when 
he declined a re-election. lie was .sent to the lower 
hou.se of congress in 1813. in wliieli he became 
noU'd for his debate with Charles J. Ingersoll on 
free-trade and sailors' rights, again declininu: a 
reappointment at the close of his term in 1815. 
In 1825 lie was apjiointed one of the New Jer.sey 
commissioners to negotiate the settlement of an im- 
portant boundary question with New York, and 
wrote one of his most i>rofound legal arguments, 
which accompanied the report of the commi.ssiouers. 



Mr. Stockton, though eminent as a politician and 
statesman, was still more noted for his profound legal 
knowledge and his elocjuence at the bar, which for 
more than a quarter of a century jiiaced him at the 
head of the New Jersey jirofession. He died in 
Princeton March 7, 1828, leaving a jirincely fortune 
to his son, Robert Field Stockton, the noted naval 
otHcer, wlio afterward became a senator of the 
United States. 

NORTH, 'William, senator and soldier, was born 
in Fort Frcderiek.Pema(|uid.Me..in 1755. His father, 
Capt. John North, coniniaiideil Fort Frederick in 
1751, and Fort St. George, Thomaslon. Me., in 1758. 
At the age of twenty lii^ entered the service of his 
country and served under Benedict Arnold in the ex- 
pedition to Canada in 1775. Noted for coiiiag(' and 
endurance, he was promoted caiitain in Jackson's 
Ma.ssachusetts regiment in 1777, anil led liis com- 
pany at the battle of Jlonmouth, where he saw the 
.splendid results of Baron Steuben's discipline upon 
the disorderly retreating forces of Gen. Lee. In 1779 
he became aide to Baron Steuben who made him one 
of his sub-inspectors in introducing and |)erfeetiiig 
his system of military tactics and discipline in the 
Continental army. North attended Steuben in the 
Virginia campaign and was present at the surrender 
of Cornwallis. He was appointed major in the 2d 
U. S. regiment, Oct. 20, 1786, and made adjutant- 
general of the army July 19, 1798, with the rank 
of brigadier -general. On June 10. 1800. he was 
mustered out, but was apjioinled adjutant-general 
in 1812, which he declined. He was once speak- 
er of tlie New York assembly, and was appointed in 
the place of .lohn Thomas Hobart, who resigned 
as U. S. senator from May 21, 1798 until .March 3, 
1799, where he became consiiicuous as a federalist 
at a time when party feeling ran very high. He 
was one of the first canal commissioners of New 
York, and became a member of the Society of the 
Cincinnati. He had remained the steadfast friend 
of Baron Steuben, who bequeathed to him the bulk 
of his property. This he divided among his military 
companions, erected a simple monument over the 
baron's grave at his home near Utica, N. Y.. which 
has many annual visitors. Gen. North died in New 
York city Jan. 3. 1836. 

MASON, Jonathan, senator, was born in Bos- 
ton, , Mass., Aug. 30, 1752. He studied at Princeton 
College, whence he was graduated in 1774. He then 
entered the office of John Adams, 
to study law. In 1877 he was ad- 
mitted "to the bar. Having been 
an eye-witness of the Boston Ma.ssa- 
cre, he delivered on March 5, 1730, 
before the authorities of Boston, 
the official oration on the tenth an- 
niversary of that occurrence. He 
was frequentl}' a member of the 
legislature and in 1798 was one of 
the governor's council. Fi'om 1800 
to 1803 he filled a vacancy in 
the United Stales senate and was 
active in the debates in that 
liody, particularly tlio.se on the re- 
peal of the judiciary act of ISOl. 
From 1S17 to 18'20 ^Ir. Ma.son was 
a member of the hou-e of repre- 
sentatives, acting with the federal- 
ist party on all the political ques- 
tions which marked the first term 
of President Monroe. He resigned before complet- 
ing his second term. He was a Lawyer of ability and 
lield in liiiih repute. Senator Mason died in Boston 
Nov. 1. 1.S31. 

SMITH, Daniel, senator, was born in Fauquier 
county, Va., about 1740. He early emigrated to 
Cumberland Valley, Tenn., being one of its first set- 




112 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



^■h^jnLrrO 



tiers, and thiring tlic growth of tlie state he filled 
many important offices. During the revolution he 
was major-general of the militia, and in ITiJO he was 
appointed iiy Gen. Washington .secretary of the ter- 
ritory .south" of the Ohio river, lie was a eonspic- 
lums" member of the convention that framed the con- 
slilulioii of Tennes,see, and U. S. senator from that 
stale upon the resignation of Andrew .lackson, serv- 
im,' from 1798 till 179!l. lie was a.irain senator from 
1»0.") till IWIi), when he resigned. He inililislied a 
geography of Tennessee, with the first map of that 
state, at I'hilailelphia in 1799. He died in Sumner 
Counlv .luiic Hi. lf<l«. 

SEDGWICK, Theodore ( Ist), jurist and senator, 
was born in Ilarlford.t'onn.. in May, 174(i. His father, 
Benjamin Sedgwick, a merchant, was descended 
froiii Gen. Hoi)ert Sedgwick, an Englishman, who 
settled iu Charleston, Mass., in 11)85. Theodore en- 
tered Yale, but after studying for a lime in the class 
of 17lio, was suspended for some lioyisli mi.sdemean- 
or and did ni>t return. He then began tlie study of 
divinitv, bul reliiKiuished it for Ihal of law and was 
admitted to the bar in 17G(). He began practice in 
Great Harrington, Mass., and then removing to Slief- 
field, soon became distinguished, 
not only in his profession but in 
civil affairs, and was often sent to 
the legislature both of the province 
and the state. On the revolt of the 
colonies he took up his country's 
cause with great ardor, and enter- 
ing the army, served on the staff 
of Gen. .Jolin Thomas in the expe-' 
dition to Canada in 1776, and after- 
ward acted tmollii-ially, as commis- 
sary for the army. From 17H.~)-S(i 
he .served in the Continental con- 
gress, and a year later took so im- 
portant a part in putting down 
Shays's rebellion that his life was 
threatened, and his liou.se at Stock- 
^jLcie/u^^tA^ bridge, already historic an the resi- 
"^^/'^^ "^ dent-e of his noted family, was at- 
tacked liy the enraged insm-geuts, 
•who were driven olT. In 1788 he was speaker of the 
Massachusetts liousc, and also a member of the state 
convention, in which liis ardent supp<irt of the new 
federal constitution contrilmted in a great measure 
to its ratification by that body. He was a represent- 
ative in congress from Massachusetts in 1789-96, 
when he was elected to the U. S. senate, presiding 
over that body pro temjMre in 1797, and closing his 
term of service in 1799. He was then returned to the 
hou.se, serving until 1801. and acling as.s]icaker dur- 
ing the latter term. In the national councils Mr. 
Sedgwick was a warm federalist, and active support- 
er of Hamilton, .lay and other party leaders, of 
whom he was als,o an intimate associate. He was ap- 
pointed judge of the supreme court of Mas.sachuselts 
in 18t)3. Holding office until his death, and was not<'d 
for the clearness of his judicial opinions. His chief 
service to his adoiited state was procuring from (he 
court in 1780 a decision that restored freedom to 
Elizabeth Freeman, the negro slave who had lied to 
Massachusetts for her liberty, and thus interpreted 
the JIas.sachnsetls constitution so as in effect to abol- 
ish .slavery. Judge Sedgwick was a member of the 
Academy of Sciences, and received the degree of 
LL.U. from Princeton in 1799. He died in Mosion, 
June 24, lS!;i, leaving .-i son of his own name, )ir(imi- 
nent at the Albany bar, and a tlaugliler, Calliarine 
Maria Sedgwick, who was a popular author of the 
time. 

HENRY, John, senator, was liorn in Easton, 
Md., about K.^O. He came from a family distin- 
guished in public life. He was graduated from 
Princeton iu 1709, was admitted to the bar and 




opened a law office in his native town. In 1778 he 
was sent as delegate from JIaryland to the Conti- 
nental congress, in which he served until 1781, and 
again from 1784 till 17s7. He was then electeel sen- 
ator to the V. S. congress under the constitution, 
serving from March 3, 1789, until Dec. 10, 1797, when 
he resigned upon being elected governor of the 
state. He was one of the members of congress who 
voted for locating the scat of .srovernment on the Po- 
tomac. He died at the close of his first J'ear in 
office, in Eastern. Dec. Hi, 1798. 

LIVERMORE, Samuel, .senator, was born in 
Waltham. .Mass.. .May 14. \~,:Vl. He was graduated 
from •Princeton in 17.V2, was admitted to the bar 
two years later, and removing to Portsinouth. X. H., 
in 1758, began a successful practice there, which he 
was enabled lo extend while he was a member of the 
general court of the jn'ovince in 1768-70. He was 
also king's attorney in 1769, and, upon the change 
in the government, state's attorney f<ir three years, 
subsecpiently becoming judge-advocate of admiralty. 
In the meantime he had become one of the original 
grantees and the chief proprietor of Holderncss, 
N. H., which he made his home in 1775. He served 
in the Continental congress in 1780-82. when he re- 
signed, but served again in 1785. In 1782 he was 
appointed chief justice of the state supreme court, 
holding office with distinction imtil 1789, .serving 
also in 1788 iu the convention that adopted the fed- 
eral constitution. He w.as a memberof the first and 
second congresses from Xew Hampshire in 1789-93, 
when he was elected V. S. .senator in the latter year, 
serving as president /wo ^'/«;;oreof that body in 1797 
and 1799, and resigning at the close of his term iu 
1801. He diecl, after a lingering illness, at bis home 
Mav 18. LSI 18. 

DA'VENPORT, Franklin, senator, was born 
in Philadelphia, Pa. He was well-educated, studied 
law, was admitted to the bar and began practice 
in Woodbury, N. J. Entering the revolutionary 
forces he served as cajitain of artillery in Col. New- 
comb's brigade of Xew .Jersey troops.and subse(|ucnt- 
lyunderCol. Smith in Fort >IitHin on the Delaware. 
He was presidential elector in 1798 and again in 
1813 from Xew .Jersey. During the whiskey insur- 
rection in 1794, he was colonel. comman<ling the 
Xew Jersey line at Pittsburg. He wasa])poinledthe 
first surrogate of Gloucester county, andsubsecpient- 
ly was appointed to the U. S. senate upon the resigna- 
tion of .John Hutherfurd, serving from Dec. 19, 1798, 
until March 3, 1799, when he was succeeded by James 
Schureman. He was then elected a representative in 
congress and .served from Dec. 2, 1799. till JIareh 3, 
1801. He died in Woodbury, X. J., about 1829. 

LATJRANCE, John, senator, was born in 
Cornwall, Eng., in 1750. He came to Xew York in 
1767, was admitted to the bar in 1772, and became 
distinguished in his profession. Entering into the 
patriotic spirit of those stirring times, in 1775 he was 
commissioned in the 1st Xew York regiment, of 
which Gen. Alexander Maedougall was then colonel, 
and on Oct. 6, 1777, was ajipoiiiled aide-de-camp to 
Gen. Wasliinglon. Afterward he presided, al the 
trial of Major .John .Vndre as judge-advocate gen- 
eral. At the close of the war he resumed his jirac- 
tice, but was again earrieil into public life as a mem- 
I)er of congress in 17S5-86, l)ut was not returned on 
account <if the op|iosition ercate<i by his advocacy of 
the adoption of the new federal constiiulion. In 
17S9 he was sent to the .state senate, and from there 
he went as the first member from Xew York to the 
first U. S. congress, in which he retained his seal imtil 
1793. In 1790 he was appointed to the U. S. district 
court of New York, lint resigned his seat on the bench 
upon being elected to the U. S. .senate in 1796, re- 
taining his seat until 1800, a-nd presiding over that 
body in 1798. He was a zealous defender of his 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



113 



country both in the field and in civil life. On all 
questions of public policy, especially on the com- 
mercial interests of the (Miunlry, he evinced jrreat 
compreliensiveness and foresijilit. He was the per- 
sonal friend of both Washimrton and Hamilton. He 
married Elizabeth, the daughter of Gen. Alexander 
Maedoniiall, and afterward Elizabeth Ijivingstou, of 
Philadelphia. He died November, 1810. 

MASON, Stevens Thomson, senator, was 
born in StalTord county, Va., in ITIiO. lie wastheson 
of Thomson Mason, and his earliest American ances- 
tor was Georg-eJIason, whoemij^rated from England, 
settled in SlafFord county, Ya., and died there in 
1686. This George Slason was a royalist, who com- 
manded a troop of horse under Charles 11., with 
■whom he escaped after the battle of Worcester, in 
the disguise of a peasant. Having brotight over 
■with him eighteen persons to the colony of Virginia, 
he received a grant of land which became the fam- 
ily estate. His sons and grandsons were all ]u-om- 
inent personages in the history of Virginia. Ste- 
vens Thomson Mason was educated at William and 
Maiy College, and on the outlireak of the revolution- 
ary war volunteered his services and was an aide to 
Gen. Washington and was present at the siege of York- 
town. Afterward he became a general of militia. 
He was a member of the house of delegates of Vir- 
ginia and of the state constitutional cimvention in 
1788. On the establishment of the constitutional 
government, he was elected to the United States 
senate, in which body he served from Dec. 7, 1795, 
to JIarch 3, 1803. Alason became seriously involved 
during his senatorial career, in connection with the 
Jay treaty, which was one of the most serious ques- 
tions considereil by the government of the United 
States during the first twenty-five years of its liis- 
tory. This treaty, negotiated by John Jay in 1794-95, 
■was ratified in secret .session by the smallest possible 
constituticmal majority. It was forliidden by the 
senate that the treaty should be published, but Sen- 
ator ^lason did actually cause to be jirinted in a Phil- 
adel]ilii,'i paper, the " Aurora." at first an alistract of 
the instrument and afterward a complete copy of it 
in all its details. This action created the greatest ex- 
citement between the two political parties, being aji- 
plauded by the republicans and savagely attacked 
by the federalists. The provisions of the treaty, as 
soon as thev were made public, aroused the greatest 
excitement ,'imong the people, ■who thought that the 
interests of the country were being sacrificed to an 
unwortliy consideration for the claims of Great Brit- 
nin. So great was the irritation caused by this treaty, 
that Alexander Hamilton, who was its .strongest ad- 
herent and advocate, ■n-as actually assaulted at a 
public meeting in New York. The connection of 
Ulason with the Jay treaty gave him liis principal if 
not his only claim to the interest of posterity. Sen- 
ator Mason was a warm person.al friend of Thomas 
Jefferson, and his strong iiolitical ally during all the 
strtiggles which he experienced in his administration 
of the government. Personally, Senator Mason was 
al.so a most popular man, esteemed for his integrity 
and admired for his remarkable abilitv as an orator. 
He died in Philadelphia, Pa., :Mav 10, ISO:!. 

FOSTER, Theodore, senator, was born in Brook- 
field. :Mass., Apr. 29, 1752. His father, .ledediah 
Foster, was a jurist of distinction and ;in active 
patriot of the revolution. After graduating from 
Brown in 1770, Theodore was admitted to llie bar. 
and opened an office in Providence, R. I., where 
he had made his luime. For more than thirty years 
lie was engaged in active public life during the 
formative jieriod of liis country's history. In 177(i he 
■was a member of the state lumse of representatives. 
senMng until 1782, and thereafter was town clerk of 
Providence for several years. In May. 1785, lie was 
appointed judge of the court of admiralty. In 1790 



he was elected to the U. S. senate, and served 
through the stormy period of President Adams'.^ 
adiiiiiiistralion, closing his third term in 1813. He 
again served in the slate legislature from 1812 until 
1816 as a representative from Foster, a town that 
bore his name. In the meantime, lie continued Im 
interest in education, and was very ac^tive in promot- 
ing the interests of his alma mater, of which he was 
for several years an overseer. He was al.so noted as 
an anli(|uarian, and hail collected material for a 
"History uf Bliode Island," which he did not liveto 
complete. In 1780 the degree of A.IM. was con- 
ferred upon him bv Dartmouth. He died in Provi- 
dence, H. 1., Jan. "13, 1828. 

WELLS, William Hill, senator, was born in 
Pennsylvania about 1700. After receiving a good 
education, he removed to Delaware, and for several 
y<'ars was a successful inerchaut in Dagsboro' and 
ilillsboro'. He however abandoned iiu.siness af- 
fairs for law, and, after admission to the bar began 
practice in Georgetown. Later, lie settled in Dover, 
and acquired a large practice, at the same time de- 
voting himself to the care of vast estates in Sus.sex 
couuty. including the cypress swamp, which he 
had received from his wife. He was elected U. S. 
senator to fill the place of Josiali Clavton, decea.sed, 
serving from Feb. 4, 1799, until ]May 0, 1804, when 
he resigned, but again served, uiioii the resignation 
of James .\. Bavard, from June lu, 1.S13, until JIarch 
3, 1817. He died in Jlillslioro, Del., March 11, 1829. 

MORmS, Gouverneur, statesman, was born at 
Morri.-^ania, N. Y,, Jan. 31, 1752. He belonged to 
one of the wealthiest and best -known families in the 
colonies. He was graduated from King's College 
(now Columbia) at sixteen years of age, after which 
he studied law ■with William Smith, at that time 
chief justice of the province of New York. In 1775 
he was .sent as a delegate to 
the provincial congress, where 
he won a reputation as a brilliant 
debater, showing himself from 
the first an ardent .-idvoeate of 
the war for independence. The 
constitution of the .state of New 
York was adopted by the Kings- 
ton convention Ajiril 20, 1777, 
and formally pulilished to the ^ 
assembled pcojile on the morn- , 
ing of the twenty-second. It 
■^\'as ]iractically the work of John 
Jay, Robert R. T>ivingston and 'f ■ 
Gouverneur Morris — all young 
men. This is the constitution 
■which Gov. Horatio Sevraour /^^^-- '^[y ~ -~.-r^^ 
afterward called "a proof of the cX^^^^=«^ ^-'^^^'^^-^^ 
profound knowledge of its lead- 
ing men in the principles of civil liberty, good gov- 
ernment, and cimstitutional law." ^Morris wiis made 
a member of the Continental congress by the New 
York convention in 1777. During his term of .scr 
vice he was chairman of several important stand- 
insr committees, a practicing lawyer in the Philadel- 
jiliia courts, a sharer of AVashinglon's privation.s at 
Valley Forire, as a member of a commission entrusted 
with the ta.sk of feeding and clothing the destitute 
army, and chairman of a committee whose report on 
foreign relations led to the final treaty of peace. In 
1781 he became assistant minister of tiiiance under 
Robert Morris, which office he held for about four 
years. He was a member of the constitutional con- 
vention of 1787. advocating In tliat body such con- 
servative measures as a permanent executive, a free- 
hold qualification for voters, and a senate for life. 
His favorite measures were not adojilcd. but he ac- 
quiesced in the necessity of comjiromise and took so 
active a ]iart in the drawing uj) of the final docu- 
ment that, according to JIadlson, " the finish given 




114 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



to the style and arrangement of the constitution 
fairly bclonits to Jlr. jforiis. " The next year he 
sailed for Europe, partly for pleasure. ])arlly as the 
financial n'^vin of Hobert Morris, thus realizing the 
anient desire of his hoj-liood to travel in the Old 
World; " to rub oil " as he put it, "in the {ray circles 
of foreiifn life a few of those many barl)arisms 
which eharacleri/.c a provincial education." lie re- 
mained aliro.-ul ten years, actin;;"in 171)1 as Washing- 
ton's dcimly to sound Hie Brilisli luinislry as to their 
intention regarding certain ditlicullii's growing out 
of the late war. and for two year8( I7!t2-!I4) as United 
States minister to France. lie was L'. S. senator 
from 1H(M)-1.S(»:J. anil chairman of the Erie Canal 
commission, and jiresident of tht New York Histor- 
ical Society during Hie last years of bis life. He 
published a number of poliiical and historical ad- 
dresses and fuueral orations. His "Letters and 
Journals," ably edited by Annie C'ary Morris, .show 
liim to have been one of the most voluminous and 
enlertainiug correspondents of the period to which 
he belonged. Jared Sparlis is the author of a three- 
volume biography of him (1S32). and Theodore 
Hoosevelt of a one-volume biography in the "Ameri- 
can Statesmen Sci'ies " (1H8«). He died at Jlorrisauia, 
N. v., Nov. (i, ISlti. 

LATTIMEB, Henry, senator, was born in 
Newport, Del., Apr. 24, 1752. He was jireparcd 
for the practice of medicine in Philadeliiliia and 
Edinburgh, and on his ivturn home commanded a 
successful pruclice until 1777, wlien he was appoint- 
ed, willi Dr. .lames Tilton, surgeon of the 'Hying 
hospi|:d for the lienctit of the wounded on" the 
Held. At the close of the war he resumed his 
]irivate practice, but withdrew from the profession 
to enter jiuhlic life. After serving in the lower 
house of Ihe state legislature, he represented Dela- 
ware in congress, as a federalist, serving from 
Feb. 14, 17!»4. until Feb. 28, 1795, when he was 
elected U. S. .senator uiion the resignation of George 
Kc:id, and served until :^Iarch 3, 1801. He died "in 
riiiladelpliia. Pa., Dec. 1!». 1819. 

KUTHERFURD, John, senator, was horn in 
New York city in 1700. His father, Walter Kulher- 
furd, .son of Sir John, of Edgcrston, Scotland, early 
became a citizen of New York state. John .studied 
at Princeton under the celebrated .John Witherspoon, 
D.D., and was graduated in 177(i in a class with Gov. 
Davie of South Carolina. Jonathan 
Daytcai, LL.D., anil John l^intard, 
LL. D. He was admitli-d to the 
bar and attained disiiiiclion in his 
profession, for many years having 
charge of much of the projierty of 
Trinilv church. In 1787 he remov- 
ed to New Jersey and became one 
of Ihe foremost promoters of the 
liesi pulilic measures of thai slale, 
which he also represented in the 
legislature. In 1788, though only 
twenty-eight years of age, "he was 
clio.sen a presidcnlial elector, and 
from 1791 until 1798 he .served in the 
V. S. senate, resigning at Ihe close 
of his second term, lieing Ihe la.st 
survivor of the .senalors of Wa.sh- 
ington's administralion. Mr. Kutli- 
erfnrd now gave his allenlion to 
his immense landed estates in New 
Jcr-sey, devoting himself especially lo scienlitic agri- 
culliire, by wliicli Ihe value of his pro]ierly was 
measurably enliiinced. At Ihe .same time he was in- 
lliienlial in inomoting internal imiirovements in his 
state. In the imporlant territorial conlroversy be- 
tween New Jersey and New York in 182."). he was 
one of the commissiimers apiiointed lo adjust the 
boundary line; also in 1829 and 1833 he served with 







the appointed commission in settling the line between 
those .stales and Pennsylvania. lie died Feb. 23, 
1840. 

DANA, Samuel Whittlesey, senator, was 
born in WalUngford, Conn., Feb. 13, 1760. He 
wa.s a son of James Dana, the celebrated Connect- 
icut clergyman and antagonist of Jonathan Ed- 
wards. He studied at Yale, where he was graduated 
in 1775. entered a law oflice. was admilted to the bar 
and became .-in able and eminent lawyer. He was a 
federalist in politics and was clecled to congress by 
that jiarly, and being a number of times re-electeii, 
served from Jan. 3. 1797, uiilil May 1, 1810. He was 
then elected United States .senator to succeed James 
Hillliou.se, and continued a member of that body 
during llie ne.xt ten years. In 1821 he .settled in 
Middletown. Conn., and was clecled mayor, an of- 
fice which he continued lo hold for a number of 
years, lie died in thai eily July 21, 1830. 

GOODHUE, Benjamin, senator, was born in 
Salem, Ma.ss., Get. 1, 1748. He was gradnaled from 
Harvard in 176(5, in the same cla.ss wiih Sir William 
Pcppercll, Thomas Barnard, D.D., and Thomas 
Prentiss, D.D. He engaged in mercantile alfairs in 
his native town wilh great success and dislinelion, 
and aflerward enU'ieil public life. From 1781 until 

1789, lie .served in the .state scnale and was then elect- 
ed to the first U. S. congre.s.s, serving until 1795. 
His large experience in cimimercial matters enabled 
him to prepare, with Ihe a.s.sistanee of Mr. Filzsim- 
inons, the code of revenue laws, most of which are 
slid in force. In 1790 he was elected U. S. senalor 
to lake the place of George Cabot, serving until 1800, 
and achieving great dislinelion as chairman of the 
committee on commerce. He then resigned and 
willidrew from public life. Mr. Goodhue was of the 
AV'ashington school of politics, and had for his col- 
league in the senate Caleb Strong, subsequently 
governor of .Massachusetts. He died July 28, 1814. 

SHEAFE, James, senator, was born in Ports- 
mouth. N. H., Nov. 10, 1755. He was graduated 
from Harvard in 1774. Having inleresled himself 
in politics, he became a member of the board of .se- 
lectmen of Porlsmouth, in which jiosition he served 
for a number of years. He was aflerward elected 
frequently to both houses of the New Hamiishire 
legislature and to the .state executive council. From 
1789 to 1801 he was a member of congress, in the 
latter year being chosen U. S. senator. He resigned 
from this position in 1802. In 1810 he was nomi- 
nated by the federalists as a candidate for the gov- 
ernorsliip of New Hampshire, but was defeated by 
AVilliam Phimer. lie died Dec. 5, 1829. 

CHIPMAN, Nathaniel, .senator, w.as born in 
Salisbury, Conn., Nov. 15, 1752. He studied at Yale, 
whence "he was graduated in 1777. AN'liile still in his 
senior year in college he aecejited a lieiilenanrseom- 
iiiissiou ill the army, and .served in the campaign of 
Valley Forge in 1777-78, and at Monmiailh and 
AVliite Plains. Immedialely afterward he resigned 
his commi.s.sioii and went to Litchlicld, Conn..wliere 
he studied law, and was admilted tothebarin JIareli, 
1779. He aflerward settled in Timnouth. Vl.. and 
in 1784-85 was a incmberof Hie Vermont slale legis- 
lature. Ill the following year he was made a judge 
of the .state supreme court, and in 1789 wasapjioinled 
chief jiislice. It was at this time that the dilfercnces 
oceiirred between the .slates of Vermont and New 
Yolk in regard lo boundary lines, and Judge Chij)- 
man was appointed one of the commissioners to ad- 
just these dilfercnces. and two years later to ncgo- 
liale the admission of Vermontinio Hie Union. In 
this same year. 1791. President Washington ai)poinled 
him juilgV of tlie U. S. district court of \ ermont. 
This jiosilion he resigned in 1793, and in October, 

1790, was again selected as chief justice of the state 
supreme court of that state. At the same time he 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



115 



Was appointed a member of a ooiiimittce to revise the 
statutes of the state, aud most of the duties of this 
committee fell to him. In 1797 Judge (Ihipman was 
chosen U. S. senator, and held that positicm until 
1803. Between 1806 and 1811 he wasa representative 
in the state legislature, and in 1813 one of the council 
of censors. In this same year he was again chief 
justice of the siiijrcme court of the state, and con- 
tinued to hold that office until 1815, and from 1816 
luitil his death was professor of law at Middlebury. 
He obtained .some reputation as a writer, having pub- 
lished, in 1793, " Sketches of the Princiiiles of Gov- 
ernment," and also a work entitled " Reports and 
Dissertations." He also revised the laws of the state 
of Vermont in 1836. Judge Chipman's life was 
written and published by his brother, Daniel Chip- 
man, in Boston, in 1846. Judge Chipman died in 
Tinmouth, Vt., Feb. l,i, 1843. 

ANDERSON, Joseph, senator, was born near 
Philadelphia, Nov. 5, 1757. His earl}' education 
■was good, and he was preparing for the bar when 
the battle of Lexington sounded the note of war, and 
be entered the revolutionary forces as an ensign in 
New .Jersey troops, and laid down his arms only at 
the glorious close. Promoted to be captain, he led his 
company at the bat tie of Monmouth. He subsequently 
served under Sullivan in the expedition against the 
Iroquois.and was (iresent at Valley Forge and thesiege 
of Yorktown. lie was then retired with the brevet 
rank of major. At the close of the war he was .still 
a young man and began the practice of law in Dela- 
ware. In 1791 Wa-shington made him judge of the 
territory south of the Ohio river, in which capacity 
he assisted in drawing up the constitution of Ten- 
nessee, where he made his home. He was .sent to the 
V. S. senate from that state, and held his seat from 
1797 until 1815, doing important work on committees, 
and acting as president pro tempore on two occasions. 
Prom 1815 until 183() he was lirst comptroller of the 
treasm y. He died in Wa.shington, D.C, Apr. 17,1837. 

SCHUREMAN, James, senator, was born in 
New .Jersey in 1757. lie was graduated from 
Queen's (now Rutgers) College in 1775. At the head 
of a company of volunteers he took part in the battle 
of Long Island, Aug. 27, 1776. During the revolu- 
tionary war he was taken prisoner and confined in 
the New York sugar-ho>isc, where he suffered great- 
ly from hunger, but with one comjianion escaped 
aud joined the American army at jMorristown, N. J. 
In 1786-87 he was a delegate from New Jersey to 
the Continental congress; was a member of the 
U. S. congress in 1789-91 and 1797-99. From 1799 
to 1801 Mr. Schureman was LT. S. senator from New 
Jersey, and then resigned. He was afterward may- 
or of the city of New Bnuiswiek, N. J., and served 
a foiu-tli lime in the U. S. congress from 1813 to 181.5. 
He died at New Brunswick, N. J., Jan. 23, 1824. 

GREENE, Ray, senator, was born in War- 
wick, R. I., Feb. 2, 176.5. His father, William Ray, 
and his grandfather, of the same name, were boih 
governors of Rhode Island, Ray was graduated 
from Vale in 1784, studied law under Gen. James AL 
Varinim, and was admitted In practice in Provi- 
<icnce. In 1794 lie succeeded William ('banning as 
altorneygeneral of Rhode Island, conlinniiig in 
ollice tiutil Nov. 22, 1797, when he was .sent to the 
U. S. senate to till the vacancy caused by the re.sig- 
nation of William Bradford. He was returned to 
the senate for a second term, but resigned on Dec. 7, 
1801, upon being ajiiiointed district judge of Rhode 
Island almost ai the last luoment of John .Vdams's 
administration. He lost the otlice, however, through 
some informality in the appointment, which Presi- 
dent JetTersoti refused to correct. He died in War- 
wi<k. R. 1., Jan. 11. 1849. 

BRADLEY, Stephen Row, senator, was born 
In Wallingford (now Cheshire), Conn., Oct. 20, 17.54. 




He studied at Yale, whence he was graduated in 
1775 and afterward entered the law otnce of Judge 
Reede, being admitted to the bar in 1779, in which 
year he settled in Vermont, and became active in the 
organization of the state. During the revolutionary 
war, he commanded a comijany of the Cheshire vol- 
imteers and was acting as an aide to Gen. Wooster, 
when that ollicer fell in a skirmish with the enemy 
at Danbury. Bradley was one of the first senators 
of Vermont, being elected as a democrat to the sec- 
ond and third congre.s.ses, and also to the .seventh and 
twelfth, and during that time being on certain occa- 
sions president pro Urn. He was the author of "Ver- 
mont's Appeal " (1779). He retired from public life 
in 1812, and died in Waljiole, N. H., Dec. 16, 1830. 

PINCKNEY, Charles, statesman, was born at 
Charleston, is. ('., in 17.58. He was a grand.son of 
William Pinckney, South Carolina commissary-gen- 
eral from 1703 to"l766. He received his education 
in Charleston, and studied law with his father. In 
1779 he was a member of the state legislature. The 
next year, when Charleston was tak- 
en by the British, Pinckney was cap- 
tured and .sent to St. Augustine, Fla., 
where, for some time, he was kept 
on a prison-ship. He served in the 
Continental congress from 1785 to 
1788. In 1787 he was a delegate 
from South Carolina to the conven- 
tion which framed the constitution 
of the I'nited Stales, in which he 
acted a distinguished jiart. He sub- 
milted and advocated in it, with 
great ability, a plan of government 
prepared by himself, a large por- 
tion of which was incorporated into 
the constitution. In the South Car- 
olina state convention called to rat- 
ify the Federal constitution (1788), 
he was also a leading member. 
From 1798 to 1801 he was U. S. .senator from South 
Carolina, but resigned his seat to accept the Jiost of 
U. S. minister to Sjiain, where he remained until 
1805. He was governor of his native slate, 1789- 
92, 1796-98, 18(16-8. From 1810 to 1814 Gov. 
Pinckney served in the state legislature. In 1819-20 
he was a South Carolina representative in the U. S. 
congress, and distingtiished himself by his ojiposi- 
tionto the Missoun compromise. His speech on 
that question was the last act of his piiblic life. He 
died at Charleston, S. C, Oct. 29, 1824. 

GTJNN, James, .senator, was born in Virginia 
in 1739. He was educated in the common schools, 
studied law, and, after his admi.ssion to the bar, re- 
moved to Savannah, Ga., and built up a succe.ssful 
jiractiee. He was elected U. S. senator from Georgia 
to the first congress, and served tlirfnigh President 
Adams's administration until March 3, 1801, voting 
for the location of the .seat of government at Wasli"- 
ington. lie died in Louisville, Ga., .Inly 30, 1801. 

JONES, 'Walter, member of congress and phy- 
sician, was lioni in Virginia in 1745. After his grad- 
uation from William and Alary College in 1760, he 
pursued his medical studies in Kdinburgh, Scotland, 
received his degree in 1770, and returning home, 
. gained an extensive ])raetice in Northumberland 
county, where he settled. He became known jilso 
as a scholar and for his general interest in affairs of 
state. In 1777 he was appointed by congress phy- 
sician-general of the lio.s|iital in the middle military 
department. In 1797 he was elected to congress, 
serving as a democrat until 1799, and again from 
1803 until 1811. In mature years he embraced the 
doctrines of free thought, but subsetpiently, chang- 
ing his views for those of orthodox religion, he re- 
pudiated his old faith in a book written for that 
imrpose. He died Dec. 31, 1815. 



YD^a^r^ ^Vvisi^^^^^ 



116 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 




MOBBIS, Robert, supcrintciuk'iit of fmaiicc 
during the ri'vohitioii, and siijiuT of tlie dcelaralion 
of iudcpeiideiict', wiis born in Lancashire, En^.. in 
January, H^W. His fatlicr. a well-known Liverpool 
mereliaiit, came to America and settled at Oxford, 
Talbot Co.. Md., leavini; his .son in care of his ijnind- 
mother. At thirteen years of a^e Kolierl was .sent 
for by bis father, and was placed under the oidy 
teacher iu Philadelphia, from whom he soon learned 
all there was to be imparted, and 
then entered the countini;-room of 
Charles VVillinir, one of the first 
mercli.ants of that city. At the a^e 
of hfleen he was left an orphan by 
the death of his fatlier, in conse- 
(|uence of a woimd received from 
the wad of a gun fired in his honor 
by one of the v;,'sscls of which he 
was agent. With Thomas Willing, 
the son of his employer, Robert 
entered into a partnership in 1754. 
wliich lasted thirty-nine year.s, and, 
altlioULib. at tlie coinmencenieiit of 
the war with Great I5ritain. the 
fii'm was more extensively engaged 
in commerce than any other iu 
Philadelphia, he signed the non- 
importation agreeineutof ITtiri, aud was vigorous and 
determined iu his op|)ositiou to the .stamp act. 
Elected a delegate to the second Continental con- 
gress, he was made chairman of the .secret committee 
to procure arms and amuumitiou, and serveil on the 
committee on ways and means, the naval committee, 
and several others, becoming conspicuous early in 
1776 in discussions \ipon the regulations and restric- 
tions of trade. Though opposed to the declaration 
of independence as jiremature, he was one of the 
signers on .July 4, 1770. On the removal of congress 
to Baltimore lie remained in Philadel|iliia as one of 
a Continental committee to superintend important 
business, sending to Gen. Washington funils bor- 
rowed on his own security, which enabled the initia- 
tion of active movements, and resulted in the battle 
of Trenton. In 1770 and 1777 he was re-elected to 
congress, where he served on the conference com- 
mittee which vi.sited Washington and tlie headquar- 
ters of the army, and in 1778, having been all along 
the financial manager of congress, he was made chief 
of the committee on finance. In 1779 charges of 
fraudulent proceedings brought against the firm of 
AVilling & Morris were investigated before congress. 
This investigation only served to bring out the fact 
that the commercial business of the government 
transacted by authority of the secret committee, im- 
der cover of the name of the firm, had been charac- 
terized by scrupuhais integrity. In 1780 Jlorris es- 
tablished, with a few others, the Bank of Pennsyl- 
vania, the first extensive moneyed institution in the 
United Slates, heading the subscription with .£10,000 
of his own, and a year VMvr he gave "the first vehe- 
ment impulse toward the consolidation of the fed- 
eral union" by the creation of the Bank of North 
America, whicli, in six months alter its o|ieninu', in 
January, 17H2, had loaned to the I'niled Stales $400.- 
000, and also released it from its sul)scriplion of 
$300,000. Feb. 30, 1781, he was elected superin- 
tendent of finance. It was the most trying period of 
the war. Morris accepted the oftice with the mem- 
orable words, "The United Stales may command 
everything I have, except my integrity," and became 
emphatically the endorser of bis govermnent at a 
time when it was in danger of being iirotested. To 
prevent the enforcement of the laws of necessity, he 
himself supjilied to the starving troops thou.sands of 
barrels of fiour, and at one tim<\ lead for bullets. 
He also received the fiatteriug aiipointment of agent 
for Pennsylvania to meet the requisiliinis of congress 



on that .state. To Greene and the army in the South 
he supjilied funds by means of a secret agent, wheu 
that general was in the last extiemity, and wheu 
.such aid appeared to him providential, while in no 
instance were his jiatriotism and financial ability bet- 
ter displ.-iyeil than in theetpiipinent and provisioning 
of the army with wliich \Va'-hington entered on the 
campaign against Coriiwallis. which resulted in the 
surrender of Yorktowu. To this end Morris issued 
his own notes to the amount of .*!, 400,000. Not 
only was everv shilling of his property, as he averred, 
at one time advanced, but he also made deep pledges 
of his credit, and borrowed money from his friends. 
At various times he threw into circulation obliga- 
tions to IheamounI of !s;581,000, which were accepted 
as cash, and never depreciated, wheu the bills of the 
government were almost witliont value. From Sep- 
tember, 1781, he also had under supervision the 
affairs of the navy, and he was iu favor of a Conti- 
n('nlal army as chea]ier tiiau the armies of the states, 
as well as a Conlinenlal marine. In consequence of 
the dilatory conduct of the stales in meelingrecpiire- 
niciils congresswas powerless to en force, llie lumclu- 
alily in fiiltllling engagemeut.s, which was Morris's 
fnndainenlal principle, became no longer a thing of 
jiossibility. and after repeated representations and 
mgent but unavailing entreaties, in 1783 he tendered 
his resignation, which was ordered kept secret by 
congress. On retpiest of that body be continued in 
office until May, 1784. when he finally and formally 
withdrew from his iiosition as superintendent of 
finance, a.ssuring the jieople that he wcadd be ]ier- 
sonally responsible for all liabilities assumed by him 
for the government during his admiuislralion. In 
1780 he was elected to congress, to secure the re- 
charter of the Bank of NoVth America, and later 
served in the convention that framed the federal 
constitution. In 178i) he was sent by Pennsylvania 
to Ihe liist senate of the United Stales, which met in 
Philadelphia, and on the formalion of the govern- 
ment, being tendered by Washington the office of 
secretary of the treasury, declined it, recommending 
Alexander Hamilton. On his retirement, in 1784, 
he engaged in trade with the East Indies and China, 




.sending the first American ship to the porl of Canton, 
and also making the first allempt at an out-of-tlie- 
.season jias.sage to China round llie south cape of 
New Holland. Heavy speculations in land, iu an- 
ticipation of a tide of foreign immigration, subse- 
(pienlly so far ruined his large fortune, and from 
171IS lo 1803 he was imprisoned for debt in Ihe old 
Walnut street inison in Philadelphia. He was the 
per.sonal friend of Washington, who always i>aidliiin 
the first visit when he went to Phil.-idelpliia. aud 
who wrote lo his wife an a\ilograph letter, inviting 
her to an indefinile visit at Ml. Vernon during her 
biisband's incarceration. A bequest of Gouverneur 
Morris to his wile supported iu his last days Ihe man 
to who.se financial operations, in the words of the 
historian Botta, ".\mericans certainly owed, and 
still owe as much acknowledgment as lo the ucgo- 
tialions of Benjamin Franklin, or even the arms of 
Washington." ' He died May 8, 180G. 





COPYRIGHT, t89?, BV JAUES T. WHITE A CO. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



119 



Jjfet 




"■''''i'''i"fijiiliilil|iiV;i';,';'.'"';;,|,, ... 






JEFFERSON, Thomas, lliinl president of the 
Uuiled (Sliitfs, was lioru in Sliadwcll, Albemarle 
Co., Va., Apr, |3, 1743. The family were of Welsh 
ancestry, the first of the name in Virginia being a 
member of the legislature of that colony in 1019. 
Thomas Jefferson was the third son of "Peler and 
Jane (Randolph) Jefferson, and liis education, wliieh 
■was de-signed to be of the best quality attainalile, 
had been well advanced when he was fourteen years 
of age, at which time (in 17.')7) his father died at the 
age of fifty, leaving liim practically without a mas- 
ter or guide. In 17(!() he entered tlie college of Wil- 
liam and Mary, at Williamsburg, 
Va.. and being endowed with an 
ardent thirst for knowledge, and 
great industry and determination, 
he devoted himself to study with 
such earnestness and a])iiIicalion as 
to even threaten his health. He 
w as at this time a tall, raw-boned, 
freckled, sandy-haired youth, pos- 
sessing no featvires that could be 
considered attractive, and far from 
graceful in his manneror carriage; 
moreover, he was veiy .shy: but, 
des]iite his country air. he still had 
something in his mien that gave 
evidence of the ]iossession of more 
min<i than would generally be an- 
ticipated in one of his )ieculiar per- 
sonal aiipcarance. f.ike nearly all 
the members of his family, he was 
an excellent nnisieian, and a very 
capable performer on the violin. lie liad already 
made up his mind as to his profession in life, and 
cho.scn the law. and, althongli deeply interesteii in 
science, he pursued bis studies in college maiidy 
■with a view to the legal prnfession as their jiractieal 
outcome. After completing his course of stu<ly at 
Willi.-im and Mary. JelTerson began to devote him- 
self to law, and that with such energy that about the 
time of his twenty-fourth birthday he was admitted 
to the bar. He entered at (Hice upon the iiraclice of 
his profession, and business raiiiilly came to him. 
He had good connections through both sides of his 




family, and there ■was no difflculty in his obtaining 
business, his conduct of which gained high encomi- 
ums from man)' who afterward became imijortant in 
the history of the country. He was said to be al- 
ways on the right side, and, that being the ca.se, the 
fact that he was not elo(|ueut did not so much mat- 
ter in regard to his success. Two years after he be- 
gan the practice of law, in 1769, Jefferson was elect- 
eil a member of the hou.se of burge.s.ses, of which 
Washington was also a member. It was this se.ssion 
of the biirgesses which introduced four resolutions 
practically revolutionary, to wit: that the colonies 
could not legally or in right be taxed liy a body in 
which tliey were not represented, and that they 
niiglit in such case unite in endeavoring to obtain a 
redress of their grievances. These resolutions, in fact, 
were embodied in the Declaration of Indejiendence. 
It is evident from all that is known of Jefferson's 
early life that he had entered upon a public career 
deliberately, and with the inleiuion of following it as 
a pursuit. In fact, he said at one time: " When I first 
entered upon th<' stage of |)ublic life. I came to a res- 
olution never to engage, while in jmblic ollice, in any 
kind of enterprise for the improveinent of my for- 
tune, nor to wear any other character than that of a 
farmer. I have never departed from it in a single 
instance, and I have in nuilti|ilied in.stances found 
myself haiijiy in being able to decide and to act as a 
public servant clear of all interests in the multiform 
c|uesti(ins that have arisen, wherein I have .seen oth- 
ers endiarnisscd and biased by li.'Lvin:;^ uiil themselves 
in a more interested situation. Thus I havethcmght 
myself richer in contentment than I slioidd liave been 
with any increase of fortune. Certainly I should 
have been much wealthier had I remained in that 
private condition which rendered it lawfid, and even 
laudable, to use proper elTiirts to better it." >Iean- 
wbile, Jeffenson adnutted candidly that he desired 
greatly the respect and consideration of his fellows, 
and, long after, said to Madison, that in the earlier 
years of his public service the esteem of tlie world 
was |)erhaps of higher value in his eyes than every- 
thing in it. Jefferson married, Jan. 1. 1772, Mrs. 
Martha SUeltou, a childless young widow, said to 
liave been a very beautiful woman, her countenance 



120 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



brilliant with color and expression, and with luxuri- 
ant auburn hair. She was the daughter of John 
Wayles, who was practicing at the Williamsburg bar. 
Jefferson had just then tinislied the new house he 
had been building at Monlicello, on his estate, and 
the couple went to it to reside shortly after their 
marriage. Jefferson's estate wsis nearly doubled in 
the year after his marriage, by the death of his wife's 
father, by which she received nearly 50,000 acres of 
land and 135 slaves. Here Jefferson began to lead 
the actual life of a farmer, which he had said was 
the one which he .should denominate as his pursuit, 
still continuing, however, his luactice, which in the 
year 1TT4, although lucrative, had not extended his 
name beyond his t)wn immediate neighborhood. By 
the close of that year, however, the name of Jeffer- 
son was among tlic tirst of the patriotic leaders in 
the colonies. The Continental congress was about 
to assemble at Philadelphia, and Jefferson, before 
leaving to attend the meeting of burgesses at Wil- 
liamsburg, which would elect the deputies of Vir- 
ginia, prepared a draft of such instructions as he 
aeemeci should be given to the representatives of 
Virginia in the Continental congress. These instruc- 
tions amoimted to a small pamphlet, the substance 
of which became practically the Declaration of In- 
dependence. Jefferson now gave up his law busi- 
ness into the hands of his friend and kinsman, Ed- 




=f«i»i-.r7''"««eE*!-j 



niund Randolph, and withdrew from practice, as it 
afterward [iroved, forever. The Williamsburg con- 
vention of 1774 appointed Thomas Jefferson as an 
alternate with John Handoljih, in ca.se the latter 
should be obligeii to leave the congress before its 
adjoiunment. The affair at Lexington precijiitated 
event.s, and the convention becoming convinced of 
the gravity of the situation, began to arm for the 
conflict. A committee of thirteen, appointed to ar- 
range a plan of defence, included such men as 
George W^ashington, Patrick Henry, Richard Henry 
Lee and Thomas JclTerson. On Jiine 20, 1775, the 
vacancy having occurred which made .Jefferson a 
delegate, he took his seat in the congress at Philadel- 
phia, and on that same day he learned and ap|iri.sed 
the congress of the news of the battle of Bunker 
Hill, having obtained it from the .same mes,>;cnger 
who gave the information to (4en. Washington, then 
on his way to join the army at Cambridge. On May 
13, 1776, .Tefferson resumed his seat in congress, 
after an absence of four months and a half, during 
■which period he li.-id been obliged to look after mat- 
ters connected with his estate. He was at once ap- 
pointed one of a committee to draft a declaration. 
The coinndttee included, besides liimself, Benjamin 
Franklin, John Adams, Roger Sherman and ]{. R. 
Livingston. Already Mr. JclTerson Inid become 
noted for his skill with the jien, and he was there- 
fore urged to prepare the rough draft of what was 



to be an immortal document. It is stated that the 
paper was written in a house where Jefferson lived, 
at the corner of Market and Seventh street.s, Phila- 
delphia, in a room on the second story, and upon a 
writingdesk which he made himselfl and which is 
still in existence. While the document was under 
consideration by congress, the weather, it is said, was 
exceedingly hot. This discussion la.sted tlirongh 
the 2d, 3d and 4th of July, and on the last day the 
session was a [prolonged one, and everybody was fa- 
tigued and anxious to complete their' task and get 
away. Moreover, it is stated that swarms of flies 
from a neighboring stable annoyed the delegates 
and increased their anxiety to be "through with the 
bu.siness in hand. It was late on the afternoon of 
Thursday. July 4, 177H, that the Declaration was 
signed. One or two of the delegates indulged in 
humorous remarks on the occasion. John Hancock, 
saying, as he wrote his superb .signature: " 'J'here, 
.Tolm 15idl may read my name without spectacles ! " 
and when the president of the congress told the- 
members that they must now all hang together. Dr. 
Franklin said. "Yes, we must indeed all hang togeth- 
er, or else we shall all hang separately I " jNIeanwhile, 
.leff'erson had been re-elected a mendier of the Vir- 
ginia legislature, and anxious to return to his home, 
the health of his wife being precarious and his es- 
tate continually needing his care, lie resigned from 
congress and went back to Jlonticello, and afterward 
to Williamsburg, where he devoted him.^elf to a 
careful exandnation of the Virginia statutes, with a 
view of imjiniving them on the basis of knowledge 
which he had acinnred with regard to such institu- 
tions during his residence in the North. In October 
he was appointed, with Benjamin Franklin and Silas 
Deane, a commissioner to represent the new I'nited 
Stales at Paris, but his wife's condition was still un- 
satisfactory, and he determined to decline the ap- 
]iointnient. In January, 1779, Jefferson was elected 
liy llic legislature successor to Patrick Henry as gov- 
ernor of Virginia, and he was re-elected in i7H0. He 
had now become a power in the state. He succeeded 
in cau.sing the removal of the cajiital to Ri<-hmond, 
and by his own influence obtained the iias-^age of 
the mo.st important legislative acts. As governor of 
the state of Virginia it fell to Jeffer.son to keep up 
Virginia's (piota in the ragged army of Washington, 
while sending supplies to Gates, who was making 
his so\itliern caniiiaign. At the end of Deeend.icr, 
1780. a British fleet, having on board Benedict Ar- 
nold, the traitor, ascended Chesapeake bay, and Ar- 
nold, with something under a thousand men, reached 
and captmed Richmond, which, however, they were 
able to hold less than a day, a large mass of militia 
being at once .sent again.st Arnold, and his ]iursint 
being so close as nearly to result in his cajilure. 
During the following spring the enemy came so 
close and were so formidable that the legislature of 
Virginia had to adjourn, while Jlonlicello was cap- 
tured by cavalry iind Jefferson nai'row I}- escaped. 
Indeed, "for ten days Lord Cornwallis lived at the 
residence of the governor at Elk Hill, on the James 
river. Though there had been some feeling in re- 
gard to the administration of the state government, 
:in applicniioii liy .lefferson for examination showed 
that there was no one to make any charge .against 
him, and a resolution of thanks for his conduct while 
oceuiiying the gubernatorial chair was introduced 
and passed botli council and as.sembly unanimous- 
ly. When the French government instructed its 
minister at Philadelphia to collect and send to 
I'aris all information that eould be obtained resjiect- 
ing the states of the American confederacy, the sec- 
retary of the French legation forwarded to Mr. Jef- 
fer.son a list of questions to answer concerning 
Virginia in this connection. From this resulted bis 
"Notes on Virginia," a work still held in the high- 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



121 



est esteem for its admirable structure antl its com- 
pleteness, both as to thought and detail. In this 
worli a cliapter occurs which was afterward used by 
the northern abolitionists during their many years of 
warfare with the institution of slavery. One jxissage 
runs thus: " The whole commerce lietweeu master 
antl slave is a perpetual e.xercise of the most boister- 
ous passions, the most unremitting despotism on the 
one part and degraded sul)nu"ssion on the other. Our 
children see this and learn to imitate it, for man is 
an imitative animal. This quality is the germ of all 
educations in him. From his cradle to his grave he 
is learning to ilo what he sees others doing. The 
parent storms, the child looks on, catches tlie linea- 
ments of wrath, puts on the same airs in the circle 
of tlie smaller slaves, gives loose rein to the worst of 
passions, and this education in the daily exercise of 
tyranny cannot l)ut be stamped by it with the most 
odious peculiarities. That man must be a prodigy 
who can restrain his manners and morals undepraved 
by such circimistauces. I tremble for my country 
when I reflect that God is just, that His justice can- 
not sleej) forever; but considering numbers, nature 
and natural means only, a revolution of the wheel of 
fortune, an exchange of the situations, is among 
possible events. That it may become probalile by the 
supernatural interference, the Almighty has no at- 
tribute which can take sides with us in such a eon- 
test," JelTersou's wife died on Sept, 6, 1783, deeply 
regretted by her husband, to whom this loss was the 
greatest atliiction of his life. It atfected his mind, 
and he fell into a seeming stupor from which he 
could be with ditliculty aroused. In the meantime, 
through the Virginia members of congress, his name 
was suggested as a plenipotentiary to treat for peace, 
it being believed that he might by this means be re- 
called to the public service, which he had seemingly 
left forever — having, in fact, announced that his 
public life had ended. But the death of his wife had 
changed his views, and he accepted the appoint- 
ment. Peace, however, was concluded before he 
sailed, and in 1783 he was elected to congress, and 
t(Xik his scat in November of that year at Annapo- 
lis, ^U\. On May 7, 1784. Congress again elected 
him pleni|)otentiary to France, where Franklin and 
Adams were engaged in negotiating commercial 
treaties with the dilferent foreign powers. He ac- 
cepted, and sailed from Boston .July 5th, and after a 
voyage of a nKjnth, settled in Paris. On May 2, 
1785, Jefferson was appcjinted minister plenipoten- 
tiary to the king of France for three years, in place 
of Benjamin Franklin. The years that .leffersou 
spent as minister to tlie French court, although he 
had imjiorlant otiicial duties, gave him more time 
than he had had befoi'e for the prosecution of the 
study of science, which had so much interested him 
in his youth. He became acquainted personally with 
the ablest men in science, among whom was Buffon, 
the great naturalist, who had a theory that animals 
degenerated in America. In order to remove this 
prejudice .Jefferson succeeded in obtaining the bones, 
skin and horns of some of the larger American ani- 
mals, such as the moose, the caribou, the elk. etc., 
and presented them to Button, who, on e.\,-iniining 
them, admitted that he would have to reccmstruct 
his theory on the subject of American animals. 
Among other duties which Mr. .Jefferson successfully 
prosecuted while in Kurope, was that of negotiating 
and arranging a satisfactory consular system between 
France and tli(! United States. M'canwhile. his 
" Notes on Virginia " had been published in Kng- 
land, and translated into French, and printed in Paris, 
being imiversally admired. He traveled over differ- 
ent ])arts of Europe, and supplied the American col- 
leges and other institutions with Ijooks, accounts of 
new discoveries, inventions and seeds, roots and nuts 
indigenous in the different countries lie visited, and 



which he thought might possibly, and with advan- 
tage, be introduced into America. Meantime, his 
acquaintance with European courts had only the 
more established himself in a sen.se of democracy, 
which afterward became the fountainhead of that 
stream in his native land. His investigation into the 
manner of living and the ineciualities of condition 
existing abroad tilled his miiul and heart with deep 
compassion, especially for the people of France, who 
seemed to be suffering the most. In November, 178S», 
Jefferson received asix months' leave of absence, and 
returned, with his two daughters, to find that ho had 
been appointed by President Washington to the of- 
fice of secretary of state. After some consideration, 
Jefferson accepted the appointment, and after wit- 
nessing at Monticello, Feb. 23, 1790, his eldest 
daughter's marriage to Thomas Mann Randolph, he 
went to New York and entered upon his duties as a 
member of the cabinet. It was a caliinet which soon 
displayed considerable personal animosity and oppo- 
sition, particularly between Hamilton and Jeffer.son, 
who, in fact, represented the two extremes of the dif- 
ferent parties. This feeling reached serious pro]ior- 
tions. Jan. 1, 1794, Jefferson withdrew, although 
it was with difficulty that Wa.shington was induced 
to accept his resignation. He returned to his home 
at Monticello, and now once more believed that he 




«»«fier^or;i (j)a7p 



was wholly done with public life. At this time the 
republican party, as it was called, acceiited the views 
of .Jefferson, and as he openly accepted Tom Paine's 
"Rights of Man," it followed that the advanced 
views contained in that liook grew to be held meas- 
urably as the party tenets of his followers. At the 
close of the year 1794 .Jefferson was requested Iiy 
Washington to resume the office of .secretary of .state, 
but he declined positively, and said emjihatically 
that nothing could ever tempt him to again engage 
in any public service. Yet, within six months he was 
the candidate of his ]iarty for the iiresidency. This 
was in 179(1, and he fell l)ehind .John Adams, wlio 
was elected, by only a few votes, and, according to 
the constitution, became vice-jire-iident. This otlice 
pleased Jefferson, as he had no practical part in the 
administration of the government, not being considt- 
ed by Mr. Adams on political matters, and was able 
to follow out his tastes in study and research. It 
was at this time that he prepared his now celebrated 
" Manual <if Parliament.-iry Practice," which has ever 
since been the guide in all our legislativi' bodies. 
The election of ISOO brought Mr. Jefferson again 
before the country as the candiiiate of his party for 
the presidency, and he received seventy-three votes, 
the precise number given for Aaron" Burr, which 
threw it into the hou.se, wlierei after seven days of 
balloting, Jefferson was elected president and Burr 
vice-president. The election of Jefferson was hailed 



122 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPiEDIA 



by lintli parties as certain to bring about a peaceful 
conditionsuchashadUDt been known (luring the pre- 
vious administration. Party polities had ran so liigh, 
and the divergence of opinion was so wide between 
the federalists and republicans, that probably no 
other man could have reconciled the existing condi- 
tions. Contrary to the general expectation, Jellerson 
resisted the powerful appeals that were made toliim 
to remove from office those who had been inimical 
to him, holding that a dillerence of politics was not 
a reason to remove one who had i>roved himself 
com|)etent and efficient in office. Jefferson intro- 
duced simplicity into the White House and the ab- 
olition of the formal plan which had been copied 
from European court etiquette, abolishing the week- 
ly U'vccs and the system of precedence at once. He 
al.so introduced the message to congress, in ]ilace of 
the speech which had been formally delivered, in 
imitation of foreign potentates. He would not accept 
any sjiecial attentions while traveling or sojourning 
anj'wiiere, different from what would be paid him 
as a private citizen. Indeed, in his whole course, 
and throughout his first administration, Jefferson 
was consistent in conducting himself and conducting 
the government on what he believed to be true dem- 
ocratic principles. Jefferson owed his democracy 
mainly to what he had seen while residing in France, 
an experience which had entirely changed his own 
views on political subjects, and on the rights of citi- 
zenship. Mr. Jefferson continued to administer the 
government for eight years, during which period 
he .showed himself a thoroughly (pialified statesman 
and a man of unusual ability, tact and decision of 
cnaracler. One instance of the possession of these 
qualities was his purchase from Napoleon of the ter- 
ritory of Louisiana. Another was the skill with 
which he kept the country from becoming involved 
in the long and bitter European war. Tlie benefits 
whicli he conferred upon his coimtry were not only 
inniiediale but lasting, yet on the 4th of March, 1809, 
when he retired finally to private life, after the most 
valuable jiublic service, extending over more than 
four decades, it was to find himself impoverished 
— practically bankrupt. 
The produce of liis es- 
tate had materially less- 
ened, while, as he was a 
very liberal liver, he 
was forced to borrow 
money, and was in the 
greatest straits up to 
the end of his life. Jef- 
ferson spent the re- 
mainder of his day.s in 
the effort to establish 
in his .state a ecmiplete 
sy.slem of education. It 
was to include a series 
of common .schools of 
different grades crown- 
ed with the highest col- 
legiate institution which could be organized and es- 
tablished. This latter (the riiiversity of Virgim'a)he 
lived long enough to .see in working order, h:iviiig 
jiersonally superintended even the smallest details of 
its construction, and being present at its ojiening in 
March, 1825, In the nieantinu-, he had sold his li- 
brary to congress for about a ipiarter of its value, 
and was at length, through the kindness wliich in- 
duced him to endorse largely for a friend, in d.-mger 
of losing Monticello, but Ibis ndsfortune was averted 
through public subscriptions in the cities of New 
York and Philadelphia, which raised money enough 
to spare him this crowning indignity. .letTe'rson died 
a few hours before John .\dams. a liaircentiiry after 
the .signing of that Declaration of Independence 
which he had himself composed, and which is still 




JittMsJiffcyfi)!.' 




one of the marvels of the world as a public writing. 
The sale of his estate after his death, and the appli- 
cation of the l)roeeeds toward the payment of his 
debts, resulted in these l)eing discharged to the utter- 
most, and, though his daughter and her children lost 
their home, and were left without support, Jefferson 
died solvent. The legislatures of SoiUh Carolina 
and Virginia voted to his daughter, 3Irs. Kandol|)li, 
the siun of lilO.OOn, whieli enabled her to pass the 
ramainder of her life in comfort and security. Jlon- 
ticello is now (18i)i) the property of Jefferson's 
grandson, Jefferson >I. Levy, a prominent citizen 
and lawyer of New York". It was purchased 
by his imcle. Com. Uriah P. Levy, 
of the United States navy, and from 
him descended to its present owner. 
The mansion was built somewhat 
after the .style of the Petite Trian- 
on, at Versailles. Its public rooms 
included a grand salon, diniiigliall, 
library, Jefferson, Madison and 
Monroe rooms, ballroom and grand 
hall. It stands in a commanding 
position on a small (ilateau, ele- 
vated some 300 feel above the sur- 
rounding country, and 588 feel above the level of the 
sea. The estate embraces 500 acres of jiark land, 
gardens and lawns. During Jefferson's life his su- 
perintendent at 3Ionticello was John Holmes Free- 
man, who was eonsiantly in the receipt of instruc- 
tions and directions of the most minute character in 
regard to the administration of the vast projierty and 
the improvements which were coiuiiuially being 
made. From an original letter written by Jeffer.sim, 
forming one in a btindle of old manuscripls, yellow, 
(juaint and curious, exhibiting his remarkably neat 
and legible penmanship, a few quolalions will not 
be without interest One of these is a memorandum 
for his .superintendent- " The canal and dam are to 
be completed in preference to all other work, while 
the season admits. Next, a fence is lobe built, and 
next, the garden to be leveled. The garden is to be 
1,000 feet long and eighty feet wide. From observa- 
tions on the small jiart done, I judge it to be about 
three months' work for ten hands. It is to be done 
in breadths four feet wide at a time; three hands 
and one wheelbarrow can work to adv.anlage on a 
breadth." Thus, the whole work of the year was 
mapped out minulely, each negro's place assigned 
him, and even direciion given for the care of the 
horses, each being called by nanu'. This afterward 
became the nio.st famous spot in the state, being the 
centre of a princely hospitality, which was, imfor- 
tunately, far too costly for 5Ir. Jefferson's means. 
Here came nobleiuen and foreigners of distinction 
from abroad, who carried back to their homes the 
name and fame of Monticello. The view from the 
doorway of the house is extremely fine. At the foot 
of the peak fiows the Hivanna river; Charlotteville 
and the University lie beyond; to the north stretches 
awaythe Blue Ridge, and cultivated fields and coun- 
try homes are now seen in every direction. Of Mon- 
ticello, Jefferson himself .said; "After nnich roam- 
ing in many lands. I have found and ]iilched my 
h'ul in what I believe to be one of the fairest sjiots 
of earth. This tent, which is strong enough to keep 
o>it wind and water, is set in the mid.st of a lofty 
mountain plateau. Looking around, I find myself, 
to all seeming, in a world of my own. All around, 
in the far, shining, .silvery distances, are cloud-cap- 
ped mountain ranges of sin-passing grandeiu-, rising 
one above another until, aiiparently, the limits of 
the woild are reached" Despite the spirit of ro- 
maneein Jefferson's ch;ii-aeter. shown in tliisdescrip- 
tion of his \'ii-ginia home, he iios.scssed a vein of 
practical common sense unecpialed, jierhaps, by any- 
body of his time, unless it were Benjamin Franklin. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



123 



The following ten bits of proverbial philosophy have 
passed current under the mane of " .letfersou's Ten 
Rules " : "1. Never put off till to-murrow what you 
can do to-day. 3. Never trouble another for what 
you can do yourself. 3. Never spend your money 
before you have it. 4. Never buy what you do not 
want because it is cheap; it will be dear to you. 

5. Pride costs us more than huniter, thirst and cold. 

6. We never repent of having eaten too little. 7. 
Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly. 8. How 
much pain have cost us the evils which have never 
happened. 9. Take things always by the smooth 
handle. 10. AYhen angry, count ten before you 
speak; if very angry, a hundred." Jefferson died 
at Jlouticello, Albemarle county, Va., July 4, 1826. 
He was buried in his own graveyard at Hlonticello, 
and over him was placed a stone upon which was 
the inscription by him.self: " Here was buried 
Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of 
American Independence, of the Statutes of Virginia 
for Religious Freedom, and Father of the University 
of Virginia. " This was afterward replaced by a monu- 
ment provided by the government, a square, massive 
pillar of granite, and containing the .same inscrip- 
tion from the original stone. The latter has been 
so chipped and battered by the relic-seeker that cor- 
ners and edges have been entirely hewn away. A 
few years ago, all that remained of the original in- 
scription was: "Born, April 2 O. S., 1742; died 
Julv4, 1820." 

JEFFERSON, Martha Wayles, wife of Presi- 
dent Jefferson, was born in Charles t'itv county, 
Va., Oct. 19, 1748, the daugliter of John VVayles, an 
eminent Virginia lawyer, from whom she inherited 
a large property. She married very yonug, her 
first husband being Bathurst Skelton, who died 
when she was in her nineteenth year and from whom 
also she inherited considerable property. She was a 
lady of extraordinary beauty, both in form and face, 
and is described by her contemporaries as being a 
woman singularly competent not only to adorn, but 
to govern a household; in height .she was a little 
above the medium stature, and of slight but graceful 
form; her complexion was fair, her eyes were large, 
dark, and expressive, and her auburn hair was 
abundant in cpiantity. She was an accomplished 
rider, played with taste and discrimination, was a 
graceful dancer, and a singer 
possessing more than usual taste 
and effect. ^Moreover, .she was 
literary in her tastes, was a bril- 
liant conversationalist, and had 
a warm and alTectiouate disposi- 
tion. With all these graces and 
virtues, it is nut remarkalile that 
she was the belle of her section 
of the country, and not the less 
so when she became a young and 
beautiful widow, wealthy in her 
own right and residing in the 
mansion of a wealthy father. 
But besides graces and virtues, 
she had faculties and qualities of 
a more practical character. Il is 
stated thatsome of her houscliold 
account-books, which are still in 
existence, show that she had a 
neat handwiiting and kejit her 
accounts with accuracy. During the four years of 
her widowhood, many sought her hand; Thomas 
Jefferson was one of Ihem. He was a lawyer at (hat 
time in large practice. He married Mrs. Skelton in 
1772, and for her he retained the most romantic de- 
votion during his life, illustrating this in one in.stance, 
by refusing inijiortant foreign appointments on ac- 
count of her failing health. The life of a planter's 
■wife at this period was one of constant labor and 




<?^c-^Q<//<^. 



-fejiiE^\ 



anxiety. She had much of the care of the slaves, 
including their nursing when .sick, and attention to 
their clothing and general condition. The strain 
proved too much for Mrs. Jefferson and she grad- 
uallj' broke down, and died Sept. (i, 1783. 

RANDOLPH, Martha Jefferson, daughter 
of President Jefferson and wife of Gov. Ran(lol|)h 
of Virginia, was born at Monticello in September, 
1773. She was the head of her father's hou.sehold 
after the death of her mother, and while he was 
president was the acknowledged mistress of the 
White House. Jlr. Jefferson's edict against levees, 
receptions, and his extreme rides of democratic sim- 
plicity, made the White House a domestic establish- 
ment. Mrs. Ramlolph devoted much of her life to 
her father's declining years, notwithstanding the 
care of a large family of children, whom she care- 
fully educated. She died Sei)t. 37, 1830. 

BURR, Aaron, vice-president of the United 
States, was born in Newark, N. J., Feb. 0, 1756. 
His father was Aaron Burr, a clergyman, who was 
pastor of a Presbyterian church in Newark, and 
the founder of I^rinceton Col- 
lege. Aaron Burr, Sr., married 
Esther Edwards, the daughter of 
the great Jonathan Edwards, one 
of the clearest logicians and most 
able theologians known in the Iiis- 
tory of philosophy and theology. 
They had two children, the first, 
a daughter, Sarah, born in 1754; 
the other, Aaron, the subject of 
this sketch; so it may be seen 
that this man, who is set down in 
the eucyclopiedias as a "states- 
man, "and who is considered by 
the general opinion of those who 
have heard of him to have been 
one. of the most remarkable and 
one of the darkest specimens of 
moral obliquity, came, on both 
sides, from a family noted for 
purity of character as well as 
for extraordinary intellectual endowment. Aaron 
Burr's father and mother died within a few days 
of each other, when he and his sister were almost 
infants. Their father was wealthy and had be- 
queathed to them a large fortune, so that on being 
sent to be put in charge of the Rev. Timothy Ed- 
wards, of Elizabethtown, N. J., an uncle on the 
mother's side, they were in nowise deiiendent ujion 
qny living relatives. They had private tutors, and 
one of these became the husband of Sarah Burr. 
This was Judge Tapping Reeve, who became a jus- 
tice of tl>e supreme court of Connecticut, and foimd- 
ed the first law school that existed in this country. 
Aaron was a troublesome boy and ditlicult to manage 
from the time when he had grown l.uge eiuiugh to 
nui about. He was fond of study, and quick to as- 
similate what he .studied, so that when only eleven 
years of age he was ])repare<i to enter Princeton Col- 
lege, btit could not be admitted at that age under 
the rules of the institution, and it was only as a spe- 
cial favor that he was permitted to enter the sopho- 
more cla.ss two years later. lie was graduated in 
1772, and, curiously enough, the first bent of his mind 
was in the direction of theology, and he entered the 
family of a clergyman in Connecticut for the pur- 
po.se of study, but to the astonishmeiU of everybod}', 
after a considerable sojouniin this gentleman's fam- 
ily, he announced his entire disbelief in the gospel, 
and his intention of holding to intidelity, which was 
then becoming till' fashion both in this coimtry and 
in Europe. He made Lord Chesterfield his moflel. and 
adopting tin' law as a profession, began study inl774. 
As soon as the war broke out lie offered his services 
and joined Benedict Arnold in the latter's memorable 




^M 



^a^^ 



124 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



expedition into Canada. Tliis expedition gave Aaron 
Burr an npporliinity of sIunviiiL: the real al>ility lie 
possessed in tlic (lircctidii of militiiry life. He 
reached llie rank of major and !;ained a nn'at repu- 
tation as an ollieer. lie beeanie a member of Gen. 
Wasliin.LjIoii's slaflf, but left this position to become 
an aide to Gen. Putnam. The acrpiaintance between 
Wasliiiifiton and Burr did not result in jiroducing 
any afTection or nuitual esteem. Burr iiated Wa.sh- 
injjton. and the latter dislru.sle<l the apparently bril- 
liant youni; officer. In 177? Burr was appointed 
lieutenant-colonel and distin^uislied himself at the 
battle of Monmouth, wliere he commanded a bri- 
gade. Later he was in command at a point in Orange 
county, N. Y., wliere he became acquainted with 
Mrs. Thcodosia Prevost, the widow of an Knglish 
officer ten years older than he, with a family of two 
.sons. In March, 1779, 



r a' 




.". OtA<.aTir\on 



Burr's health was so 
impaired that he re- 
signed, and, as soon as 
he coidd safely do so, 
resumed the study of 
law, and in 1782 was 
admitted to practice in 
Albany, where he look 
an otfice and liefjan 
]iraetice. In tlie mean- 
time he had continued 
his acquaintance with 
Mrs. Prevost, and he 
now married her. In 
the followin}!: year his 
daughter, Theoilosia, 
was born. Durinii the 
year 1784 Burr settled 
"in New York, where 
he continued to prac- 
tice during ten years, 
beina: twice a member 
of the New York legislature and attorney-general 
in 1788. Burr resided at Hichmond Hill and practically 
kept open house, rcceivinir from time to time all the 
di.slingui.shed personages of I he period, and all visitors 
of disluiel ion from abroad. It is said that the Ex-King 
Louis Philippe, of France, Talleyrand and Volney 
visited at Ids splendid mau.sion. In 1791 Burr was 
elected to the U. S. .senate as a republican, in oppo- 
sition to Gen. Philip Schuyler, federalist, wlio.se 
daughter was the wife of Alexander Hamilton. B\irr 
continued in the senate fluring a term of .six years, 
and gained a reputation as a man of remarkable 
influence and general ability. In 1794 Burr lost his 
wife, whom he placed on record as "the best woman 
and finest lady I have ever known." His daugliter, 
Tlieodosia, now became the object of his deepest af- 
fection, and for all the time tliat she lived I lie two 
■were constant companions, her education being al- 
most entire)}' the work of her able and cultivated 
father. Burr lost liis seat in the .senate in 1797, Gen. 
Schuyler being his successor. Tlie presidential elec- 
tion of 181)0 brouglit Burr forward as a candidate, 
and he was charged with having formed an intrigue to 
get himself chosen president instead of .lefTerson, the 
system at tliat time being to give the presidency to 
the candidate receiving the higliesi number of elec- 
toral votes, and the vice-presidency to Ibe one gain- 
ing the next highest number, tlell'erson was made 
president and Burr vice-president. Thus, at middle 
life. Burr had reached almost the highest position in 
the gift of the country. He was, however, so gen - 
erall_v distrusted, and hiseharacler had lieen already 
so besmirched by rumor, that be had hardly reached 
this high position when he fell from it. The blow 
which demolished the fabric of his position was his 
duel with Alexander Hamilton, who was his mo.st 
powerful rival, and who, on several occasions, had 



made published statements regarding Burr of the 
most severe character. The result of this situation 
was that Burr challenged him, whereupon Hamilton 
entered into a long correspondence. ap|iarently with 
the desire to avoid the conclusion of a duel if it were 
possible. The state of public feeling at that time in 
regard to dueling, and the excitement of ))olitics, 
rendered this inipo.ssible, and in the early morning 
of July 7, l.'^O-t, Burr and Hamilton met on the 
heights at AVeehawken, N. .1.. and at the first lire 
Hamilton fell to the ground and died shortly after. 
The news of Ilaniillon's death aroused New York to 
a pitch of excitement so ihreatening that Burr was 
indicted for murder. In the meantime he fled to his 
daughter's home in South Carolina, wdiere he re- 
mained until the trouble of the affair blew over, 
when he returned to Washington, where he remained 
until his iieriod of .service as vice-president was com- 
pleted. Burr knew well that it was forever impos- 
sible forhim to hope for anything in the field of pol- 
itics, and now the reckless grandeur of his ideas first 
began to manifest itself. He formed a curious proj- 
ect, the exact nature of which has never been pub- 
licly disclosed, but which seems to have been a pur- 
pose to found a separate republic or empire by gath- 
ering together a sufficiently large number of follnwers 
to make a military expedition into either Texas or 
Mexico, and there conquer for himself and his fol- 
lowers a section of countrj' large enough to atford 
him the opjiortunitics for tlie magnificent self-ag- 
grandizement which he desired. It was during this 
undertaking that Burr succeeded in accomiilishing 
one of his most infamous acts. On his way to the 
Southwest he visited what was known as Blenner- 
has.sett Island, a small island in the Ohio river, two 
miles below Parkersburg, where Ilarman Blenncr- 
ha.ssett, a finely educated Englishman, had estab- 
lished him.self "about six or seven years previous, 
having jmrchased the island afterward known liy his 
name. Here Blennerha.s,sett and his beautiful youn^ 
wife had set up a palatial eslablishment. He lived 
in a fine mansion, elegantly furnished, ornamented 
with paintings and statues, while around, as far as 
the eye could reach, were beautifully cultivated 
grounds, gardens, grajieries, conservatories, and 
groves of splendid trees. Burr 
liad undoubtedly acquainted him- 
self with the history and the enor- 
mous possessions of Blennerlias- 
sett, for no sooner had he been 
made welcome to his hospitality 
than he began, so history says, to 
carry out two purposes: the one 
being to entangle his host in the 
meshes of his treasonable but fas- 
cinating enterprise, the other to 
achieve the seduction of his wife. 
Thcrcsull of all thiswasthal, Blen- 
nerlia.s.selt lost lioth wife and prop- 
ert}'. The latter was seized by the government on 
the" charge of Blennerhassell's connection with the 
conspiracy, and was afterward burned, having been 
set fire to aeeiilentally. His wife was a very bril- 
liant and beautiful woman, and a writer of merit: it 
apiH'ais that about 182.') she was with her husliand 
in Ireland, wlu'te he was trying to recover cerlMin 
estates, in which he was unsuccessful. He died on 
the i.sland of Guernsey. His wife's last apiiearancc 
in the United States was about 1843, when she peti- 
tioned the U. S. congress, through Henry Clay, for 
a grant of money to compen.sate her for the loss of 
her property, iihe failed, however, in this effort, 
death came to her and she was buried by the Sisters 
of Charity of New York. 'I'he eollaiise of Burr's 
granil project under the intluence of a proclamation 
by the president. Oct. 27, 18U0, made Burr also a 
fugitive, but he was captured and conveyed to Uich- 




OF AMERICAN BItHiKAPIIY. 



125 



mond, Va., wlicre he wns tried for treason. This 
trial, whicli was a caiiM rrlihrt; resulted in a verdiet 
of "not jruilty" on the indietnient of treason. It 
■was ])articularly notable for the presenee and the 
splendid eloquence, in behalf of the prosecution, of 
AVilliam Wirt, well-known author of the "Life of 
Patrick Henry. " Burr liad bj- this time very nearly de- 
stroyed hi.s reputation in America and he sailed" for 
England, wliieli country, also, he was soon olilined 
to leave, and he traveled throuirh Sweden, Deiunark, 
Germany and PVance, and in Paris became poverty- 
stricken to tlie last degree. He was refused permi.s- 
sion to return to the United Slates, but he succeeded 
in reaching England, and sailed for Boston in May, 
1812, under a fictitious name and fully disguised. 
He landed at Boston, but went immediately to New 
York, arriving in that city with less than .$10 in his 
possession, wliiletheeomuuHiilypo.ssessed any number 
of his creditors with executions haugingever his head 
and the old law in regard to tlie imprisonment of 
debtors still in force. He wa.s, however, determined 
to replace himself, and one morning the newspapers 
contained a notice that "Aaron Burr has returned 
to the city and has resumed the practice of the law 

at Number Nassau Street." The most a.stound- 

ing stories are told of his unexpected success. It is 
said that before night he had 300 clients, and that 
the retaining fees which he received during his first 
twelve days'in New York amounted to .|2,000. Col. 
Throop, who remembered some old favor done liim 
b}' Burr, and who had retii'cd from ])ractice, lent 
Burr his extensive lil)rary. and it was not long before 
he was once more one of the recognized leaders of 
the profession, for he was undoubteclly a magnificent 
lawyer. His legal knowledge has never been dis- 
puted, while his power as an advocate, his marvelous 
gift of sarcasm and contempt, and his fiuid of illus- 
tration, derived from a course of wide reading, made 
him an adversaiy whom no lawyer was anxious to 
encounter. But notwithstanding his professional 
success, the jieriod lietweeu his return to Ameiica 
and bis death was one jwssessing elements of such 
painful severity as eventually to have broken liis 
heart. Often his character was attacked, even in 
court. Gentlemen who did not know him were ad- 
vised to avoid him. Henry Clay once entered the 
court-room at the cily hall, and wlieii Burr, wlio liad 
known him well, olfered him his liand, the great 
Kenttickian did not notice him. Throutlh his law 
practice Burr was brought into relations with j\Iadam 
Jumel, who resided in the large (jld-fashioued man- 
sion with a jiillarcd wooden ])ortico at AVashington 
Heights, commanding a magnificent view of the 
Harlem river and the upper part of JIanhattan 
island. Jumel. a French merchant of great wealth, 
had settled here with his young wife, who had been 
his housekeeper; an accident led to his death and he 
left Madam jumel a large fortune. Some matter of 
litigation in reference to real estate, which was 
Burr's specialty, sent her to his office. Their busi- 
ne.ss relations finally led to others of a more tender 
character, and he married her at the age of seventy- 
eight. The m.-irri.ige was naturally very inh.armo- 
nious, and ;it length they separated, liurr left the 
Washington Heights mansion and retired to Port 
Biehmond, on the northwest shore of Staten Island, 
and in a hotel there he pa.ssed his last days, depend- 
ent on the charity of a fornu'r woman friend. He oc- 
cupied a room over what has been of late I he bar-room 
at the house — a stpiare room with little carved bits 
of woodwork abcnit the chiniiiey-]iieee. Here he 
was brought on a liller from the steaml>oat, an old 
and hel])iess invalid. It was in Jinie, and he lin- 
gered along until September. His remains wen; 
carried to Princeton and buried in the cemetery there 
■with those of his father and grandfather. He died 
Sept. 14, 1836. 



CROWNINSHIELD, Jacob, .secretary of the 
navy, was born in Salem, Mass., Mtirch :!1, 1770. 
He was given a good business education, b\it drifted 
into ]ndjlic life, and served his country in various 
capacities for a period of seven years. Previous to 
Ids election to the Massachuselts legislature, in 1801, 
he, a.ssoeijite<l with his three brothers, was in com- 
mand of vessels engaged in trade with India. He 
was a mendier of congress for two years; and in 
1805 Presitlent Jefferson ajiijointed him .secretary of 
the navy. This honor, deserved as it was, he was 
never to enjoy. His health was delicate; consump- 
tion .seized luni, and his decline was i>ainfully rapid, 
and he never entered upon his duties as secretary. 
One of his brothers, Benjamin Williams, was also 
made secretary of the navy luider Presidents Madi- 
son and Monroe; and two grandsons won distinction 
for them.selve.s — one as a soldier and sailor, the other 
as student and artist. Jacob Crowninshield died in 
Washington. 1). C., Apr. 14, 1808. 

CLINTON, George, vice-president of the Unit- 
ed States (1804-12), and governor of New York 
(1777-95 and 1801-4), was born at Little Britain, 
Ulster Co. (now Orange), N. Y., July 36, 1739. He 
is said to have been named after Adin. George 
Clinton, sou of the Earl of Lincoln, who was colo- 
nial governor of New York from 1743 to 1753, 
and with whose family George Clinton was believ- 
ed to be remotely connected. The 
American ancestor of the Clintons, 
Charles Clinton, was born in the coun- 
ty of Longford, Ireland, and was the 
son of James Clinton, who in turn was 
the son of William Clinton, one of the 
most devoted adherents of Charles I. 
Charles Clinton married, and in 1729, 
with his wife, his brother-in-law, two 
daughters and one son, joined a party 
of colonists, ninety-four in number, 
who sailed for America, and landed 
on Cape Cod. In the following spring 
they removed to Ulster county. New 
York. Charles Clinton fought in the 
old French war, and was a justice of 
the peace and a judge of the common 
pleas of his county. George Clinton 
was gifted with an ambitious disposi- 
tion, was active and enterprising, and 
though not averse to study, preferred a more exciting 
life. In 1755 he ran away from home, and shipped on 
board a privateer to fight the French; returning, he 
entered the regiment commanded by his father, and 
accompanied the ex]>edition against Fort Frontenac, 
in which he showed great daring and enteriirise. 
On the termination of hostilities, he entered the otlice 
of Chief Justice William Smith, in the city of New 
York, to study law, and was in due time admitted 
to the bar, and began to practice law in his native 
county. Here for several years he held the office of 
clerk of common pleas, while he met with lumsual 
success in general practice. In 17(>8 Mr. Clinton 
was elected a member of the New York as.sembly, 
and as the dillienlly belwt'en the colonies and the 
niolher-eounlry became s<Tious, he grew tobe recog- 
nized as one of the stanela'st of patriots, so that in 
the .spring of 1775 he was elected one of the dele- 
gates to the second Conlinenlal congress. In this 
body he advocated all tlie warlike measures which 
were a<lopted. but on acciamt of the invasion of 
New York, and the inlernal strife and dissension oc- 
curring (here, he wasaiipoinled a general of brigade, 
and hastened home to assume the commimd of the 
militia of I'lsier county. On Ai>r. 20, 1777, the 
New York slate constitution, drafted by John Jay, 
was duly adopted, and in the month of .lune follow- 
ing, Mr. Clinton was elected first gi>vernor of the 
slate. The lieutenant-governor was I'ierre Van 




126 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPiEDIA 



Cortlandt; Robert R. Livingston was chancellor of 
the state; John Jay, cliief justice, and Ro'ocrt Yates 
and John Sloss Ilobart associate justices of the su- 
preme court; John Morin Scott secretary of state; 
Robert Hensoii attorney-general, and Comfort Sands 
auditor-gener.ll. At this time a large |ui)portion of 
the population of the state were either open and 
avowed loyalists, or at heart luifricndly or indisposed 
to the cause of independence. This s|iirit of disaf- 
fection tainted the entire colony, and it was on this 
account that the whole power of the Hritish invaders 
during the campaigns of 1776 and 1777 was directed 
against the state of New York. It was indeed under 
contemplation, by establishing a chain of communi- 
cations, or line of posts and fortifications extending 
from Sandy Hook to tlie St. I^awrence, to cut oif 
New England, the hot-bed of sedition and rebellion. 
from the support of the southern provinces. Tliis 
design was never finally abandoned luitil the time 
when Arnold committeil his treasonable act but 
failed to secure the key of the Hudson. It .so hap- 
pened, therefore, that New York, while engaged in 
defending her borders against Indians and tories, 
was also fighting the battles of New England. All 
the settlements within the interior of New York 
■were constantly agitated by scenes of bloodshed, 
devastation and nmrder. During the latter part of 
the year 1776, Gen. George Clinton had occupied 
the passes and forts of the Highlands of the Hudson 
with a considerable militia force, in 
order to iiievent the British from as- 
cending tlie river. In tlie spring of 
1777 congress appointed him com- 
mander of all po.sts in that quarter. 
In September he addressed the first 
meeting of the legislature of New 
York, at Kingston. Meanwhile Gen. 
Burgoyne had advanced from the 
North with a large army, and was 
rapidly neariug Alliauy. Washington 
was in the South with a great body of 
the Continental army, and Sir Henry 
Clinton, having receiveil reinforce- 
ments, determined to take advantage 
of this opjiortunity to ascend the river 
and capture the posts in command 
of Gov. Clinton. He took 3,000 men 
with him. iuid landed at Tarrytonii, 
making a feint against Peekskill, while he raiiid- 
ly conveyed troops across the river for the pur- 
pose of attacking Forts Clinton and Jlontgomery, 
where Gen. .lames Clinton, brother of the governor, 
was in command with only about 600 militia. On 
hearing of the Hritish movement Gov. Clinton im- 
mediately prorogued thelegi.slature at Kingston, and 
h.astened to the assistance of his brother. But the 
numbers of the enemy were too great to be success- 
fully resisted by the small force at his command. 
Both forts were surrounded, but it was not until the 
Americans had been completely overpowered by 
numbers that they fought their way out, and, favored 
by diirkness, succeeded in escaping. It was a most 
brilliant defence, lasting from two o'clock in the 
afternoon until after dark, and against more th.an 
four times the luimher of the defenders. George 
Clinton managed to cross the river in a boat, and 
James was severely wounded and pursued, but 
eventually reached his house, si.xteen miles distant 
from the forts, on the following morning. No jier- 
manent advantage resulted to the British from tlieir 
success on this occa.sion. Burgoyne and bis army 
were defeated at "Saratoga, and Sir Henry Clinloli 
w-as obliged to satisfy himself with dismantling the 
forts hv had captured, and on the approach of win- 
ter the British fell back to their lines in the neigh- 
borhood of New York. Durinsr the war Gov. Clin- 
ton was mainly occupied in providing for the public 







defence and security, and his time was chiefly em- 
ployed in earring iiUo effect the laws passed by the 
legislature in this direction. In 17hO Gov. Clinton 
was re-elected, and continued to fill the governor's 
chair until 179.^. In 1780. when the savages led by 
Brant and Cornplanter mjule a descent into the Mo- 
hawk valley. Gov. Clinton succeeded in preventing 
the success of their e.xpediticai. Peace with Great 
Britain was declared, and when Gen. Washington 
entered the city of New York on the occasion of its 
evacuation. Gov. CMintou rode beside him as chief 
magistrate of the state. After the close of the war 
Gov. Clinton <levoted much attention to the subjects 
of education and internal imiirovements, and pro- 
cured the passage of important laws in this direction. 
He recommended the organization of a society for 
the promotion of agriculture, arts, anil manufactures, 
and also an act directing the exploration of Herkimer 
and Washington counties, with a view to canal con- 
struction. Further, the legislature provided for the 
formation of comjianies designed to improve and 
open interior navigation and iidand water communi- 
cation, the culmination of which was the construc- 
tion, under the direction of Gov. Clinton's ue])hew, 
DeWitt Clinton, of the Erie Canal. One of the first 
acts of the federalists in the way of establishing a 
government inclining toward centralization, was to 
obtain the pas.sage of laws authorizing the national 
government to collect and retain the import duties 
which might accrue at the port of New York. Gov. 
Clinton was opposed to this act as a surrender of the 
independent sovereignty of the .state, and one result 
wa.s, that a movement was put on foot by the feder- 
alists to prevent his reelection as governor of the 
state. In 1786 congress passed a resolution request- 
ing Gov. Clint(m to call the legi-slature together for 
an extra ses.sion to reconsider a state law with which 
congress disagreed. Gov. Clinton was sufficiently 
determined not to permit himself to be dictated to 
by congress, and accordingly refused to summon 
the legislature in extra ses.sion. Gov. Clinton was 
one of the foremost and most decided o]iiionents of 
the Federal constittition as it was originally formed, 
but he presided at the state convention in 1778, 
which ratified this instrument. In 1787 Gov. Clin- 
ton marched at the head of the New York state 
militia to assist the Massachu.setts government in 
overcoming Shays's rebellion. The political course 
of Gov. Clinton aroused serious (i])position among 
the federalists, and from 178it every effort was made 
to dethrone him. Esiiecially at the election of 1792, 
when ,Iohn .lay was the o]iposing candidate and re- 
ceived the majority of the votes, objections were 
raised on account of certain informalities, but Gov. 
Clinton was decl:ircd re-elected by a majority of 108. 
At the presidenti.-il election in \~',\'i. the electors of 
the new repidilican party, of which Gov. Clinton 
might be considered the founder, inserted his name 
in their ballots as their candidate for vice-president. 
He received fifty votes and John Adams seventy- 
seven. At the ensuing election for governor, he de- 
clined to nni. and <luring the next five years was re- 
tired from public life, excejit that his name was 
airain mentioned as a candidate for the vice-presi- 
dency. In ISOl he was once more induced to be- 
come a candidate for the .irovcrnorship. and was 
elected by nearly 4,000 majority over his federal 
ojiponent, Stephen Yan Rensselaer. On entering 
iijion his new term. Gov. Clinton fo\md himself in 
opposition to bis own party in regard to the matter 
of' removals from oHiee on account of politics. This 
had now becon\e the custom, anil thoug'' 1"' resisted 
it in the council of a|i|iointment, be was overruled 
by his nephew, DeWitI Clinton, and Ambrose Spen- 
cer, who were metubers of the council. On the re- 
election of Thomas Jefferson to the presidency for 
the second term. Gov. Clinton was chosen as the can- 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



127 



didate of the repiil)lican party for vice-president, and 
was duly elected, the two candidates receivinf; 162 of 
the 170 votes which were cast. As the ])resiiling of- 
ficer of the U. S. senate, ^Ir. Clinton was noted for 
the impartiality and proniiitiludewith which he jjave 
his decisions, and for the kindness and courtesy 
■which always distinguished his manner, as well to- 
ward his political o])ponent3 as to his most attached 
friends. On the retirement of Mr. .letTersou, Jlr. 
Clinton was continued in the office of vice-jn'osident, 
and at the session of l.siO-11, it fell to him. by his 
casting vote, to decide the question as to the proprie- 
ty of renewinsi the charterof tlie Hank of the Unit- 
ed States. Tlie question bcinj; on the striking ovit of 
the enacting clause of the bill, Jlr. Clinton voted iu 
the affirmative, after a few brief, terse, and vigorous 
remarks setting forth his reasons for this course. 
George (Minton was in many respects one of the most 
remarkable men produced by the period in which he 
lived. He was a man of strong views, and pos.sessed 
absolute jiersonal courage in advancing them with- 
out regard to the possibilities of their adverse recep- 
tion. He was one of the ablest of administrative of- 
ficers, and was as admirable in his civil as in his 
military career. Mr. Clinton married Cornelia Tap- 
pan, of Kingston, N. Y. He had one son and five 
daughters, but only two of his children, both da\igh- 
ters, lived to an advanced age. One of his daugh- 
ters became the wife of Citizen Genet, the French 
minister to the United States in 171I8, who remained 
in this country after he had completed ins mi.ssion, 
and settled in the state of New York, where he died. 
In his personal appearance Gov. Clinton was digni- 
fied, his countenance indicating the courage, energy 
and decision of character for which he was remark- 
able. Says one of his biographers, "Few men have 
ever occupied a larger space in the public estima- 
tion, and no one name is more conspicuous than his 
ju the early annals of New York." Gov. Clinton 
died while holding the office of vice-president, Apr. 
20, 1812, in the city of "Washington, and his remains 
were permanently deposited in the congressional 
cemetery. 

MABISON, James, secretary of state. (See In- 
dex.) 

BRECKENRIDGE, John, attorney-general, 
was born iu Augusta comity, Va., Dec. 2, 1760. 
While yet a student iu AVilliam and JIary College 
he was three times chosen a member of the legisla- 
ture, but was refused admission before the third 
election because of his lieing under age. He was 
admitted to the bar and began practice at Clnirlottcs- 
ville in 178.">. He was chosen as representative to 
the third congress, but failed to take his scat be- 
cause of his removal in 1793 to Kentucky, finally 
locating near Lexington, where he built up an exten- 
sive practice through tlie confiict of land claims 
which resulted from the fault)^ surveys which had 
been made. He filled various judicial and legisla- 
tive offices in the new state of Kent\icky, and was a 
candidate for U. S. senator in 1794, but was beaten 
by Huniphrev Marshall. It is clainu-d for Brecken- 
ridge that he was the author of the Kentucky reso- 
lution of 1798, which in opposition to the doctrine of 
the alien and sedition laws asserted, although in 
somewhat c(piivoeal terms, the right of any slate to 
nullify or hinder the action of any statute tlie pco- 
pl(' of the state might tliink " mu-oiistitutiouid. 
AVhether lie or .li'lTcrson was the aulhor.il is cerl.-iin 
that Breckenridge was their inlroducer into the 
Kentucky legislature and their most earnest advo- 
cate. In" necember, ISO], he entereil the U. S. sen- 
ate, and for the next four years was the spokesman 
for the administration, intro<lucing and advocating 
in the .-ienale almost every dislinclly administration 
measure. He difTered with .lelTerson on the ques- 
tion of the acceptance of Louisiana, and refused to 



offer tlie constitutional amendment wliich Jefferson 

thought necessary before the new territory could be 
acquired. It was on the motion of Mr. Brecken- 
ridge that the ti'eaty was ratified and the president 
directed to take posse.s.sion. He resigned his sen- 
atorship on Dec. 25, ISO.'), and became a member of 
.Jefferson's cabinet as attorney-.ueneial, but held tho 
place liws than a vear, dving while in office, from an 
attack nf lyiiliusYcver. Dec. 14, 1806. 

GALLATIN, Albert, secretarj' of the treasury, 
was born in Geneva, Switzerland, Jan. 29, 1761. 
The family name was one well known in Switzer- 
land, though his father, Jean Gallatin, was a 
merchant and the family not disiingiii.shed for 
wealth. The mother of Albert Gallatin was Soi>liie 
Alb"rtine Rollaz. The father died when young 
Albert was an infant and the mother when he was 
only nine years of age. At the death of his father, 
Albert was taken in charge by Mademoiselle Pictet, 
a distant relative of his father, and his mother's in- 
timate friendr AVith her the boy remained until he 
was twelve years of age, when he was sent to a 
boarding school, and two years later to the academy 
at Geneva, from which he was graduated iu 1779. A 
curious and interesting incident in regard to the 
bov's ancestry and his family 
life is the fact that in 1699 a 
member of the family be- 
queathed a sum of money 
which was placed in I lie hands 
of trustees, and called the 
Bourse Gallatin, the income 
of which was to be employed 
in defraying the necessary ex- 
penses of the family. Out of 
this sum the education of Al- 
bert Gallatin was paid for, 
both at the boarding school 
and at the academy. His stud- 
ies included more particular- 
ly langua.ires, and he learned 
English, French, of cour.se, 
that being the language in 
general use at Geneva, and 
also Latin and Greek. He was 
taught historyby the distinguished historian, Muller. 
During his last year at the academy, young Gallatin 
was employed as tutor for the nephew of his bene- 
factress. Mademoiselle Pictet. Meanwhile, the sum 
to which he was entitled by inheritance would not 
be his until he reached his twenty-liflh year, and he 
was now desirous of iilanning for him.self a career. 
For a time he visited his grandfather, Abraham 
Gallatin, who lived near Fcriiey, the home of 
Voltaire, and where young Gallatin fre(|uently met 
the great philosopher. His grandmother, Jladame 
Gallatin-BavKlinet, was the controlling spirit in the 
family, and had for a friend the Landgrave of 
He.s.se, who was at this time' sending mercenaries to 
a.ssi,st the British army in its fight with the American 
colonies. The commis.sion of lieutenant-colonel in 
one of the Hessian le.iriments was offered to young 
Gallatin, a jiropo-sition to which he is said to have 
reiilied that "he would never serve a tyrant." In 
fact G.'dlatin with two friends had already amused 
themselves by planning an emigration to America, 
lieing interesied more particularly in their romantic 
ideas of the native .Xmerican Indian, and in Ajiril, 
]7H(I. young Gallatin wilh one of tlie.se friends left 
(Jeneva fin- Nantes, where the friendly offices of his 
family followed him with money and letters of 
recommendation to distinguished Americans, In- 
cluding one from Benjamin Franklin, at that time 
American minister at llie Court of Versailles, to bis 
.son-in-law. Richard Baehe. The travelers sailed on 
May 27lh, in an American vessel, investing a portion 
of "their small capital in tea. They reached the 




> 7' ■' '/ ' 



128 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



American coast ami lauded at Cape Ann, on July 
14tU, and the followiuc; ilaj- rode to Boston on horse- 
back. This was a time of stagnaliou in the American 
revohition; tliere was very little trade, and it was 
with ditfieulty that the venture in tea was brought 
to a financial conclusion, which was accomplished 
only by barterinjr it for other articles, including 
rum, sugar and tol)acco. with which they traveled 
between Boston and Maine, selling their froods or 
trading them as the case might be. At Jlachiius, 
Gallatin is said to have advanced supjjlies to the 
value of $400 to the garrison, taking in pay- 
ment a draft on the State treasury of Massa- 
chusetts, which he afterward solil at one-fourth 
of its face value. Finally, in the autumn of 
1781, he settled in Boston, where he gave instructions 
in the French language, and iu the following sum- 
mer taught French To the students of Harvard, 
for which he received about three hundred dol- 
lars. He remained at Cambridge for nearly a 
year, and iu July. 1783, went to Boston and New 
York and concluded his financial relations with his 
traveling companion, determined thereafter to suc- 
ceed or fail entirely through his own efforts. Hear- 
ing of rich lands to be liought low on the banks of 
the Ohio, Gallatin went then; and purchased a large 
territory between the Monongahelaaud the Kanawha 
rivers and soon after succeeded iu selling a small 
portion of tliis land for enough to repay three-fourths 
of the original cost of the whole of it. Gallatin now 







settled in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, where he 

built a log hut and opened a country store. In 1784 
Gallatin tirst met General Washingtou, who made 
him a proposition to become his land agent. That 
winter Mr. Gallatin settled in Richmond and from 
that time forward for several years he was engaged 
in locating land.s, while suggesting to his friends in 
Switzerland a general emigration from that country, 
which was at this time much disturbed by revolu- 
tionary ideas. Gallalin now reached his twenty- 
fifth year, and his family in Switzerland reir.iltcd 
him considerable .siuns through the banking house 
of Robert Morris, this being the inheritance belong- 
ing to him, with its increase liy the interest added. 
In May, 178il, Gallatin married Sophie Allegre, of a 
Fieucli Protestant family living at Richmond. Her 
mother having refused her con.seni, the young lovers 
eloped, but within a few months, which are said to 
have been the happiest of Air. Gallalin's life, he 
had the misfortune to lo.sc his wife, a fact which 
seems to have broken up all his interest iu affairs. 
The following 3'ear he was elected to the .st.ate legisla- 
ture from Fayette county and re-elected tmtil 1793, 
when he was elected to the United States senate. In 
the same yeiir, on Nov. 11th, Gallatin was married for 
the second time to Miss Anna Nichcilsou. a young 
lady whose acciuainlance he had made during an 
excursion with some frienils from Pennsylvania 
northward. This marriage was a most hap]iy one 
and lasted almo.st throughout Gallatin's long and 
honorable career, his separation from his companion 
by death being only by a few months. Airs. Galla- 



tin was the daughter of Com. James Nicholson, 
who was captain of the Trumbull, the first 
Ameiican frigate. When Mr. Gallatin took his seat 
in the L'nited States senate a petition was presented 
in that house stating that he had not been nine years 
a citizen of the V nited States and was therefore 
ineligible. As he had landed in Ma.s.sachusetts in 
1780, while siill a minor, and had only taken the 
oath of citizenshi|) in 171S."), technically this petition 
and this objection were well founded. The matter 
was placed before the general coimnittee on elections 
which had luider consideration other cases besides 
this one. Jlr. Gallatin conducted his own case and 
the matter being bnmght to a vote, his election was 
declared to be void. This, although Air. Gallatin 
had been thirteen years a resideiU of the country, 
W!is a large lauilholder in Virginia and had been for 
several terms a member of the Pennsylvania legis- 
lature. After this brief experience in the United 
States senate. Air. Gallatin took liis wife to his 
country home by the Alouongahela. It was at this 
time that the formidable whiskey insurrection, as it 
was called, broke out in Pennsylvania, adislurbance 
which was caused by the action of the government 
in forcing the service of writs in excise cases. It is 
slated that to Air. Gallatin was due the jieaceful settle- 
ment of this outbreak, and that he iiractically. through 
his eloquence and judicious conduct, sjived the 
western counties of Pennsylvania from anarchy and 
civil war. Nevertheless tiie total exjiense of the in- 
surrection to the government was $S()0.000. At the 
subsequent election. Air. Gallatin was chosen to 
represent Fayette in the Pennsylvania assembly, but 
his election was contested and was declared void on 
the petition of thirty-four citizens who declared that 
they had been unable to cast their votes on account 
of the district having been in a state of insurrection 
at the time of the election. Another election was 
then held iu which Gallatin was victorious, but he 
only remained in the legislattire from Feb. 14th 
to March 13th, when he asked and obtained leave of 
absence. He was now elected to congress and en- 
tered the house Dec. 7, 1795, on the republican side, 
thus, in company with Edward Livingston of New 
York, makinga formid.-ible addition to the opposition 
which was under the lead of James Aladi.son. Mr. 
Gallatin's first measure in the house of representatives 
was the introduction of an act appointing a standing 
committee of finance to supeiintend the general 
operations of llu^ treasuiy dei)artment, and which 
was the beginning of the ways and means committee, 
which .soon became and has ever since coutimied to 
be the most important committee in the hou.se. A 
strong debater, and forming his opinions thotigh 
rapidly under the influence of careful judgment. Air. 
Gallatin's influence in the house- .soon began to be 
emphatic. In a general way. Air. (iallatin was the 
" watch-dog of the treasury " of that day, and made 
that department the object of frequently aggressive 
criticism. During his three terms in congress. Air. 
Gallatin easily liecame the leader of his party on the 
floor of the house. In the great debate on the treaty 
with England, Air. (Tallalin is .said to have risen to 
the higlu'sl rank of .statesmanshi]). .leffeison being 
elected president, the formation of the first republi- 
can cabinet was his first duly, and iu tli;it Air. (iallatin 
became secretary of the treasury. It was imfortu- 
nate that during the few days that Air. Gallatin had 
been United Slates senator he had offended Hamilton, 
at that tinii' secretary of the treasury, by a call for 
information as to the condition of that department; 
and again, as a member of congress in 179f), he had 
(piesiioned Hamilton's policy. Yet Hamilton had 
left the treasury department as a legacy to the 
Federalists, whose stronghold it was considered, and 
the senate, which bad the confirming power, was 
still controlled by a Federalist majoritj'. In order 



i 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



129 




(abinfit 
Room 



to avoid collision, Mr. Gallatin's appointment was 
not sfut to the senate during the session, but on May 
14th lie entered the cabinet, the idea being that he 
would thus at least hold the otlice until the meeting 
of congress in December. As a matter of fact he 
did hold the otKce until 1813, and his conduct of it 
ranks among the finest illu.strations of financial 
ability known. During his incumbencF, the jiublic 
debt, "which in IMOa was more than if.stCbOO.IKK), was 
reduced to less than |40, 000,001 1. The war of 1812, 
■which then occurred, brought it up to nearly fifty 
per cent, more than it was when he 
entered the department. j\Ir. Galla- 
tin's last financial success occurred in 
the spring of 1S13, when he obtained 
the loan'of .'jiKlOOO.ooO, the greater 
portion of which was taken up by 
David Parish and Stephen Girard of 
Philadeljihia and John Jacob Astor 
of New York and their friends, these 
three capitalists being jjersonal friends 
of Mr. Gallatin. A few weeks later, 
Mr. Gallatin resigned from the treas- 
ury, and was appointed to the mi.s- 
sion of St. Petersburg for the pur- 
pose of securing the mediation of the 
Emperor of Russia l)etween the United 
States and Great Britain. In this mis- 
sion he failed, the British government 
refusing intervention, but he continued as com- 
missioner and finally the treaty was signed on 
Christmas D.ay, 1814. Gallatin was now apijointed 
minister to France, and remained abroad until 1833, 
when he returned to the United States. In 1826 he 
was sent by Presiilent Adams as envoy e.\traordinary 
to Great Britain, and on returning to the United 
States became president of the National Bank of 
New York, a position which he continued to hold 
from 1831 to 1839. Mr. Gallatin interested himself 
in the latter part of his life in a number of iironiinent 
public literary and scientific institution.s, and was 
the lirst president both of the American Ethnological 
Society and the New York Histotical Society. Mr. 
Gallatin was the earliest public advocate in America 
of the principles of free trade, and, asliis biographer, 
Mr. John Austin Stevens, says: " An experience of 
sixty years confirmed him in his convictions. " In 
regarii to his literary work, Mr. Gallatin published 
"Synopsis of the Indian Tribes within the United 
States East of the Rocky Mountains and in the 
British and Ru.s,sian Po.sscssions in North America " 
(Cambridge, 1836), and " Notes on the Semi-Civilized 
Nations of Me.\ico, Yucatan and C'entral America, 
with Conjectures on the Origin of Semi-Civilizations 
in America" (New Y'ork, 1845). His complete 
■works were published tmder the title "■Writings of 
Albert Gallalin." bv Henrv Adams (Philadelphia, 
18T!I, three v,ihime.s"). He died Aug. 13, 1849. 

BEABBOBN, Henry, secretary of war. (See 
Inde.x. ) 

STODDERT, Benjamin, secretary of the navy. 
(See Index.) 

SMITH, Robert, secretary of the navy, was 
born in Lancaster, Pa., November, I7.")T, a brother 
of General Sanmel Sndth. He studied at the com- 
mon schools of the time and was sent to Princeton, 
where he was graduated in 1781. He volunteered his 
services dining the revolution and was pre.sent at 
the battle of the Brandywine. At the close of the 
war he studied law, was admitted to the bar and set- 
tled in Baltimore, where he began jtraclice. Mr. 
Smith was the last survivor of the electoral college 
of 1780. He was a state senator from Maryland in 
1793 and a member of the house of delegates from 
1796 to 1800, during the same jieriod, from 1798 to 
1801, .sitting in the upper branch of the Baltimore 
city council. On Jan. 26, 1802, he assumed the po- 



sition of secretary of the navy, which he held until 
1805, when he was aiijioiiited U. S. attorney-general. 
This office he filled until he was made secretary of 
state in 1809, and held that iio.sition until Nov." 25, 
1811. In the meanliine, on .Ian. 23, 1806, he was 
appointed chancellor of Maryland and chief judge 
of the district of Baltimore, but declined. On 
resigning the office of secretary of stale in ISll Mr. 
Sniilh was appdinled ambassador to Russia, but this 
position he also declined. He was interested in pub- 
lic allairs generally and was president of a branch 
of the American Bible Society in 1813, and also of 
the Maryland Agricultural Society in 1818. In 1813 
he became provost of the University of jNIaryland. 
Mr. Smith died in Baltimore Nov. 26". 1842. 

LINCOLN, Levi, U. S. altorney -general and 
si.xth governor of ilassachusetl.s, was born at Hing- 
ham, Mass., May 15, 1749, He was a descendant of 
Samuel Lincoln, of Hingham, whocame tothis coun- 
try from Hingham, Eng., in 1(537. Levi's father 
was a farmer, who gave his son such education as he 
could, and the son. in his leisure time, succeeded in jire- 
paringhimself for college, and entered Harvard, from 
which he was graduated in 1772. He then .settled in 
Worcester, Mass., where he jiracticed law and rose 
to distinction. During the exciting parly coufiict of 
John Adams's administration, Jlr. IJncoln, as a zeal- 
ous anti-federalist, wrote a series of political papers 
called " Farmers' Letters, " which gave him a national 
reputation. On the election of Thomas Jelferson to 
the presidency. Mr. Lincoln was appointed I'. S. at- 
torney-general, having in the meantime served in the 
Massachusetts legislaiure, and for a brief period in 
congress. On retiring from the attorney-general- 
ship, he was elected a member of the Mas.sachusetts 
council. He was lieutenant-governor of Massachu- 
setts in 1807-8, and during about six months of the 
latter year, owing to the death of Gov. James Sulli- 
van, was acting governor. In 1811 Gov. Lincoln 
wasappointcd by President JIailison a.ssociate justice 
of the U. S. supreme court, but, being at this time 
threatened with total blindness, he declined the po.si- 
tion. He afterwanl recovered his .sight sufficiently 
to enable him to devote nece.s.sary attention to his 
farm, and to indulge himself somewhat in classical 
studies. He died in Worcester, Ma.ss.. Apr. 14, 1820. 
His widow died in the same place, eight years later, 
and was followed to the grave by two sons, then 
governor.s — Levi, governor of Massachusetts, and 
Enoch, governor of ilaiue. 

BODNEY, Caesar Augustus, U. S. attorney- 
general, was born at Dover, Del., Jan. 4, 1772. He 
was graduated from (he L'niversity of Pennsylvania 
in 1789, studied law, and in 1803 began practice at 
Wilmington. Del. He was elected to con- 
gress as an ami -Federalist, and while * 
there, 1805-7, was concerned in the im- 
peachment of Judge S. Chase of the U. S. 
supreme court. He was U. S. attorney- 
general from 1807-12. In the war of 
1812 he was capt.ain of a com|iany of ar- 
tillery, which openUed on the Canadian 
border, and in 1815 a mcndier of the Del- 
aware senate. In 1817 he was one of a 
commission sent to look into affairs in 
the newly formed republics of South 
America, and advi.se as to their recogni- 
tion, a course of a<'tion which he favored 
in a "Report on the Pre.sent State of the 
United Provinces" (1819). He was again 
in congress 1821-22, and in the L'. S. sen- 
ate 1822-23. He was sent as first U. S. mini.stcr (o 
(he Argentine luovinces in January, 1823, showing 
himself during his brief service there a friend to the 
young republic, being much honored for his services 
by (he Argentines. He died at Buenos Ayres, Ar- 
gentine Republic, June 10, 1824. 







130 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 




FRANKLIN, Benjamin, printer, scientist, 
stale.sniaii and ili|)l(iiiiat. wa> born in Boston, Mass., 
Jan. 17, 17UG. Of liini it lias been said by a recent 
bioirrapher that " if we can im- 
agine a circumference wliich 
shall express humanity, we can 
place within it no one man who 
will reach out to approach it, 
and to touch it, at so many 
points as will Franklin." Am- 
ple particulars as to hi.s an- 
cestry are derived from his 
inimitable autoliiography. The 
family had lived in the villa,;;e 
of Ecton. Norlb.'imploMshire, 
England, for at least three hun- 
dred years on a freehold of 
about thirty acres, its heads fol- 
lowing the smith's business, the 
eldest son beiuc alwaj-s bred 
to that trade. When Benjamin 
searched the parish register 
at Ectou, he found that he 
wa.s ■ ' the youngest son of 
the youngest son for five generations back." At 
Banbury, in O.xfordshire, England, IToS. he found 
the gravestone of his grandfather. Franklin's father, 
Josiah F., married when young, in England, and 
brought his wife with three children to New Eng- 
land abo\it 11183. The removal was made in com- 
pany with a small Puritan colony, made up, in part, 
of dispossessed Nonconformist clergymen in North- 
liam])tonshire. People whose progenitors had been 
stanch Protestants in the days of "bloody tjueen 
Mary," were not likely to change their religious 
colors under Charles II.. and Josiah Franklin was, 
dovibtless, in accord with his ministerial friends in 
a desire to be rid of oppression on account of re- 
ligious opinion. He settled at Boston. Mass., ex- 
pecting to follow tlie calling of a dyer, but found 
that "that trade would not maintain his family, 
being in little request." Therefore he became a 
tallow-chandler and a soap-boiler. There were born 
to him Viy his first wife four more children ; and 
after her death he married Aliiah, daughter of 
Peter Folger, a first settler in New iingland, of 
whom Cotton Mather in his " Magnalia Christi 
Americana" speaks as "a godly, learned English- 
man." By lier were born to him ten other children, 
of whom Benjamin Franklin — named from an uncle 
on his father's side — was the seventh, and he re- 
mendiered thirteen of the two sets of children sitting 
at one time at his father's tjxble. This uncle, Ben- 
jamin, who came to America from England and 
lived in our Franklin's father's family for some 
years, deserves notice as a factor in the develop- 
ment of his nephew's life. Between him and the 
father there was a special regard. He was pio\is, a 
constant attendant at the scrmonsof the best preach- 
ers, much of a politician, and a collector of pam- 
phlets relating to American affairs, many of wliich 
finally fell into his nephew's hands. When tlu boy 
was eight years old lie was put to the grammar 
school, being intended by his (larents. as the tenth 
son, for the service of the cburcli. Conchuling, 
however, that he could not alVord to provide a col- 
lege education for his son, the father removed him 
from the grammar school after his comieetion with 
it for a year, and placed him at a school for writing 
and arithmetic kepi by a man then famous in his 
profession, (!eorge Brownell. Franklin soon ac- 
ipiiredfair penm.-inship, but failed in the arithmetic. 
When ho was ten years of age and had a strong 
desire to go to sea, against wliich proj<'Ct his fa- 
ther's face was set as a fiint, the latter took him out 
of school, and put him into his own .service, where 
he was employed in the chandlery, cutting wicks 



for the candles, filling the dipping molds and the 
molds for cast candles, attending shop, going on 
errands, etc. It sur|)rises no one to know that the 
son disliked this trade and the work exceedingly, 
but he spent two years in it, and was then sent for 
a short time to be with his cousin, a cutler, in Bos- 
ton, "on liking." No permanent connection was 
formed, and the bookish inclination of liis sun finally 
determined the father to make him a printer. The 
boy had been pleased with "The Pilgrim's Prog- 
ress," and had gotten the works of Bunyan to- 
gether; subsequently selling them, however, to en- 
able him to buy H. Burton's "Historical Collec- 
tions." "Plutarch's Lives " had fa.scinated him, as 
well as De Foe's " Essay on Projects," and a book 
of Dr. Mather's. "Essays To Do Good." "This 
last. ".says Franklin, "perhaps gave me a tui-u of 
thinking that had an intluenee on some of the prin- 
cipal future events of my life." His elder brother, 
James, had already returned from England, with a 
press and type, to set up the printing business in 
Boston ; and under pressure of the father, Ben- 
jamin, at twelve years of age. signed indentures 
that made him an apprentice to James until he was 
twenty j-ears old, "only I was to be allowed jour- 
neyman's wages during the last year." He made 
great progress in the business, was soon useful to 
his brother, and naturally had access to nifire and 
to soine better books. He was invited by Mr. Mat- 
thew Adams to his library, took a fancy to poetry, 
was even asked bv his brother to compo.se occasional 
ballads. One of these. "The Lighthouse Tragedy." 
sold wonderfully, the event being recent, and hav- 
ing made a great noise. He found an old volume of 
" The Spectator " (the third), read it. and was de- 
lighted. He practiced upon it by methods of his 
own, in order that he might improve his literary 
style. At the age of sixteen he adopted a vegetable 
diet (afterwards laid aside) .saved money by it, and 
spent tli.'it for books. He now mastered arithmetic, 
by himself, acquired a slight knowle<lge of geoin- 
efry. read "Locke on the Human Fnderstanding." 
and "The Art of Thinking" by Jlessrs. du Port 
Royal. In an English grammar he found two small 
sketches of thearts of rhetoric and logic, the latter 
finishing with a specimen of a dispute in the Socratic 
method, anil in Xenojihon's Memorabilia of .Socrates, 
he observed many instances of the same method. 
At once he was charmed with, andailoiited it. "And 
then," he .says, "from readiiiL' SliaftesbniT and 
Collins, being a real doubter in many points of our 
religious doctrine, I found this method safest for 
myself and very embarrassing to those against 
whom I used it." In 1721 James Franklin began to- 
print the "New England Couraiit." the third new.s- 
paper which appeared in Boston, and the fourth in 
America ; and Benjamin carried the papers tliiougli 
the streets to the customers. Moreover, his amlii- 
tion being stimulated, he wrote an article for its 
columns. But apprehending itsdisapjiroval. he dis- 
guised his handwriting. an<l slipped the communica- 
tion under the printing-house (loor, at night. The 
first was followed by others, which met with ap- 
]iroval and were printed. Disputes, liowever. arose 
lietween the two lirothers : the elder, as the younger 
eoiieeived, being piipied by the erliit of his author- 
ship, and .so disposed to lord it over the apprentice. 
These disputes being referred to the father, his 
judgment was usually in Benjamin's favor, but this 
did not prevent James beating him. The end to 
this came speedily. An article in the " Courant " 
gave otTi'Use to the colonial assembly. James was 
arrested, censured and imprisoned for a month, by 
speaker's warrant, because he would not discover 
the author's name ; and his discharge was accom- 
panied by the order of the house tli;it "Jami'S Frank 
liu should no longer publish the paper called ' The 





cartiiatfT, itn, av jAmtt T. wmit 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



133 



New England Courant.'" It was then settled by 
the publisher and his friends that the paper should 
be printed under the name of Benjamin Franklin. 
His jiapers of apprenticeship were forthwith re- 
turned to him, canceled upon their face, but Ben- 
jamin was to sign others that were to be kejit in pri- 
vate. The inevitable fraternal differences recurred 
after a few tnonths. The j-ounger at once assert(;d 
his freedom, and left his brother's employ. James 
then took effective measures to prevent Benjamin's 
obtaining work in any other Boston office, which 
obliged him to look elsewhere. Speedily Franklin 
soUI some of his books to raise funds, was .secretly 
taken on board a sloop bound for New York, anil 
within three days found himself in that city, 
300 miles from home, a boy of seventeen, with- 
out the least recommendation to, or knowledge 
of any person in the place, and with very little 
money in his ])ossession. He sought employment 
with Wm. Bradford, the only printer in the "town, 
but could get nothing save the statement that 
Jlr. Bradford's son, a printer at Philadelphia, had 
lately lost his princijial hand, and that Franklin 
could possibly find work with him if he should go 
there. At once he set .sail for Amboy, N. J., which 
he reached after a stormy passage across the bay, 
and Ihen started to walk "to BurUngton, N. J., fifty 
miles from Philadelphia, where he expected to liud 
a boat to take him to that city. It rained, and he 
was thoroughly wet, besides "beini; detained on his 
journey and he had no change of clothing, because 
his "best clothes" were to come roimd to him by 
sea, but he finally entered the city at eight or nine 
o'clock on a Sunday morning, landing at'the Jlarket 
street wharf, "dirty from my jourucv, my pockets 
stuffed out with shirts and "stockings, and only a 
Dutch dollar in either of them." Hungry and fa- 
tigued he met a boy with bread, was dire"cted to a 
bakery, and bought three rolls, just three-penny 
worth. Going up the street, munching one of them 
and holding another under each arm. he passed the 
house of Mr. Read, his future wife's father ; and 
that wife, standing on the step, saw him and 
thought him an indifferent fellow enough. That 
morning, following those he met in the street, 
he found himself, for the first time, in a Quaker 
meeting-house. When meeting was over, returning 
to the boat which he had bellied to row to the city, 
ho ate and slept there until the next morning. Then 
he got partial employment from the i>rinter to whom 
he had been sent, and was fjiirlr launched upon his 
Philadelphia career. He led 'heie the life of a 
journeyman jninter, but by his good habits and 
training attr.K-ted notice from the residents, among 
them Sir Willi.ani Keith, provincial governor of 
Peimsylvania. who proposed to ai<l in establishing 
Franklin in a printing-olHce of his own in Phila- 
delphia. A trip to his home at Boston followed. 
He was welcomed by his father, who, however, de- 
clined to assist him to start in business, on the 
ground that a lioy of eighteen was too young to be 
entrusted willi the man.airement of so important a 
movement. He told his son, however, th.it if he 
returned lo Pliiladelphia. was prospered and .saving, 
and "came near the matter" .it the aire of twenty- 
one, he would help him out with the rest. And so 
Franklin returned to his new home.where the gover- 
nor at once offered, himself, to start Franklin in busi- 
ness, but suggested his going lo TiOndon, England. 
to purcha.se type and other'oiitfit. Xotliini; loth, 
and fully trusting his patron. Franklin, .a ft er some 
months, as he was told to do. went on board the ship 
Annis. and waited for llie letters with which the 
governor was to accredit him to England. They 
■were never given him, for the governor's /o/'te was 
not performance, but promises, and the yoimg 
printer idtimately found himself in London," as he 



had in Philadelphia, without other resources than 
his ability to work for his own living. In his ex- 
igency he took lodgings in Little Britain with a 
fellow-passenger and friend, at three shillings and 
si.xpence a week, and secured work at Palmer's, a 
famous printer in Bartholomew close, with whom 
he remained for a year. Tlu^n he went to Watts's, 
a still larger printiiig establishment near Lincoln's 
Inn Fields, where he stayed during the rest of this 
first sojourn in London, which was protracted to 
eighteen months. While it lasted, he gave way in 
some measure to the temptations with which a great 
city always environs youth, yet he cultivated his 
taste for books, and was brought by that to the 
knowledge and acquaintance of intelligent and scien- 
tific men. He was introduced to Dr. Mandcville, 
authorof the "Fable of the Bees." Sir Hans Sloane 
invited him to his house in Bloomsbury square, pur- 
chasing from him a curiosity which Franklin had 
brought from America, and "adding it to his collec- 
tion. He had the promise of seeing Sir Isaac New- 
ton, but did not. And now Mr. Thomas Denham, 
Quaker merchant of Philadelphia, who had been 
his fellow-passenger from America, was nearly ready 
to return, and proposed to Franklin that he go back 




to Pennsylvania with him as his clerk. The latter 
was pleased with the proposition, and agreed to it 
on the terms of fifty pounds a year. Pennsylvania 
money. He was once more in Phil.aclelphia. "onOct. 
11, 17'26. Keith was now a private citizen, and Miss 
Read, to whom he had been engaged before going to 
England, had been married and deserte<l by her hu.s- 
band. who died in tlie West Indies about 1728. But 
Franklin's mercantile career was a brief one. Both 
his emiiloyer and he were taken ill; the former 
died, his .store was taken into the care of executors, 
and Franklin's clerkship was exchanged for his 
former employment <if printing. Franklin worked 
at first for one Keimer. an old employer of his, 
then formed a partnershij) in the printing busi- 
ness with Jreredith. whose father was to fur- 
nish the needed cajiital— but ultimately bought 
out Meredith and establishing his own" busiiiess 
with funds which were tendered to him by two 
friends (William Coleman and Robert Grace)" with- 
out solicitation on his part — and without the knowl- 
edge on the part of either of the offer of the other. 
This jiartnership was dissolved July 14. 17;iO. but 
the dissolution was not publicly announced until 
JLay U, 17;{2, when Franklin's debts had all been 
paid, and he felt him.self a free man. ^leanwhile he 
had married his oli\ Jiuneee, once Jliss Read (Sept. 1, 
17:iO), with whom he lived most happily until her 
death. Dee. 19, 1774. Fairiy started on a life of 
practical independence, which was filled with con- 



134 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



stantly increasing labors for the good of others, it 
may be well to recall here tlie beyiuning of those 
labors on Franklin's part, whieli is found in his 
organization of the " Junto, " a club of friends for 
mutual improvement. Its members, besides Frank- 
lin, were Tliomas Godfrey, matheniati<-ian, who 
afterwards invented a quadrant like lladley's; Nich- 
olas Scull, survej'or; William Parsons; William 
Mangridge, joiner; Hu^h Meredith, printer; Steplieu 
Potts, and George ^\ ebb, with Koliert Grace, a 
young man of some fortune, and William Cole- 
man, merchant's clerk, afterwards a merchant 
of note. Every member was to produce in his 
turn one or more queries on any point of morals, 
politics or natural philosophy, to be di.scus.sed 
by the company, and once in three months was 
to read an essay, of his own writing, on any sub- 
ject he pleased. It was an organization most use- 
ful to its members, and is worthy of recognition 
as the type ot oihei associatioual imdertakings 
afterwards projected and i)ronioted by Franklin. 
In 1743 it was developed into the American Philo- 
sophical Society. About this time Franklin, who 
had proposed "to undertake the publication of a 
newspaper, wrote articles mider the name of ' ' The 




Busy Body " for one already in existence, published 
by Mr. Bradford, his employer, and proiirietor of 
the senior of the three printing establishments then 
existing in the city. His articles were ])rompted by 
the determination to break down " The Universal In- 
structor in all Arts ami Sciences, and Peiuisylvania 
Gazette," which had been hurriedly established by 
a rival after he learned of Franklin's inlcnlion to 
bring out a journal. These uriiclcs were oll'cclive lor 
their end, and in less than a year Franklin found 
himself the owner of the rival paper at a small cost. 
He at once i.ssued "The Pennsylvania Gazette," and 
Made it very popular, and peculiarly jirofitable. 
His business was now managed with tlie ulmo.st 
thrift. He writes: "I took care not only to lie in 
reality industriou.s and frug.al, but to avoid all ap- 
pearance to the contrary. 1 dressed plainly; I was 
seen at no place of idle diversion; I never went out 
fishing or shooting; a book indeed sometimes de- 
bauched me from my work, but that was seldom, 
snug, and gave no scandal ; and to show t hat I was 
not above my bu.siness. I sometimes brought home 
the paper I purchased at Hh^ stores through the 
streets on a wheelbarrow. Thus, being esteemed 
an indu.strious, thriving young man imd paying 
duly for what I bought, the merchanls who im- 
ported stationery solicited my custom; others pro- 
posed sui)plying me with books, and I went on 
swimmingly." With such a competitor as this, his 



rival (Keimer) gave way, sold his printing-house to 
satisfy his creditors, went to the Barbadoes, and 
there lived for some years in poor circumstances. 
His successor was another " ne'er do weel," and no 
great time elap.sed before ISnidford and Franklin 
were the only printers in the city. Franklin 
carried on this business for twenty years, and iu 
17-t>^, at the age of forty-two. his annual income, as 
estimated by one of Ids most careful biographere, 
may be named as follows: His estate jielded him 
about £700; he held two ollices worth perhai)s £150 
(the clerkship of the assembly of Pennsylvania, 
which he began to till in 17;H>, and the postmaster- 
ship of Philadelphia, to which he was appointed in 
1737); the prolils on his printing business wei'c about 
£2,000 — making his yearlj* receipts not far from 
£3,000, three times the revenue of a colonial gov- 
ernor. If the purchasing jMiwer of money at that 
time in Philadelphia be rated at nearly twice what 
it is at jireseut, it would follow that this meant the 
equivalent of about $30,000 in the Phila<lelpliia of 
1893. Let it be addeil that in the autunm ol 1748, 
Franklin arr:uiged with D.avid Hall, who had been 
for some time hi.s trusted foreman, that he himself 
should withdraw from the active management and 
control of the busine.s.s, continuing to edit " The 
Gazette" and "Poor Hichard " and should receive 
from Hall the sum of £1,000 per annum for eighteen 
years, the business to go on imder the firm name 
of Franklin A- Hall. This was done, for the 
designated term. Franklin had his thou.sand 
pounds yearly and closed his business life at the 
age of sixty years. The markedly successful re- 
sults of this business were, without question, the 
fruits of his devotion to his work, and to the inter- 
ests of trade with the exercise of thriftiness; and all 
this secured increasing recognition and regard at 
the hands of bis fellow-citizens. The ])ersonal 
habits of Franklin ran in this direction from the 
start, and are na'ively illustrated by one or two 
extracts from his autobiography: "We "(self and 
wife) "kept no idle .servants, our table was jdaia 
and simple, our furniture of the cheapest. For in- 
stance, my breakfast was, for a long time, bread 
and milk (no tea), and I ale it out of a twopenny 
earthen porringer with a ]iewter spoon. But mark 
how luxury will enter families, and make a progress 
in spite of "principle. Being called one morning to 
breakfast, 1 found it in a China bowl with a spoon 
of silver. They had been binight for me without 
my knowleilge by my wife, and had cost her the 
enormous sum of three and twenty shillings, for 
which she had no other excu.se or apology to make 
than that she thought her husband deserved a silver 
spoon and China liowl. as well as any of bis neigh- 
bors. This was the first appearance of plate and 
CUiina in our Inaise, which, afterwards, in the course 
of years, as our wealth increa.sed, augmented, gradu- 
ally, to several hundred po\inds in value." How 
much such a spirit as this stood him in stead at the 
outset of his printing career apjiears from an anec- 
dote. "He (Franklin) heard that mention was made 
of the new printing-oltiee at 'The Merchants' Every 
Night Club,' when the opinion |n-evailed thai the 
attempt to establish a third prinling-house in Phila- 
delphia could not but result in failure. One gentle- 
man present who lived near the office, expressed a 
contrary opinion, saying: 'The industry of that 
Franklin is superior to anything I ever saw of the 
kind. I see liim still at work, when I go home from 
the cinli. and he is at work again before his neigh- 
bors are out of bed.' This remark made such an 
impres.sion upon one of the merchants who heard 
it tjiat h(^ offered to sujijily the young men with 
slaTionary ami credit. Init "lliey were not yet pre- 
pare<l for business of that kind."" The two iiicidents 
point towarils the processes by which be came to 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



135 




'i^' 



the wciilth which has been raentionwl. It is desir- 
jiblc briefly to note the steps by which in these 
twenty years of his experieuee as a man (if business, 
he became a public man as well, and that in the 
best sense of the word. His paper, " The ['ennsyl- 
vauia Gazette," had a direct tendenc_v to ninUe him 
such. Its first number was issued Oct. 2, 17^9, as 
soon as Franklin had bought its predecessor from 
Keimer, its proprietor. It printed the news, pub- 
lished its advertisements in allractive style, its 
editorial conduct was rather modern than antique, 
retlcctint;' some of the better features of the journal- 
ism of our own <lay; it was a success in all resjiects. 
Then he established a public library (1731). There 
were to be tifty subscribers for tifty years, each 
paying an entrance fee of forty shillings and an 
annual due of ten shillings. He succeeded in the 
endeavor although with ditficulty and delay, and 
the results were important. Later, a charter was 
obtained and the number of subscribers was 
douliled. " This," he says, " was the mother of all 
North American subscription libraries now so 
numerous. . . . These libraries have im- 
proved the general conversa^on of the Americans, 
made the common traders and farmers as intelli- 
gent as most gentlemen from other countries, and 
perhaps have contributed in some degree to the 
stand so generally made throughout the colonies in 
defense of their privileges." In 1733 he published 
the tirst number of his "Almanac " under the name 
of " Richard." Within three months three editions 
were sold, and it was continued for twentj'-tive 
years thereafter, with an average sale of 10,000 
copies annually. Probably it is not too much to say 
of it as John T. Morse, jr., has .said of it: " 'Poor 
Richard ' was the revered and popular schoolma.ster 
of a young nation during its period of tutelage;" 
and he adds, "if we were accustomed still to read 
the literature of the 'Almanac,' we should still be 
charmed with its humor. The world has not yet 
grown away from it, nor ever will. Adilisou and 
Steele had more polish, but vastly less humor than 
Franklin." The American Philosophical Society, 
which came into being in 1744, was another of 
Lis projects. It continued in existence for some 
years, and he served as its secretary. He took 
the laboring oar in the establishment of the 
Philadelphia Hospital, and said in his old age : 
"I do not recollect any of my political maneuvers 
the succe.ss of which gave me at the time more 
plea.sure than that." He turned his attention to the 
establishment of an academy for youth, anil its 
schools were opened in 1741*. Its trustees were in- 
corporated by a charter from the provincial gov- 
ernor: their funds were increased by aid from Great 
Britain, and thus was erected that which became 
the University of Pennsylvania. About 1743 he be- 
came interested in the subject of the public de- 
fenses, and published an able pamphlet. "Plain 
Truth," showing the helpless condition of Pennsyl- 
vania, as against the French and their Indians. 
The people were aroused; drills were undertaken 
and funds raised for building and arming a battery. 
Franklin was very active and successful in jirovid- 
iug means to meet any emergency, and his energy 
and success greatly enhanced his reputation in 
Pennsylvania. Moreover, his exertions for the 
common good were not all .such as (ie]iended 
upon the formation of societies to m.ake them 
effective. His invention of the open Franklin 
stove, for the better warnnng of rooms, was a 
boon to thousands of his fellow-creatures, al- 
though he took from it no pecuniary advjintage, 
having given away the moilel to a friend after 
declining a patent on it which was offered him, 
and declaring "that, as we enjoy great 
advantages from the inventions of others, we 



shotdd be glad of an ojiportunity to serve others by 
any invention of our own; and this we should do 
freely and generously." He endeavored to improve 
the night-watch .service of the city as well as 
its paving, lighting and cleaning. By his efforts 
the Union Fire Company for the protection of 
the city, was formed, of which he was a mendier 
for tifty years. It was thoioughly equipped and 
efUeiently conducted. Franklin sub.sequenlly 
boa.sted that since that time the city had never 
lo.st by tire more than one or two "houses at a 
time; "and the tlames have often been extinguished 
before the hou.se in which they began has been half 
consumed." It was not a thing to excite wonder 
that a man given to .such activities slioidd get to 
be known by his fellows and lie laid hold of Ijy the 
l)idilic lor their service. The marvel would "have 
licen that he should not be so appropriated. But 
with all this business capacity and this general use- 
fulness in the cominimity, he was also in the period 
of which we are writing (172^-57), according to his 
opportunities, a .student of literature auilan in- 
vestigator in science. In 1738 he began upon lan- 
guages, making himself so much the master of 
French as "to he able to read the books with ease." 
He then undertook Italian, and after it Spanish, 
and next resumed the study of Latin, deducing, as 
he says from his own experience that "there is 
.some inconsisteuc}- in our c(jmmon mode of teaching 
languages." His eminence as a man of science in 
his own day, rested on his electrical discoveries, and 
some of them established important truths and 
~ principles for the tirst time upon solid foundations. 
These made him known in Europe, as well as in 
America, and were largely the source of his prestige 
in his service of the colonics abroad. They be- 
gan in this wise: Franklin visiting Boston after ten 
years' absence, in 1746, was kindlj' received by his 
friends, as may well be imagined, saw his brother 
James at Newport, R. I., and found that all traces 
of unpleasant feeling were removed from that broth- 
er's memory, as they had gone from his own. Benja- 
min even agreed to take his brother's son into his 
Philadelphia printing-oflice if the father desired, 
and afterwards he did so. Franklin it may be said, 
en passant, seems to have preserved the kindest 
feelings for his relatives, and to have cidtivated as 
close relations with them as circumstances allowed. 
It was while on this visit to his native city that he 
saw electrical tubes (of glass) about 2^2 f*"'-' long, 
and as thick as ;i man could conveniently grasp. 
These were rubbed with cloth or with buckskin, and 
held in contact with the object designed to be 
charged with the electric Huid. Shortly alter his 
return toPenn.sylvania, one of the.se tubes was found 
in a package of books sent to the Philadelphia 
Library, by its agent in London. Fraidtlin was 
fascinated by it, got other tubes at the Philadelphia 
glass-works, and distributed lliem among his friends. 
"The whole 'Junto' was rubbing." says .Mr. Par- 
ton. "I never was before engaged in any .study 
that so totally engros.sed my attention and my time, 
as this has lately ilone." " For what," wrote Frank- 
lin, "with making experiments when I can be 
alone, and repealing them to my friends and ac- 
(luaintanccs who, from the very novelty of the thing 
com<^ in crowds to see them. I have, during some 
months pa.st. had little leisure for anything else." 
So went on .'dl the winter of 1740-47. .\nd in a 
letter of his. dated July of the latter year, one finds 
Fraid<lin's theory of plus and minus, or positive and 
negative electricity, imperfectly stated. In the win- 
ter of 1748— 111. after he h.ad resumed the experi- 
ments which had for a time been interru|ited. he 
was feeling his way to his final conclusions. The 
two jioinfs of his paper headi'd " Opinions and Con- 
jectures Concerning the Properties and Effects of 






136 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



the Electrical Matter, and the Means of Preserving 
Buildings. Ships, etc., from Lightning. Arising from 
Experimenis Made at Philadelphia. 174!)," were (</) 
the power of points to draw off eleetrieity. and (4) 
the identity of electricity and lightning. The paper 
which contained his .statement of these was .sent to 
Europe in .Inly. IToO. In .June, IT.5'2, he was ready 
to test the last" of these hy his well-known tiight of 
the kite, which solved tlie prohlem. and made liis 
name immortal as a scientist. The story is not .so 
old or so well known as to have lost impressive- 
ness. The scene of the trial was about the corner 
of the present Hace and Eighth streets in Philadel- 
phia, lie told no one what he was going to do 
except his son — according to the biographer — a 
"braw lad " of twenty-two, one of the beaux of the 
city. The kite, made of a large silk handkerchief, 
having been fastened to the top of its perpendicular 
stick — a piece of shar|)ened iron wire — was raised in 
season for a coming gust. Its string was hempen, 
except that jiart held in the hand, which was silk. 
At the termination of the hempen string a common 
iron key was fasliMU'd, and in the shed was deposited 
a Leyden jar in which to collect from the clouds if 
the clouds sliould |irove to contain it. the material 
requisite for an electric shock. At last a thunder- 
cloud apiieared to pass directl}' over the kite, 
and yet uo sign of elec'trieity appeared, and the 
hopes of the father, as of the son, 
began to grow faint. But when both 
were ready to despair of success, 
Franklin's" heart stood still as he 
suddenly observed the fibres of the 
hempen' string to rise, as a boy's hair 
rises when he stands on the insulat- 
ing stool. With eager hand he held 
his knuckles to the key and drew 
therefrom an unmistakable spark, and 
another, and another, and as many as 
he chose. The Leyilen phial was 
then charged, the wet kite drawn 
in, the apparatus packed and the philosopher went 
home exulting. Such arc a few of the glowing 
words in which one writer has given the record of 
this discovery. In connection with his other experi- 
ments and with the articles he had forwarded to 
European scientists and scieutitic bodi<'s. it gave 
to Franklin immediale and widespread repute. 
These treatises of his had been collected in a vol- 
ume and were nuich taken notice of in England, 
made no small .stir in France, and were "translated 
into the Italian, German and Latin languages." 
Indeed, Franklin's name became familiar to every 
reading per.son in the old world. By \inanimous vote 
he was admitted a niendier of the Hoyal Society of 
London. England, and the next year the .same 
society bestowed upon him the Copley medal. Yale 
and liarvard each conferred upon him the degree 
of Master of Arts. For twenty years of his life 
he was an ardent electrician, and the leisure of 
seven years was devoted almost exclusively to that 
subject. This sketch ha.s, so far. led up in order and 
in treatment to the time when this poor printer boy 
and this mere m:in of alTiiirs in liusiness. shoidd be 
seen to enter naturally upon his last and amplest 
field of effort — his .service in Europe for the province 
where he had cast in his lot. for the American colo- 
nies prior to their independence of the mother coun- 
try, and then for the L'niled States inunedialely 
preceding an<l subsequent to the close of the Ameri- 
can revolutionary war. It is Imped that the stejis 
which mark his ]irogress thitherward have been 
defined with clearness ; because if ever an_v man 
was visibly ripened through jireceding years for the 
crowning labors he was to put forth for mankind in 
his latest days, that man was Franklin. Up to this 
time the civil positions he had occupied were but 




tw<T — the clerkship of the Pennsylvania assembly 
and the post mastership of Philadelphia. In 17.i3 
he had also lieen nuule jiost master-general of the 
American colonies by the IJritish authorities, in con- 
junction with ]\Ir. William Hunter ; and an office 
which had never before paid anything to that of 
Great Britain came, under their administration. " to 
yield three times as much clear revenue to the crown 
as the post-ollice of Ireland. ' In .lune, 17.">4. helmd 
served, moreover, as a deputy from Pennsylvania to 
the congress of commissioners from the several colo- 
nies, assembled at Albany, N. Y., for a conference 
with the chiefs of the six nations of Indians, in Jirep- 
aration for the war which soon broke out between 
France and England. On his way to Albany. Frank- 
lin had " projected and drawn a plan for the union 
of all the eoionies under one government, so far as 
might be necessary for defense and for other import- 
ant general purposes." But although it was adojitcMl 
by the convention and referred to the colonies for 
their consideration nothing came of it. With these 
few exce]illons. and with the more or less inqiorliint 
fact that for some years before his departure for Eng- 
land (17.')7) he had been the leading spirit in the 
Pennsylvania legislature in connection with that 
business upon which he was to be sent abroad— he 
entered upon what may be regarded as his diplo- 
matic career — a practically untrained man .so far as 
the ordinary functions of a diplomat are to be taken 
into account. His .stay upon the tirst of his Euro- 
pean mi.ssions was from 17.'J7 to 171)2. He went out 
as the a.nent of the Pennsylvania assembly of bnr- 
ges.ses, to represent them at the English court, in 
respect to their differences with the descendants of 
William Peim. who were now the proiirielors of the 
province of Pennsylvania. The Penns lived com- 
fortably in England, while the colonists weresuffer- 
in.g unusual losses as well as bearing enormon.s 
expen.ses, growing out of the French and Indian 
war and its accompanying ravages. But the Penns 
had persistently refused to pay taxes in Pennsylva- 
nia, upon waste lands directly owned by them as 
well as upon other lands lei by them at quit-rents, 
in the same manner as the like property of other own- 
ers had been taxed, until the assembly had become 
so exasperated that they refu.sed to raise any money 
whatever whether for defensive or for otlnT purposes 
unless the inoprietors should be burdened like the 
rest. All should pay together or all .should go to 
destruction together. It was a deadlock, and al- 
though a temporary makeshift was arran.ued, Frank- 
lin was sent over ("his son to .go with him), and a part 
of his business was to be the eudeavorto induce the 
king of England to resume the province of Pennsyl- 
vania as his own. A clau.se in the original charier 
to William I'enn reserved that right to the king 
ujion the payment of a certain sum of money. It 
nia.v lie sufficient to say as to this diplomatic 
mission that Franklin was successful on the main 
points at issue. The vexed question was decided 
by the English privy council a.sainst the pro- 
prietors and their agents, and Franklin received 
for his services the thanks of the Pennsylvania 
assembly. It was \q)on his return to the colonies 
(1702) that his illegilimale son, William, was made 
governor of New Jersey by the British author- 
ities. Nor let it he lost sight of that during his 
stay in Great Britain his circle of acquaintance 
was largely widened. He found himself, indeed, 
upon his arrival, a man of note among men of .sci- 
ence, and he soon had numerous warm friends 
among literarv per.sona.ires. From time to lime he 
was a guest ai manv pleasant countiy-seats, and at 
the universities. iJe traveled over, and explored 
the United Kingdom, thoroughly. When he went 
to Edinburgh he was presented with the freedom of 
the eitv. The degree of LL.D. was conferred upon 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



137 



him by the University of St. Andrews; Inter, Ox- 
ford gave him the same. He even had time for a 
trip into the Low Countries, and in eaeli of the tive 
years deepened and broadened his eonneetinns and 
intiuence. It was not without peree|ition of this on 
the part of his fellow-eitizens that }ie was sent a 
second time to England liy tlie Pennsylvania h'gis- 
lative a.s.sembly. He reaelied London, "Dee. 9, 1T(>4. 
Frietion between the assembly and the Penn.syl- 
vania proprietors had recurred, and he was righilj- 
thought to be the best man to deal with it. He 
bore with him a petition to the English erown, 
adopted by the provincial assembly', with his own 
official signature as speaker of that" body, praying, 
in form, that the king would resume the govern- 
ment of the province. His stay in Europe on this 
second mission was protracted, for he did not see 
America again until Jlay 5, 1775. Then his wife 
was dead and the American revolutionary war had 
begun. Indeed, he had hardly set foo"t in Great 
Britain before it became apparent tliat the especial 
mission upon which he had set out would soon sink 
into such comparative insignificance that, although 
not actually forgotten, it wotdd receive no attention. 
Franklin, instead of remaining simply an agent 
cliarged with urging a petition that brought him 
into conflict with private persons, like himsi-lf sub- 
jects of the king, found his position rapidly develop- 
ing, until he really became pre-eminently the re- 
presentative of a disaffected people, maintaining 
their cause as he miglit against the monarcli and 
the government of the great British empire. It 
•was the jiassage of the Euglisli stamp act which 
effected the transformation. This obnoxious act, 
which liad con,sequences wholly uutho\ighl of by 
the English government, was signed March 22, 17(i5. 
Its imminence had been apparent before Franklin 
left America. A resolution protesting against it 
had lieen passed by the Pennsylvania assembly, and 
it had been made a part of his duty to urge their 
views upon the Briti.sh niini.slry. This he did not 
fail to do, but to no purpose; the words of his writ- 
ten in July, 1770, are worth quoting; " \Ve might 
as well have hindered the sun setting. That we 
could not do. But since it is down, my friends— and 
it may be long l^efore it rises again — let us make as 
good a night of it as we can. We can still light 
candles. Frugality and industry will go a great 
way towards indemnifying us. Idleness and pride 
tax with a heavier hand than kings and parlia- 
ments. If we can get rid of the former we may 
ca.sily bear the latter." Even a year later than this, 
to a gentleman who said that so far back as 1741 
he had expressed an opinion that the colonies wovdd 
one day separate themselves from England, Frank- 
lin said: "There you are mistaken; the Americans 
have too much love for their mother country." He, 
forsooth, at this juncture, on the request of Gren- 
ville, the English miitlster, gave to him the name of 
a friend in Pliilad(l|iliia who would, in his judg- 
ment, prove a judicious stamp distributor. But 
when the Pliiladeli)liians got news of the ajijioint- 
meut, and that it had been suggested by Frank- 
lin, the whole city rose in a wild frenzy of rage. 
"Never," says an historian, "was .such a siuhhin 
change of feeling. The mobs ranging the streets 
threatened to destroy the new house in whi<'h F'rank- 
lin liad left his wife and daughter. The hitter was 
persuaded to seek safety in Burlington, N. J., but 
Jlrs. Franklin, with admirable courage, stayed in 
the house till the danger was over. Some friends 
arrived and stood ready to assist should the crisis 
come, but fortunately it passed by. All sorts of 
stories were spread concerning Franklin — even that 
it was he who planned the sianip act — and that he 
was endeavoring also to get a test act introduced 
into the colonies. A caricature represented the 



devil whispering into his ear — 'Ben, you shall be 
my agent throughout my dominions.' " When 
Franklin heard of this, and as he became conscious 
of the extent and intensity of ojiposition which pre- 
vailed in the American colonies tu the action taken 
by the British parliament, it is not too much to say 
that the severe condemnation, of which this was the 
expression, cut him to the (piick. But this turned 
out to be the one and only occasion, on which, dur- 
ing his whole career as their agent, he mi.sjudged 
or misrepresented his ccamtrymcn. Nor was his 
position, at that time, the result of any vital differ- 
ence of judgment or feeling. Neither did it con- 
tinue. Franklin had only to become cognizant of 
the essential spirit and purposes of his fellow-colo- 
nists, to freely cast his lot with them at home and 
abroad, as he amply showed thence onward. And 
the fierce oppo.sition of the colonists to the stamp 
act was forthwith supplemented by tliose arduous 
and effective labors on his [lart. which doubtless 
had a far-reaching influence in securing its repeal, 
the king affixing his .signat\irc to the repealing 
statute, March 18, 1766. Then the Philadelphia 
people replaced their distrust of Iiim, with quasi- 
adoration, and in the great procession which they 




Oii S'*-'"'"*?.-!,. 

made for the occasion, " tlic sublime feature was a 
barge forty feet long, named Franklin, from 
which salutes were fired as it passed along the 
streets. '" Franklin's own way of celebrating the 
great event," says his biographer, " was by sending 
to his wife a new gown, with the me.s.sagc (referring 
to an anti-importation league by which many colo- 
nists had governed their purchase of dress) that he 
did not send it .sooner, because he knew that she 
would not like to be finer than her neighbors, unless 
in a gown of her own spinning." These efforts in 
behalf of his country were so well appreciated 
outside of his own i>rovince of Pennsylvania that 
about this time he became agent in London for 
N(^w .lersey, Georgia and Massachusetts — and virtu- 
all)' the representative in Great Britain of all Amer- 
ica. The sum of his four salaries for this .service, it 
may be stated, should have been £1,200 yearly, but 
only Pei'.nsylvania and New Jersey Jiaid him. 
Massachusetts would have done so, but the bills 
making ajipropriations to do it were persistently 
vetoed by the royalist governor. This mailer of 
income was not important to Franklin, yet it is re- 
corded to his credit that his non receipt of official 
salary was never during his diplomatic career 



138 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 




permitted even to abridge his exertions for those 
be served. But the repeal of the stamp act Ijy 
no mcaus restored the entente rordiale l)etweea 
tlie iiiother country aud her colonies. The differ- 
ences were incurable. Dissension recurred. It 
continued throuirh the j-ear. It increased in 
strenirth and in bitterness. The British government, 
especially the British king, was determined to rai.se 
revenue from the colonies with or without their 
consent, aud in June. ITtiT. tlie haled tax bills were 
pas.sed liy parliament under the lead of Charles 
Townsheiid. These enacted duties on wine, oil and 
fruits imported directly into the colonies from Spain 
and Portugal: on glass, paper, lead and china, and 
three pence per povuid on tea. It would be useless 
to say in detail how the American representative 
had striven against the adoption of these measures; 
needless as well to say bow ineffectively. It should 
be noted, however, that he did it under a constantly 
Increasing distrust and dislike from the greater num- 
ber of metnbers of the various English ministries who 
had to do with colonial affairs. "But he remained at 
his post through all the j'ears, strenuous, patient, 
■wise, counseling a kindre<l patience on the part of his 
countrymen, endeavoring to preserve peace between 
Englaiid and America; [jrofoundly impressed, more- 
over, that the hope of success in this wiis never to 
be looked upon ;is chimerical, so long as actual hos- 
tilities had not begun. He had his warm per- 
sonal friends among the English, not merely 
to the la.st days of his second official resi- 
dence among them, but to the end of his 
life; and nuuiy of them were among the 
ablest aud most influential men in the 
British kingdom. The time came, however, 
when resilience on his jiart in Great Britain 
was not only un|)roductive of good to those 
he represented, but would perhaps have been 
perilous to himself. The letter in which he 
was warned of this was from his friend 
Thomas Walpole, a member of the House of 
Commons, closing with the sentence: "I 
heartily wish you a prosperous voyage 
and long health." In truth, the current 
of events bad grown too strong for him 
to make any perceptible effect against it by 
longer residence in London. In the middle of 
March. 1775, he sailed from English shores aud was 
in Philadelphia on May r)th, to'tind that in the pre- 
vious month the war for American independence 
had begun by actual bosiilities between the Briti.sh 
troops and the American farmers in Mas.sachusetts. 
Very nuich has been made in .some quarters of 
events which took place ju.st before Franklin's de- 
parture for home, viz., ihe facts connected with 
"The Hutchinson Letters." They furnished an 
episode of consequence in the elucidation of history, 
but so far as they bore upon Franklin personally, 
may be treated with brevitj-. It was in November, 
1772,* when a memljer of the English parliament 
discovered, through ,Iohn Temple, that every per- 
verse measure and every grievance complaiueil of 
(by the Americans) took its rise, not from the Brit- 
ish government, lint was ])rojected and proposed to 
the British admini.stration, even solicited and ob- 
tained by some of the most respectal>le among the 
Americans themselves, as licing neces.sary for the 
welfare of that country. He endeavored to con- 
vince Franklin of the "well-ascertained fact. The 
latter being skeptical about it. the member returned 
in a few days with sullicient letters from Massa- 
chusetts colonial oflicers— Hutchinson (governor 
and former chief justice), Oliver (lieutenant-gov- 
ernor'l. Perry (commissioner of customs) to sustain 
liis allegations. The addresses had been cut from 



* Bancroft's " History of the United States.' 



these letters, but in other respects they were un- 
mutilated, and were the original documents. Of 
course Franklin was convinced upon inspecting 
them of the truth of his informant's statement, and 
eijually of course, as the agent for the colony of 
Ma.s.sachusetts, a.ske(l leave to send the letters to that 
colony. Permission was given subject to the .stipu- 
lation that they should not be printed or copied and 
should only be circulated among a few leading men. 
But when" they were received in America they 
.s])eedily got before Ihe .Mas.sachusetts colonial as- 
sembly which ordered them to be printed. Aud 
that liody at once voted a petition to the king of 
England for the removal of the governor and lieu- 
tenant-governor, and sent it over to Franklin to be 
presented. It was at first unknown by what agency 
these letters hail found their way back to the colony, 
but in December. 1773, Franklin avowed his agency 
in the nuitler in a letter to the Loudon " Public Ad- 
vertiser," although he never disclosed the source 
from which the letters came to him. Nor is that 
kiu)wn to this day. He soon had word that the 
l)etition which he bad forwarded would be heard 
l)y the loids of the committee for plantation af- 
fairs, in three days following the notice, at noon. 
He attended the meeting, and was heard as to the 
petition, but desired more time and the matter was 
put over until .Ian. 2it, 1774. Presenting himself on 
that day with counsel. Franklin found no less than 
•'thirty-five privy councilors in attendance besides 
an immense crowd of other auditors." From firet 
to last the conduct of the committee was almost vio- 
lent iu its disregard of the decencies of the occasion. 
Dr. Priestley, who was present, said that from the 
o]iening of the ])roceeilings it was evident that the 
object of the court was to insidt Dr. Franklin, an ol)- 
jeet as to which their lordships were able of course 
to achieve a complete success. The notorious Wed- 
derburn, solicitor-general, acted as counsel for 
Hutchinson and Oliver: and going quite aside from 
the question at issue made a personal attack upon 
Franklin, the bitlenicss of which was signiticant in 
itself and iu the tiympatby it elicited from the 
lords in committee, who the next day severely cen- 
sured the ]ielition and the petitioners. As they 
could not legally compel Franklin to tell them who 
gave him the letters they were forced to be content 
with .saying in their report that his " .silence " was 
abundant support for the conclusion that the 
"charge of surreptitiou.sly obtaining the.w letters 
was a frue one." It was on the Monday succeeding 
the scene at this meeting (two days after it) that 
Franklin got "written notice from the secretary of 
the British geiu'ral post-office that his majesty's 
postmaster-general found it ueces.sary to dismiss him 
from his office of deputy postmaster-general in 
North America." The startling news of Ihe Lex- 
ington and ("oiu-ord fights which greeted Franklin 
on his arrival at Pbil.-uli-lphia, produced on him an 
effect akin to that atteiuliiig one of his own electri- 
cal .shocks. The letter which he wrote to his for- 
mer friend, Sirahan, the English publisher, dated 
.luly .5, 177.5, is famous, and is worth preserving. 
Wlien its author could write like this, Ihe days of 
comproiui.se and concession between the two con- 
tending |iarlics were indeed past. It read: 

" Mu. Stu.viian: You are a member of parlia- 
ment, and one of that m.ajority which has doomed 
my countiy to destruction. You have begun to 
burn our towns and murder our people. Look upon 
yotir hands: they are stained with the blood of your 
relations! You and I were long friends: you are now 
my enemy, and I am. yours, B. Fh.\nki.ix. " 

He was at once elected by the Pennsylvania assem- 
bly a delegate to tiie Continental congress, and by 
subsequent re-elections sat in it until bis departure 
for France, He was on all its important committees. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



139 



July 21, 1775, he brought forward a plan for the 
union of the colonies. He was fluiirmau of a com- 
mittee for organizing the postal system of the coun- 
try, and was forthwith appointed colonial postmas- 
ter-general, with a salary of £1,000 per annum. The 
postal system which he then established was sub- 
stantially that which prevails today in the United 
States. Then he was chairman of the provincial 
committee of safety. In September, ITT.j, with 
Lynch of South Carolina, and Harrison of Virginia, 
as fellow-members of a congressional committee, he 
went to Boston, .Ma.ss.. to confer willi Wasliington 
concerning military affairs. He was sent in the 
spring of 1776 to >Iontreal upon an errand which 
proved bootless, to counsel with Gen. Arnold upon 
affairsin Canada, and returned safely after hardships 
whicli any man of his age should have been spared. 
In the spring of 1776 he was jjresiding otticer over 
the convention which met to prepare a constitution 
for the independent slate of Pennsylvania, and 
was on the committee of five in the colonial congress 
to frame the American Declaration of Independ- 
ence. Lord Howe, who had arrived in America in 
command of the English fleet, .sought to open 
friendly correspondence with Franklin, and con- 
gress permitted the latter to replj' to his note. 
When the battle of Long Island had occurred, and 
the Americans had been worsted, Howe reopened 
negotiations, and Franklin, with John Adams and 
Edward Rutledge, were deputed by congress to 
visit him. But Howe's efforts at conciliation and 
his endeavor to deal with the Americans on some 
other basis than that of national independence were 
vain. In September, 1776, Dr. Franklin was made 
U. S. envoy to the kingdom of France, whither Silas 
Deane had preceded him, in the same capacity, 
Arthur Lee of Virginia was associated with him. He 
reached Paris Dec. 21st. E.\citement attending his 
arrival was testimony to its import, alike in Eng- 
land and in France. Lord Rockingham said that 
Franklin's presence in Paris much more than offset 
the victory of the English on Long Island sound, 
and their capture of Xew York. Lord Stormont, 
British minister to France, it is reported, threatened 
to leave, suns prendre conge, if the chief of the 
American rebels was allowed to come to the French 
capital. But the French themselves indulged in a 
furor of welcome over him. The print-shops were 
soon full of coiuuless representations of his face and 
figure. The people thronged the .streets to .see hira 
pass, and respectfidly made way for him. He 
seeqied, as .lohu Adams said later, to enjoy a repu- 
tatation •' more uuiver.sal than that of Leibnitz or 
Kewton, Frederick or Voltaire." Dec. 28, 1776, 
the American envoys had their first audience with 
Count De Vergennes, the French minister for for- 
eign affairs, and asked for the loan of eight ships of 
the line, equipped and manned, in order to let loose 
from American jiorts the blockaded American com- 
merce. They were told in due time by the 
Frenchman that this was too much, but were se- 
cretly offered a loan of $400,000. to be repaid after 
the war without interest. Franklin's view of 
affairs as looked at in Europe oul.side England, and 
his foreca.st of the probable outcome of the Ameri- 
can contest, with his cimception of results involved, 
were given in a passage written by him May 1. 
1777. "All Europe." he said, "is on our side of 
the question as far as applause and good wishes can 
curry them. Those who live under arbitrary power 
nevcrthele.ss approve of liberty and wisli for it; they 
almost des)iair of recovering it in Europe; they 
read the tninslations of our separate colony c<m.sti- 
tutions with rajiture, and there are such numbers 
everywhere who talk of removing to America with 
their families and fortunes as soon as peace and in- 
dei)endence shall be established that it is generally 



believed that we shall have a prodigious addition of 
strength, wealth and arts, from the emigrations of 
Europe, and it is thought that to le.s.sen or prevent 
such emigrations the tyrannies established there 
must relax, and allow more liberty to tlicir jieople. 
Hence it is a common observation here that our 
cause is the cause of all mankind, and that we are 
fighting for their liberty in defending our own. It 
is a glorious task assigned us by Providence, which 
has, I trust, given us sjiirit and virtue equal to it, 
and will at la.st crown it with success." Franklin's 
stay in France was protracted until I'XH. covering a 
period of nearly nine j-ears. It needs but slight 
familiarity witirt'acts to be assured that his labors 
during this period were .severe and hara.s.sing. When 
they were lightened there often came in place of 
them vexatious delays to measures in process of 
execution, resulting in enforced inaction as hard to 
endure as the strain of toil. To these features of the 
situation were added the more or less active jealousy 
of some of his American associates in public busi- 
ness and the almost incredibly di.sgraceful fact that 
he had from the first no secretary of legation or 




even an amanuensis or copyist provided for him by 
congress. He only had with him his grandson, 
Temple Franklin, a la<l of si.xteen years at the time 
of his arrival in France, whom it had been intended 
to place at school. Bui his gran<lfather. nearly sev- 
enty-one years of age when his French embassy be- 
gan, coidd not dispense with his services, and kept 
this youngster as his sole clerk and a.s.sislant. An- 
cient allegation as to the ingratitude of reiniblics 
needs to have added to it the statement that the au- 
thorities of one at least were presumptuous to the 
verge of fool-hardiness in looking to this aged pa- 
triot (who just before he sailed for France had col- 
lecte<l all tlu' cash he ((Hild raise, about £-4.000. and 
put it into the United States trea.sur\- asan un.secured 
loan to his country) to act as their agent without 
adequate clerical aid. That he discharged his high 
offices with any appropriate and beneficent result 
inider such conditions is one of the marvels of his 
career. A <|ueslion which at once occupied his at- 
tention was the matter of American privnteerine. 
He urged it. and fou - . himself in a position to ad- 
vance it very greatly. He issued conunissions, st,, 
tied personal niisur"lerstandings, atteude(? :o qucs- 



140 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



tions of prize-money, soothed unpaid mutineers, 
advised as to tlie purchase of ships, and new en- 
terprises to l)e undertalien : in a word, as Mr. 
Slorse lias said, "he was tlie only American s:overn- 
mcnt whicli the independent sailors knew." More- 
over, it was Franklin wlm wasobii'^ed toednlinually 
interpose to pniteet the jirivateers and their com- 
manders from tlie perils of tlie laws of neutrality. 
He had no previous e.vperience in such matters, 
but liow well he bore him.self may be gathered 
in part from Paul .Tones's a.-iseveration that Frank- 
lin's letters (to him) would make a coward brave. 
Perhaps the equipoise of this wise man was never 
more apparent than wlien in what has been styled 
the "dread year" of 1777, while for months there 
seemed no rift in the black cloud which hung over 
American military operations, he kept a serenity of 
mind, and a failh .as to llic outcome of the struggle, 
which as iiiucli as anylhing held the French gov- 
ernment to the support of the American cause. 
Upon the strength of ISurgoyne's surrender at 
Saratoga, whicli lightened this cloud and was the 
turning point of the American revolution, France 
lent to the colonial congress 3,000,000 livres ($.>").■).- 
000), the American envoys having been otfieially 
informed (.Jan. 8. 177H) "that the French govern- 
ment would conclude with the colonies a treaty 
of amity and commerce, also another treaty offen- 
sive and defensive, and guarantee American inde- 
pendence, u]ion the conditions that the colonies 
would neither make a separate peace, or one relin- 
guishing their independence. On the 0th of the ne.\t 
month (Feb. 1778) the treaty was accordingly signed 
at Paris which linally secured the nationality of the 
United States. Franklin's part in the negotiations 
■which i.ssiied in this treaty was pre-eminent. At the 
end of March (1778) M. Gerard sailed for America, 
as the accredited French minister to the new mem- 
ber of the .sisterhood of civilized peoples, and in 
F'ebruary, 1779, Franklin received his own commis- 
sion as U. S. minister plenipotentiary at the French 
court. As it was not until 1781 that by the appoint- 
ment of Robert Morris, any U. S. treasury depart- 
ment came into existence, he found by far the 
greatest portion of his work for years after the com- 
mission reached him, to be the providing by loans 
from the French court, from time to time, of the 
moneys which were requisite to carry on the war 
for four years longer. "A heavier task," it has been 
said, "never fell upon any one man, or one bring- 
ing less recognition. . . . We read about the 
horrors of the winter camp at Valley Forge, and 
we shudder at all the details of the 
vivid picture. The an.\iet_v. the toil, 
the humiliation which Franklin en- 
dured for many winters and many 
summers in Paris in sustaining the 
national credit do not make a |iicture 
or furnish material for a readable 
chapter in bislorv. Yet nianv a man 
woulil liave far rather faced \Vashing- 
ton's lot than Franklin's." The habit 
which congress b;id of drawing lulls upon 
him directly and by its agents, almost 
without limit, and without reference to his 
ability to meet the drafts rather eonqili- 
cated his embarrassments than simplified 
them. The amount he is credited with 
having rai.sed for his country during liis 
stay in Paris is given as follows : an an- 
nual contribution, from the French aovern- 
ment, of 2,000.000 livres (.'f;;!70,000) .-ifter- 
wariis increased to li.llOO.OOO livres ( !j;.")."),'i, - 
000), and airain. in 1781. raised to 4,000.000 
livres (if7-IO.OOO). To this is lo be .added a 
free gift which was made Ihrougli Franklin 
by the French government, of 0,000,000 




livres (11,01.5,000) and its guaranty of the in- 
terest of another loan of 10,000,000 livres (|1,- 
850,000) to be raised in Holland. In March. 1781, 
Franklin sent a letter to the ju-esident of the United 
States congress aiinouiicing his delerminalion to re- 
sign his position. \Vilhout hesitation that liody 
ignored his purpo.se, and he remained at his post. 
It was well for his country that he did so. for his 
liart in the conduct of negotiations for peace be- 
tween Kngland and the colonies was as notable and 
inliuential as any portion of his prior achievements. 
These negotiations beginning tentatively on the 
part of the Hritish mini.sters as early as 1778, were 
ultimately concluded by Franklin, .John Adams 
and .John .lay. Preliminary or provisional articles 
for a treaty of peace on the basis of independ- 
ence for the United States were signed in I'aris 
Aug. 30, 1782, followed (Sept. 3, 1783) by the simul- 
taneous execution of definitive treaties by France 
and the I'liitcd Stales willi Great 15rilain. He- 
fore this la.st transaction, liowever, Franklin had 
a second time sent his resignation as United States 
minister to congress. That body still delayed action 
on it, and he was called im in the closing months of 
his ministiy to arrange commercial treaties between 
his country and those of Denmark, I'ortugal and 
Jlorocco. .Just before he left P;iris, moreover, lie 
signed a treaty with I'russia, bvw-hich it was agreed 
to abolish privateering and to hold private property 
liy land and Ijy sea secure from destruction in time 
of war. Washington said of it that it was the most 
liberal that had been made between independent 
powers, and marked a new era in international mo- 
rality. Ill March. 178.5, congress voted that Frank- 
lin might return to America as soon as convenient, 
and tliat Thomas .Jefferson should succeed him .at 
the French court. .Jefferson's testimony to bis pre- 
decessor may be cited as the record of l^rankliu's 
.service for his country. " He po.ssessed," said he, 
•'the confidence of the French government in the 
highest degree, insomuch that it may truly be said 
that they were more under his infiuence than he 
under theirs." The pbilosopber-diploniat returned 
to America, carr^ying with him the jirofound esteem 
of the French king and people, and crossed the 
English channel from Havre (.July 18, 178.5) to take 
ship for the United States from Portsmouth, Eng- 
land. The British government ordered that the 
effects of Dr. Franklin's party should be exempt 
from the usual examination at the custom-house, 
and on Sept. 13, 178.5 he was in full view of "dear 
Philadel]iliia," where he was received with en- 
tbusiaslic dcnionst rations. Forth with, and in his 
eightii'th year, he was elected to the slate council, 
made its president, and then unanimously re-elected 
in 1780 and 1787. In May, 1787, he was a delegate 
from Pennsylvania to the convention which framed 
the con.slitu'tion of the Unileil Stales. Here, with- 
out being especiall}' prominent, he ranged himself 
with the parly opposed to a strong and cenlrali/.ed 
governnient. He did what he could, however, to 
secure the adoption of the constitution by the 
American people, and .said when it was adopted: 
"Gen. Washington is the man whom all our eyes 
are fixed upon for our |U'esident, and what litlle in- 
fiuence I have is devoted to him." In the autumn 
of 1788 he ceased from public engagemeiils for 
jiliysical infirmities increased upon him. His last 
act of a senii-public nalurc was a memorial I o con- 
gress, addressed and signed by him in his capacity 
as president of the Abolition Society, praying that 
body " that you will devise means for removing this 
inconsi.stenc)' " (slavery and the sliive-trade) "from 
the character of this Ameriean people; that you will 
promote mercy and juslice towards this distressed 
race, and that you will step to the very verge of the 
power vested in you fur discouraging every species 



OF AMERICAN BIOGKAPHY. 



141 



of traffic in the persons of our fellow-men." The 
petition was presented March 33, 1790, and led Mr. 
Jackson of Georgia to attempt a defense of slavery 
by proofs of its sacredness from Holj- Scripture. 
The liumorous and satirical rejoinder which Dr. 
FraukHn, who had now pa.ssed most of his lime 
for two years in bed, composed ou March 23d 
was his last production. It was a parody on Jack- 
son's speech, and has been counted one of the most 
amusing things he ever wrote. April 17, 1790, he 
insisted on getting up to have his bed re-made, for 
he wished to "die in a decent manner." His daugh- 
ter expressed the hope that he might live for many 
years. "I hope not." he replied. Soon his jiain 
returned, and he was advised to change liis position 
so that he could breathe more easily. "A dying 
man can do nothing easy," he said, and these are 
the last words he is known to have uttered. Soon 
he sank into a lethargy and passed away- He was 
buried beside his wife and daughter in the yard 
of Chri.st church at Fifth and Arch streets in 
Philadelphia, luidcr a stone of marble, inscribed 
"Benjamin and Deborah Franklin." Benjamin 
Franklin may be rated as the greatest among 
Americans in the services he rendered to his 
countrymen, as he was intellectually among the 
greatest of men in all ages anil nations. It only 
remains to say that while the system of morals he 
inculcated and practiced during his maturer life is 
either well known or may be easily determined by 
anyone who will .scrutinize his history, that judg- 
ment is probably correct which has declared that 
in his personal religious belief "he may be said to 
have slowly moveil nearer and nearer during his life 
to the C'hri.stian faith, tintil at last he came so near 
that many of those somewhat nondescri|)t persons 
who call themselves 'liberal Christians ' might claim 
him as one of thcni.selves." Nor is it mi.stakeu opinion 
which has added to those words the others: " But if 
a belief in the divinity of Christ is necessary to make 
a ' Christian ' it does not appear that Franklin ever 
fully had the qualification." Concerning this, any 
careless or overconfident assertion, however, would 
be out of place. Let him speak for liini.self, as he 
■wrote to President Stiles of Yale College, in the last 
year of his life. The president was one of the few 
men who interrogated him about his religious faith, 
and Franklin replied to him; " As to Jesus of Naza- 
reth, I think His sy.stem of morals and His religion 
as He left them to us, the best the world ever saw, 
or is likely to .see. ... I have, with mo.st of the 
present dissenters in England, some doubts as to 
His divinity, though it is a question I do not dogma- 
tize upon, having never studied it, and think it 
needless to busy myself with it now, when I expect 
soon an opportunity of knowing the truth with less 
trouble." The best edition of Franklin's collected 
works is that edited by John Bigelow (10 vols.. New 
York, 1887). His " Autobiograpy " is well known. 
James Parton's "Life and Times of Benjamin 
Franklin " (2 vols., New York, 1864), and " Hen- 
jan\in Franklin," by J. T. Morse, jr., "American 
Statesmen's Series " "(Boston and New York, 1890). 
with "Franklin in France," by E. E. Hale and 
E. E. Hale, jr., (Btwton, Mass.. 1887), are among 
the publications in English which sujiDly material 
for an adcipiate view of his life and career. Franklin 
died April 17, 1790. 

HENRY, Patrick, statesman and orator, was 
born at Sludley, ll.-mover Co., Va., May 27. 17:Sr>. 
His father, John Henry, was from Aberdeen, Scot- 
land, where he had l)een liberally educated. He was 
a person of good coimcctions in his native land, his 
uncle being William Kobertson, minister of Borth- 
wick, in Midlothian, and afterward of the old (Jrey 
Friar's church in Eiiiuliurgh. His cousin was Will- 
iam Kobertson, principal of the University of 




Edinburgh. He was also second cousin to the 
mother of Lord Brougham. Among the country 
gentlemen in Virginia John Hem-y was held in high 
esteem for sujjerior intelligence and character. On 
his mother's side Patrick Henry was of Welsh 
stock; her family were the Win.stons, noted in Vir- 
ginia for " vivacity of spirit, conversational talent, 
with a lyric and dramatic turn, a gift for music and 
for eloquent speech, and as well i'or their fondness 
for country life." A gentleman in whose bouse the 
mother spent the last eleven 
years of her life .said of her: 
"Never have I known a chris- 
tian character equal to hers." 
Fen- the lir.st ten years of his 
life young Henry" appears to 
have been educated at a small 
school in the neighborhood of 
his home, but at their expira- 
tion his father took his mental 
training into his own hands, in 
which work he was assisted by 
Patrick's uncle who was rector 
of St. Paul's parish in Hanover, 
and a good classical scholar. 
When he was fifteen years old 
Patrick entered the shop of a 
country tradesman, but re- 
mained with him only a twelve- ' 
month. Then his "father set 
him up with his older brother 
William in the conduct of a store, in which 
they were unsuccessful. At the end of a year 
Patrick married Mary Shelton, daughter of a small 
farmer, and the |iarents of the young couple estab- 
lished them upon a farm near at hand from which, 
by their own toil, with that of a half dozen slaves, 
they were to get a living. Thi.s, however, they did 
not do, and at the end of two years making a forced 
sale of the slaves, Patrick invested the proceeds in 
another countiy store only to find him.self in.solvent 
at the age of twenty-three. He now determined to 
become a lawyer. His mental eiiuipmeut for the 
profession at this time is summarized l)y a recent 
and painstaking biographer; " Not a scholar surely, 
nor even a considerable miscellaneous i-eader, he 
yet had the basis of a good education; he had the 
habit of reading over and over again a few of the 
best books; he had a good memory; he had an intel- 
lect strong enough to grasp the great conmianding 
features of any subject; he had a fondness for the 
study of human nature, and singular proficiency in 
that branch of science; he had quick and warm 
sym]iathies, particularly with jiersons in trouble; an 
amiable propensity to take sides with the luider- 
dog in any tight." Presenting him.self before the 
examiners at Richmond for admi.ssion to the bar in 
the early spring of 1760 two out of four signed his 
license with reluctance; one absolutely refused to 
affix his .signature, and the fourth .signed oidy on 
repeated importunities and promises of future read- 
ing. It has been alleged that P.-itrick HeniT "was 
originally a barkeeper." and that "for three years 
after getting his license to practice law, he tended 
travelers and dn'w corks." With regard to these 
allegations it may be said that for the period referred 
to, he made the tavern of his father-in-law his home 
wliere his service probably consisted in .sometimes 
lending a hand in ease of need in the business of 
the house. His fee-books indubitably .settle the 
fact that in the first three and a half years of his 
actual practice, he charged fees in 1,18.') suits, and 
of course prepared in addition many legal papers 
out of court, while the same fee-books show that 
during that early iieriod he was enabled to assist his 
father-in-law by an important advance of money. 
In December, 1763, he apjieared for the province of 



142 



THE NATIOXAI, CYCLOPAEDIA 



Virginia in what 18 known as "The Parson's 
Cause." and although the side upon which he was 
retained liMppened to he the wrong side, wrong hoth 
in law and equity, "there were eidisted in its favor 
passions of the nudtitude the most sellish, the most 
blinding, and at the same time most energetic." 
"And Patrick Henry," says Prof. M. C. Tyler, 
"proved to he the advocate skillfid enough to play, 
effectively upon those jias-sious and raise a storm 
before which mere con.siderat ions of law and equity 
■were swept out of sight." The elTect u|)on his audi- 
tors of Henry's plea against the clergy has been 
described in terms which leave no doubt ihat this was 
the first of those not infrequent and marvelous occa- 
sions in his career when his hearers were lifted out of 
their ordinary senses and .seemed to be hearing the 
strains of an unearthly vi.sitant. The jury came in 
with a verdict of one peiuiy damages for the clergy- 
man who had brought the suit to recover his salary, 
and from that ilay the repute of Patrick Henry, 
both as lawyer and as orator, was established 
througliout his native .stale. His legal practicing 
forthwith received enormous increase. In May, 
1765, he was chosen a member of the Virginia 
legislature from the county of LouLsa to fill an 
unexpired term. He at once distinguished him- 
self in a way that made it plain to the people of 

Virginia that a new 
political leader of 
unique and unrivaled 
force had come upon 
the .stage of public 
affairs. He straight- 
way oppo.sed and tle- 
feated the scheme of a 
"liublic loan office" by 
which the profligate 
practices of an ofHcial 
who had been speaker 
of the house of bur- 
ges.scs and treasurer of 
tlie colony for many 
years would have been 
covered; and then carried through the house after 
hot debate and against the opposition of the older 
leaders and mendjers five out of seven resolutit)ns 
which he offered, attirming the rights of the colony, 
and declaring in face of the British stamp act, 
which had just been passed (March 8, 1765), "tliat 
the general assembly of this colony have the only 
and sole e.vclu.sive right an<l power to lay taxes anil 
impositions upon the inhidiitants of this colony, and 
every attempt to vest such power in any person or 
persons whatever other than the general as.send)ly 
aforesaid has a manifest tendency to destroy British 
as well as American freedom." It was in one of his 
speeches in the deliate which preceded the passage of 
these resolves that he said in a tone of thrilling 
solemnity: " Ca'.sar had his Brutus; Charles the 
First his Cromwell; and George the Third ["Trea- 
son!" shouted the sjieaker. "Treason! treason!" 
rose from all the si(les of the room. The oralor 
pau.sed, and then raising himself with a look and 
bearing of still prouder and fiercer determination, 
so clo.sed the .sentence as to baffle his accusers with- 
out in the lea.st flnching from his own position] — 
" and George the Tliinl may profit by their example. 
If this be trea.son, make Ihe most of it." The effect 
of the debate and the resolutions cannot easily be 
misstated. ^Mamiscript copies of the rcsoluiions 
were dispatched immediately to the northern 
states, and were jiowerful in awakciu'ng resistance 
to the "Stamp Act," where that had not begun, 
and in stimulating resistance to new life where 
the disposition towards resistance had in any 
wise begun to cool. "The publishing of the 
Virginia resolves proved an alarm-bell to the dis- 




affected," wrote the royalist Bernard, governor of 
JIas.sachusetts. Gage, commander of the British 
forces in America, wrote, from New York that the 
Virginia resolves had "given the signal for a gener- 
al outcry over the continent." In 1774 an able loy- 
alist writer singled Iheni out as the cau.se of all the 
troubles that ha<l come upon the land. The author 
of the resolutions thence onward had an assured po- 
sition among the foremost of the influential states- 
men of his commonwealth, and it is even doubtful 
if he ever parted in any marked degree with the 
primacy among contemporary pul)lic men in Vir- 
ginia, which he had by this time acMjuinil. Jle was 
sent to every session of the Virginia hnuse of bur- 
ges.ses from 1765 to 1774 ; he was at the front in all 
local committees and conventions ; and wa.s a mem- 
ber of the first conunittee of correspondence. Mean- 
while his law practice was coiuin\ied and his legal 
reputation grew. When the members <if the house 
whiili had been dis.solved by Lord Drummond, the 
provincial governor, met at Willlamsliurgin August, 
1774, to appoint de])uties to tlie |iroposed colonial 
congress to convene at Philadelphia, Sept. 5, 1774, 
lie was one of the seven elected. His first two 
speeches in this congress were on a motion to pre- 
pare regulations for its government, made by Mr. 
Duane of Xew York; in the second, going broadly 
into the subject of public aff.airs he said: " Govitu- 
meiit is dissolved, fleets and armies and the jiresent 
slate of things show that government is dissolved. 
The distinctions between Virginians, 
Penn.sylvanians, Xew Yorkers and XewEnglanders 
arc no more." To this he added the notable excla- 
mation — " I am not a Virginiini. but an American." 
In his assault ujion the plan for a permanent recon- 
ciliation between Great Britain and her colonies sub- 
mitted by Joseph (ialloway of Pemisylvania. he 
declared: "I am inclined to think the present 
(Briti.sh) measures lead to war." He was placed on 
the committee of the congress to prepare an address 
to the king of England, also "on the committee ap- 
pointed to state the rights of the colonies." After the 
adjournment of congress the sentiment for war 
began to take more (Icfinite shape throughout the 
cotnitry, and when in the spring of 1775 the second 
revolutionary convention of Virginia met at Kich- 
mond he was ready on March 'iM with resolu- 
tions providing for i)uttirig the colony into a state 
of defense. His speech in support of these resolu- 
tions was perha|is the speech of his life. Commenc- 
ing (after preliminary sentences) " Mr. Presidei;t ! it 
is natural for man to indulge in the illusions of 
hope," and ending " I know not what course others 
may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me 
death! " It has been said that " fortrue eloquence it 
has never been surpassed." This speech is well 
known. Among the questions concerning it, none 
has excitcil more profound interest than that which 
relates to the faithfulness of its record and preserva- 
tion. This and other pertinent tojiies in connection 
with the speech are amply treated in Tyler's "Life of 
Patrick Henry " (American statesmen series, Boston, 
ISDO). The resolutions it advocated were passed as 
offered by Henry, and the conmiittee which they 
called for to pre])are a plan for " embodying, arm- 
ing and disciplining" the militia was at once 
appointed. Patrick Henry was its chairman 
and with him were associated Richard Henry 
Lee, Nicholas Harrison, Heddick, "Washington, 
Stephen.s, Lewis, Christian, PeniUeton, .lefTerson 
and Zane. It is little known to the world at 
large that "the first overt act of war" in Vir- 
ginia, and the first act of jihysical resistance to a 
royal governor in the colonies was made in that 
province almost as early as the date of the engage- 
ments in Ma.ssachu.setts at Lexington and Concord. 
This occurred on May 4, 1775, when with the inde- 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



143 



pendent company of liis own county of Hanover, 
Henry compelled his majest}' George the Third's 
receiver-general to pay over to him £;i;jO '"as a 
compensation for gunpowder lately taken out of the 
public magazine by the governor's (Lord Dun- 
more) order," the money to be conveyed to "the 
Virginia delegates at tlie general congress." To 
this second Continental congress Mr, Henry at 
once proceeded. He left it about the last of July to 
become colonel of the 1st Virginia regiment. He 
■was next maile commander-in-chief of the forces 
of Virginia by the provincial convenlion, but this 
was the sum of his military service, all connection 
with the army being ended by his own action 
in February, 1776, when he laid down his military 
appointments. Joseph Reed of Philadelphia prob- 
ably touched the core of fact as to this matter when 
he wrote to George Washington (Jlareli, 1776): 
"His resignation rather gives satisfaction tlian 
otherwise, as his abilities seem better calculated for 
the senate than for the field." It was Just before 
this (1775) that his wife, Sarah, mother of his six 
children, had ilied. Oct. 9, 1777, he was married to 
Dorothea Dandridge, a granddaughter of the old 
royal governor, Alexander Spotswood. In May, 
1776, he was again a delegate to the Virginia conven- 
tion in attendance at William.sburg for its first meet- 
ing. Besides serving on perhaps a majoritj' of its com- 
mittees he ably advocated the motion unanimously 




the tolt'ieiW cono res? of 17" '';'„.««'" 



adopted to instruct the Virginia delegates to the 
Continental congress to iiropo.se to that respectable 
body to declare the united coli>nies free and inde- 
pendent states; was a memlier of the committee to 
prejiare a declaration of rights and jilau of govern- 
ment; and on the adoption of the state con.stitution 
by the convention (June 29. 1776) was at once elected 
its first governor by a clear majority of all votes 
cast. To this post he was re-ele<'ted in 1777 and in 
1778. The office then passed to others under the 
constitutinnal provision which rendered him ineli- 
gible for four years. In 1784 and in 178") he was 
again chosen governor, but in 1786 he declined fur- 
ther re-election. Elected in 1779 as one of the Vir- 
ginia delegates in congress he also declined that 
office, and thence onward served in no public cajia- 
city outside his native .state. He at once retired be- 
cau.se of dclieate health and the imiiairment of his 
fortune to Heatberwood. an estate of 1(1,0011 acres in 
the county of Henry (which bad been named in his 
honor) some two hundrecl miles southeast of ]{ich- 
mond, where he remained until November, 1784. 
He served in the Virginia house of delegates during 
this period, and the reader may be referred to "Ty- 
ler's Biograjihy " already nameil (chap. xvi.)foran 
interesting record of thiit service. The same I)iog- 
rapher in the chapters next succeeding opens in 
def.'ul the history of his opposition to tlie a<loplion 
of the Federal (United States) constitution, and his 



agency in securing amendments, the adoption of 
which appears to have drawn him to its subsefjucnt 
and hearty support. It is a (ileasant duty to note 
the fact that the effoi-fs made by Mr. Heiu'y from 
1786 to 1794, in his resumption of the practice of 
the law to recover pecuniary standing wen; amply 
successful. In 1791 and in 179;'. he appeared before 
the circuit court of the I'nited States in what was 
|)robably the most difficult and inijiortant, in a legal 
aspect, of all cases which he ever tried — that known 
as the case of "The I}ritish Debts." For its de- 
tailed record, with description and critical analysis 
of argument.s, and the powers of oratory which 
he displayed in this and in other cases, consult 
Tyler's "Life," pp. 320-tO. He finally established 
himself in the county of Charlotte, at an estate called 
Red Hill, and the picture of his declining years there 
sjient is idyllic Gen. Henry Lee, then governor of 
Virginia had ajipointed liim in 1794 U. S. .senator to 
fill an uiiexpire<l term. President Washington 
offered him the i)ost of U. S. secretary of state and 
of chief justice of the United Slates supreme court 
in 1795 and 1796. President John Adams (Feb. 25 
1799) had sent his name to the U. S. senate as one 
of three envoys extraordinary and ministers pleni- 
potentiary to the French republic, but each of these 
offices he had declined. In 1799, however, at the 
special reipiest of George Washington, he stood for 
a seat in the Virginia legislatiu'e and was of course 
elected, but his death prevented his taking the posi- 
tion. The occasion of Washington's almost importun- 
ing plea to the old statesman that be should once more 
enter into piiblic life was the passage of resolutions 
by the Virginia legislature claiming the right of a 
.state to resist the execution of an obnoxious act of 
conuress. It remains I0 add a word concerning the 
religious opinions cherished by Mr. Henry. These 
may be sufficiently understood when one has learned 
that in his la.st will and testament, bearing date 
Nov. 20, 1798, and written throughout, as he says, 
" with my own hand " he chose to in.sert a touching 
affirmation of his own deep faith in Chri.stianity. 
After distriliuting his e.sfate among his descendants, 
he thus concludes ; "This is all the inheritance I 
can give to my dear family. The religion of Christ 
can give them one which will make them rich 
indeed." Of the many biogi-aphies of Patrick 
Henry, the best are : the one written by William 
Wirt in 1817, and A. H. Everett's contribution to 
Sparks's "American Biography." A biograi>hy by 
Moses Coit Tyler makes one of the American 
statesmen series (Boston, 1887). He died at his 
home in Charlotte county. June 6, 1799. 

RANDOLPH, Edmund, jurist, was born in 
Riehiuond. \'a.. June 9. 1820; the grandson of 
Edmund Randolph, the statesman and first attorney- 
general of the United States, his father was 
Peyton Randolph and his mother Maiia \Yard.who 
figures conspicuously in John Eslen Cooke's 
"TStoi'ies of the Old Dominion." He was graduated 
from William and JIary College, and in law from the 
University of Virginia. After some years practice 
at New Orleans, where he was clerk of the United 
States circuit court, he became in 1849 one of the 
early settlers of California, took iiart in organizing 
the state government, and rose to distinclinn at the 
bar. He had some brief connection with W. 
Walker's filibustering jilans in Nicaragua, and wa-s to 
have been chancellorof the new statethere. Hewas 
the chief counsel of the United States government 
in the famous case of the Almaden mine, which in- 
volved inunetise interests; the ca.se was won by his 
efforts, though the decision was not given until after 
his death at San Francisco. See his argument in 
this cause, and his address on the "History of Call 
fornia." given before the Soeictv of California Pio- 
neers, Sept. 10, 1860. He died Sept. 8, 1861. 



144 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



ROBINSON, Edward, lexici).i;rai)her and ex- 
plorer. WHS boru iiL-ur !Si>iithiiijrlou, Hertford Co., 
Conn., Apr. 10, 17!)4. He passed from farm labors 
to school teuchiufr; was f;raduatc<l from Hamilton 
College in 181G; was tutor there (after a year's read- 
ing of law, 1817-l.S), and married, in 8eptendjer, 
1818. the daughter of S. Kirkland, the missionary; 
.she died in 1819. The ue.xt three years were spent 
in farmiiigaiid private study. At Andover (1831-23) 
he i)ul)lished bis edition of part of the Iliad, carried 
on his Helirew sludies. and had much to do witii 
Prof. , Moses Stuart, under whom he was instructor 
in ll(,-l)ri'W in the seminary (18'.i:i-2(i), and whom he 
helped in prei)ariug a .second eilition (1823) of his 
Hebrew grammar, and in translating G. B. SViner's 
"Grammar of the New Testament" Greek " (1825). 
In this year apjieared his " Now Testament IjCx- 
icon," translated from C. A. Wald's •'('lavis Pbilo- 
logica. " The ni^\t four years were spent in foreign 
travel and in .study at Gottiiigeii, Halle and Berlin, 
where he met Tboluck, Xeander. and others of the 
mo.st learn<'d theologians of Gerniauy. In 1828 he 
married There.so von .lakob. Heturning in 1830, he 
became librarian and profe.s,sor extraordinary of Bib- 
lical literature at Audover ; this post he held until 
1833. lie founded, in 1831, and conducted for a 
few years, the "Biblical Repositorv," which was 
united with the " Bibliotbeca Sacra'' in 1851. He 
now revised Taylor's version of Cal- 
met's "Dictionary of the Bible" 
(1832), and jiut forth, in 1833, a .sim- 
ilar work on a smaller .scale, and a 
translation of P. Buttman's "Greek 
Grammar;" both of these have been 
widely used. While in Boston (1833- 
37) he revised Newcome's Greek 
Harmony of the Gospels (1834), 
translated Gcsenius's " Hebrew Lex- 
icon " (1«3(!), and completed his own 
"Greek and English Lexicon of the 
New Testament" (1836). The last 
two were works of the highest im- 
portance to Bible students, and the 
year of their appearance was an 
era in the history of religious .schol- 
arship; the former was revi.sed in 
1854; the latter in ls.50. In 1S37 he was made 
professor of Biblical literature in Union Theolog- 
ical Seminary, New York, but did not enter on 
the duties of the post for three years. In 1837-38 
he was in the Holy Land and Syria with Eli Smith, 
D.I)., conducting explorations, and for the next two 
years in Berlin, prepaiing his "Biblical Uesearehes 
in Palestine. Ml, Sin.-ii, and Arabia Pet rea," which 
appeared in three vols. (1841) at London, Boston, 
and in German at Halle. This work made him 
famous; Dean Stanley said he was "the first jierson 
who ever saw Palestine with his eyes ayicn to what 
he ought to see." In 1842 the Royal Geograiihical 
Society of Lonilon gave bimtbe p:i(ion's!;iiid medal, 
and Halle tlie degree of D. D.. wbii-li he had received 
from Dartmouth hi 1S;!I; that of LI^.D. came from 
Yale in 1844. His "Harmony of the Gos]iels," in 
Greek and English, appeared in 1845-4(i; the latter 
was reprinted in London, and translatcil into French 
in 1.H51 ; both were revised by M. B, Riddle in 
188.5-86. He was again in the East in 1H52. and jmt 
forth, in 1856, "Later Bililical Researches;" the 
contents of this volume were included in a third 
edition of the former work (lS(i7). He had in view 
a nuicli larger task, to which what he had done in 
this field .should be merely introductory; but he ac- 
complished no more than ilic " Physical Geography 
of the Holy Land," jtublished from his papers in 
1865. He taught for more than twenty years in 
LTnion Seminary, to the iirosperiiy of which his fame 
contributed greatlj', and of which he was for some 




1>-W 



time president; but his chief services were rendered 
by his books, and pre-eminently by his " Researches." 
As an explorer of Bible lands'he had few ])recedents 
and no rivals; as a Biblical scholar he was surpassed by 
no American of his time. His eyesight failed during 
his last year, and he sought relief in Europe, but in 
vain. His "Life, Writings and Character, " by his 
colleagues, Drs. R. D. Hiicheock and II. B. Smith, 
appeared in 1863. He died in New York Jan. 27, 
lS(i3. 

ROBINSON, Mrs. Edward (Therese Albertina 
Louise von Jakob), authoress, was born at Halle, 
Germany, Jan. 26, 1797. Her father was Dr. Liid- 
wig von Jakob, professor of jxilitical economy in 
the L'niversity of tliat place. In 1806. after its sup- 
pression, be removed to Crakow, in .southern Rus- 
sia, where he had been ai)pointed professor, and 
afterward to St. Petersburg, as a member of the 
convention for revising the laws of the Russian em- 
pire. His daughter, who was, even then, an earnest 
student, made herself extensively acquainted with 
the Russo-Slavic language and literatiu'e. In 1816 
she returned with her father to Halle, where she 
learned Latin. She published a nundier of tales, 
several of which were i,s.sued, in 1825, in a volume 
entitled "Psyche." Theseand her later works were 
])ublished under the iiovi-df plume of "Talvi," an 
anagram of the iiutials of her name; but before this 
had apjieared from her )ien German translations of 
Scott's "Old Mort.dity " and "Black Dwarf," under 
the pseudonym "Ernst Berthohl." " Servian Songs" 
(2 vols.), a German translation of the remarkable 
popular songs in the Servian language by Stephano- 
witch, was issued at Halle in 1836, and a new edi- 
tion of it, revised and enlarged, in 1853 at Lcijizig. 
She was married to Prof. Edward Robinson, who 
was then a student at Halle, qualifying himself for 
the chair of sacicd literatvire at Andover ( Mass. ) Theo- 
logical Seminary, and in 1830 came with him to 
this country. Becoming interested in the study of 
the languages of the North American Indians, she 
publisbeil. in 1834. at Leipzig. Germany, in German, 
a translation of Jlr. John Pickering's (q. v.) notable 
article on "The Indian Languages." During the 
same year .she iircpared for the "Biblical Repo.si- 
tory, ""which her husband edited, a series of articles 
on "The Slavic Languages and Literature." which 
were printed in a volume in 1S.50. "Popular 
Songs of the Nations of the Teutonic Race " ap- 
]ieared in 1838, in German, and in 1840 a small vol- 
ume against the authenticity of the p<iems of O.ssian. 
In 1847 .she )nd)lished in German, at Lci|)/,ig, a 
" History of the Colonization of New Eniil.and," of 
which avery defective translation into Eiiglisb, by 
William IlaV.litt, Jr.. was printed in London, Eng- 
lan<l. in 1S51. " Ileloise; or. The I'nrevealed Secret," 
"Life's Discipline," and the "Exiles. " followed, 
and were published in German and in English in 
Leipzig iind in New York. "The Exiles" presents 
a iiicture of some of the prevalent intluences and 
tvjies of civilization visible in the settlement of 
America. JMrs. Robinson was one of the most 
learned women of her age, and justitled the discern- 
ment of Goethe, who introduced her to the reiiublic 
of letters as one (the coin|)linient, it has been .said, 
is rather at the expense of her sex), "who had the 
heart of a woman but the brain of a man." After 
the death of her husband Mrs. Robinson resided 
at Hamburg, (termany, where her son Edward 
w.is American consul. " Her last work was published 
posthumously in the United States, being " Fifteen 
Years, a Picture from the Last Century" (N. Y., 
1870). A collection of her tales, with a" biography 
by her da\ighler, was also ]iublished in two volumes 
at Leipzig,"Germany, in 1H74. and attracted much 
attention. She died at Ihuuburg, Germany, April 
13. 1869. 




J^^i^cc^^^ -£yC^ ac.^^^-t^ ^''^ 






COPYRIGHT, IBS!, flV JAMES T. WHITE A CO. 



OF AMEEICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



14? 



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MADISON, James, fourth president of the 
United States, was burn in Virginia on Marcli 16, 
1751. His fatlier. wlio bore the same name as him- 
self, was a larse lauded proprietor and a leading 
man in the affairs of his county. James Madison 
was educated at Princeton College, and amontr his 
college contemporaries were such personages as 
Patrick Henry, BrocklioLst Livingston. AVilliam 
Bradford, Henry Breckinridge, Aaron Burr, Jlor- 
gan Lewis, Aaron Ogdeu and Henry Lee. At the 
age of twenty-one. in the year 17T3, jNIadison left 
college and returned to his home. He had devel- 
oped a profound love for study and now he divided 
his time lietween an extensive 
course of reading and the office 
of instructing his younger broth- 
ers and sisters. In a letter to 
.Tared S|iarks, the biographer, 
Mr. Jfadison .said: "My first en- 
trance into public life was in 
Jlay, ITTG, when I became a 
member of the convention in 
Virginia, which instructed her 
dcleg.-Ues in congress to propose 
the Declaration of Independ- 
ence." When it became man- 
ifest that there was to be an 
outbreak to sustain the rights 
of American citizens. Mr. Mad- 
i.son, kindled with the military 
ardor of his countrymen, desired 
to join the arniv, but he was 
feeble in health and constitution 
so that he had not the physical strength nece.s.sary to 
serve in the field, a fact which alone prevented 'the 
indidgeuce of his feeling. As a member of the com- 
mittee of Ins country, however, be had shown such 
zeal for the cause of American liberty as to have at- 
tracted the attention of Iiis fellow-citizens, and their 
spontaneous voice summoned him from his retire- 
ment to represent them in the convention of 1776. 
He was one of the youngest members of the con- 
vention, yet his influence was great and it was on 
his motion that the word "toleration" was excluded 
from the Declaration of I{ights and the a.ssertion of 
an absolute and ecjual right for all to the free exer- 




cise of religion as proposed by him, substituted in 
its place. On the 7th of October, 1776. a.ssenibled the 
first session of the independent legislative as.sem- 
bly of Virginia and it was at this session that Mr. 
JIadison and Mr. Jefferson met for the first lime. 
Mr. Madison, according to Jefferson, "came into 
the house in 1776, a new member and young, which 
circumstances, concurring wilb hisexirenie modesty, 
prevented his adventuring himself in debate licfoVe 
his removal to the council of .state in November, 
1777. From thence lie went to congress, then con- 
.si.sting of few members trained in these successive 
schools, which placed at re,i<ly command the rich 
resources of his Uindnous and discriminating mind 
and of his extended information, rendering him the 
first of every assembly afterward of which be be- 
came a member. Never iManching from his subject 
into vain declamation but pursuing it closely in lan- 
guage pure, cla.s.sical and copious, soothing always 
the feelings of his adversaries by civilities and .soft- 
ness of expre.s.sion, he rose to the eminent station 
which be held in the great national convention of 
1787 and in that of Virginia which followed. He 
su.stained the new constitution in all its parts, bear- 
ing off the jjalm against the logic of George JIason 
and the fervid declamation of Jlr. Henry. With 
the.se consummate jiowers was vuuted n luire and spot- 
less virtue which no calunmy ever attempted to sul- 
ly." On Nov. 13, 1777. Madison was chosen by the 
joint ballot of the two houses to be a member of the 
council of state. Patrick Henry was in the second 
year of his administration as governor of Virginia 
when Mr. Madison took his seat, and the two were 
now brought together for the first time in close re- 
lation, whereupon sentiments of cordial res|)ect and 
esteem .soon sprang up between them. On Dec. 14, 
1779, at the age of twenty-eight. Madison was chos- 
en by the general as.sembly of Virginia one of the 
delegates to represent the slate in the congress of 
the confederation and where he was at once as- 
signed to the rank due to his superior worth and 
talent. He was immediately and in quick succes- 
sion placed on many of the most important commit- 
tees appointed to prepare instructions to our min- 
isters abroad or lo hold conference with foreign 
ministers residing in the country. Congress by res- 



148 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



olution on Feb. 3, 1781, appealed to the several 
states to grant them tlie power to levy for the use of 
the United States a uniform duty of five per cent, 
on all foreign merchandise imported into tlie coun- 
try. In speaking to this question Mr. .Madison ob- 
served that: "It was needless to go into proofs of 
the necessity of paying the public debt; the idea of 
erecting our national independence on the ruins of 
the public faith and national honor nuist be horrid 
to every mind wliich retained eitlier interest or 
pride." The period of Mr. Madi.son's services in 
congress luesented the most ariluous and complexeil 
problems of national policy, internal and external, 
to which the war of the revolution gave rise. !Mr. 
Madison took a leading and successful part in the 
solution of these great and dillicuU questions. He 
married, in September, 1794, Dorothy Payne Todd, 
the willow of a mendier of a Society of Friends. In 
177.'), released temporarily from his pidjlic duties, he 
resumed liis literarv, legal and scientific studies, and 
it was about this time that the College of William 
and 5Iary conferred upon him the degree of LL.D. 
which was followed by the same honor conferred 
by hisalma mater. During the entire period of Wash- 
ington's admiiustral ion, Jlr. Madison was an active 
member of the house of representatives, and by 
universal acknowledgment was considered the 
ablest and most distinguished member of the re- 
publican party in congress. He became interest- 
ed in the political contests of the day and receiv- 

"^¥'-^' ' 




^■^^:^^':^-:--^'- 

cd a full share of the obloquy of party denunci- 
ation. Meanwhile, a mutual confidence and respect 
which had so long existed l)etween Mr. Madison 
and President Washington suffered no abatement 
while they were on the public stage together. In 
IHOI Mr. .leffcrson became president and Madison 
was appointed secretary of state and took an active 
part in negotiations "then pending between the 
United States, Sjiain, Great Hritain and France. 
Mr. M.-idison succeeded .letTerson as president in 
1809, and one of his first acts was to forbid all com- 
munication with England and France until those 
powers should revoke their orders in council and 
their I?erlin decre<'s. France complied, Iiut Englancl 
stood firm, and this produced a five years' war be- 
tween the Uniteii States and Gre.ul Hrilain. The 
growing desire for war was shown in the choice of 
Henry Clay for speaker of the house, and Mr. Mad- 
i.son's nonunation for a second term was on condi- 
tion of adojitiiig a war jiolicy. He was re-elected in 
opposition to I)e Witt Clinton. The history of the 
warof lSl2is virtually a history of Madi.son's ad- 
ministration. AVithinfour days after the declara- 
tion of war one of its causes w'a.s removed, as Great 
ISritain revoked her orders in council. The impress- 
UKMit of American citizens, however, remained still 
an luisetlled qucslion, nearly six tliousand cases be- 
ing on record in the .state departnu'ut in Washington, 
while it was admitted on the floor of tlie house of 
commons that there were probably sixteen hundred 



native Americans held in bondage in the British 
navy. Meanwhile the despised little American 
navy won laurels as uuexjiected as they were glori- 
ous. The Essex cai)tured the Alert, the Constitu- 
tion destroyed the Guerriere, the United States caj)- 
tured the Macedonian after the latter had lost one 
hundred of her three hundred men while the United 
States lost only live men killed and seven wounded. 
The Wasp, Capt. Paul .Jones, took the Frolic, and 
both ves.sels were immediately afterward caught by 
the Poictiere, a sevenly-four-gun ship. Off the 
coast of Brazil the Constitution gave chase to the 
British frigate .Tava and they fouglit, yard arm and 
yard arm, when the .Java's mast was shot away and 
lier fire silenced, and .soon after she struck her flag. 
Nearly half of her men, numbering four hundred, 
were killed or wounded, including her conmiander. 
On laud the Americans were divided into three 
armies — that of the West at Lake Erie imder Gen. 
Harrison, that of the centre under Gen. Dearborn 
and that of the North in llie vicinity of Lake Cham- 
plain under Gen. Wade Hampton. Jlilitary entliu- 
siasm was not confined, however, to the region 
nortli of the Ohio. Volunteers in great nundiers as- 
.sembled at Nashville and Gen. ,Iackson was chosen 
their commander. In less than a year after the 
declaration of the war Bussia made an offer of 
mediation, and President JIadison appointed Albert 
Gallatin, .secretary of the treasury, and James A. 
Bayard, commissioners to negotiate peace. They 
were to act in concert with .John Quincy Adams 
then minister at the Court of St. Petersburg, but 
the offer of mediation was declined liy England 
and nothing was accomiilished by the commission- 
ers. Lundy's Lane was fought on .July S,"), 1H14. 
and it was shown that the Americans w hen projierly 
led could and would fight. They had nul the vet- 
erans wlio fought tuider AVellington in S|)ain and re- 
pulsed them in three desperate encounters. Mean- 
while the ports of the United States were blockaded 
by British ve.s.sels while the land force of five 
thou-sand troojis was put ashore fifty miles from 
AVashington from a British fleet. They encountered 
very little opposition as they marched toward the 
capitol on entering whicli they found it almost en- 
tirely deserted by its male inhabitants. They Ijunu'd 
the capitol and with it the congre.s.sional library, the 
treasury and slate departments. The [uesident's 
mansion was pillaged and set on fire as were also 
some private dwellings. The British continued to 
advance while the fleet moved up the Chesaiieake 
toward Baltimore, intending to capture Fort Mc- 
Henry. In this however, tliey were unsuccessful. 
Meanwhile the distress, especially among the peojile 
of New England, was great. The endiargo ruined 
their fi.sheries and their coasting trade, and it was 
very generally believed Ihat the war was uncalled 
for "and wrong in principle. To President Aladi.son 
this wasthegioomiest period of the war. Affairs were 
almost desiierate. the treasury was exhausted, the na- 
tional <'redit gone, a law of conscription w as liovering 
over tlie i)eo]ile like an ominous cloud, and then, as a 
gleam of sunshine through the darkness the rumor 
came that peace had lieen concluded in London. 
Finally the battle of New Orleans virtually ended 
the c(iiiflict. Tlie senate unaniiuously ratified the 
treaty within thirty hours after it was laid before 
them. AA'ith the exception of occasional assistance 
given to the legislature of Virginia in revising their 
constitution and the discharge of the duties of 
rector of their univei-sity, Mr. Madison remained in 
the closest relirenu'nl d'uriug the rest of his life. 
Hedieil .lune -'S, ISili. 

MADISON, Dorothy Payne Todd, wife of 
President .Tames Madison, was born in North Caro- 
lina May 20, 1772. Her grandfather was John 
Payne, gentleman, who migrated from England 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



149 




iZ^-fe^^*i_^ 



to Virsinia early in the eishteenth century and 
marricil Hannah Fleming, grauildaiightcr of Sir 
Thomas Fleming, who was an early setUer of James- 
town. His son, John Payne, second of the name, 
was Dorothy's father, and married Mary Coles, who 
■was first cousin to Patrick Henry. Jlr. and >Irs. 
Pa3mc. it ajipears, had conscientious serujiles in re- 
gard to the lioliling of slaves, and set theirs free, and 
also joined the Society of Friends, sold their planta- 
tion and removed to Philadelphia. Dorothy was 
brought up as a Quaker, antl at the 
ago of twenty, married a young 
lawyer of the s.'ime belief named 
Todd. Her husbaml liveil only 
three years, leaving her with one 
child, a son, and with little else. 
.Mrs, Toild's mother, who lived in 
Pliiladeliihia, was in poor circum- 
stances and took boarders in order 
to support herself. Mrs. To<ld 
went to reside with her mother 
and assisted her in the care of her 
house. At this time she was es- 
teemed as one of the most beauti- 
ful young women in Philadelphia. 
A portrait of her justifies this rep- 
utation. She is described as being 
nobly proportioned in her figtue. 
while her face possessed the robust 
charms of a fresh and vigorous 
country girl. From the period of her husband's 
death she relinquished her belief, if she possessed 
any, in the doctrines of the Quakers, and also their 
costume and manners, and gave free iilay to her dis- 
position, which was naturally gay and cheerful. 
Among her mother's boarders were two men already 
distinguished in the history of their countries, .James 
Madison, a member of the house of representatives 
of Virginia, and Aaron Burr, then a United States 
senator. In 1794 she married Mr. Madison, who 
in 1801 was appointed .secretary of state, an office 
which he continued to hold for eight years, dur- 
ing whicii ]ieriod Jlrs. JIadison was the center of 
the most brilliant circle of Washington society. In 
1809 Madison became president of the United States, 
■wliich, of course, gave his vivacious and beautiful 
wife a still larger field and greater opportunities for 
the exhibition of her charms and advantages. Dur- 
]\Ir. Madison's second term, in August. 1814, the 
British army landed on the coast and made a quick 
march to the capital. The president and his cabi- 
net fied to Virginia, but Jtrs. Madison remainecl in 
the presidential mansion, listening to the distant roar 
of the cannon at Bladensburg. At the doin- of the 
mansion a carriage waited, filled with plate and p,a- 
pers, while she delayed until .slie should receive her 
husband's instructions to fly; and this, although she 
was visited (hiring the day by the mayor of W.ash- 
ington, who strongly urged her to leave the city. A 
messenger at length arrived at the Wliite House, 
bearing a note from Madison, written hurriedly with 
a lead-pencil, containing the direction she awaited, 
and looking about to see if anything important had 
been left, Mrs. Madison caught sight of Stuart's i)or- 
trait of Washington, taken fnmi life. Seizing a 
carving-knife from the table, she cut tlie picture out 
of its frame, rolled it up and hurrying into the car- 
riage, drove away. When the British officers en- 
tered the president's house that evening, they found 
the dimier-table spread for forty guests, the presi- 
dent having invited a large dinner ]iarty for that (hiy. 
The wine was cooling on the .sideboard, the plates 
warming bj- the fire. The knives, forks and spoons 
were arranged on the snowy tablecloth. In the 
kitchen, joints of meat were roasting on spits before 
the fire. Saucepans full of vegetables were steaming 
upon the range and everything was in a state of for- 



wardness for a substantial banquet. The officers sat 
down to (he table, devoured the dinner and conclud- 
ed the entertainment b}- setting fire to the house. 
The capitol was burned, the treasury building, the 
president's hou.se, all the principal public buildings 
and the navy-j'ard. A few days later, the president 
and his wife, after eneonntering some hardships, re- 
turned to Wa.shington, which they found still smok- 
ing from the recent conflagration. They established 
themselves in the best apartments they could find, 
and the government was soon performing its accus- 
tomed duties, Madison's term as president terminat- 
ed in 1S17. and from this period until 1830, when 
he died, Jlrs. Madison lived in retirement at their 
seat in Virginia, where she disjiensed a liberal hos- 
pitality, and made the later years of her husljand's 
life cheerful and happy by Iter gaiety and humor. 
Her last years were spent in the city of Washington, 
and it was said of her that she continued to retain 
nnich of her beauty, vivacity and grace up to her 
eightieth year. Although the pair were singularly 
different, "he being a specially intellectual man and 
she a woman of peculiarly pliysical and animal na- 
ture, a difference which was inoreover aggravated 
by the disparity of their ages, Madison being eigh- 
teen years older than his wife, nevertheless they are 
believed to have lived very happily together, while 
both died past fourscore. Mrs. Madison died in 
Washington. D. ('.. July 12, 1H49. 

GEKRY, Elbridge, vice-president of the United 
States and governor of Mas.sachusetts, was born at 
Marblehead, Mass.. July IT, 1T44. His father was 
a merchant who came to this country from England 
in 1730, and died in 1774. Elbridge was graduated 
from Harvard in 1762, and entering the couut- 
ing-hou.se of his father, eventually became one of 
the most wealthy, as well as the niost enterprising, 
merchants of his native town. In May, 1773, he 
commenced his political career as a member of the 
assembly of JIassachusetts Bay, at that time called 
the general court, and was appointed a member of 
the important committee on inquiry and correspond- 
ence. In 177.5, the provincial congress appointed 
him on the committee on public safety and supplies. 
The night previous to the battle of Le.vington, while 
at Caniljridge, he narrowly escaped capture at the 
hands of British soldiers, who passed through that 
town on their way to Lexington. Mr. Gerry and 
two other gentlemen left their beds 
and fled, half -dressed, to a neigh- 
boring corn field, where they re- 
mained until the troops, after a 
fruitless search, took their dejiar- 
ture. In January, 1776. Mr. (ierry 
w-as elected to the Continental ccm- 
gress and continued in that boiiy, 
except for some slight intervals, 
during the next nine years, .serving 
ujion several imiiortant committees. 
In pursuance of his duty as a mem- 
ber of the committe<' to obtain sup- 
plies for the army. Mr. Gerry visited 
the camp of Gen. Washington in 
1777. It is to be observed, with re- 
gard to Mr. Gerry's action in the 
C<mtinental congress, that he was 
]irominent in the su|)port of all res- 
olutions against theatrical entertainments, hor.se-rac- 
ing and other such diversions, as also for those which 
recommended days of fasting, humiliation and 
lirayer. In 17S7 he was deputed a member of the 
convention which framed the constitution of the 
United States. He was opjiosed to the plan adopt- 
ed, conceiving that both the executive and the legis- 
lature were granted jiowers that were both ambiguous 
and dangerous, and he refused to sign the instrument. 
He was elected by the republican party to the first 




^^^rt'Ci^ y^^l-y 



150 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



confrrcss after the ndoptinn of the constitution, and 
was re-elected in ITUl. In 1797 the relations between 
the United States and France becomini; somewhat 
strained, President Adams appointed C C. Finck- 
ney, John Marshall (afterward chief justice of the su- 
preme court ). and Mr. Gerry. to proceed to France and 
endeavor to arranirc the ditliculty amicalily. Under 
the advice of Talleyrand, the Directory refused to 
recognize the <'ml)assv. but. after stipiilatiiii; that 
Messrs. Marshall and I'inckney sluiuld return to the 
United States, consented to accept Mr. Gerry as the 
official repnsentative of the United States govern- 
ment, and by him the existing dilticulty was ar- 
ranged. In 1810 Mr. Gerry w.as elected governor of 
the state of Mas.saclni.sctts, and held thtT office dur- 
ing two terms, arou.sing much party animosity by 
his arbitrary mode of govcrnniiMit. lie employed to 
its fullest capacity the |iartisan principle, "to the 
victors belong the sjioils, " and when attacked by the 
press for his high-handed administration of aljairs, 
even sent a s])eciid lucs.sage to the legislature, iu re- 
gard to tliis action. Finally, he resorted to the ex- 
treme plan of a parti.san redistricting of the state — • 
a process wliicli has ever since been termed "Gerry- 
mandering" — and succeeded iu irritating almost 
everybody thereby. The result was his total defeat 
at the next election, Iu 1812, however, his devotion 
to his party was rewarded by his receiving the ofHee 
of vice-president, wliich he'continued tohold until 
his death. He died suddenly Nov. 33, 1814, and 
his monument in Washington bears the following 
inscription: 

The t(mib of 

ELBHIDGE GERRY, 

Vice-President of the United States, 

■who died suddenly in this city on bis way to the 

Capitol, as "President of the Senate, 

Nov. 23, 1814, 

Aged 70. 

SMITH, Robert, secretary of state, (Sec In- 
dex.) 

CAMPBELL, Georg-e Washington, secretary 
of the treasury, was born in Tennessee in 1768, He 
was liberally educated, and went to Princeton, where 
he was graduated in 1794, and was elected a member 
of congress in 1803, continuing in that po.sition until 
1809, and part of the time as chairman of the com- 
mittee of ways and means. From 1811 to 1814, and 
from 181,T to 1818, Mr. C'am]ibell was a member of 
the United States senate, Feb. 9, 1814, he was ap- 
pointed by PresideiU ^ladison secretary of the trea- 
sury, succeeding Albert Gallatin. He" only held the 
position until September, 1814, when he re.signed on 
account of ill health. He was afterward re-elected 
to the senate. In .Vi)ril, 1818, Mr. Campbell was ap- 
pointed minister to Russia, but remained abroad 
only until the year 1820. On liis way to his po.st at 
St. Petersburg he, by direction of Secretary Adams, 
stopped at Copenliagen to adju.st the claims of the 
government of Denmark for spoilation of their com- 
merce on the higli seas ])y U. S. privateers in the 
war of 1812 Notiiing is known of his career after 
the latter date, except tliiit he was ajipointed judge 
of the U. S. district c(airt of Teiines.see, and iii 1831 
Secretary Livingston named him as a member of 
the commission apjiointitd to consider the French 
spoliation claims. He died iu Nashville, Tenn., Feb. 
17, 1848. 

DALLAS, Alexander James, secretary of the 
treasury, was liorn in .laniaica. .lune 21, 17o"9. His 
father, Dr, Robert t'. Dallas, was a Scotchman then 
practising in the island, but soon returned to Great 
Britain, Educated in Ediid)urgh and Westminster, 
he read law, contracle<l an early marriage, went 
back to .lamaica in 1780 and thence migrated to 
the United States in 1783, having determined to lo- 
cate in Philadeliihia, He was admitted to practice 




in the state supreme court in 1785, and in the U, S. 
courts not long after, and rose to eminence at the 
bar. While waiting for clients he did much writing 
for the press and for a time edited the " Columbian 
Magazine." By three .successive appointments he 
lield the office of secretary of state from 1791 to 
1801 , and in 1 794 was payma-ster of a force with which 
lie went to Pitt.sburg. He was a founder of the Penn- 
sylvania Democratic Society in 1793, and an active 
politician. Besides "Features of Jay's Treaty" (1795), 
which he o|)posed, he published 
an edition of the .state laws from 
1700 to 1801, and "Reports of 
Ca-ses" in the U. S. and Penn- 
sylvania courts before and since 
tiie- revolution, 4 vols. (1790- 
1807): of these a third edition 
with notes, by T, I. Wharton, 
appeared in 1830. In 1801 he 
was appointed by Gov. McKeau 
recor(ler of the citj', and by 
President Jertcrson U. S. attor- 
ney for the eastern district of 
tlie .state. The latter post he 
held until October, 1814, when 
he was summoned by President 
Madison at a critical junction 
to a most ditticidt task as sec- 
retary of the treasury. His pre- 
decessor and friend, Gallatin, 
with whose ideas he agreed, 
Iiad urged tlie renewal of the 
cliarter of tlie U. S. Bank, and failed to obtain it. 
The government became practicallj- bankrupt, Dal- 
las, asked by congre.ss for advice in this emer- 
gency, replied that a loan must be effected and that 
a bank was the means to that end. A bill to this 
cfl'ect was passed Jan. 20, 1815, and vetoed. The 
secretary managed to allay the fears widely felt as 
to the res\dt of an extensive issue of treasury notes 
and to restore public confidence, .so that the notes 
which had scarcely been current were taken at par. 
By an act of April 3, 1816, the bank was chartered 
for twenty-one years with a capital of $35,000,000 
and tweniy-five directors, of whom five were ap- 
pointed by the government. The new lariif, pre- 
pared by Dallas, was no less successful. Besides 
the heavy duties of his own department he dis- 
charged, from March, 1815, those of the secretary 
of war, including the reduction of the army to a 
peace footing. Having performed the unusual 
work entrusted to him he resigned his portfolio 
after two years of most eminent and fruitful ser- 
vice and returned to Philadelphia to resume his 
legal practice, but died suddenly, leaving incom- 
plete a history of the state. He had published, be- 
sides the books above mentioned, certain tracts and 
addresses, and an "Exposition of the Causes and 
Character of the War of 1812-15." His " Life and 
Writings," iuc]iared in 1802 by his son, did not appear 
until 1S91. Mr. Dallas died Jan. 16, 1817. 

EUSTIS, William, U. S. secretary of war, and 
tenth governor of JIassachusetts, was born in Cam- 
bridge, JIass., June 10, 1753. His father was Benja- 
min Eustis, an cndnent pliysician, AVilliam was 
graduated from Harvard in 1772, and having de- 
termined to follow the profession of medicine began 
study in the office of the celebrated Dr. Joseph War- 
ren, of Hoslon. Ry the time of the outbreak of the 
revolutionary war, Dr. Eustis had become so efficient 
a practitioner that he was appointed surgeon of a 
regiment, ;ui(l afterward hospital surgeon. In 1777, 
and during most of the war, he occupied as a ho.spital 
the spacious house of Col. Beverly Robinson, a roy- 
alist, on the east side of the Hudson river, opposite 
West I'oint, the same house in which Arnold had his 
headquarters. At the end of the war, Dr, Eustis 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



151 



■went to Boston, where he settled in the practice of liis 
profession. He again went into service, liowever, in 
1786-87, as surgeon to the e.xpeilition against the 
insurgents in Sliays's rebellion. He was a member of 
the legislature of the state of Massachusetts from 
1788-94; a member of congress from 18fl0-.'j: and 
IT. S. secretary of war from 1807-13. In 1814 he 
was appointed U. S. minister to Holland, where he 
remained four years. After his return to the United 
States, he was again elected to congress, and served 
during four successive sessions. In 1823 he was 
elected governor of Massachusetts, and died in office. 
Harvard College conferred the degree of LL.D. in 
1833. He died in Boston Feb. 6, 1835. 

JONES, "William, secretary of the navy, was 
born in Philadelphia, Pa., about 1760. At the break- 
ing nut (if tlie revolutionary struggle he joined a 
company of volunteers and took 
an active part in the battles of 
Trenton and Princeton. He 
later joined the naval forces 
and served as a lieutenant imder 
Com. Truxtun, and was twice 
wounded and twice taken pris- 
oner. After a time in the mer- 
chant service he settled in 
Charleston, S.Cin 17!)ll, whence 
he returned to Philadelphia three 
years later. Frotn 1801 to 1803 
lie represented his di.strict in 
congress, and at the invitation 
iif President Madi.son became 
\secretary of the navy, but he 
If*] tilled the office onlv from .lan- 
uary, 1813, to December, 1814. 
He afterward served as president 
of the U. S. Bank and as collect- 
or of customs in Philadelphia. 
For twenty-si.x years he was a 
member of the .Vmerican Pliilos(i])hical Society, be- 
fore which he read many valuable commimications, 
which were published. He died at Bethlehem, Pa., 
Sept. .">, is:51. 

HAMILTON, Paul, secretary of the navy and 
governor of South Carolina (1804-6), was born in 
St. Paul's parish, S. C, Oct. 16, 1763. Although a 
very young man he was able to lie of great service 
during the revolution, and from 1799 to 1804 was 
comptroller of SoiUh Carolina, displaying remark- 
able cajiacity for financial affairs, and systematizing 
the tinauces uf th.at .state. From 1804 to 1806 he was 
governor of the state of South Carolina, and on the 
accession of Mr. JIadisontothe presidency in JIarch, 
1809, he appointed Mr. Hamilton as secretary of the 
navy. At this time the ditlicultieswith Great Britain 
were rapidly approacliing a serious condition. Mr. 
Madison issued his proclamation reviving the act of 
non-intercourse, but it was not until 1813 that the 
declaration of war w.as m.ide by the United States, 
being approved by the president .lune 18, 1813. 
Congress assembled on Nov. 3d of that year, and 
continued in session until March 3, 1813. During 
this period there was special activity with regard 
to the navy. A\ithority was given to the exec- 
utive for the construction of four shijis of seventy- 
four guns each, six frigates and six sloops of war, also 
to issue ^.I.OOO.OOO in treasury notes, and to create a 
new stock for the loan of $16^000,000. In the mean- 
time the existing American navy met with remark- 
able success. On Aug. 18, 18i2. the Constitution 
captured the British ship of war Guerriere; on Oct. 
18th of the sjime yearaHritish frigate surrendered 
to the American sloop of war Wasp; on the 3.")th of 
the .same month the frigate United States captured 
the British frigate Macedonia; on Dec. 30th the Con- 
stitution captured the British frigate Java. Mr. 
Hamilton resigned his position as secretary of the 




navy in December, 1813, and was .succeeded by 
William Jones, of Pennsylvania, appointed Jan. 13, 
1813. It is stated that Mr. Hamilton was too timid 
to properly occupy so important a position, having 
no confidence in the American navy or its prospects, 
and that on the re-election of Jlr. Sladison for a sec- 
ond term, he was requested to resign. Mr. Hamilton 
died in Beaufort, S. C, June 30,1816. 

CROWNINSHIELD, Benjamin Williams, 
secretary of the navy, was born in Boston, Mass., 
Dec. 27, 1773. He was fairly educated in the Eng- 
lish branches, and on reaching manhood went into 
business at Salem, Mass. His mercantile position 
was prominent, and led to promotion to political 
trusts. In 1811 he served as a state senator, and on 
Dec. 19, 1814, entered the cabinet of President Jlad- 
isonas secretary of the navy. Ho was held o\'er dur- 
ing the Jlonroe administration, resigning in the lat- 
ter part of 1818. In 1820 he was a presidential 
elector. In 1833 he was again elected state senator. 
In 1833 he went to congress as a democrat, repre- 
senting the Salem district of Massachu.setts, and con- 
tinued" in congr&ss until March 3, 1831. The latter 
part of his lifewas passed in retirement, and he died 
in Boston Feb. 3. 1851. 

PINKNEY, William, attorney - general, was 
born in Annapolis, Md., March 17, 1764. He was 
the son of an Englishman, who continued a loyalist 
throughout the struggle for independence. The boy's 
early education was defective, owing to the excite- 
ment of the period. He, however, had some tuition 
under a private tutor, and. for a time, studied medi- 
cine, but in 1783 entered the office of Jud.L'c Samuel 
Chase, of Baltimore, and began study. He was ad- 
mitted to the bar in 1 786, and went to Harford county, 
Md., where he ])racticed for two years, when he was 
elected a delegate from that county to the convention 
of the .state called to revise the constitution of the 
United States. In October of that year the same 
county chose him as representa- 
tive to the Maryland house of 
delegates. In that position he 
remained until 1793. In 1789 
Mr. Pinkney was married, at 
Havre de Grace, Md., to Slaria 
Rodgers, sister of Com. Rod- 
gers," of the American navy. In 
tlie same year, as a member of 
the legislature of ^Maryland, Mr. 
Pinkney eloquently resisted a 
proposed law to prevent the 
emancipation of slaves. They 
had a family of ten children, 
most of whom as they grew up 
resided in Baltimore. In 1793 
l\Ir. Pinkney was elected a mem- 
ber of the executive council of 
the state of Jlarylaud, and con- 
tinued in that position until 1795, 
when he resigned, being at that 
time presidentof the board. He was then chosen a del- 
egate from Anne Annidel county to the state legis- 
lature. In 1796 President Washington appointed 
Mr. Pinkney commissioner of the United States 
imder the 7t'h article of Mr. Jay's treaty with Great 
Britain, this being the settlement of the mooted 
cpiestion as to the claims of American merchants for 
compensation on account of losses and damages 
caused them by acts of the English government. 
Throughout his official labors in'London a number 
of important questions came up concerning interna- 
tional law, such as the practice of prize courts, the 
law of contraband, domicile, blockade; and on these 
subjects Mr. Pinkney g.ave written opinions, which 
were viewed as models of powerful argument and 
judicial eloquence. While carrying out his official 
duties as commissioner for the iJnited States, he was 




152 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



also an aspnt of the state of Araryland in proseout- 
iii<r its claims, and a lars;e amount of puMic |)ropi'rty 
which liad l)eeu invested in stock of the ]5ank of 
England, and which was tlien in chauceiy, was le- 
covered. These claims Mr. Piukney succeeded in 
adjusting to the satisfaction of the parties involved. 
In 1804 lie returned to the I'liited States, and soon 
after removed from Annapolis to Ballimore. and in 
180.5 was a|)pointed attorney-general of the .state. In 
IHOH he was .sent abroad to unite with Mr. Monroe, 
then American minister to London, in an effort 
to arrange with the Uritish government regarding 
the condition and differences then e.\i.sting between 
the two countries, and which ullimately brought 
about the war of 1813. lie rernained aliroail until 
1811, was entirely successful in his mission, and 
was then recalled at his own solicitation. In Sep- 
tember of that year he was elected a member of the 
state senate, and in the following December was ap- 
pointed by Mr. Madison attorney-general of the 
United States. Mr. I'inkney took a decided part 
in the demonstrations growing out of the war with 
Great Britain, and commanded a b;ittalion of rill(!- 
inen which was raised in Baltimore for local de- 
fence, and in the battle at Bladensl)urg he fought 
with great zeal, and was severely wounded. Soon 
after he was chosen representative to congress from 
the city of Baltimore. This was in 1815, and in 
March, 1810, he was ajipointed by the president 
minister plenipotentiary to the court of Russia, and 
special envoy to Naples for the purpose of demand- 
ing indemnification for the lo.sses which had been 
sustained by American merchants on account of the 
seizure and confi.scation of their property in the year 
1809. His negotiations with the government proved 
unsuccessful, and he traveled rapidlv through Italy 
and so on by Vienna to St. Petersburg. He re- 
mained, fultilling the duties of liis offlce at the court 
of Russia for two years, when he returned to the 
United States. In 1820 Mr. Pinkuey was elected a 
U. S. senator and distinguished him.self in that body, 
at the same time performing immense labors at the 
bar of the supreme court of the United States. Early 
in 1822 he broke down under extraordinary fatigue 
while conducting an im|iortaut cause, and died in 
Wasliington Feb. 25, 1.S22. 

HABPEB, Robert Goodloe, soldier and law- 
yer, was born near Prederieksburg, Va., in 176.5. 
Wliile he w-as still a boy his pa- 
rents, who were in poor circum- 
stances, removed from Virginia 
and .settled in Granville, N. C. 
Here the boy worked on his fa- 
ther's farm, and was engageil in 
Ibis occupation during the early 
]iart of the revolution, being too 
young to go into the service, but 
at the age of fifteen he joined a 
troop of horse and served for a 
short time under Gen. Greene. 
At the close of the war he re- 
turned home and was soon af- 
ter sent to Princeton College, 
wherehe was graduated in 1785. 
Young Har|)er provided for his 
own edu(tation while in college 
by leaching the lower classes, 
(in leaving college he went to 
Charleston, S. C, where he ar- 
rived with but a few dollars in his pocket. Chanc- 
ing to meet one of his former |ni|iils, the hitter's 
father, a man of prominence, came to his assistance 
and introduced him to a local lawyer, in whose office 
the young man began the study of law. He was so 
industrious and had so much natural talent that in 
a year he obtained his admi.ssinn to practice at the 
bar. He did not, however, remain in Charleston, 




^>^ ^■■^^^^^;d-y-^. 



but went into the back country where there were 
fewer lawyers and soon obtained a good practice, 
while at the same time founding for himself a repu- 
tation as a writer. He entered into politics and was 
elected to the .state legislature, and in 1795 went to 
congress, where he remained until the accession of 
Thomas .lelfcrson to the presidency in 1801, when 
h(^ settled in Baltimore, married the daughter of 
Charles Carroll, of Carrolllon, and began the prac- 
tice of law in the courts of Maryland. He gained 
great reputation for his display of ability in the case 
of Judge Samuel Chase of the U. S. supreme court, 
whose counsel he was during the judge's impeach- 
ment. In 1812 Mr. Harper entered the United States 
service for the war with the rank of colonel, was 
fre(|Uently in active service, and was |iromoted to lie 
major-general. He was a warm friend of the Rus- 
sians, and especially of the c/.ar, in whose favor he 
even imderrated tlie ability of Napoleon I. Hav- 
ing cxjircssed his views in this direction at a |iub- 
lic <linner in Georgetown. D. C. given June 5, 181;!, 
he fell into a controversy with Robert Walsh, a 
noted aulhiirand editor of the time; this controversy 
was ill the form of a coircspondence. which was after- 
ward publisheil in a volume. In 181(i Harper was 
clecteil from the state of Maryland a member of the 
U. S. senate, but resigned from that body during 
the same year, having become a federalist candidate 
for vice-president. He did not receive the nomina- 
tion, however, anil returned to the practice of his 
jirofcssion. In 1819 Jlr. Harper visited Eni;land, 
France and Italy, accompanied by his family, re- 
maining aliroad a year. On his leturn he engagetl 
with great zeal in promoting the interests of the 
American Colonization Society, of which he was a 
member, and which afterward honored his memory 
by naming after him the town of Harper, on the 
coast of Afric.-i, near Cajie Palmas. Early in 1S25 
Mr. Harper (ilfered himself as a candidate to run for 
c(jngress in the . -11110001 of that year, but his dc;illi 
occurred with gicat suddenness. A collection of his 
letters, addresses and pamphlets was published in 
Baltimor(M1814), under the title, "Select AVorks." 
lie died in Baltimore, ^Ald., Jan. 15, 1825. 

NILES, Nathaniel, statesman, was born in 
South Kingston. R. I., Apr. 8. 1741. He ]ire]>aied 
for college and was matriculated at first at Harvard, 
afterwards graduating from Piiucetou in 17ti<i. He 
sub.sequentlv studied medicine and law. removing 
to New Yorli city for this jnirpo.se. While pursuing 
his studies he taught school. He gave up liis plans, 
removed to Connecticut, and took up theology with 
the celebrated Joseph Bellamy as his instructor, and 
jireached in a number nf New England towns. 
He was an inventor and originated a method of 
making wire from bar iron by watcrjiower, and 
also started a wool-card manufactory at Norwich, 
Conn., where he settled, having married a daughter 
of Elijah liOthrop. After the revolution he settled 
in AVest Fairlee, Vt.. being the first settler in that 
locality and noted as a preacher. He was elected to 
the V^'rmont legislature, and in 1784 was speaker, 
lie al.so became a judge iif the suineme court of the 
state; was lu-esideiitial elcctor-at-large when Madi- 
son was I'c-elccted president, and was, from 1791 to 
1795, a representative in congress. He was a meta- 
physician as well as a politician, and so well consid- 
ered that in 1772 he received the degree of A.M. 
from Harvard, and in 1791 the same honor from 
Dartmouth, of wliicli institution he was a trustee for 
twcnly-si'Veii years. Mr. Niles was the author of 
several inibli.shcd books and .sermons, anil he wrote 
an ode on the war, which was set to music, and was 
to a certain extent the war-song of the revolution. 
It was called " The American Hero," and was writ- 
ten on hearing the news of the battle of Bunker Hill. 
Mr. Niles died in West Fairlee, Vt.. Oct. 31, is-js. 




^^^a^-T-T^t-'C^ 



COPYRIGHT, 1B9S. BV JAMES T. WHITE A CO 



OF AMEEICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



155 




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MONROE, James, fifth prosident of the United 
States, WHS born in West Walden county, Va. , Apr. 28, 
17.58. He was descended from Enghsh ancestry, the 
first of the name having been an officer in the army 
of Charles I., who emigrated with otlier cavaliers to 
Virginia in 16.57. The future presideut was educated 
at William and Mary College. He left in 1776 to 
enter the army. He was soon commissioned lieu- 
tenant, and was active in the campaigns on the Hud- 
sou river. He was engaged in the affair at Trenton, 
N. .!., where with a small de- 
tachment he captured one of 
the British batteries. He was 
wounded on the shoulder in 
this action, and for his gallant 
conduct was promoted to a 
captaincy. In 1777 Jlonroe 
was appointed aide-de-camp 
to Lord Stirling, with the rank 
of major. During that and the 
following year he fought at 
Brandywine, Germantown and 
Monmouth, but by having ac- 
cepted a staff position he for- 
feited his rank as a commis- 
sioned officer in the regular 
army. Returning to Virginia, 
lie began the study of law un- 
der the sujicrvision of Thomas 
'^ Jefferson, at that time gov- 
ernor of the state, but tin; 
British soon after appeared in Virginia, and 
Monroe organized the militia of the lower counties. 
When the army proceedeil soutlnvard. .lelferson sent 
him as military commissiduer of the state to South 
Carolina from the coimty of King George. Monroe 
■was elected to the Virginia assembly, and allhougli 
but twenty-three years of age, he was appointed by 
that body a member of the executive coimcil. In 
1783 he was sent to congress as a delegate for three 
years. Monroe advocated au extension of the powers 




of congress, and in 178.5 moved to invest that body 
with authority to regulate trade between the states. 
It was this resolution, which was referred to a com- 
mittee, and on which a favorable report was made, 
that led to the convention at Annapolis and the sub- 
sequent adoption of the Federal constitution. Monroe 
was appointed a member of the commission to decide 
upon tlie boundary between Massachusetts and New 
York. He also exerted him.self in devising a S3\stem' 
for the settlement of the public lauds. In 1785 Mon- 
roe married a daughter of Lawrence Kortright, of 
New York, a lady who was justly celebrated for 
her beauty and accomplishments. Three years later 
Jlonroe was re-elected to the general a.ssembly, and 
in 1788 w-as chosen a delegate to the Virginia con- 
vention to decide upon the adoption of the Federal 
constitution. He was apprehensive that the instru- 
ment, as submitted, conferred too much jiowerupon 
tlie general government, and was one of the minority 
in that state, but this course of action was warmly 
approved by the great mass of the peojilc of Virginia, 
and in 1790 Monroe was chosen from that state as 
senator. In the senate he at once became a prominent 
representative of the anti-federal |)arty, with which 
he acted until the expiration of his term. In May, 
1794, Monroe was appointed minister plenipotentiary 
to France, and was received in Fi'.'uice with respect, 
and even enthusiasm, but his marked sympathy with 
the French republic was displea.sing lo the admini.s- 
tration, .lobn .Tav had been sent to negotiate a treaty 
with England, and the course pursued by ilonroe 
was considered inju<lieious. as tending to throw 
serious obstacles in the way of the|>ropose(l negotia- 
tions. On the conehision of th<' treaty Monroe's al- 
leged failure was presented in its true character to the 
French government, and in August, 1796, he was re- 
called under an informal censure. Soon after his 
return to America, Mr. Monroe publislied a review 
of the conduct of the executive in the foreign affairs 
of the United Stales, which served to widen the 
breach between himself and the administration. He 



156 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



remaiucd on good terms witli Wasliington and Jay, 
however. From 179!) to 1SU2 Monroe was governor 
of Virginia, and at the close of his term was appoint- 
ed envoy e.xtraordinarv to the French government to 
negotiate, in conjunction with the resident minister, 
Mr. Livingston, for the purchase of Louisiana. The 
result was that within a fortnight after his arrival in 
Paris the entire territory of Orleans and district of 
Louisiana was secured for ^15,000,000, an acquisition 
of territory whosf; worth was almost inestimahle. In 
the same year Monroe was commissioned minister 
plenipoleniiarv to England, but was soon sent to 
Madrid as minister extraordinary and plenijjotentiary 
to adjust the controversy between the L'liited Slates 
and Spain in relation to the boundaries of the new 
purchase of Louisiana. In this he failecl. and in 
ISIM) he Wiis recalled to England, where a tn^ty was 
concluded for the protection uf neutral right.s, but 
■which was deemed ambiguous in relation to certain 
important points and which omitted any jirovisiou 
against the impressment of seamen, and in con.se- 
quence of these faults the president sent it back for 
revisal. peixling which Monme returned to America. 
In ISIO Monroe was appointed to the general assem- 
bly of Virginia, and in isi 1 was again governor of the 
conmiouwealth, but in the same year assumed the 
po.sition of .secretary of state, to which he was ap- 
pointed bj- President Madison. After the capture 




of 'Washington, in 1814, Monroe was appointed to 
the war (U'liartment, which be took without relin- 
qui.shing his former jio.st. He improved the con- 
dition of the army greatly by his judicious admini.s- 
tralion and even pledged his private means to 
sustain the public credit, which was completely 
prostrated. It was this latter act which enabled the 
city of New Orleans to successfidly oppose the at- 
tack of the enemy. >Ionroe conlinued to serve as 
secretary of stateto the enil of .Madison's adminis- 
tration in ISIT, when he succeeded to the presidency 
as a candidate of the parly tlien generally known 
as democratic-republicans, by an electoral vote of 
lH;i out of 217. During a tmir which Jfonroe made 
through the Middle and Eastern states for the in- 
spection of arsen.sals, naval dejiots. fortitical ions and 
garrisons, he found that the party spirit w hich had 
been lately so rampant, was greatly allayed, lie 
was careful, however, in making appointments to 
tlie offices within his gift, to select none l)ut his 
most d(!voted adherents. .John (Juiney Adams was 
recalled from the Court of St. .lames to become his 
secretary of state. The other members of his cab- 
inet were William II. Crawford, of Georgia, secre- 
tary of the treasury; .John C. Calhoun, of South 
Caicilina, secretary- "of war : Benjamin W. Crown- 
inshicld (if Massachusetts, secretary of the navy, and 
"William Wirt, of Virginia, attorney-general. In 
the meantime tlie influence of the revolution had 
affected other nations. The Spanish colonies in 



South America threw off their allegiance to the 
mother-country and declared themselves independ- 
ent. Under pretext of having ccmmiissions from 
these new republics, adventurers seized Amelia I.sl- 
and, off the harbor of St. Augustine. A similar 
haunt for buccaneers — for these W(jrthies had soon 
begun to smuggle merchandise and slaves into the 
United Stales — had existed for some time at Galve.s- 
tou, Tex. Both of these establishments were now^ 
broken up by order of the United States govern- 
ment. The condition of the South American rejnib- 
lics excited great sympathy in the nunds of the |ieo- 
ple. Some advocated giving them aid, while others 
were anxious that congress should at least acknowl- 
edge their independence. Cruisers bearing the 
flags of these reimblies were hi led out in some of 
the ports of the United States to prey on Spanish 
commerce. In regard to the Florida trouble, it 
was somewhat serious. It originated in the conflict 
between the South American republics and their 
mother-country, and in llu^ fact that privateers bear- 
ing the flags of these republics were fitted out in 
.some of the southern ports of the United States to 
prey npon Spanish commerce All uf this led to a 
lingering war, and the Georgia settlements were |iil- 
laged by bands of Seminoles, refugee Creeks, and 
others, and, finally, a boat ascending the Appalachi- 
cola was attacked, and more than fifty iiensons, men, 
women, and children were massacred. This brought 
orders from Washington to Gen. Jackson to invade 
the Indian territorv, which he did with small cere- 
mony, hanging .some of the hostile chiefs whom he 
captiired, and seizing the only Spanish fort in the 
disturbed part of Florida, on the ground that its 
officers were aiding the Indians in their hostility to 
the United Slates. He also captured Pensacola. 
These arbitrary proceedings were brought to the 
con.sideration of the government at Washington by 
the Spanish niinisler, with the result that Florida 
was ceded to the Uiiiled Slates for the consideration 
that the United Slates assumed a debt of about ss.5,. 
000,000, which American citizens had claims against 
the Spanish government. In ]March.lH22.new interest 
was awakened in behalf of the South American re- 
publics. Great eft'orts had been made by Henry Clay 
during their struggle to induce congress to acknowl- 
edge their independence, but it was then thought 
premature. Now the bill was passed. The next 
year the president declared in his message to con- 
gress that " As a iirinciple, the American continents 
by the free and independent position which they 
have assumed and maintained are henceforth not to 
be considered as subjects for future colonization by 
any European power." This has .since been known 
as "the "^lonroe doctrine," though its authorship, it 
would seem, lieloniicd ralher to";\hinroe's secretary 
of state, John (Juiiiey Adams. The la.st year of 
Monroe's adminisi ration was signalized by the visit 
of the venernlile Manpns de Lafayette to the United 
States as the inviU'd guesl of the nalion. On Mar. 4, 
]83.5.Monroe!clired from ollice and returned to his res- 
idence at Oak Hill in Virginia. He was chosen a jus- 
tice of the peace and as such sal in Ihe county court. 
In 1S29 he became a member of the Virginia conven- 
tion to revise Ihe old eon.stitution, and was chosen to 
preside over the deliberations of that body but he 
was compelled by ill health to resign his post in the 
convention and To return to Oak Hill. In addition 
to his bodily infirmilies, Jlonroe suffered under the 
misfortune Of jiecuniarv embarrassment, and al- 
though he had received '!!:8.")0,000 for his public ser- 
vices, yet in his old age he was harassed by debt. 
Jlonro'e's wife died in lS:iO and in the summer of 
that year he removed his residence to that of his 
soniii-law, Samuel L. Gouverneur, in the city of 
New York, where he died. In 1S.5S his remains 
were removed with great pomp to Kiehmond, Va., 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



157 



and reinterred on July 5th, in the Hollywood ceme- 
tery. It is justly said of Monroe that he held the 
reins of government at an important period and ad- 
ministered it with prudence, discrctiou and a single 
eye to the general welfare. He went further than 
any of his predecessors in developing the resources 
of the country. He encouraged the army, increased 
the navy, augmented the national defences, protect- 
ed commerce and infused vigor and efficiency into 
every department of the public service. His hon- 
esty, good faith and simplicit}' were generally ac- 
knowledged and disarmctl the political rancor of his 
strongest opponents. In person, Jlonroe was tall 
and well-formed, with a light complexion and blue 
eyes and the expression of his countenance was an 
accurate index of his simplicity, benevolence and 
integritv. He died in New York city July 4, 1831. 
MONROE, Elizabetli(Kortright), wife of Pres- 
ident .James Monroe, was born in Xew York city in 
176!^, the daughter of Captain Lawrence Kortright, 
of the Britisirarmy, who remained in New York af- 
ter the peace of 1783. Elizabeth was educated in 
her native city, anil is supposed to have married Jlr. 
Monroe in 1789, and settled in Philadelphia after 
their marriage. In 1794 she went with her liusband 
to France, where he occupied the post of U. S. min- 
ister, and during her residence there Jlrs. Monroe 
visited the wife of the JIarquis 
de Lafayette, who was confined 
in the prison of La Force, hourly 
expecting to be executed, and 
finally effected her release. Mrs. 
Monroe returned to America with 
her husband, and subsequently 
accompanied him abroad a sec- 
ond time, when he went to France 
as minister to London and to 
Spain. On their return to Amer- 
ica they resided in Virginia, and 
sub.sequently in AVashington, 
where as the wife of the secre- 
tary of state, and, later, of the 
president, ilrs. Monroe was as 
prominent in society as her deli- 
cate health would permit. She 
is said to have been an elegant 
and accomplished woman, pos- 
sessing "a charming mind and 
dignity of manners which peculiarly tit her for her 
elevated station." Jlrs. Jlonroe died at Oak Hill, 
Va., her husband's residence, in 1830. 

TOMPKINS, Daniel D., vice-president of the 
United States, and governor of New York (1807-16), 
was born in Westchester county, N. Y., June 
21, 1774. He was the son of the revolutionary 
patriot. .Jonathan G. Tompkins, who died in May, 
1833, aged eighty-six, at Fox Meadows, or Scarsdale, 
on the river Bronx, in Westchester coimty, N. 
Y'., the family homestead. Y'oung Daniel went 
to Columbia College, where he was graduated in 
1795, studied law and settled in New York city as a 
lawyer. During the party .strugglesof 1799-1801, Mr. 
Tompkins was a conspicuous republican and became 
a leader of the party in New York .«late. He was 
elected to the consiiiutimial convention cif 1801, was 
a member of the a.s.sembly, and in 1804 was elected a 
member of congress, but resigned, having been ap- 
pointed a justice of the supreme court of his .state. 
On June 9, 1807, Mr. Tojnpkins resigned this position 
also, having been nominated a candidate for gov- 
ernor by the democratic wing of his jiarty. He was 
elected, and re-elected in 1809 and 1811. In 1812, 
the abolition of the Uniteil Stales Bank being about 
to cause the establishment of the Bank of North 
America in New York, a financial policy which he 
believed to be corrupt. Gov. Tompkins made usu 
of the extreme powers of his olhce, and which no 




if-e^y>-^^^o-iU-,-Cy 







^ 



other governor ever used except himself, before or 
since. Acting within his constitutional rights, he 
prorogued the legislature of the state. The effect, 
however, was only temporary, and when the legislat- 
ure met again""the obnoxious bill was passed. Dur- 
ing the war of 1813 Gov. Tompkins became very 
popular on account of the activity of 
his patriotism and the importance of 
his services. He succeeded in organ- 
izing the militia, while he sustained 
the United States government credit 
with his own personal funds at a 
time when New Y'ork banks refused 
to lend money on United States treas- 
ury notes witliout his endorsement. 
Indeed, he used his large means in 
advancing money in all directions to 
enable the prosecution of the war. 
It was he who .sustained the Military 
Academy at West Point, paid for 
recruiting in Connecticut, and sus- 
tained the workmen who were man- 
ufacturing arms at Springfield, Mass. y/] ,/^V ~~7-^ 
He succeeded in equipping 40,000 '<J/'i^i^ZJ;'^a^//^„^j 
militia, and .sent them to the de- 
fense of Plattsburgh, Sackett's Har- 
bor, Buffalo and other places. After 
the attack by the British on Washington city, Pres- 
ident Madison offered Gov. Tompkins the posi- 
tion of secretary of state, but he declined it. He 
was re-elected governor in 1815, and in -\pril, 1816, 
was nominated for the vice-presidency of the LTnited 
States. He was elected by 183 out of 217 votes, and 
re-elected in 1820 by 215 out of 228 votes. In the 
latter year he was again proposed as a candidate for 
governor, but in the meantime his popularity had 
failed him, and his enemies spread abroad accusa- 
tions in connection with his heavy expenditures 
during the war with Great Britain, even going so far 
as to charge him with dishonesty. As a matter of 
fact, there is no doubt that the ditHcult_y lay entirely 
in inaccuracy and confusion in his accounts, but the 
charges so prej-ed upon him that his mind became un- 
hinged and he took to drinking, which hastened his 
death. He died on Staten Island, New Y'ork, June 
11, 1835. 

CALHOUN, John Caldwell, secretary of war 
(1817-20), vice president (1825-31), and secretarj' of 
state (1843-45). was born in Abbeville District, S. C, 
March 18, 1783, a descendant of a race of Calvinists. 
His grandfather. James Calhoun, emigrated from 
Donegal, Ireland, to Penn.sylvania in 1733, bring- 
ing his family with him. He afterward removed to 
Virginia, settling on the Kanawha, and in 1756 set- 
tled in South Carolina, establishing the " Calhovm 
Settlement." His son, Patrick, married Martha 
Caldwell, daughter of an Irish Presbyterian end- 
grant, and they became the parents of John C. Cal- 
hoiui. John's father died while he was a child, and 
the boy spent his youth on his mother's farm, receiv- 
ing but little .schooling until he was placed under the 
care of his brotherin-lavv, Rev. Dr. Waddell, a 
Presbyterian clergyman, who prepared him for col- 
lege. He entered Yale college in 1802. graduating 
at the age of twenty-two with honors and the ap- 
jiroval of President Dwight, who prophesied that he 
\vonld attain great eminence. He subsequently de- 
voted three years to the study of law, studying in 
South Carolina and in Litchfield, Conn., graduating 
from the latter place, and was admitted to the bar 
in South Carolina in 1807. He engaged in the prac- 
tic of law at Abbeville, but .soon relinquished his 
]irofession to devote himself to politics. He was 
elected to the state legislature, served two terms, 
and in IHU was elected to congress, taking his seat 
at a time when war with Great Britain was imminent. 
He was placed on the conunittee of foreign affairs. 



158 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



■wrote the report that was presented to the ho\ise. 
urged a declaration of war, and upheld the Ameri- 
can cause with ijreat enthusiasm. Randolph opposed 
the report and the war. But t'alhouu woidd not 
compromise; in his tirst speech he said, "The law 
of self-preservaliim is never safe, except under the 
shield (if honor." In the .same year he married his 
cousin Floride, who.se comfortable fortune enabled 
him to pursue the career upon which he had entered, 
with t!iea.s.suranceof a competence, whatever misfor- 
tunes might befall him. After the war, in 1815, tlie 
country was confronted with various important 
questions, which gave Calhoun an opportunity to 
develop his original views. Ifc urged I lie hank bill, 
organized lh(' tariff of 1816, so favorable to his na- 
tive state, urged a .system of roads and canals, 
though he afterward modified his views on these 
questions, declaring that remedies that were proper 
and suitable for a certain .slate of things were not 
advi.sable for another. In 1817 President ilonroe 
appointed him .secretary of war, in which office he 
disjilayed great energy and ability, and won an im- 
disputed fame. He straightened out the confused 
affairs of the department, reduced the c.vpenditure 
of the army without sacrificing its elticiency or com- 
fort, drew up a bill for organizing the department, 
and established a system that is still in force to a 
large extent. In 1824 Mr. Calhoun was elected vice- 
president of the I'nited States 
l)y a lariie majority, and this 
])erii)(i of his lile may be said 
to be the begiiming of his ca- 
reer as a constitutional states- 
man. In 1887 he said, "The 
station, from its leisure, gave 
me a good opportunity to study 
the genius of the jirominent 
measure of the day, called then 
the .Vmerican system, l)y which 
I ])rofited." He referred to .Mr. 
Clay's system, the bank, the 
protective tarifl, the internal 
ini|U'ovement .sy.stem and gen- 
eral welfare rule, all tlouri.sh- 
ing at that time. In 1828 Jack- 
son was elected president, and 
Calhoim was re-elected vice- 
president. In the early part 
of his career Mr. Calhoun ad- 
vocated broad and patriotic views, but in after 
years he became a leader of distinctly southern in- 
terests, though it is judbable that he thought they 
involved the benefit of the whole country. He sided 
with South Carolina against the protective system, 
and his " E.xposition, " with amendments, was 
adopted by the legislatiu'e of that state. He hoped 
that President Jackson would veto the tariff bill, 
but as he did not do so, Calhoun removed to South 
Carolina in 1829, and bad pa.ssed in the legislature 
the famous resolution " that any state in tlie Union 
might anmd an act of the Federal government." 
Virginia, Georgia, and Alabama gave in their ad 
he.sion, and the di.ssolntion of the Union seemed im- 
minent. Mr. Calhoun delivered an address on the 
relations of the states to the general government, in 
1831, drew up a report for the legislature in the .same 
year, an address to the iieople of the state at the 
close of that session, a letter to Gov. Hamilton on 
state interposition, in 1832, and an address to the [leo- 
ple of the Uinted States by the convention of South 
Carolina in 1832, in all of "which he maiiilained the 
doctrine of state inK'rposition, or " nullifiealion." 
Mr. Calhoim's relations with the president became 
strained, he lost much of his po])idarity, and in 1H31 
resinned the vice-presidency, tnit was soon afterward 
elected to the senate. He stood alone as the chain 
piou of his state, defending its ordinance of nulli 




7 



^^-^.^..^ 



fication, both political parties and the administration 
being oppo.sed to him. But Calhoun had the cour- 
age of his convictions, and was indifferent to personal 
consequences. In November, 1832, the president 
i.ssued his proclamation, which was followed by the 
"force bill," and in the following February Calhouu 
made a powerful speech against it, followed by a 
reply from Daniel Web.sier, who liwelt with consid- 
erable length upon certain resolutions proposed by 
Mr. Calhoun. The hitter brought forward his reso- 
lutions, and made a .speech of great i)ower and bril- 
liancy, to which, however, Mr, Webster did not 
reply. The issue was on the first resolution: "Tliat 
the people of the several slates comprising these 
United Slates are united as ])arties toa con.stitutional 
compact, to which the people of each slate acceded, 
as a separate and .sovereign community, each binding 
itself by its own particular ratification; and that the 
union, of which the said coniiiact is the liond, is a 
union between the stales lalirying the same." Many 
of the deniocials and wliigs lield that the eonstitnlion 
was a compai-t, but denied the right of nullification 
by a state, and niauy denied the right of secession. 
There were .some who believed in the right of .seces- 
sion, but not of luillification. It was claimed for the 
doctrine of nullification that it was a remedy within 
the Union, reserved to the statt — a remedy for evils — 
to declare void an nncoiistitutional law, and to sjive 
the Uni<in, not dissolve it. During the l;ist term of 
President Jackson 'Slv. Calhoun acted with the whig 
party on tlie bank and tariff (piestious. He claimed 
to lead the " slate-rights " men, who acleil from priu- 
ci]ile, and who were not governed by parly motives 
nor ambition. He called an extra session of congress 
in 1837, in connection with the financial jianic of that 
year, advocated a total separation of the government 
from the banks, and was favorable to tlie constitu- 
tional treasury |ilan. In 183s Jlr. Calhoun made his 
famous speech on .slavery. He regarded slavery as a 
natural relation, and the abolition movement cau.sed 
him great an.xiety. If it proved successful he be- 
lieved that the fate of the southern peoi)le "would 
be worse than that of the Aliorigines, " and that the 
fruitful fields of the South would be reduced to their 
primeval condition. " To desi roy t he existing rela- 
tions," he .said, "would be to destroy the prosperity 
of the Southern states, and to jilace the two races in 
a state of conflict, which must end in the expulsion 
or extirpation of one or the other." He looked iqiou 
social and political equality as the neces.sary conse- 
quence of emancipation, but believed that such 
equality must forever be impo.ssible between the 
races. In 1841 Mr. Calhoun was a leader of the 
democratic party, and discussed the tariff question 
in a .series of brilliant speeches, taking the ground 
that a tariff for revenue only was constitnlioiial and 
jiroper. On Aug. 5, 1842, the closing words of his 
speech on this subiect were: "The great popular 
party is already rallied almo.st en mnnse around the 
liamier which is leading the (larly to its final tri- 
iiniph. The few that still lag will .soon be rallied 
under its ample folds. On that banner is inscvilied: ' 
Free trade; low duties; no debt; separation from 
banks; ecommiy, retrenchment, and strict adherence 
to the constitution. Victory in such a cause will be 
great and gloriiais; and long will it iieriietuatc the 
liberty and prosperity of the connlry." In 184:i Jlr. 
Calhoun was aiijiointed seeietary of .state, and dur- 
ing his term of olfice cslalilished the ri,!rhts of the 
United States to Oregon and Washingtim territories, 
which resulted in the treaty of 181(i. He jiropheti- 
cally s]ioke of the future triumphs of sleam and 
electricity, in a speech delivered in that year in con- 
nection witli the Oregon affair, and said: " Provi- 
<lence has given us an inheritance stretching across 
the entire continent from ocean to ocean . , . 
our great mission as a peojile is to occujiy this vast 





COPVRIQKT, IB93, BY JAUES T. WHITE A CO. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



161 



domain; to replenish it with an intelligent, virtuous, 
and industrious poi)ulatiou, to convert the forests 
into cultivated fields; to drain the swamps and 
morasses, and cover them with rich harvests; to build 
up cities, towns, luid villages in every direction, and 
to unite the wliole by the most rapid intercourse be- 
tween all the parts. . . . Secure peace, and time, 
under the guidance of a sagacious and cautious 
policy, 'a wise and masterly inactivity,' will speed- 
ily accomplish the whole. . . . War can make 
us great; but let it uever be forgotten that peace 
only can malie us both great and free." Ou retiring 
from tlie state deiiartinent. Mr, t'alhoim was elected 
to the senate, and did all he could to prevent the 
war with Mexico. During tlie progress of the war 
the Wilmot provi.so was proposed liv the anti-slavery 
party, which declared thai slavery sliould never be 
allowed in any Mexican territory acqinred by treaty. 
This caused great agitation thnuigliout tlie countrv, 
and on Fcl>. 19, 1S47, Calhoun expressed his views 
in the following resolutions: " Tliat the territories of 
the United States belong to the several states com 
jiosing the Union, and are held by them as their joint 
and common property; that eon.gress, as the joint 
agent and rejire-sentative of the states of tlie Union, 
has no right to make any law or do any act what- 
ever, that shall directly, or by its elfects, make any 
di.scrimination between the states of this Union, by 
which any of them .shall be deprived of its full and 
equal right in any territory of tlie United States, ac- 
quired or to lie acquired." The question was not 
settled luitil 1850, when the compromise mea.sures 
were pa.sseil, and Jlr. Calhoun's last speech was on 
this subject on March 4, 1850, the speech being read 
for him. Henry Clay said of Mr. Calhoun: "He 
possessed an elevated genius of the highest order." 
Daniel Web.ster said: " He was a man of undoubted 
genius and of commanding talent. All the country 
and all the world admit that. ... He had the 
basis, the indispensable basis of all higli character, 
and that was unspotted integrity, unimpeaehed 
honor and diaraeter. If he had aspirations, they 
were high and honorable and noble. ... I do 
not believe he had a selfi.sh motive or selfish feeling." 
Edward Everett said: "Cidhoun, Clay, Webster! 
1 naiiK! them in ali>habetical order. What other 
precedence can be assigned them '?" In private life 
Mr. Calhoun's character was above reproach. He 
■was a devoted husband and father, a sincere friend, 
a good neighbor and citizen. His manners were 
simple, his morals rigid, his habits temperate, his 
nature genial, his conversation brilliant. As a 
statesman he has left a reputation for inirity and 
greatnes.s. He published "A Disquisition on Gov- 
ernment," and " A Discourse on the Constitution 
and (Jovernment of the United States." Mr. Cal- 
houn's residence at Fort Hill was the abode of hospi- 
talitv and elegance. Mr. Calhoun died in Washing- 
ton,"!). C. Jiareh ;^1, 18.")(). 

SOUTHARD, Samuel Lewis, secretary of the 
navy and governor of New Jcr.sey (1832-33), was 
born at Ha.skinridge, X. J.. June "J, i787. His father 
removed from Long Island, where the family had 
resided, and setlleii in New Jersey, where he devoted 
himself to farming. He was justice of tlie peace, 
member of the state assembly and member of con- 
gress. Wlien about twelve years of age young 
Samuel began liis education at a classical academy 
in his native village, and became interested in the 
profession of teacliing, to wliich for some years he 
devoted himself. In September. 1802, he entered 
the junior class at Princc^ton, and was graduated 
witli honors two years later. Soon after leaving col- 
lege he taught for a time in Morris count}', and then 
obtained a tutorship in the family of "Col. John 
Taliaferro, a mi'uilier of congress from Virginia, at 
liis plantation in King George's county, near Fred- 



ericksburg. Here he remained for five years, 
in.structing the cliildreu of Col. 'I'aliaferro and 
his relatives. He also began the study of law, and 
in 1809 was admitted to jiractice. By his pujiils in 
Virginia he was lield in the highest estei'in and af- 
fection, and as they grew to manhood they never 
failed to regard him highly for his talents "and his 
kindly manners. Wliile in Virginia Jlr. Southard 
made the acquaintance of Jlonroe, Jefferson and 
Madison. He married Keliecca Harrow, a ward of 
his patron. In 1811 Mr. Southard settled in Flem- 
niington, Hunterdon Co., N. J., and, devoting 
himself to the practice of law, soon acquired a good 
business, besides being ajjpointed ]iidsccuting attor- 
ney of the county. In 1814 Mr. Siaithard was 
elected a member of the assembly of the state, and 
immediately after, one of the justices of tlie supreme 
court. He sat on the bencli for five years, being, at 
the same time, the reporter of the decisions of the 
court. In 1820 he was a presidential elector, and in 
the same year was elected one of the senators from 
the .state of New Jersey, in which bodv lie took his 
seat Feb. 16, 1821. It lias been claiiued that Mr. 
Southard was the actual originator of the Missouri 
compromise resolutions, wiiich were presented by 
Henry Clay. In 1823 Mr. Southard was aiipointed 
secretary of the navy, in which position he remained 
until Mtirch 3, 1829 ; during some of that period 
being both secretary of the 
treasury and .secretary of war, , ,^ 

besides fulfilling the duties of 
his own oflice. During tlie per- 
iod of the election of James 
IMonroe to the presidency, in 
181(i. and that of the election 
of Jackson, in 1828, the party 
conditions assumed quite a new 
shape. The old federalists be- 
came disorganized and ceased 
to act as a paily, and in 1834 
the old party organizations 
were practically powerless, 
while the new ones had not 
become sufficiently well-formed 
to be iurtuential. It happened, 
therefore, that both Jackson 
and Adams were voted for 
by democrats and federalists. 
After the inauguration of Mr. 
Adams con.siderable hostility 
shown in congress and throughout the country. 
Mr. Southard was one of his supporters, aiid 
New Jersey gave Mr. Adams a decided majority. 
Jackson, however, was elected, and was the first 
chief magistrate after Washington who was really 
elected by the people. In 1829 Mr. Southard was 
put forward as a candidate for senator of New Jer- 
sey, but failed of election. He was soon after, 
however, chosen attorney-general of tlie state, and 
settled in Trenton. In "the meantime, in 1822, he 
had been chosen one of the trustees of Princeton Col- 
lege, and in 1832 received the degree of LI,.D. from 
the University of Pennsylvania. In the latter year 
he was elected governor of the state of New Jersey ; 
but in 1833. liaving been elected U. S. senator, 
he a.ssumed that ollice, which he held until 1842, 
wlien he resigned, being president of the senate in 
1841. Mr. Southard wasbotliscliolarly and elo(jUent. 
In 1827 he dclivcird tln! anniversary address before 
the Columbian Institute at Washington ; and in 1830 
discharged tlie same function before the Newark Jle- 
chanics' Association. He was also selected to deliver 
a discourse on the professional character and virtues 
of William Wirt. Wliile in the senate he took an 
active part in its proceedings, .and spoke frequently. 
While personally admired within his party, he pds- 
ses.sed no talents as a party leader, having no skill in 




toward him was 



162 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 




organization or administration. In 1838 Mr. South- 
ard W!V8 appointed iiresidciil of tlie Morri.s Canal and 
Banking Co., and inini tliat time had liis residence 
in Jersey City. He died at the liuu.se of his wife's 
brother,' in Frederieksl)iirs;, June 2i'>. 1842. 

WIRT, William, attorney-ireneral, was born at 
Bladeiisburg, Prince George's Co., Md., Nov. 8, 
1773. His "father, a Swi.ss. died while he was an 
infant, and his mother, a German, when he was not 
yet eight ; but he was eared for 
by an uncle, sent to a school at 
Georgetown, I). ('., and then to 
that of the Kev. James Hunt in 
Montgomery county, Md., where 
he remained until he was nearly 
fifteen, and made rapid progress. 
While acting as a private tutor 
lie kept up his studies and his 
pniclice in writing. He was ad- 
mitted to the bar in 1793 and 
opened an olliee at Culpeper 
Court House.Va. His person and 
, address were attractive, his abil- 
: ilies shining and precocious, for- 
(3/fl}J tiuie smiled upim him from the 
#) start. While living (179.5-99) at 
the house of his father-in-law. 
Dr. G. Gilmer, of Pen Park, near 
Charlottesville, he was thrown into 
the society of the ga_v young ele- 
ment of the state, and being of a naturally vivacious 
disposition and an agreeable personality, he was 
gladly welcomed, and easily held his own in the dis- 
sipations of the time. This course gave him a repu- 
tation as a ban vhant among his professional breth- 
ren, who failed to see in their gay comiiauion any- 
thing which suggested an ambitious lawyer. Before 
it was too late Wirt -saw the error of his cour.se, and 
breaking away from thetemptationsto which he had 
beenexposed, settled down loasober lifeand acour.se 
of reading which in great measure supplied the de- 
ficiencies of his early education which, especi.nily in 
law, was exceedingly meagre for one who had to meet 
.such opponents as Thomas JetfersoM and James JIoii- 
roe. On his wife's deat h in 1799 he went to Kichmoud, 
where he met the great men of the state, was presently 
made clerk of the house of dclegates,and in 1803 chan- 
cellor of the eastern di.strict. an otHce which he held 
but six months. In this year he married again. In 
1803 his " Letters of a British Spy " appeared in the 
Hiehmon<l "Argns" and as a volume. adde<l greatly 
to his reputation; tlie tenth edition (18;i3) hail a sketch 
of the author by P. il. Cru.se. After two years and a 
half at Norfolk he returned to Richmond in 1800. In 
1807, by President JelTer.son's appointment, he was 
a counsel in tlie trial of Aaron Burr ; one of his 
speeches, which lasted four hours, was vastly ad- 
mired and was among the finest etTorts of his life. 
This speech greatly extended his fame, and is jier- 
haps the one which has made him liesl known to 
succeeding generations, as its tlorid periods and 
its occasional pathos made il a ]irime favorite for 
academic declamation, and although it may be said 
to be worn to shreds by the constant repetition, it 
yet has the power to charm even a critical reader. 
His cs.says, collected as "Tlie Hainbow," were tirst 
printed in 1808 in the HiclimoTid " Ein|uirer," as 
was, two years later, " The Old lja<-lielor," gathered 
in two volumes (1813). To the latter .several writers 
of less fame contributed ; J. P. Kennedy called it 
Wirt's best hook, but other critics were not of that 
opinion. His " Life of Patrick Henry " (1817) was 
widely circulated rather than highly esteemed ; it 
had "all the gorgeonsness of his earlier oratory. 
His only experience as a legislator was in 1808. 
In 181()'lie was a]ipoiiiled by President JIadison U. 
S. district attorney for Virginia, and in 1817 by 



President Monroe U. S. attorney-general. This post 
he held with great repute until 1839, residing at 
Washington. Judge Story ranked him "among 
the ablest and nio.st eloi(uenl of the liar of the su- 
preme court." He took jiart in many leading ca.ses. 
among them that of Dartmouth College, 1819 : in 
this he wa-s not at his best, and the honors went to 
Webster who won the case. His most noted extra- 
legal addresses were that of Oct. 19, 1826, on the 
deaths of Jefferson and Adams, and one at Kutgers 
College in 18;!(), which was reproduced in England, 
German}- and France. In 1839 lie removed to Hal- 
tiinore. In 1831 apjieared his letters and those of 
J. Q. Adams on the anti-Masonic movement : the 
next year he was the candidate of that partv for 
the presidency and received a poimlar vote of 33,- 
108, and the electoral vote of Vermont only. Har- 
vard gave him the degree of I,L. D. in 1824. He 
was iiresiiieiit of the Jlaryland IJible Society and 
a devout and consistent Presbyterian. See his 
Life by J. P. Kennedy, 3 vols., 1849. Extracts from 
his speeches and sketches (e. g. "The Blind 
Preaclier ") were long and widely diffused through 
the medium of Headers and Speakers, and his 
nann^ still lingers among tho.se which occupy the 
borderland between greatness and iia.s.sing popularity. 
His second wife. Elizabeth Washington Wirt, born 
at HiclMiiond, Va.. Jan. 30, 178."), was a daughter of 
Col. Hobert Gamble. She put forth in 1839 " Flora's 
Dictionary," a quarto remarkable in its day, com- 
bining botany with an epistolary guide and a dic- 
tionarv of quotations. Mr. Wirt died at Washington 
Feb. 18, 1834. 

THOMPSON, Smith, secretary of the navy and 
associate justice of the I". S. supreme court, was born 
in Stanford, Dutchess Co., N. Y., Jan. 17, 170M. He 
received a liberal education, and was seni to Prince- 
ton, where he was graduated in 1788, studied law 
with Chancellor Kent in Pinighkeeiisie. and as wa.s 
usual at that time continued his education by teach- 
ing. In 1792 he was admitted to the bar, and for a 
while practiced in Troy. Afterward he returned to 
Poughkeep.sie, and in 1800 was elected a member of 
the state legislature. The followingyear he was one 
of the delegates to the ccaislitulional convention of 
the state of New York. In the same year he was of- 
fered the position of district at- 
torney, but declined. In 1802 he 
was made associate .iustice of the 
.state supreme court, a po.silion 
which he ciaitinued to hold until 
1814. In Ihe meantime he could 
have had the mayoralty of the city 
of New York, where he resided at 
the time, but this he rejected. 
In 1814 he was made chief jus- 
tice of the supreme court of New 
York, and coni limed to hold that 
office until 1818, when President 
Jlonroe .appointed him secrelary 
of the navy, and he assumed the 
position Nov. 9th of that year, 
succeeding Benjamin W. Crowu- 
inshield. of Jlassachusetts, who 
had held over. Mr. Thompson 
resinned in September, 1833, hav- 
ing lieeii .•ippoinleil a justice of the 
United Slates supreme ciairt, to 
succeed Judge Brockholst Livingston, and he contin- 
ued to hold this high olliee until his death. Judge 
Thompson was a man of great learning, both legal 
and general, and his private life was pure and ex- 
emplary. At the tiuK' of his ilenlli he was the oldest 
vice-iiresident of the American Bible Societv. He 
received the degree of LL.D. from Yale and Prince- 
ton in 1824, and from Harvard in 1S3.5. He died in 
Poughkeepsie, N. Y., Dec. 18. 1843. 




;/tftoyn^cm 




3, S . A^icuvn^ 



COfVRIOMT, 1B92, BY JAMES T. WMtTE 1 CO. 



OF AMEBICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



165 










ADAMS, John ftuincy, sixth president of the 
Uuitcd States, and son of the second president, was 
born in the town of Quincy, Mass., July 11, 1767. 
He was named after his maternal great-irraudfather, 
a man of considerable local position, and of some 
provincial distinction. Young Adams iml)ibed the 
essence of patriotism from liis earliest childhood. At 
tlie age of seven he witnessed the battle of Bunker 
Hill with his mother, from the top of a neighlioring 
eminence. When his father was a delegate to the 
Continental congress yovmg Adams frequenth' rode 
from his home in Boston to obtain the latest news, 
and return with it to his motlier. 
At the age of eleven, he accom- 
panied bis father to France, and 
it was in tlie period during which 
John Adams was abroad, acting in 
a semi -diplomatic position, that 
the bov received the most of his 
education at Paris, Amsterdam, 
anil Leipsic. In 17Sl,when young 
Adams was fourteen years of age, 
Francis Dana was sent as an envoy 
to Ku.s.sia from the United States, 
and offered to make him his |)ri- 
vate .secretary, a jiropositicm wliich 
was accepted for him by his fa- 
ther, and he ac<'ordingly entered 
ujion his tirst diplonialic d\ili('s at 
lliat time. He only remained in 
Russia, however, a few months, 
when, having rejoined his father 
in Paris, the latter being engaged 
Willi Dr. Franklin and Thomas JefTersdu in nego- 
tialiiiLt a Ircaty of peace between the I'liited Slates 
and (Jreal Brilain. young Adams became one of their 
.secrclaries and was (if important service in the prep- 
aration (if papers necessary to llie (■(iiicbisidii of the 
treaty. In 17S.5 John Adams received the news of 
his a))p(iinlnient as American minister to the {■ourt 
of St. James, and his .son Iicgan now to consider what 
was to tie his own future career, and the best means 
of advancing it. The temptation to go with his fa- 
ther, and reside in the great city of London, siir- 




2. cAl 



a/>n-5 



rounded by some of the most eminent men of the 
time, where he would become familiar with public 
affairs, and have for his a.ssociates men of high ideals, 
of ability and experience — this temptation was cer- 
tainly not one easily put aside, but the boy was 
aware of his own deficiencies in the matter of educa- 
tion, and justlj' conceived that this was the period 
for him to equip himself suitably for the place in 
life wliich was likely to be his destiny to till. He 
accordingly returned to the United States and to 
Boston, and entered Harvard, from which be was 
graduated with high honors in 1787. He began 
the study of law with the celebrated Theophilus 
Parsons, with whom he remained for three years, 
and in 1791 he was admitted to the bar, and began 
at once to practice. At the same time. Mr. Adams 
wrote freely for the newspapers, and attracted much 
public attention by a series of pajiers written in refu- 
tation of Thomas Paine's celebrated "Rights of 
Man." He also jiublished papers of recognized abil- 
ity in regard to the question of neutrality, as regard- 
ed the United States in their relation to the Euro- 
pean wars. In these papers he was denunciatory of 
the course of the French minister. Genet, who had 
made himself obnoxious in this ccnintry. and objec- 
tionable to the government, and it was perhaps on 
account of these pa|iers that he received from Presi- 
dent Washington Iiis nomination as minister resident 
at the Hague. lie received his coiiiniission on his 
twenly-seveiilh birthday, and arrived at the Hague 
Oct. '21. 17!it. Sliortly after, wliile on a vi.sit to 
Kngland, Mr. Ad:inis made the ac(|uaintance of Miss 
Louisa Catherine Johnson, daughter of Joshua John- 
son, then Ainerican consul iil London, and this lady 
he married on July 2iS, 171I7. In the .same year 
Washington was succeeded by John Adams in the 
]iresidency, and, in writing, a(ivised his succes,sor to 
appoint his son, John (Juiiicy Adams, minister to 
Russia. Tliis was accordingly done, and Mr. Adams 
reached Berlin in the latter fiart of 1797, and while 
there succeeded in accomplishing a treaty of amity 
and commerce between Prussia and the United 
States. He also learned thetJernian language t(j that 
degree that he was able to translate Weiland's " Obe- 



166 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



ron," but he did not publish the translation for the 
reason that one bv Sotheby had just appeared in 
Loudon. Mr. Adams was recalled from his mission 
to Berlin durinjr the latter days of his fatlier's ad- 
ministration, in order "that jlr. Jefferson, the in- 
coming president, might have no embarrassment in 
that direction." ()u Apr. 5, 18U2, Mr. Adams was 
chosen to the senate of Massachu.setls. Here he dis- 
played a personal independence which occasioned 
much displeasure among his federalist a.ssociates. 
and the following year Mr. Adams was elected to 
the U. S. senate, securing on tlie fourth ballot 86 
out of the 171 votes ca.st. He now experienced to 
the fullest extent the hostility which his father liad 
managed to excite in all directions. As is .slated in 
one biography of him: " Kepublicans trampled ou 
the federali.sts, and the federalists trampled on John 
Quincy Adams." It is stated that whenever he arose 
to address the senate, his reception was cold and al- 
most insulting. He was generally recognized as an 
impopular member of an impopular miuority. and it 
was said that the worst that could hapjien to any meas- 
ure was that it should be .supported i)y John Quincy 
Adams. A portion of hisunpopulanty in the .senate 
was largely due to his own imconciliatory manners, 







and to his determined freedom of thought, speech, and 
action; the balance was due to his being the son of 
his father. He was not a party man, and the feder- 
alists, with whom he was properly allied, could never 
be certain of his action, and held him in very little 
esteem. Mr. Adams did not remain in the senate until 
his term ex|)ired. which would have been on March 3, 
1809, but in June of the preceding year he resigned 
bis seat, saying, " He was not the man to stay where 
he was not wanted." But for the two years previous 
his great ability had begun to win fcir liim respect 
and admiration. In April, 180G, tlic nonimportation 
act was approved by the president, wliile it was 
energetically opjiosed" by the federali.sts. Mr. Adams 
cordially sujiported this measure, and thus .showed 
his independence of party dictation. Tlie wai be- 
tween France .-md Great ISrilain was at this time on, 
and in May, ISOG, the Hrilish governmeni iiroclaim- 
ed the whole coast of the European CdUliiicnt from 
Brest to the Ellie to be irnder blockade. In Xovem- 
ber of the same year, Xapoleon replied by the Berlin 
decree, as it is known, which declared "the British 
Islands to be under blockade, and in January there- 
after England, although this was ipdle against inter- 
national law, forbade all commerce to neutrals be- 
tween ports of the enemies of Oreat Britain. This 
was followed in November, 1807. by the famous 
order in council declaring neutral vessels or cargoes 
found in any jiort in any country with which Eng- 
land was at war to be li.able to capture and confisca- 
tion. A month later Najioleon retorted with his 
famous Milan decree declarius auv vessel, no matter 



to what nation belonging, which had submitted to 
search by an English ship or which should be bdiuid 
for England, subject to cajilureand coudemnalion. 
Mr. Adams declared, "That the effect of tliesi' illegal 
proclamations placed the commerce and shipping of 
the United Slates in regard to all Eurojie ami Euro- 
pean colonies, Sweden alone excepted, in nearly Ihe 
same state as it would have been if on that same 11th 
of November England and France had declared war 
against the L'uiled Sl.-iles. ' In 1SU7 an extra session 
of congress was called, and the administration 
brought fonvard a bill establishing an embargo. 
Great was the wrath of the federalists when it was 
recorded that Mr. Adams had given his vote for this 
measure, which was felt among the merchants of the 
North to be the ruin of their industries, the result of 
the ignorant i)nlicy of a southern president, and no 
abuse which they could heap ujion their own rep- 
resentative who had, as it looked, rejected them and 
their oi>iiiious, could be too great for his sin. They 
called him false, .seltish, designing, a traitor, anti 
.said that he had sold hin\self. There coulil hardly 
have been a m;ui more imjnstly accused. Asa fact, 
he re])orted the embargo bill, and vote<l for it, but 
without giving it any strenuous advocacy, or, indeed, 
having with regard to it any s])ecial faith, more than 
that it was perhaps the best measure to he devised 
under the circumstances. In the meantime. Mr. 
Mailiscm had succeeded Mr. Jefferson, and on March 
6, l.sOH, he nondnated Jlr. Adams minister plenipo- 
tentiary to Unssia. So strong was the feeling against 
him lliat the senate refused to contirm him, but the 
presidi'iit was determined, and again nominated him, 
when he was tinally confirmed in June. A remark- 
able coincidence is set forth in relation to occurrences 
which liapjiened in 'Washington during the latter 
part of this jieriod of Jlr. Adams's experience in that 
cit}', and which tlirows con.siderable light upon the 
real causes of the rujilure between ^Ir. Adams and 
the federal parly. It appears that at onetime Adams 
hail a coufereni'e with Thomas Jefferson, in which 
he charged that a jioilion of the federal leaders held 
the design of dis.solving Ihe Union, and eslablishing a 
sei)arate northern confederacy. This charge was fre- 
quently repeated, and for more than ten years il seri- 
ously affected the administration of government, plac- 
ing the New England statesmen in a jio.sition of much 
less weight and inlluence in iiubli<- affairs Ihan they 
would otherwise have eujdved. Tlie idea was said 
to have originated with certain federal members of 
C(mgre.s.s, on account of the acijuisition of Louisiana, 
and, as was alleged, the threatened destruction,' 
throtigh the addition of southern and southwestern 
territory, of the political inthK'iice of the North and 
East. Adams slated that these members of congress 
were to have a meeting in Boston at which Alexander 
Hamilton was to be present, although he did not ap- 
prove of their ideas. In its indication at this early 
])eriod of the notions which more than half a cen- 
tury later were to go far toward a complete disrup- 
tion of the Uni(m, this idea is historically curious. 
Mr. Adams was cordially received ;it Ihe Hussiau 
court, and he soon gained much inlluence. .'ind ]iroV; 
ed that he was an adminible leiirescniative of the 
United Stales abroad, where he won respect for him- 
self, as well as for his country. The emperor was 
greatly plea.sed with him, and in Seiitember, 1813, 
offered toad as mediator between the United Slates 
and Eriglanil. for the jnirpose of arranging the ditli- 
cullies between them. Messrs. Gallatin and Bayard 
were dispalclieil to act with "Mr. Adams, but Eng- 
land refused the offer of medialion with Russia, and 
nothing of importance resulted from it. In the mean- 
time actual war continued between the two coimtries 
until, in 1814. England signified her willingness to 
send commissioners empowered to meet others to be 
sent by t-he United Stales. f)r the pur|io.se of arrang- 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



1G7 



Ing terms of pacification. The city of Glieut was 
selected f(.)r tbe purpose, ami tlie cuininissiouers ap- 
pointed were, ou the part of the United States, 
Messrs, Adams, Gallatin and Bayard, Jonathan Rus- 
sell, at that time minister to Sweden, and Henry 
Clay. The English commi.ssioners were li<ird Gam- 
bier, Dr. Adams, and Mr. Goulbouru, and the}- met 
at Ghent Aug. 7, 1814, their meetings concluding 
on Dec. 24, 1814, when tlic treaty of Ghent was con- 
cluded, and signed by all of the eight negotiators. 
That duty being concluded, Mr. Adams went to 
Paris, where he remained until May, ISl"), witness- 
ing the return of Napoleon and the events of the 
famous " Hundred Days." Ou May 26th Mr. Adams 
went to Loudon, where he found awaiting him a com- 
mission as envoy extraordinarj' and minister plenipo- 
tentiary to Great Britain, thus reaching the highest 
rank in the American diplomatic service. He retained 
this position about two 3-ears, surrendering it June 15, 
1817, to return to the United States for the purpose 
of a.ssuming the duties of seci'etary of state in the 
cabinet of James Jlonroe, lately inaugurated presi- 
dent. This was "the era of good feeling," and there 
was political harmony to a marked degree. The ad- 
ministration of the duties of .secretary of .state as per- 
formed by Mr. Adams brourfit him into prominence, 
and he began to be named as a candidate for the 
presidenc}-. In the meantime he had sutlicient to 
occu|)y him olficially in defending Gen. Jackson's 
conduct in Florida against Spain in the Miranda ex- 
pedition, and iu the question of the Louisiana boun- 
dary, in which the Sabine river was accepted as a 
oompromise. The question of the admi.ssion of 
Missouri into the L'nion agitated the coimtry at 
this time, and the future was foreseen by Mr. 
Adams, who wrote: " Slavery is the great and foul 
stain upon tlie North American Union, and it is a 
contemplation worthy of the mo.st exalted soul, 
whether its total abolition is or is not practicable. A 
life devoted to the emancipation problem would be 
nobly spent or sacrificed." The matter of the ad- 
mission of Missouri finally passed into history as one 
I of the greatest comjiromise questions ever agitating 
or disturl)ing the politics of any coimtry. The clo.se 
of the term of James Monroe, and the conduct of 
a new election greatly excited party feeling. 3Ir. 
Adams refused to do anything to promote his own 
election although he was prominent as a candidate. In 
the electoral college the votes stood : Gen. Jackson, 
9&; Mr. Adams, 84; Jlr. Crawford, 41, and Mr. 
Clay, 37 votes. John C. Calhoun was elected for 
the vice-presidency, having .secured 183 votes, but the 
election was thrown into the house of representatives. 
Here Mr. Clay held the balance of power. He was in 
no sympathy with Jackson, whom he had denoimced 
in terms the reverse of complimentary. Between the 
choice of Adams and that of Crawford, Mr. Clay 
determined upon the former, owing to the fact that 
Mr. Crawford was in feeble health, having suffered 
from a paralytic stroke. Accordingly, Mr. Adams 
was elected by the house, and naturally Mr. Clay 
became a member of his cabinet, holding the jiosition 
of secretary of state. The presidential chair was to 
Mr. Adams a most uncomfortable seat. Both liou.ses 
of congress were against him during part of his tenn, 
and he was frequently as.saile<i with th(! most un- 
scrui)idous and vindictive bitterness. In the mean- 
time all the different factions among the democrats 
were uniting them.selves to sustain Jackson, and pre- 
vent the reelection of Adams. The administration, 
however, was in nearly all particulars a just and 
sensible one; the variotis industries of the country in 
parlioilar thriving under it. Mr. Adams signed 
more commercial treaties than ha<l been negotiated 
since the formation of the government. He was im- 
tiring in his devotion to public duty, declining to be 
considered as a show, and refusing the invitation of 



the Maryland Agricidtural Society to be present at 
their exhibition, on the grounds that it would re- 
quire four days of time which belonged to the coun- 
try, and would set a precedent for being claimed as 
an article of exhibition at all the cattle shows through- 
out the Union. Mr. Adams was at all times a pro- 
foundly religious man, and his life as president in 
its simplicity, its regard for his duty, and the care 
he exercised over his health, exhibited a conscien- 
tiousness of purpose which was in a great degree de- 
rived from his religious convictions. Mean%vhile he 
was slandered, his acts falsified, and stigmatized 
with having corruptly purchased the presidency. 
The great anti-Ma.sonic excitement, with the disap- 
pearance and alleged assassination of Morgan, was 
used for the purpose of fabricating what amounted 
to an additional slander, in the accusation that 
Adams was a Mason. The statement was a false one, 
and would have justified the president, under the 
circum.stauces, in bitter retaliation, but lie bore all 
the false and scandalous attacks upon him with pa- 
tience born of his consistent philasopliy. The elec- 
tion of 1828 resulted in the success of Gen. Jackson, 
and Mr. Adams retired from ottlce. L'p to this 
time, Mr. Adams had been senator, minister to Eng- 












w-^ 



\ iii«ii[Ti'f 






land, secretary of state, and president, and believed 
that he had permanently retired from ])ublic life, 
but iu 1830 it was suggested to him that he could 
be elected to the house of representatives. He felt 
that the position would not be in any sense a degra- 
dation to his dignity. He replied that no person 
could be degraded by serving the people as a rep- 
resentative in congress, nor, in liis opinion, woidd an 
ex-president of the United States be degraded by 
serving as a selectman of his town, if electe<l thereto 
by the people. He was accordingly nominated, and 
was elected by a very flattering vote, and he contin- 
ued to represent his district from this time until his 
death, a jieriod of about sixteen years. The reversal 
of Mr. Adams's political attitude before the country 
soon became complete; whereas he had been reviled, 
and his character an<i actions soiled by contumely 
during nearly all his political life, he now became 
the most impressive figure on the flot)r of the lu>use 
of representatives, where he soon grew to be desig- 
nated " The old man eloquent." Although not nat- 
urally an orator, doubtless his severe experiences 
had given him a certain force which enabled him to 
command an audience. Moreover, he had iio.s,sibly, 
and certainly not without reason, become embittered 
against the iocs who had persistently stung him like 
so many gnats, and, now, finding himself in a posi- 



168 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



tion to retort upon them, he became merciless. Pos- 
sessing tlie power of invective to an extraordinary 
degree, he used it to its full iiossibilities, and men 
winced or cowered under it, becoming furious with 
rage at his fierce assaults, and in recognizing their 
incapacity to reply to him with any of his own force 
and skill. His antagonism to negro slavery became 
his strongest characteristic, and he singled out South- 
erners and their Northern allies for his chief attacks, 
drawing down upon his head their fiercest hatred. 
He was ab.'<i)lutely without fear, and a terrible an- 
tagonist. Soon he was in oppositi<in to President 
Jackson's admiui.stratioii, and ultimately became the 
champion of the anti-slavery cause in the national 
legislature. Tiie irrepressible coutlict began with 
the lirst movement in 183.5 in favor of the annexa- 
tion of Texas. From that time forward, Mr. Adams 
stood in the forefront of the fight, doing work for 
the abolition of slavery. Mr. Adams brought into 
the house, and laid before it for years bundles of 
petitions and renionslranees against the continuance 
of slavery as an instit\ilion, or in favor of laws tend- 
ing to abate it, amounting to many thousands. On 
May 18, 1836, congress passed what was called the 
famous " gag-law," and which declared that no pe- 
titions, memorials, resolutions, or papers, in any way 
or to any extent whatsoever relating to the subject 
of slavery or the abolition of slavery, should lie in 
any way considered, but tliat they should, without 
being either printed or referred, be laid upon the 
table, and that no further action whatever shoidd be 
had upon them. Mr. Adams declared this resolution 
" to be a direct violation of the constitution of the 
United States, the rules of the house, and the rights 
of his constituents." But the resolution was agreed 
to, nevertheless. This senseless and outrageous act 
continued to be a law from the time of its passage up 
to 18-14, though during all that time Mr. Adams had 
never lost an opportiuiity to attack it. Finally, by 
the handsome vote of 108 to 84, on a motion by Mr. 
Adams, "the gag rule became a thing of the past." 
On Feb. 21, 1848, Mr. Adams appeared in his usual 
seat for the last time, at half-past one in the after- 
noon. The speaker, rising to put a question, was 
suddenly interruiJted by cries of " Stop ! Stop I Mr. 
Adams ! " some of the members thinking that Jlr. 
Adams was rising to address the speaker, but this 
■was not the case; he had risen to his feet for that or 
any other purpose for the last time. He had received 
a paralytic shock, and fell over insen.sible. The 
members gathered about him, and the house hastily 
adjourned. The old man lingered, however, until 
the evening of the a3d, when his spirit left him; his 
last intelligible words being. "This is the last of 
earth. I am t^onleut. " That Mr. Adams was one of 
the greatest of American statesmen has long been 
conceded. That in nearly every position which he 
took politically, and for which he was hounded by 
bitter and remorseless enemies, he was wise and just 
has been (equally adndtted. Probably the most im- 
portant particvdars in which the intluence of John 
Quincy Adams has been felt by his countrymei:, 
have been in tin- spirited and consistent promulga- 
tion of and adherence lo what is known as the 
" Monroe doctrine " — and his remarkable and persi.s- 
tent devotion to the cause of anti-slavery, in the course 
of his prosecution of which he gave utterance to a 
most important and novel proposition, viz.: the doc- 
trine that .slavery could be abolished by the exercise 
of the war jiowers of the novenunent. The doctrine 
christened the " Monroe doctrine " was undoubtedly 
originated bj' Mr. Adams, and long before its pro- 
miilgation by the presideiU it had been planned and 
shaped by his able and fearless secretary of state. 
In regard to the second point, the question of the 
abolition of slavery, Mr. Adams said: "From the 
instant that j'our slave-holding stales become the 



theatre of war, civil, servile, or foreign, from that 
instant the war powers of the constitution extend to 
interference with the institution of slavery in every 
way in which it can be interfered with, from a claim 
of mdenniity for slaves taken or destroyed, to a ces- 
sion of the state burdened with slavery to a foreign 
power." And, again : " That when a country is in- 
vaded, and two hostile armies are set in martial ar- 
ray, the commanders of both armies have power to 
emancipate all the slaves in the invaded territory. 
Whether the war be servile, civil, or foreign, I lay 
this down as tlie law of nations. I say that the mili- 
tary authority takes, for the time, the iilaee of all 
municii)al institutions, slavery among the rest. Un- 
der that state of things, so far from its being true 
that the slates where slavery exists have the exclu- 
sive management of the subject, not only the presi- 
dent of the United States, but the conimander of 
the army has the power to order the universal emanci- 
pation of the slaves." It was doubtless in purs\iance 
of this doctrine (of which he was the originator) that 
slavery was finally abolished in the Uiiited States. 
The emancipation proclamation of President Lincoln 
was based upon this authority, which was generally 
regarded as sutliei<'nt. Mr, Adams died in Washing- 
ton, D. ('., Feb, 23, 1848. 

ADAMS, Louisa Catherine (Johnson), wife 
of President J. Q. Adams, was born in London, 
Eng., Feb. 13, 17T5, daughter of Joshua Johnson, 
merchant, who went from America to England, and 
settled in London, and was the 
lir.st L'. S. consul at that city, act- 
ing in this capacity from 1785 to 
1797, when he returned to his 
native coimtry. Miss John.son 
was married to Mr. Adams in 
London. July 26, 1797, and ac- 
conipained her husband to Ber- 
lin, where he was sent as U. S. 
mini.ster very soon after their 
marriage. In 1801 Mrs. Adams 
retin-ned to America and settled 
with her husband in Bo.ston, but 
subsequently removed with him 
to Washington, D. C, when he 
was elected senator, and where 
she pass(;d .several winters, retiu'u- >, 
ing to Boston every summer. In \v 
18()9 Mr. Adams having been ap- ^' /^-.^ • 

pointed minister to KiVssia, Mrs. -^"^"^ i-^C-v-^ 

Adams decided to accompany 
him, though compelled to leave two of her children 
behind. They sailed from Boston early in A\igust 
and arrived in St. Petersburg late in October. Mrs. 
Adams spent six years in Russia, six years of excite- 
ment to Eiu'opeans, and to Mrs. Adams not unmixed 
with anxiety and loneliness. Her husband was 
obliged to leave her in St. Petersburg, and she tr:iv- 
cled alone, except for her servants and child, as far 
as Paris, wliere she arrived and was met by Jlr. 
Adam.s, March 21, 1815. Napoleon had just re- 
turned from Elba, and Mrs. Adams was a witness 
of many stirring scenes. Her children were sent 
(mt to England to meet her, on May 25, 181,5. She 
and her family reached London, and very soon 
afterward Mr. Adams was appointed minister lo the 
coin-t of St. James. iNIrs. Adams h;ul many advan- 
tages during her residence in London, and although 
not possessed of wealth, she enjoyed the societ}' of 
the most intelligent men and wom<'n in the city. In 
1817, her husband having been appointed .secretary 
of state, she returned to America and settled with 
him in Washington, where she dispensed a generous 
hospitality for eight years, excluding no one on ac- 
count of any real or imagined jiolitical hostility, and 
though keenly alive to the repiUation of her hus- 
banil, she sought only lo amuse and enliven society. 




^^3an^; 




frY.Cdz^^ 



COPYfflCMT. 1327. CY JAUtS T. wnrlE i. i-O. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



171 



In 1825 Mr. Adams became president, and almost 
innncdiately after she entered the White House 
Jlr.s. Adams's health began to fail, liut slie jircsided 
at iniblic entertainments, thongli not ai)]H'aring on 
other occasions. In 1829 Mrs. Adams removed to 
her home at Quincy, Mass., but two years later, lier 
husband being elected to congress, she again took 
u|i her abode in AVasbingtou where she lived until 
the death of Mr. Adams, when she removed to her 
home at Quincy, where she passed the last years of 
her life surrounded by her ehiltireu and relatives. 
Mrs. Adams was po.ssessed of high intellectual 
qualities; she read extensively, was well versed iu 
both French and English literature, tran.slated from 
the former language, frecpiently wrote verses, and 
was an accomplished musician, singing and playing 
on the piano with considerable taste. Her health 
was always delicate, interfering somewhat with her 
social duties, and iu her later years slie lived much 
in retirement. Mrs. Adams died at (.Quincy, Mass., 
Slay 14, 18.i3, and was buried by the siil'e of her 
husband iu the family burving- ground. 

CALHOUN, John C"., vice - president. (See 
Index.) 

CLAY, Henry, secretary of state, was born in 
a neighborhood called " Tlje Slaslies." in Ilan<iver 
county, Va., Apr. 12, 1TT7. His fatlier, .lohu Clay, 
was a Baptist clergj-man, a man of excellent cliar- 
acter, distinguished iu deportment, and " remarka- 
ble, moreover, for his fine voice and delivery." Hen- 
rj'S mother was a daughter of George Hudson, of 
Hanover county, a woman of sterling quality and 
pronounced patriotism. Henry was educated at the 
district .scliool, the teacher, Peter Deacon, an Eng- 
lishman, somewhat given to drink, being able to 
teach but little besides reading, writing, and arith- 
metic. Henry worked for the support of the family 
and often rode a pony to Daricotl's mill, using a rope 
for bridle and a bag of wheat or corn Hour as saddle, 
hence his sobriquet, the " Mill-boy of the Sla.shes." 
After the death of the Rev. .lolin Clay bis widow 
married Capt. Henry Watkins, of Richmond, Va., 
who is said to have been a good stepfatlier to the 
boy. At an early age Henry became clerk in Rieli- 
ard Denny's retail store in Richmond, and later, 
through Capt. Watkins's influence, secured a posi- 
tion as copyist in the oHiee of the 
clerk of the high court of chan- 
cery. "He was," says his bi- 
ographer, "a raw-boned, lank, 
awkward youth, with a coimten- 
ance by no means handsome, yet 
not unpleasing. His garments 
of gray ' figinny ' cloth were 
home-made and ill - fitting, and 
his linen, which his good mother 
had starched for the occasion to 
unusual stiffness, made him look 
peculiarly strange and uncom- 
fortable." He was awkward and 
dirtident, but soon gained the re- 
spect and friendslii]) of his asso- 
, ciates, for he could talk reniark- 

'/iJ^y ably well, and his hours of leis- 

^""^^CCo nre were devoted to reailing and 

study. He soon at traded the 
attention of Ge<irge Wythe.chan- 
cellor of the high court of chancery, who select- 
ed him to be his amanuensis, and thus for f<iur 
years he was on intimate terms with his superior. 
wlio directed liis reading, turned his attention to 
grammatical studies, and by his convei-sation .shaped 
his thoughts and founded his principh's. At the 
end of four years Clay determined to liecome a law- 
yer, and entered the office of Robert I$rooke, attor- 
ney-general of Virginia, wliere he remained one 
year, and then obtained from the judge of the court 




of appeals a license to practice his profession. He 
soon became acquainted with persons of good .social 
position, organized a " rlietorical .society," and was, 
in all re.spects, a promising young man." Meanwhile 
in 1792 his parents had removed to Kentucky, and 
in his twenty -first year he joined them, settling at 
Lexington, where he jiractised his profession, became 
a favorite with the best people, and joined a debat- 
ing club. A speecli that he delivered at this club 
made him a man of note; in tlie community and 
brought him criminal practice. It has been said 
that no murderer, whatever the degree of guilt, who 




was defended by hiiu, was ever sentenced to be 
hung. He became attorney for the couuuonwealth 
luuil he could obtain the appointment for a friend, 
when he resigned the otHce. By ]iatient drill, 
through methods of his own, he carefully laid the 
foundation for that repute for marvelous eloquence 
which marked him even down to old age. In April, 
1799, he married Lncrelia Hart, who became the 
mother of his eleven children. His property rap- 
idl.v increased, and he purchased " Ashland," an es- 
tate of some (iOO acres near Lexington. Ky., which 
was afterward famous as his Kentucky lionie. Clay 
now entered actively into political life. He advo- 
cated the emancipation of the slaves in his adopted 
state in connection with a constitutional convention, 
which was to meet in 1799. This was iuetfectual, 
and affected his jiopularity, which he soon recover- 
ed, however, by his earnest participation in the cam- 
paign against the alien and .sedition laws; and iu 
1803 was elected fo the Kentucky legislature. In 
his first term he was distinguished for his oratory, 
and for fighting a duel with Col. .loseph Hamilton 
Davies, I'T S. attorney for Kentucky. In 1806 the 
governor appointed him U. S. senator to till out an 
unexpired term, though constitutionally he was un- 
der age. His first speech was in favor of a bill pro- 
viding a bridge across the Potomac river, and the 
measure which occu]iied tlie larger part of his atten- 
tion was an appropriation of land " toward tlie open- 
ing of the canal proposed to be cut at the rapids 
ofthe Ohio on the Kentucky shore," the beginning 
of his almost lifelong advocacy of the .system of in- , 
ternal improvements by the U. S. government, On 
the expiration of his term in 1807 he was elected to 
the state legislature and was chosen speaker of the 
assembly. "He |iromoted the defeat of a bill forbid- 
ding that any decision of a Britisli court, or that 
any Britisli elementary work of law be read as an, 
auiliority before tlie courts of Kentucky, but intro- 
(biced and bad p;is.sed a series of resolutions aiiprov- 1 
ing of tiu- embargo which liad been laid by the U. ' 
S. government on Anu'rican and foreign vessels, de- 
nouncing the British ordeis in council, by which the 
rights of neutral ships were arl)itrarily overruled, 
pledging to the general governnuMit the active aid of 
Kenfucky in anything it might determine upon to 
resist British exactions. He introduced a resolution 



172 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



that the members of the legislature should wear gar- 
ments of domestic niamifacture — his earliest move- 
ment in the interest of a inotective pnliey. This led 
to an altercation with Iluniplirey JIarsliall. cnlnii- 
natini; in a duel. In the winter of lsoH-10 Clay was 
again appointed U. S. senator to till the iinexjiircd 
term of Biickner Thtnston, and he iirsed the further 
protection of home indnstries, luit disclainiinjr any 
advocacy of the development of niaiiufacturing in- 
dustries, lie reported a bill granting a right of pre- 
emption to settlers on judilic lands in certain cases, 
introduced and reported a bill l<i regulate trade and 
intercourse with the Indians, and to preserve peace 
on the frontiers. Tlie west Florida ease was his in- 
troduction to the tield of foreign affairs, and he 
strongly supported President Matlison's action re- 
garding it in his proclamation. In the senate de- 
bates on the subject Clay was the most conspicuous 
and important figure, and when Timothy Pickering 
in a speech replying to Clay quoted a document 
which years before had been communicated to the 
senate in confidence, Clay olfered a resolution to 
censure Pickering for having committed a breach 
of the rules, and the majority followed him. Mr. 




Clay was also instnmiental in defeating the re- 
charter ot the U. S. Bank during this session. On 
the expiration of his term as seiiator he became a 
member of the house of re]uesentatives, and was 
elected speaker by a large majority, but was not 
excluded from participating in debates, and so 
strongly advocated war measures that it has been 
said it was his leadership in tlie bouse that ha.st- 
ened the war of 1812 (see Carl Schurz's ''Life of 
Henry Clay"). He was re-elected .speaker in 1813, 
and resigned the oflicc Jan. 14, 1S14, to becoiue 
member of a comini.s.sion ajiiiointed by President 
Madison at the suggestion of Great Britain to ne- 
gotiate a peace between the United Slates and her- 
self. The treaty of peace was sii;ned at Ghent, in 
the Xetberland.s, Dec. 24, 1814. ' It has been said 
that this war " transformed the American republic 
in the estimation of tlie world from a feeble, experi- 
mental curiosity into a power, a real power, full 
of brains, and with visible claws and teeth." Mr. 
Clay returned to America in Seplember, 181.5, was 
elected to the house of representatives, declined the 
post of minister to Hussia, and in 181() tlie secre- 
taryship of war. On Dec. 4, 181.">, he was again 
chosen .speaker of the house, and in connection 
with John C. Calhoun opposed the reduction of 
public taxes. Labored for the ]irotection of manu- 
factures, and laid the foiindalion of a tariff sy.stem. 
This was the tarifT of 181(>, and subslaiilially em- 
bodied a scheme pro|iosed bv the Secretarv of the 
Treasury A. J. Dallas. At ibis .session Mr. Clay 
took a different stand in reference to the recharter- 



ing of a U. S. Bank, claiming that the people of his 
new district had changed their minds, and were in 
favor of a new bank ; also, that such a bank liad 
been unconstitutional in 1811, but was now consti- 
tutional. In the session of 1817 Mr. Clay's vote that 
the jiay of congressional members be advanced to 
$1,500 per year instead of $G a day, nearly cost him 
his seat. When James Jlonroe became president in 
1817 he otfered Jlr. Clay the secretaryship of war, 
and the jiost of minister to England, both of which 
were declined. and in December of that j-ear Clay was 
chosen speaker of the house by a vote of 140 to 7. 
During the ses-sion that followed he earnestlj- a.s.sert- 
ed the consiiiutional right of congress to construct 
uiternal improvements, and used his influence in be- 
half of the Spanish-American colonies which had 
risen against the northern country and were trying to 
achieve their independence. In the second session 
Sir. Clay vehemently supported resolutions disap- 
proving of the conduct of Andrew Jackson in the 
Seminole war in Florida, but to no purjiose. Jack- 
son never forgave this,- and the adverse effects of 
Mr. Clay's efforts were manifest in December, 1819, 
when, at the opening of congress it was seriously 
proposed to displace him from the sjieakership, but 
he was again chosen speaker with very little opposi- 
tion. He arraigned President Monroe's administra- 
tion for giving up Texas, renewed his attempt to 
have the South American repuljlics recognized by 
the Ameiiean congress, and his labors in eonuectiou 
with the admission of ^Missouri as a state secured 
him the title of "the great pacificator." He wa.s 
again siieaker of the house in December, 1823. and 
a confe.s.sed candidate for the presidential succession 
to Monroe, and with other measures he favored the 
rising of the Greeks against the Turks. He cham- 
pioned a new taritf bill which he called "The Amer- 
ican," and its opposite was called the " Foreign Pol- 
icy." names that are still in use. He was a presi- 
dential candidate in 1824, and received thirty-seven 
electoral votes, while Jackson had ninety-nine, John 
Quincy Adams eighty-four and W. 11. Crawford 
forty-one. The election, therefore, went to the 
house of rejircsentatives, and Adams became presi- 
dent. Mr. Clay used his influence for Mr. A(lams, 
and on the latter's inauguration !Mr. Clay became 
secretary of state. The friends of Crawford and 
Jackson accused Clay of making a bargain with 
Adams for the .secretaryship in exchange for his sup- 
port, but this was denied by Clay, and disproved in 
various ways, notably by the publication of Adams's 
diary. During the fourteen years that Clay had, 
with short intervals, been sjieaker of the liou.se. not 
one of his decisions had ever been reversed. Carl 
Schurz saj-s; " Henry Clay stands in the traditions 
of the hou.se of representatives as the greatest of its 
speakers." The thanks of the house were voted to 
him with zest. The violent liatn'd clierislied by the 
opponents of Adams and Clay .showed it-self in bitter 
crilicisnis in senate and house concerning the action 
of the U. S. commissioners of an international con- 
gress of American reiniblics, to take place on the 
I.sthniiis of Panama, and Clay felt oliliged to chal- 
lenge .John Randoljih for his remarks. They fought 
a duel Apr, 8, 182(), when it was said that C'lay was 
terribly in earnest, but that I{andol|)h fired into the 
air. They exchanged two shots. Clay hitting Han- 
dolph's coat, after which the latter s;iid: " I do not 
fire at y(ai. Mr. Clay," and they shook hands. Mr. 
Clay's services as .secretary of state expired March 
3, 1829, the day before the inanguialion of Andrew 
Jackson as ])resident, and he (Clay) rcm.-irked that 
during its continuance '• more treaties between the 
United States and foreign nations h.ad been actually 
.signed than had been during the years of the exist- 
ence of the present constitution." Mr. Clay returned 
to his home in Kentucky, and for a tinie led the 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



173 



quiet life of a coimtry gentleman. In 1831 be was 
elected U. S. senator, and l)efore the close of the 
year was in Washington in the double character of 
senator and candidate for tlse ])residencj', being 
formally nominated by tlie convention of liis 
party which met Dec. 13, 1831. President Jackson 
having attacked the U. S. Bank in his first, second, 
and third messages to congress, Mr. Clay jiroceeded 
to make the renewal of its charter a party issue in 
the presidential campaign. The Carolina jjlauters 
having become dissati.slied with the tariff policy, the 
subject was brought before the senate, and Clay, as 
leader of his party, proposed to protect the American 
tariff then in o|ienition but wa.s willing to reduce 
the revenue by lessening the duties upon articles not 
coming into competition with American products, 
and a new tariff act framed on these principles was 
A pa.s.sed June, 1833. Jleanwhile there was great op- 
/ position in the hou.se, headed by Tlumias H. Benton, 
I to the rccharter of the U. 8. Bank ; a bill for that 
purpose jiassed the house, July 3d. was vetoed by 
the president, July lOth.and as atwo-thirdscongres- 
sional vote could not be obtained to override the 
veto, it was sustained. President Jackson was 
elected to a second term by an electoral vote of 
219 to 49 for Henry Clay. On Feb. 13, 1833, Mr. 
Clay introduced his compromi.se tariff bill, jirovidiug 
for a gradual decrease of the tariff until 1843, when 
a general rate of twenty per cent, slioidd be laid on 
all ilutiable goods. The free list was to be enlarged, 
duties were to be paid in casli, and valuation of im- 
ported goods was to be made at the port of entry. 
This bill was passed after a hot debate and was 
signed by Jackson. South Carolina repealed her 
nullification ordinance, and again Clay wou the title 
of " paciticator." In September, 1833, the president 
removed the public deposits from the U. S. bank, 
thereby causing c-xcitement and tinancial distress 
amounting almost to a panic. AVhen congress met, 
two months later. Clay brought forward resolutions 
declaring that the president had assumed the exer- 
cise of a power over the U. S. treasurj- not granted 
to him by the constitution and laws, and dangerous 
to the liberties of the people, and declaring that the 
reasons assigned by the secretary of the treasury, who 
had acted under Jackson's directions, were tmsatis- 
factory. With slight modifications these resolutions 
■were adojjted by the senate. March 38, 1834. On 
April ITth Jackson sent to the senate an earnest pro- 
test, demanding that it be entered u])on the journal. 
The senate denounced it and refused his demand, 
Mr. Clay using his strotfgest power of denunciation 
in condemning the president's course. In the ses- 
sion of congress 1834-35, the contest with Jackson 
■was renewed and Clay had the satisfaction of pre- 
venting his receiving authority to make reprisals on 
French property because of the non-payment of in- 
demnity due to the United States from the French. 
He also advocated a just and generous treatment of 
the Cherokee Indians in Georgia, all the more notice- 
able because he believed it to be im])Ossible to civil- 
ize Indians, and because he did not think them, as a 
race, worth preserving. He labored strenuously to 
restrict the power of the V. S. execiUive in the mat- 
ter of removals from office. Under his lead, too, the 
senate voted thirty-one to sixteen to repeal the law 
bj' which the president's temire of office was fixed .at 
four years. In lS8.")-3fi congress received numerous 
petitions from the northern states ]iraying for the 
abolition of slavery, JohnC. Calhoun moved in the 
senate that they be rejected without further consid- 
eration, but northern .senators insisted that they 
shoidd be referred to appropriate eonunittees. Mr. 
Clay revolted from a curtailment of the right of pe- 
tition, and voted "yea " in a motion to simply re- 
ceive the petitions, advocating a temporizing and 
suasive policy, but ultimately voted for Buchanan's 



motion iinamended. President .Tackson denounced 
the abolitionists in his mes.sagu, December, 1835. and 
suggested the pa.s.sage of a law "prohibiting imder 
severe penalties the circnhitiou in the southern 
states, through the mails, of incendiary publications 
intended to instigate the slaves to insurrection." Cal- 
houn in.sisted that it was the prerogative of every 
state to tietermine the character of mail matter 
which was brought within its bounds, and that it 
was the function of the U. S. government to close 
the mails to anything declared by a state to be " con- 
traband," and he offered a bill to this effect in the 
senate. Clay denounced this as uncalled for by pub- 
lic sentiment, as unconstitutional and as tlangerous 
to the liberties of the people. Calhoun's bill was de- 
feated by twenty-five to nineteen. As chairman of 
the senate committee on foreign affairs, Clay advocat- 
ed delay in admitting Texas into the Union, and then 
only when satisfactory information could be given 
that a civil government was in succes.sful operation in 
Texas. His reason for this attitude may be found in his 
indisposition to augment the political power of slav- 
ery. During Van Buren's administration Clay had 
the chagrin of seeing the resolutions of censure upon 




Jackson, the passage of which he had procured in 
1834, expunged from the official journal of the sen- 
ate by Jackson's friends. Clay opposed with such 
vigor the sub-treasury system advocated by Van Bu- 
ren that it failed in three successive congressional 
sessions. The contests in regard to it broke up the 
alliance between Cla.y and C'alhoun. Jleantinie, pe- 
titions protesting against slavery, in the District of 
Columbia and elsewhere, poured in from the north- 
ern states, and Mr. Clay moved in the senate that 
the petitions be received, and referred to the com- 
mittee on the District of Columbia. It being ob- 
jected that such a course would jirovoke argument 
on the slavery question. Clay replied : "It has been 
said that this is not a case for argument. Not a 
ease for argument '? What is it that lies at the bot- 
tom of all lawful institutions ';' Argument, inijuiry, 
reasoning, consideration, deliberation. What ques- 
tion is there in human affairs so weak or .so strong 
that cannot be lawfully approached by argument and 
reason ? This country will, in every emergency, ap- 
peal to enlightened judgmentsand its spirit of union 
and harmony, and the appeal will not be unsncce.ss- 
fid." It was at this time that Calhoun, the ablest 
champion of .slavery, started its discu.ssioii by the 
senate in offering a series of resolutions setting forth 
his thoughts on the relations between slavery and the 
union of the .stat<'S. Mr. Clay pro))osed si'ibstitutcs 
for these resolutions, offering, among other things, 
that the abolition of slavery in the District of Co- 
lumbia would be a violation of the good faith " im- 
plied in the cession of the District," accompanjnng 



174 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



it with rcmnrks in which he was iiiidersttKHl to de- 
plore the attacks on slavery no less, if not more, 
than the existence of slavery itself. Mr. Clay did 
not, however, obtain the wliis^ nomination for the 
presidency in the campaiirn of 1S40. It wa.s given 
to William Henry Harrison, who received '2'A4 elec- 
toral votes to si.\ty for Martin Van Bnren. ^Ir. 
Clay wa.s olTered the position of secretary of state, 
but declined it. On the death of President Harrison, 
Tyler became president, and Clay at ouce rallied the 
whigs of the country in opposition to him. He se- 
cured the repeal of the sub-treasury act. a bill for 
which was signed by Prcsidenl Tyler, and on March 
31, 1842, Clay left the senate, as he then said, forever. 
On May 1, 1844, he was a third time nominated for 
president by the whig national convention without 
any ballot and with a great shout that shook the 
building. Fourteen days before this he had wiitten 
an open letter to the ' ■ Public Intelligencer " of Wash- 
ington. D. C, in opposition to the annexation of 
Texas, a measure demanded liy the southern friends 
of slavery, and which had been urged liy President 
Tvler's administration. On 
Jfay 'ilih of the same year 
the democrats nominated 
for the presidency James 
K. Polk, of Tennessee, an 
ardent champion of annex- 
ation. During the eanva.ss, 
which was comiilicated by 
the candidacy of James G. 
Biruey, of Kentticky, the 
anti-slavery candidate, Ex- 
Pre.^ident Jackson wrote a 
letter from his home, the 
'Hermitage," in Tennes- 
see, in which he reaffirmed 
his belief that by corrupt 
bargain and sale. Clay had 
defrauded him of the presi- 
dency in 1825. Hut what 
is supposed to have had 
still more to do with Clay's 
defeat in the election was 
his own letter of Julv 1, 
1S44. to Miller, of Ala- 
bama, in which he de- 
clared "personally, I coidd 
have no objection to the 
annexation of Texas," and 
other words to the .same 
effect. This epistle, writ- 
ten to conciliate southern 
whigs, is believed to have 
cost hira the vote of New York, which was the 
deciding element in the contest. Polk became 
president, the annexation of Texas followed, as 
well as the war with Jlexico. Clay protested 
against the Jlexican war, referring to the declara- 
tion of congress that "war existed hy the act of 
Mexico," and .said that no earthly consideration 
could ever have tempted or provoked him to vote for 
a bill with a palpable falseluiod slampi'd upon its 
face. It speaks volumes for Mr. Clay's i)opularity 
that, at the age of sixty-seven, when he contemplat- 
ed selling " Ashland." to satisfy pres.sing pecuniary 
obligations, the president of the bank at Lexington, 
to whom he was offering a payment, informed him 
that sums of money had arrived from vaiious parts 
of the Cdunlry to pay his del)ts, and every note and 
mortgage of his was canceled. Clay was deeply 
moved, but to his inquiries the answer given was 
that th(! names of the donors were unknown. Mr. 
Clay took no part in the canvass that elected Presi- 
den't Taylor, hut in December, 1848, he was unani- 
mously "re-elected to the senate, and took his seat 
December, 1849. He took an active part in framing 




the hill for the admission of California, for territo- 
rial government in Xew .Mexico and L'tah. the set- 
tlement of the western boundary of Texas, the pro- 
vision of new laws for the return of fugitive slaves 
to their ma.sters, the abolition of slavery in the Di.s- 
trict of Columbia, and in the decision thai congress 
had no power to prohibit or obstruct the trade in 
slaves between slaveholding states. This was the 
famous compromise of 1850, the la.st plan of the 
kind to which he gave his mind and energies, and 
his latest biographer has stated that this compromise 
was, perhaps, the best that could be made in the cir- 
cumstances to effect a temporary truce. During the 
debate before the bill was pas-sed. Senator .lefferson 
Davis, of Jlississippi, <alled out from Clay this 
strong statemeiu : "Coming from a slave state as I 
do, I owe it to myself, 1 owe it to truth, I owe it to 
the subject, to say that no earthly pow er could in- 
duce me to vote for a specitic measure for the intro- 
duction of slavery where it had not before existed 
either .south or n(Jrlh of that line (liO" 8(1' N. Lat.)." 
He enii>hatically denied in his speech the right of 
any .state to .secede from the Union, or theiiossibilit}' 
of peaceful secessions; but he indulged high hopes 
that the result of the legislation in that session of 
congress woidd be decisive in healing the strife be- 
tween the northern and .southern sections of the 
Union. Wlu-n congress adjourned Clay went to 
Cuba for his health, and then returned to Ashland. 
In December, 1851, be was again in Washington, 
but ai^peared only once m the senate. He lived to 
see the substance of his celebrated compromise meas- 
ure on the subject of slavery pass into the jiolilical 
platforms of the whig and democratic parties at the 
national convention in Jime of that year. After ap- 
propriate funeral services in the senate chamber his 
remains were removed to Kentticky. the peoiile as- 
sembling by thousands in the cities through which 
the funeral train pas.sed, to <lo honor to his memory. 
On July 10th he was buried at Lexington, Ky., 
where an im|iosing nuuuiment has been erected. 
Nine months before his death his friends in N'ew 
York caused to be maile a gold medal in commemor- 
ation of his public services. Mr. Clay said: "If any 
one desires to know the leading and paranuiuni ob- 
ject of mv public life, the preservation of the Union 
will furnish him with the key." Mr. Clay died June 
29. 1852. 

RUSH, Richard, secretary of the treasury, was 
born in Pliila(lel|iliia, Atig. 28.1780. He was the sec- 
ond sou of the celebrated Dr. Benjamin Kusli, and re- 
ceived his early instrncti<in from his father and at the 
preparatory schools, anil at the age of fourti'cn was 
sent to Priiieeton College. At this institution had been 
educated both his father and his maternal grand- 
father, Richard Stockton, both of whom were signers 
of the Declaration of Indejiendcnce. While at college 
young Hicbard was remarkable for his fondness for 
debate and oratorical exercises in general, in which 
intellectual efforts be exhibited umismil aliility. He 
was gradualeil the youngest in a class of thirty-three 
in the antiunn of 1707, and was at once placed in the 
office of William Lewis, Esq., one of the leaders of 
the Philadelphia bar, to study law. He was admit- 
ted to practice in December^ 1800, and duiing the 
next six or seven years continued to devote himself 
to study, not oidy in law, but in general literature 
and iioliiieal science. In 1807. on the occasion of 
the attack by the P.ritisli on the frigate Chesapeake, 
young Husli made his first public speech, whieh was 
"received with the warmest applause. In isil.s he 
defended the editor of the "Aurora," Col. William 
Duane, who was prosecuted by the commonwealth 
for libel on Gov. Thomas jrcKeau. Tliis s]ieech 
gave him a great reputation, and business began to 
pour in upon him. At the next congressional elec- 
tion he was invited to be a candidate, but declined. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



175 




u/ilo'ian /njt'fu^f. 



In 1811 he received the appointment of attorney- 
general of Pennsylvania. In the same year Jlr. 
Rusli fought a (iiiel witli Mr. Peter A. Brown, a 
member of tlie Pliiladelphia bar, with whom lie had 
a misunderstanding, but he tired in the air and neither 
party received any injury. In the meantime, in 
1809, Mr. Rush had married Miss Catherine Eliza 
Murray, daughter of Dr. James ^Murray of Annaiio- 
lis, Md. In"l811 President JIadison appointed Mr. 
Rush comptroller of tlie United States treasury, and 
during the war witli England, he was one of the ad- 
visers of the government. At the 
close of the war he was offered 
the position of secretary of the 
treasury or the attorney -general- 
ship, and lie chose the latter. 
While holding this position he 
superintended the pulilication of 
"The Laws of the Nation" in 
four volumes, published in 1815. 
In 1817, after tilling the post of 
secretary of state temporarily, 
Mr. Rush was sent as minister 
to England, where he succeeded 
John Quincy Adams. He repre- 
sented the United States govern- 
ment at the Court of St. James 
for seven years with dignity and 
courtesy and witli the result of 
making a most agreeable impres- 
sion upon those who came in 
contact with him. He negotiat- 
ed several most important and difficult treaties; 
one concerning the northwestern boundary and an- 
other the nortlieastern lislieries, negotiations wliich 
brought him into relations with some of llie most 
distinguished English statesmen. In 1835 Mr. Rush 
was recalled to accept the position of secretary of 
the treasury at the hands of President Adams who 
had succeeded !Mr. Monroe. In 1828 his name 
was on the ticket with Mr. Adams for the candidate 
for the vice-presidency, but the ticket was defeated. 
On retiring with the government, Jlr. Rush was 
sent by the cities of Georgetown and Alexandria to 
England and Holland, commissioned to solicit for 
them a considerable loan, in which task he was 
completely successful. He was next employed by 
President Jackson, a.ssociated with Benjamin C. 
Howard to adjust the dispute as to the boundaries 
between the states of Ohio and Michigan. This was 
in 1835. In the following year the president sent 
him to England to obtain the legacy bequeathed by 
Sir. James Smilhsou. Jlr. Ru.sh was also successful 
in this mission. James Smithson, an Englishman 
born about 1754, was always deeply interested in 
science and had collected a magniticent cabinet of 
minerals, including the rarest gems, and had written 
numerous papers for scientific publications. He 
was a meniber of the Royal Society and the French 
Institute. He died in Genoa in lSi>i), and bequeathed 
his property, amounting to about £120,000 sterling, 
to his nephew, Heniy J. Hungerford, for life, and 
to his children if there were any. but otherwise "to 
the United States for the purpose of founding an 
histitution at Washington to be called the Smith- 
sonian Institution for the increases and ditfusion of 
knowledge among men." Jlr. Hungerford dying 
without heirs, there was a chaneeiy suit, when the 
amount of $508,31S.4fi was turned over to ]Mr. Rush 
and by him paid into the treasury of the United 
States. After considerable delay and .some dilti- 
cultv, congress passed the necessary enactment, and 
in August, 184(i, the Smithsonian Institution wa.s 
founded. The corner-stone of the building was 
hiid May 1, 1S47. During his lifetime :Mr. Rush 
was a regent of the in.stitution. After living several 
vcai-s in retirement Mr. Rush was appointed by 



President Polk minister to France, where he re- 
mained from 1847 to 1851, being an eye-witness of 
the scenes which occurred during the revolution of 
1848. In his official capacity he was the tirst for- 
eigner to recognize the lu-w republic. Jlr, Rush 
was a member of the American Philosophical Soci- 
ety and was a man of literary ability and a volumi- 
nous writer. Besides his coditication of laws already 
mentioned, he published: " Narrative of a Residence 
at the Court of London from 1817 till 1835;" 
"Washington in Domestic Life ;" and "Occasional 
Productions, Political, Diplomatic and Miscellane- 
ous, Including a Glance at the Court and Govern- 
ment of Louis Philippe, and the French Revolution 
of 1848." A notice of Mr. Rush published at the 
time of his death thus sums up his character: "He 
was a diplomatist and statesman, a jurist, a scholar, 
and a writer; and he was of the tirst class in every 
one of these pursuits. The country will .sincerely 
regret the death of one whose name carries the read- 
er back to Jefferson's time, and who was a.ssociated 
with the generation of great men, all of whom have 
passed away, and whom he has gone to join, after a 
long, pure, and useful life, in the course of which 
he wronged no one; but bore himself as if conscious 
that he was responsible for the projier discharge of 
the talents iutru.sted to him. His name will have a 
high place in American history, and will figure 
there with equal honor, whether the historian shall 
write of our politics or our literature." Mr. Rush 
died in Philadelphia July :iO, 1859. 

PORTER, Peter Buel, secretary of war, was 
born in Salisbury, Conn., Aug. 4, 1773. xVfter be- 
ing well grounded in English studies, he was sent to 
Yale, where he was graduated in 1791, and after- 
ward liegan to study law, and was for a time in 
Litchtield law school. Having been admitted to the 
bar, he went to Canandaigua, N. Y., and be^n to 
practice in 1795, but soou after settled at Black Rock, 
Niagara Co. In 1808 Jlr. Porter was elected a mem- 
ber of the house of rejiresentatives and ])laced on 
the committee of foreign relations, being appointed 
chairman. The twelfth congress, whicli assembled 
on Nov. 4, 1811, and of which Henry Clay was for 
the first time a member and speaker of the house of 
representatives, was notable for 
its war feeling. The poli(n' of the 
administration of Mr. Jefferson, 
which was to reduce the army 
and navy, was now reversed, and 
bills were passed for organizing 
both. As chairman of The com- 
mittee on foreign relations Mr. 
Porter was influential, and is said 
to have introduced a report at 
this session of congress which 
recommended the declaration of 
war with Great Britain. As a 
matter of fact. President ,M;idi- 
son was disinclineil to warlike 
measures, still hoping that actual 
conflict might be avoided, but the 
democrats, who were now all- 
powerful in congress, soon made 
him understand that decided and 
energetic aelion on the part of Ihe 
national government had been determined on, 3Ir. 
-Madison being informed that uidess he acceded to 
the declaration of war, neither his nomination nor 
his re-election to the presidency could be relied 
upon, he concluded to waive his own objections, 
and to do all he could for the pro.secution of the war 
for which he had no ta.sle. In ]\Iarch, 1812. Mr. 
JIadison transmitted to congress a special me.s.sage, 
accompanied by certain documents, all of which 
were placed in the charge of Ihe committee on for- 
eign relations, at that time under the chairmanship 




176 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



of Mr. Porter, and which were of vital importance, 
having formed part of the communication of the ex- 
ecutive by one John Henry, an Irishman, who had 
been a secret agent of the Briti.sli government in the 
northeastern stales, intriguing with the disaffected 
with a design of destroying the Union, and arraug- 
ing a political connection between the eastern part 
and Great Britain. Tliis .John Henry had for a time 
held a commission in the U. S. army, but had set- 
tled in Canada, and was eniplo_ved liy the governor 
of that province. In the prosecution of his nefa- 
rious task he made his ilisclosures to the U. S. gov- 
ernment, on account of the refusal on the part of 
the British ministry to pay him for his work. The 
committee on foreign lelations, in making their re- 
port upon this remarkable history, said: "The 
transaction disclosed by the president's message pre- 
sents to the minds of the committee conclusive evi- 
dence that the British government, at a period of 
peace and during the most friendly professions, has 
been deliberately and perfidiously pursuing measures 
to divide these states, and to involve our citizens in 
all the guilt of treason and the horrors of a civil 
■Avar." John Henry received, after his disclosure to 
the president, llie"s\iin of !«.")0.000, drawn from the 
treasury for the account of the secret service fund. 
Having received this amount he sailed for France 
on board the L". S. .sloop of war Wasp, and Jlr. Mad- 
ison never made known to congress anything about 
the character of his disclosures until he was actually 
on the ocean. It will thus be seen that the position 
of Mr. Porter was one of exceptional responsibility, 
and his patriotism and warlike feeling were to be 
shown in still another and more impo"i-tant fashion. 
Upon the opening of the war with Great Britain he 
resigned from the house of rejiresentativcs, and vol- 
unteered his services in the army. He was offered 
the commission of brigadier-general, but declined it. 
Eventually he was made colonel of a regiment of 
vohmtcer troops, organized in the states of Pennsyl- 
vania and Xew York, with which was also com- 
bined a body of Indians cliosen from among the Si.K 
Nations. Porter and his corps did good service in 
the western part of New York, and on the frontier. 
He fought bravely at Chippewa, and commanded 
the volunteers at Lundy's Lane under Gen. Scott. 
For a time he was under the command of Gen. Alex- 
ander Smith, with whom, it is related, he fought a 
duel on account of some personal disagreement. At 
the chjse of the war congress gave Gen. Porter a 
gold medal, and the legislature of the state of New 
York presented him with a sword. In 1815 he was 
offered the post of commander-in-chief of the army, 
but refused it. He was elected to congress and 
served for a few months. Gen. Porter was greatly 
interested in the progress of the Erie canal, and was 
one of those who were ajipointed to explore the 
country through which it was built. In 1816 he was 
appointed a member of the northwestern boundary 
commission. On Jlay 20, 18'28, Mr. Porter was ap- 
pointed secretary of war by President .John Quincy 
Adams. He died at Niagara Falls, N. Y., March 
20. 1844. 

BARBOUR, James, secretary of war. was born 
in Orange county, Va...Iinie 10."lTT5. Ilis father 
was Col. Thomas Harbour, of an old Virginia fam- 
ily, who educated his son to hold the position of a 
gentleman, as that title was understood in Virginia 
in those da\-s. and who gave him opportunities to 
acquaint him.self with the law to such an extent that 
young Barbour was admitleil to the bar before he 
was of age. In ITIK! he was elected a member of 
the house of delegates, and continued to hold that 
po.sition until he became governor of the state in 
1813. Gov. Barbour w;is a man of original ability 
and great force of clianicter, so much .so that he 
reached the highest po.sitions mainly from his own 



ambition and his own capacity. "While in the house 
of delegates he was speaker, and was a leader in for- 
warding all the more important bills in which he 
took any interest. In 1815 young Barbour was elected 
a member of the U. S. senate, and served as chair- 
man of the conunittee on foreign affairs. Soon after 
the inauguration of John Quincy Adams as president 
of the United States he appointed his cabinet, includ- 
ing James Barbour as secretary of war. He resigned 
in May, 1828, to accept the position of minister to 
the court of St. James, but was recalled by President 
Jackson in 1829. Gov. Barbour was a prominent 
whig, and in 1839 was chairman of the whig conven- 
tion which nominated Harrison. He died at his 
home in Vir<;iuia June 8, 1842. 

CRAWFORD, William Harris, regidar nom- 
inee of the democratic party for the U. S. presidency, 
1824, was born in Amherst county, Va., Feb. 24, 1772. 
His father, who had lost his property, removeti to 
Georgia and settled in Columbia county. After pro 
curing .such education as the meagre facilities of the 
time afforded, the boy became a teacher in the Rich- 
mond Academy, and" with the money thus earned, 
prosecuted the study of law. From the first the 
yomig man took an advanced po- 
sition in his ])rofession. and was 
appointed to prepare the first di- 
gest of the laws of Georgia which 
was made. Entering politics he 
became a member of the state 
senate in 1802, and live years later 
was chosen to fill a vacancy in the 
U. S. senate and served until 1813, 
when he resigned to accept the 
post of minister to France, having 
previously declined the place of 
secretary of war. During his sen- 
atorial term he served as president 
pro tern, of the .senate, and favored 
the policy of the U. S. Bank. As 
the result of an alleged conspiracy 
to drive him from public life Mr. 
Crawford felt obliged to take part 
in two duels, in one of which he 
killed his op])onent, and in the 
other was himself severely wounded. In 1815 he ac- 
cepted the iiost of .secretary of war. and filled the \ws\- 
tion imtil October,1816.wlien. on the retirement of A. 
J. Dallas from the secretary.sliip of the treasury, Mr. 
Crawford became his successoraud lielci the jilace un- 
til 1825. Mr. Crawford was a stanch adherent of 
Thomas Jefferson, and foimd himself, in con.sequence, 
in opjiosition to the majority of his |iarty, who favored 
the polii^j- of internal improvements at the expense 
of the general government. Mr. Calhoun was the 
leader of the opposing faction, and was a formal 
candidate for the presidential nomination which fi- 
nally went to Crawford in Fi'bruary, 1824. In the 
following election Mr. Crawford received 41 elect- 
oral votes; there being no choice by the peojile, the 
election devolved upon congress, which cho.se .1. Q. 
Adams over Jackson and Crawford, a result said to 
have been brought about by Ileiuy Clay who, as a 
fourth candidate, brought "his friends to vote for 
Adams. The maimer in which Crawford adminis- 
tered the treasury was made the subject of congres- 
.sinnal investigation, and the comniillee, men of all 
parties, including Webster and Ban<loliih. declared 
unanimously as to his ability, Mr. Crawford's health 
was never good after his injury. He accepted an 
election as circuit judge in his native .state and served 
with great etliciency until 1831. He was a man of 
pronounced religious views, an admirable conversa- 
tionalist, and a dispen.ser of a hospitality so generous 
and free that it was noticeable even in a country 
noted for its hospitalitv. He died in Elbert county, 
Ga., Sept. 15, 1834. 








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C2->yWia<^^-<^^^c:==^,/^>^ 



^-,2?':2>«— 



COPYKIOHT. 1992. BY JHHES T. Ww-rg t CO. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



179 




if - • ' 

^ ^-^ ,^ ^ 









JACKSON, Andrew, seventh president of the 

United States, was horn in the district on the border 
between North and Soutli Carolina, limiwn as tlie 
Waxliaw Settlement, March 15, 1T(!7. He came of 
North of Ireland ancestry, many jrencrations of his 
forefathers having lived in or near tlie town of 
Carrick Fergus, on the north coast of Ireland. From 
that section his father. Andrew .Jackson, migrated 
to America in 176.5. He came of a family who had 
been engaged in the prevailing trade of the North 
of Ireland — that of linen, and Andrew Jackson's 
■wife, the future president's motlier, Elizabeth 
Hutchinson and her family, were 
all linen weavers. The family 
located on what might be con- 
sidered, in its relation to the 
birthplace of the Andrew Jack- 
son \mder con.sideralion — as dis- 
puted territory. That is to say, 
for many years the argument has 
been kept up and well-su.stained 
on both sides, whether President 
Andrew Jackson was born in 
Xorth or South Carolina. It was 
finally settled by the hi.storical 
and biograjihical authorities that 
what was known as the Waxhaw 
Settlement, which was first sup- 
posed to be wholly in South 
Carolina, was, after many years, 
found to lie on both sides the 
boundary line between the two 
.states, and that |iortion of it in 
which the Jacksons lived was actually in North 
Carolina. Nevertheless. Gen. Jackson did twice 
anno\ince himself as a native of South Carolina, 
once in a letter written in IsiiO, and again in the 
proclamation addressed to the South Carolina Nvdli- 
fiers in 1833. This last ndglit reasonably be con- 
sidered an excusable political aberration. Certain it 
is that Parton, after thorough research, determined 
that at the time of his t)irth. the place where he 
■was born was within the limits of North Carolina. 
Shortly after the birtli of Andrew, liis mulliermoved 
across the border into South Carolina, and that fact, 
and because his infancy and youtli were pa.<.sed 
there, probably had a great deal to do with his own 
Impressions as to his birthplace; wliere all was a 







wilderness it would indeed be difficult to be abso- 
lutely certain on a question of this character. The 
means for obtaining intellectual in.struction in the 
wild coimlry where Andrew was liorn were few 
and inadequate. The "field" schools of the colo- 
nies in those days were only appropriate to the coun- 
try in which they were jilaced. The schooling was 
of the simplest, and mostly conducted by itinerant 
teachers, who might po.ssibly have come from the 
ol<i country under a cloud, with a good university 
education, or have been simply grounded, as was 
more frerpiently the case, in the merest rudiments 
of instruction, and of this have only conveyed a 
very limited degree of what was considered educa- 
tion. In truth, the learning of Andrew Jackson 
amounted to no more than reading, writing and 
arithmetic. His mother appears to have ha<l ambi- 
tion for him, and designed that he .should obtain 
better instruction than was practicable in her neigh- 
borhood. So long as .she lived he was .sent to schools 
kept by clergymen, where the most of his instruc- 
tion included the classics and a certain limited prep- 
aration for college, with an eye to the ministry as 
a conclusion; but Andrew never attended college, 
anil never had the slightest inclination toward the 
theological profe.s.sion. He appears to have been a 
wild, iiujietuous. lively, reckless boy, and po.s.se.ssed 
of but slight inclination toward book knowledge, to 
which very little was added as he grew older; and 
as a man he might he fairly counted ascomjiaratively 
uneducated in relation to his position. His natural 
character, however, combined qualities which were 
of the greatest importance and value to hiin.self, and, 
as it proved, to his country. He jiossessed physical 
and moral courage to an unusual degree, and his 
will jiower, while not descending to obstinacy, was 
a most positive force — as those who had occasion to 
come into contact with it in after years could surely 
testify; btit while, as a matter of fact, he was never 
able to write his own language correctly, he was a 
born fiijhter. and in that capacity made his mark at 
an early age. His mother died in 17S1. and for two 
years thereafter Andrew succeedeil in obtaining 
enqiloyment as a school teacher in the Waxliaw dis- 
trict, and after the proclamation of jieace between 
Great Britain and her .sometime colonies, he deter- 
mined to study l;iw. and entered the office of ^Ir. 
Sjiruce McCay in Salisbury. N. C. Here he studied 



180 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 






Tcry little, nmusins himself in cock-fiL'htinii. Iiorse- 
racing, card-plavinj;, and geuenilly in sowing his 
wild oats, of wliieii he was master of an unusual 
crop. At the age of twenty, he is described as stand- 
ing six feet and an inch in liis stockings, very slen- 
der, but not awkward, with a face long, thin anil 
blonde; high narrow forehead, a mass of sandy hair, 
and deep blue eyes, which llien and ever afterward 
could blaze into" the fiercest expression wlien he wu-s 
roused. His education up to that period included 
splendid marksmanship, wliile he was an aecom- 
lishcd horseman, and utterly fearless in any situation 
likely to occur. His uniper was irritable, and he 
■was easily forced into seemingly ungovernable rage, 
yet he liad a .strength of character and common 
sense which prevented him from flying into a really 
dangerf)us passion. In 1 788 Jacksoji went by wagon- 
train to Xashvillo, Teun., where he began to practice 
law. In the next three or four years he had all the 
business he wanted to do. In 1790-91 occurred tin? 
remarkable romance which resulted in .Jackson's 
marriage. His wife was originally Kachel Donelson, 
a North Carolinian by birth, daughter of Col. .John 
Donelson. who was a well to-do surveyor, and who 
had migrated from his native state, Virginia, to the 
vicinity of Nashville, ten years before. During 
those ten years Rachel married one Captain Lewis 
Robards. She was a bright, active girl, full of 
vivacity, a fine rider autl dancer, and disposed to 




enjoy company, while her husband seems to have 
been jealous and tyrannical to an unrea.sonable de- 
gree. At first the coujile lived with Rachel's moth- 
er-in-law, who took boarders, as was common in the 
Southwest at that time. After a while her husband 
began to comiilain regarding his wife and her rela- 
tions with persons boarding in the hou.se, and event- 
ually sent her lumie to the residence of her mother 
in Tennessee. At her mother's house boarded 
Andrew .lackson, and the residt of this accidental 
acquaintance was to bring about still further dis- 
turbance between !Mrs. Robards and her husband, 
the latter having become reconciled to his wife nud 
settled in the neighborhood, .\ccording to history 
current at the time, nothing could properly have 
been said against his character in this unforluna'.e 
affair. He was curiously romantic in his chivalrous 
regard for the sex and his elevated impressions con- 
cerning women. Notwithstanding this fact, and 
that the relations of .Jackson with ^Irs. Robards were 
well recognized as (virrect in every particidar, her 
jealous and pas.sionate husband applied for a divorce, 
the application including an accusation against Jack- 
son. The suit was undertaken in Kentucky, and as 
the distances weie greater in those days, and false 
impressions more easily conveyed and less easily con- 
tradicted, there resulted the fact that .lackson was 
given to under.stand that a divorce had actually 
been granted, and under the ciremnstances. while 
experiencing a deep and sincere affection for Jlrs. 
Robards, he felt also a duty in regard to her, and 



accordingly, in 1791, went to Natchez, where be 
married her. Two years later, Capt. Robards 
went into court, and "demonstrated easily enough 
the existence of the facts which he required tor the 
purpose of procuring his divorce, and obtained it. 
On hearing of this, Jack.son procured a new license 
and had the marriage ceremony performed over 
again. Whatever irregularity existed in the marriage 
was due, in the tirst instance, to the sly and unmanly 
action of Capt. Robards, and in the next to the con- 
ditions necessarily obtaining in regard to court i)ro- 
cedure in a new country. Stress is laid upon the 
incident here because long years afterward it rose 
up to cast the shadow of an entirely unintentional 
fault as a blight upon the life of Jackson, and a 
wea[ion in the hands of his enemies. Jackson made 
his first advent into political life as a member of a 
convention called in the territory of Tennessee for 
the |>urpo.se of making a constitution, preparatory to 
a]iplying for admis.siou as a state. The movement 
resulted in the success of the application, and the 
new state being entitled to but one member in the 
house of representatives, Andrew Jackson was 
elected in 179(i to serve the people in the national 
legislature, and heard President '\\asliington in per- 
son deliver his la.st message to congress. In the 
meantime, as a thoughtful and far-seeing man, Jack- 
.son had Ijegun to formulate his ojiinions with regard 
to srreat public questions. The result of this was to 
throw him in opjiosition to the federalists, and i>ar 
ticularly to arouse his condemnation of the |ioli<-y of 
Alex.ander Hamilton. Already, too, began in his 
mind the objections which afterward became so im- 
portant a factor in national history — objections to 
the theory and practice of a National Hank. His 
frontier nature revolted against anything like ex- 
traordinary expenditures in cariying on the govern- 
ment, and he is noted as having objected violently 
to an a]iproprialion of money wherewith to furnish 
the newly erected presidential mansion in Washing- 
ton. Perhaps the .-itrongest motive with him at this 
time was liis hatred of England, and he was even 
anxious to .see the British throne overturned by Na- 
jioleon. From the house of representatives, Jackson 
went, in 1797, to the U. S. senate, and it was said of 
him by Jelferson, who presided over that body, that 
he had seen .Jackson get up in a iia.s.sion to s]icak, 
and so choke up with rage that he could not utter a 
word. He felt himself out of place in the senate, 
whose dignity and slowness seemed to him tedious 
and ridiculous. Returning to Teimessee. he was 
chosen by the legi-slature to a seat on the bench of 
the supreme court of the state, the salary being $600 
a year; this position he held until 18(H. when he re- 
signed, in order to settle up his private affairs. As 
was the case at that period w ith many of his ablest 
and best supiiorters, Jackson was desperately in- 
volved in debt, and immediately on leaving his 
judicial position, he sold his house and per.sonal 
estate at Hunter's Hill, as it was called, and some 
2o,()()0 acres of land in other parts of the state, an 
act which enabled him to i>ay off afl his debts; 
wheieupon he look his negroes and removed to the 
place ever after known as The Hermitage, where 
lie once more lived in a house of logs until his new 
mansion was completed, the situation being about 
eleven miles from Nashville. Tenn. He now formed 
a partnership with one John Coffee, and ran his 
|ilanations and sold his produce with gieat succes.s, 
.slniwing a good head for business, and thriving in 
every direction. His slaves were always kindly and 
consiilerately treated, and evervthing aiiout his plan- 
tation was .systematic and well arranged. Toward 
his inferiors. Jackson was always kind, courteous, 
and gentle; with his .social equals, on the contrary, he 
was apt to be arrogant, dictatorial, and even quarrel 
some. Already, in 1795, after some words w ith an 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



181 



opposing counsel, while he was practising law, he 
had fought a duel, and in 1796 he was near to shoot- 
ins;' at siniit tlu' ccleliratcd ,Iuhn Sevier, governor of 
Tennessee, on accinint of some disagreement in re- 
gard to the circumstances of Jackson's marriage, 
always a sore point witli him. Ten j-ears later he 
fought his duel with Charles Dickinson, iu whicli 
Dickinson was killed and .Jackson received a wound, 
friini wliosc effects he never recovered. Old Tom 
Benton said of .lackson: "Retired from the U. S. 
senate, and from the supreme judicial bench of the 
stale, this future warrior and president was living 
upon his farm on the banks of tlie Cumberland 
wlien the war of 1^13 Ijroke out. He was a major- 
general in the Tennessee militia, the only place he 
would continue to hold. His friends believed he 
had military genius. " But in tlie meanlime Burr's 
attempleii treason had brought that Machiavellian 
conspirator into communication with .Jackson, 
though without residt so far as involving tlie latter 
in Burr's mysterious expedition was concerned. 
One inciilent, however, of this acquaintance was 
that Jackson became o|iposcd to .Jefferson, and made 
a speech in I{ichmond attacking him, which also 
brought him into coiitlict with Madison. Yet when 
Madison was president and the war of \SVi Ijroke 
out, .Jackson gathered together more than 2,000 
men, and offered their services and his own to the 
government. The earliest operations of the United 
btates in this war had proved unsuccessful. Hull's 
failure in Canada had caused the Americans to fear 
the direction of the British forces against the forts 
of the Gulf of Mexico, and the governor of Tennes- 
see was retpicsted to send troops for the reinforce- 
ment of Gen. Wilkinson, who was in command at 
New Orleans. This brought into service Gen. Jack- 
son and his volunteers, and on Jan. 7, 1813, he 
started down the riverfor New Orleans; but through 
Some irregularity, on his arrival at Natchez Jackson 
received orders from Wilkinson to halt, as no prep- 
arations had been made for his troo|is at New 
Orleans. This amoiuUed practically to an order to 
disband .'500 miles from home, without pay, means 
of transport or commissariat or hospital .stores; but 
Jackson determined to permit no such outrage as 
this, and. though iu disobc<iience of orders, marched 
his troojis back in a body to their own state, reach- 
ing Nashville May "22, 1813; and his conduct on this 
occasion was afterward ajiiiroved Jiy the govern- 
ment, which eventually paid the expeu.ses of the 
moveiuent. It was during this trip fnmi Natchez 
that .Jackson obtained the name of "Old Hickor}', " 
which was an ovitgrowth of a remark by some sol- 
dier that he was tcaigh, followed by the assertion 
that he was "tough as hickory," this being reduced 
to "hickory," and finally, as a tuark of affection, 
the whole being included iu the plirase "Old Hick- 
ory." The war with England had brought about 
Indian encroachments, the result, practically, of the 
western progi-ess of white settlCi's constantly driving 
the natives before them. Tecumseh had i>iamied to 
organize the tribes of the entire country between 
Florida and the lakes in a detcrnnned effort to pu.sh 
back the white man to the coa.st. Tecumseh 's own 
Work was among the Clierokees. Creeks and Semi- 
noles. In the meantime. Gen. Harrison had over- 
whelmingly defeated Tecumseh 's brother at Tippe- 
Ciuioe, and" broken the design at that point, but 
1812-13 proved to be Tecumseh 's years, and the 
movement was started by an outbreak in Alabama, 
in .Vugust, 1813, known'as the "Massacre of Fort 
Minims." This outrage aroused Tennessee, and 
Gen. Jjickson, as commander-in-chief within that 
state, i.s.sued a call for volunteers in his position. 
Within a month he had sent Col. Coffee, with .500 
cavalry, to Huntsville, Ala., and followed him 
shortly after with reiuforcemeuts, lighting on Nov. 



9th the battle of Talladega, in which the enemy 
were entirely worsted, leaving 290 dead on the field. 
Jackson pushed forward, h.-iviiig now about 1,000 
troops, raiding the Indians wherever he coidd find 
them, and always with success. This continued 
until the latter i)art of March, when the Creeks made 
their tinal stand at a bend of the Tallapoo.sa river, 
about tifty-tive miles from Fort Strotlier, having 
aljout 900 warriors. Hei(^ Jackson completely 
crushed them with his army of 2.000 men. but few 
escaping, 5.")7 dead Creeks being found upon the 
battle-tield. This wiped out tlie Indian movement 
in Florida, and Jackson iniinediately started for 
New Orleans, which he found protected by only 
2,000 men, with the imiuortal schooner Caroline and 
tlie ship L<misiana lying at anchor in tlie river, with- 
out men. In the meantime the army of Fciisacola, 
under Gen. Coffee, w.as approai-hing, and volunteers 
from Tennessee, under Gen. Carroll, were moving 
toward him. so that he had two or three thousand 
troops iu hand. 4,000 more on the way, six gun- 
boats, two armed vessels, and the forts garrisoned 
by a few re.gulars. With this small force, mostly 
inexperienced volunteers, he had to contend with a 
fleet of Ijfty ships, carrying 1.000 guns, and a laud 
force of 20,000 veterans. On the afternoon of Dec. 
23, 1814, the British being encamped nine miles be- 
low the city, Jack.son sent the little Carolina again.st 
them, and a broadside of her small armament dealt 




great destruction among the British soldiers. Jack- 
son's land force followed up this movement and jiro- 
duced a considerable impression u|)on the enemy. 
That night he began his celebrated fortification of 
New Orleans. Jleanwhilc the British made their 
preparations Utv reducing the city, ;ind on .Ian. 1, 
181.5, they began to liombard the American works, 
which con.sisted Of earth and cotton bales, but the 
American batteries proved to be too strong for them, 
and after .some severe firing, the British retired, and 
made a movement to turn the American line. The 
fight on Sunday, Jan. 8th. ever celc'brated in .\mcri- 
can history, was one of the most remarkable ever 
chronicled. Just before d.-iwn. Gen. Pak<'nham 
gave the signal for assault, and it is a fact, incredible 
as it may ai)])ear. that the American fin' was so 
fierce that in twenty-five minutes these thousands of 
British veterans were repulsed and entirely routed. 
In two hours every British gun was silenced and its 
defenders driven to the rear. On the British side 
there were 700 killed. 1,400 wounded, and .ioO 
prisoners, while .Jackson's loss was eight killed and 
thirteen wounded. It was a great victory, and the 
news of it, as it spread throu.!;h the country, raised 
Gen. .Jackson to the position of a hero. Resolutions 
of thanks and praise to him were passed by the legis- 
latures of nearly all the states of the Union, while 
the thanks of congress were given him by a iinani- 
mcais vote, and a golil medal ordered to be .struck 
and |iresented to him as a testimonial of his splendid 
achievement. This battle ended the war, which 
had really been closed by the treaty of peace made 
at Ghent, Dec. 24, 1814, news of which did not 
reach Washington until Feb. 14, 1815. On Apr. 



182 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 




6th, Jackson returned to Tennessee, and settled down 
for a summer's rest at the "Hermitage." So ereat 
was the enthusiasm aroused bj' Jackson's niihtary 
success that he was now freely mentioned as a possi- 
ble candidate for the presidency, to succeed Presi- 
dent Madison, at that time closing his second Irnii; 
but in Noveml)er, 1817, he was again called into the 
field to repress a revolt of the Seminole Indians in 
Florida. Jackson's actions through this contlict 
■were imperious and dictatorial. The Indian trouble 
was complicated with the Sjiaiiish authority in 
Florida, and, as a matter of fact, Jack.soii invaded 
the dominion of a king wlio was at peace with the 
United States, seized a fortress of Ids province, and 
expelled its garrison, all of which placed the U. S. 
government in a delicate situation. However. John 
Quincy Adams, secretary of state, supported Jack- 
son in his action, being opposed bj' Henry Clay, 
who was severe in his connnent and criticism. Out 
of this course, on the part of Clay, began the )>er- 
sistent feud which existed between Jackson and him- 
self thereafter. Jack.son was, however, sustained 
by the committee of the whole. Spain ceded Florida 
to the United States, and President Monroe ap- 
pointed Jackson its first governor. Finding his 
powers as governor more .strictly limited tlian suited 
his views, Jackson only held the office for a few 
weeks, and in Novem- 
ber, 1821, returned to 
"The HermitaL'c." On 
July 20, 1882, Jackson 
was nomiuiued by the 
Tennessee legislature 
for the presidency. In 
I lie following year he 
was again elected to the 
U. S. senate, where he 
was known as a high 
tariff man, but taking 
little part in debate. His feeling with regard to his 
nomination for the presidency maybe judged rmina 
statement made by Bishop Paine, who at that time 
called at " The Hermitage " and spoke to the gener- 
al in regard to it. The Latter said: " I have been look- 
ing forward to a relea.se from public otlice and its 
cares, thinking I would then attend in earnest lo my 
religious affairs, and I dread the cxcilemcnt likely to 
spring up it my friends |)ersist. I do not covet more 
honors; mj- country has honored me enough, and I 
prefer quiet ; but having said that no one should seek 
the office, nor any patriot reject it when called to it, I 
can only say I coidd not refuse it if tendered." The 
election in November, 1834, showed !)9 electoral voles 
for Jackson; 84 for Adams; 41 for Crawford, and ;i7 
for Cl.ay. None of the candidates having a majority, 
the election was thrown iiUo the lionse of repre- 
sentatives, where a president must be chosen from 
the three highest names on the list, thus throw- 
ing out Clay altogether; the election result<'d in 
Adams becoming president, he having olrtained the 
support of Clay. The charg<^ was made, and by 
many believed that tliis was tlie result of a corrupt 
bargain between Adams and Clay, and this belief 
brought about the duel lietween the latter aii<l .lohii 
Randolph of HoaiioUe. In the course of a debate on 
the subject of an international congress of American 
republics, Handolpli denounced the administration, 
alluding lo Adams and Clay as a " combination of 
the Puritan and blacUleg." Clay challenged Ran- 
dolph, and a bloodless duel was fought Apr. 8, 
182(i. Jackson and liis friends felt tlie defeat .se- 
riou.sly, althougli with iu> real groimds therefor, 
and .Tiickson could never be made to change his 
opinion that Clay was in some way responsible. 
The nomination of Jack.son was such a deparliue 
from established precedent as to carry defeat in its 
trail. Up to thai period the presidents of the Uiuted 



States had been men distinguished for everything 
w^hich Jackson lacked. Highly educated, rendered 
courtly and diplomatic by their associations, they 
were the exact opposiles to the "field" .school 
formed .Iack.son, with liisafter plantation and rough 
battlefield and campaign experiences — but none of 
this mattered in the end. His defeat roused a state 
of feeling which, being backed by Martin Van 
Huren with his powerful inlluence, resulted in the 
determination, on the part of those who had been 
beaten, to nominate and elect Jackson in 1828, and 
this was precisely what was done. At the election 
in that year, Jackson received 178 votes in the 
electoral college, being 47 more than was necessary. 
Before he had entered upon the duties of his otfice, 
however, on Dec. 22, 1828. he met with the greatest 
misforlime of his life in the loss of his beloved wife. 
She died very suddenly, and the angiush of the old 
general at this iuie.x|)ected bereavement is described 
as most intense and pitiful. He sat in a chair by 
her dead body, with his face bowed and his head in 
his hands, weeping. To friends who called to con- 
dole with him, he said: "What are the world and 
its honors to me since she is taken from me '! " He 
never was quite the same man afterward. His spirit 
was subdued, and it is said that his old time ex- 
clamation, "Bj- the Eternall" very rarely passed 
his lips after the death of Mrs. Jackson. Jackson's 
first administration was most noted, ])erhaps, for the 
establishment of the system "To the victors belong 
the spoils." This principle he carried out jiractically, 
and during the year 182!( his removals from office 
were greater than had ever been known before, and 
they were acknowledged to be removals because of 
opposition to him, wliile the concurrent appoint- 
ments were made from among those wlio had aided 
his election. Jackson's next important adnunistra- 
tive act was brought about by his contest with the 
Bank of the United States, at that time a tloiuishing 
in.stitution. with a capital of $8.^,0011,0(1(1; .fd. 000, 000 
or $7,000,000 on deposit of public money, and ^6,- 
OOO.OtlO more of private deposits. Its circulation 
was 112.000,000; its discomits more than |40.000.- 
000 a year, and its annual i>rotits were over $3.0(K1,- 
000. The centra! bank was in Philadelphia, and it 
had twenty five branches located in the principal 
cities of the Union. Every state in the Union, and 
every civilized country in the world, was represented 
among its stockholders. In his first message Jack- 
son attacked the principle upon which the Bank of 
the United States existed, and again in the next ses- 
sion of congress. In the first .session of the twenty- 
second congress, the question of rechaiiering the 
bank came up, and a bill to that effect was pas.sed. 
The president vetoed it. Ills ground was, in a 
word, "Monopoly." It was impossible to pa.ss the 
bill over his veto, and the bank, as a government 
institution, came lo an end on March 4, 183(); it 
continued business as a private bank for six years, 
when it failed, nuning thousands. It was during 
Jackson's first adnu'iustration that the expres.si()U 
"kilchen cabinet " came into use. It was lirought 
into existence by the fact that Jackson, who. except- 
ing Martin N'aii Buren. had no jirominent or well- 
known men in his cabinet, made clerks of his secre- 
taries, while using as conlidential advi.sers a few 
inlimate friends: Amos Kendall, Dull Creen. I.saac 
Hill and others, who became known as the " kitchen 
cabinet." They were all machine politicians, two 
of them beingeditors of partisan newspajiers. the 
worst po.ssible advi.sers for a jiresident. and the men 
who were doubtless res])onsible for all the political 
evils that have existed in the governmental system 
of the United States since their time. Of all the 
presidents of the United States, except JetTereon 
and IJncoln. Jackson may be considered to have 
exerted the most important impression upon the 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



183 



politics, and thus upon the history of the country. 
In 1833 Jackson was re-elected to the presidency by 
a still larger majority iu the electoral college than 
before. The year 1833 was important on account 
of the nullification action of South Carolina, headed 
by John C. Calhoun, the point being the avowed 
determination on the part of that state to disobey 
jthe tariff law of 1838 and the amendment to the 
'same of 1833, and the announcement on tlie part of 
'the state that if the government of the United States 
should attempt to enforce llie tariff law, South 
Carolina would no longer consider lier.self a menilier 
of the Feileral Union. Jack.sou was equal lo the 
occasion. He is issued a proclamation winch electri- 
fied the country and thoroughly scared South Caro- 
lina from her threatened designs of nullification. 
Iu fact, the president was resolved that with the 
first overt act, .John C. Calhoun should find him.self 
a prisoner of state, charged with high treason. 
When Gen. .Jackson lay upon his deathbed, he was 
asked by Dr. Edgar what he would have done if 
Calhoun and the other mdlifiers had kept on. 
"Hung them, sir, high as Ilanian. They should 
have been a terror to traitors to all time, and posteri- 
ty would have iironounced it the best act of my 
life." In 1833 Mr. t'lay quieted the nullification 
excitement by his celebnileil "Compromise bill" 
for the regulation of the tariff, which the president 
reluctantly signed. Jackson retired from the presi- 
dency at the age of seventy, with shattered health, 
an infirm old man. Jackson's methods in his foreign 
policy were not unlike those just described in regard 
to home quarrels. An instance occurred in 1833, 
when France defaulted on a payment of money ar- 
ranged by treaty .stiimlation. The draft bring pre- 
seiued to the French minister of finance, payment 
was refused on the plea that the proper appropria- 
tion had not been made by the chambers. In his 
ne.xt message to congress, Jackson recommended 
the passage of a law avithorizing the cajitiire of 
French vessels enough to make up the amount ihie. 
The French government was naturally infuriated, 
and war was threatened unless the president should 
apologize: whereuixm the British government recom- 
mended to France a more amicable attitude, with 
the result that the claim was jiaid without further 
delay. Jaek.son died at his home, "The Ilerinit- 
age," .June 8. 1840, and was buried in a corner of 
the garden of that proiierty, eighty yards from the 
dwelling, where his remains were afterward, in com- 
pany witli those of his wife, covered by a mas.sive 
monument of Tennessee limestone. His loss was 
deeply felt throughout the country, and evidences 
of mourning were exhibited in all the prineijial 
towns and cities. The 34th of the month was set 
apart by the city of New York for a special pageant 
in memory of the deceased .soldier and president, the 
result being a must impressive and solemn .spectacle. 

CALHOUN, John C, secretarj' of state. ^See 
Index. ) 

VAN BTJREN, Martin, secretary of state. 
(See Index.) 

LIVINGSTON, Edward, secretary of state and 
minister to France, was born at Clermont, Cohnnbia 
Co., N. Y., May 3(i, 1T()4, youngest .sou of Robert 
R. Uvingston, and yoiuiger brother of Chancellor K. 
R. and (Jen. II. 1>. Lixingston. He was gradualeil 
from I'riiK-elun in ITsi. read law at Albany and 
New York in 178."), and began practice in the lat- 
ter city, where he rapidly rose to eminence at the 
bar. He was in congress for three terms, 17fl">- 
1801, and distingui.shed .as an anti-federalist. In 
1801 he was made by President Jefferson U.S. district 
attorney for New York, and elected mayor of the 
city. His "Judicial Ojiinions. ' delivered in the 
mayor's court, appeared in 1803. His popularity was 
made manifest by the general interest aad sympathy 




C^^<- 



Or'- 



shown when he was attacked by the yellow fever in 
1803. In this year he met with a more serious mis- 
fortune which cut short his career in the North. 
Thnaigh the dishonesty of a clerk he became a de- 
faulter to the U. S. government, and was involved 
in ditlicultieswhichwere not .settled until long after. 
He at once gave up his offices, made an as.signment 
of his property, and early in 1804 removed to New 
Orleans to begin life anew. The territory was 
newly sicquired, its laws were in confusion, and his 
first service here was to frame a 
code of procedure, which was in 
force from 180.5 to ISS.'i. His suc- 
cess at the bar was brilliant, but 
some of the lands which he received 
in payment were claimed by the 
city; an appeal was taken to the 
federal government and prolonged 
litigation ensued, from which his 
heirs derived more benefit than 
himself. President Jefferson, whose 
mind had been turned against his 
old adherent by various causes, in- 
cluding an absurd accusation by 
Gen. .}. Wilkinson, of complicity 
with Burr's attempts, attacked him 
in a message to congress, March 7, 
1808, and in a pamphlet, to which 
he replied with vigor. During the 
war of 1813 he was of much service 
to Gen. .Jackson, and their friend- 
ship was never interrupted. In 1820 he was in the 
Louisiana legislature, and two years later was elected 
to congress, where he retained his seat until 1829. 
His "Report of the Plan of the Penal Code." made 
to the Loui.siana as.sembly in 1831, was republished 
in England and France, ,ind though not adopted in 
Louisiana, has had much influence on legislation 
elsewhere. It was followed by "A System of Pe- 
nal Law" for the state, 1830. "and another for the 
United States, 1826; he gave hiscliief attention while 
in congress to the latter, and to efforts on behalf 
of the'navy and for the protection of Ameiican 
sailors when abroad. With IM. Lislet he prepared 
in 1833-34 a civil code for his adopted state. In 
1826 he was able to jiay his debt to the U. S. gov- 
ernment with interest in full. He passed from the 
hou.se to the U. S. .senate in 1839. but resigned in 
the spring of 1831 to succeed Van Buren as secre- 
tarv of state. While minister to France, 1883-3.1, 
he "was elected into the Academy. The closing 
months of his life were spent on an estate left him 
in 1838 by his sister, the widow of Gen. R. Jlont- 
gomery, liear Rhinebeck, N. Y. ; there he died May 
23. 18.36, leaving an internatiimal reputation as a 
great lawyer. "His eulogy was pronounced by Mig- 
net in the French Academy ; " Recollections" of 
him, bv his brother-in-law, A. d'Avezac. appeared 
in 184(), and his Life by C. H. Hunt, in 1864. 

McLANE, Louis, secretary of the treasurx', was 
born in Smyrna, Del., May 28", 1776. He was the 
son of Allen JIcLane, a r"evolutionary soldier, and 
speaker of the legislature of Delaware. At the age 
of twelve years young McLane obtained a midship- 
man's warrant, and was ordered to the frigat<' Phil- 
adelphia, at that time under the command of Stephen 
Decatur, father of the celelirated commodore of that 
name. On board this ship young McLane sailed on 
a cruise which lasted nearly twelve months, but on 
his return to \\\k'. United States in 1801, owing to the 
persistent .and earnest entreaties of his mother, he 
resigned from the navy. He now devoted himself 
to the eonqiletion of his echication. and studied at 
the College of Newark, Delaware, where he com- 
pleted a full course, and then began to study law in 
the office of the late James A. Bayard, gaining the 
confidence of the latter in an unusual degree, not 



184 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 




ouly by his talents and his nssiduity, but by his 
amiable disposition. Mr. JIcLiiiie was admitted to 
the bar iu 1807, and almost immediately his elo- 
quence and his evident linowledge of the law made 
him conspicuous, and gave him a large practice, lie 
soon became elevated to the tirst eminence in liis pro- 
fession. His capacity as a public speaker, his accu- 
rate perception, and his remarliable power of argu- 
ment, enabled him to reach an eminent rank at the 
bax of his native state. In 1813 Mr. McLane married 
the eldest daughter of Robert 
Milligan. Brought up in the po- 
litical school of Washington, Mr. 
McLane began his career as a 
meml)er of the party of wliicli 
tlie chief was the head, and to 
wliicli he ever remained uuite<l. 
During the war of 1813, Mr. 
McLane worked on the fortifica- 
tions of his town, and joined a 
volunteer company commanded 
by the late Coesar A. Rodney, af- 
terward attorney-general of tlie 
United States, and returned to 
the defence of Baltimore. An 
oration which he delivered July, 
1813, established his reputation "as 
an orator and a good citizen. In 
181 G Mr. McLane was elected a 
representative in congress, taking 
his seat at the commencement of 
the first ses.sion of the tifteenth congress, Dec. 1, 1817. 
He continued to be a member of tlie house of rejire- 
sentatives until 1837. His course as a legislator is de- 
scribed as having been manly, liberal and patriotic. 
He was .specially honored as an expounder of the con- 
stitution, and also an economist, voting against all 
propositions involving umiecessary or e.\orl)itaiit ex- 
penditures, lie strongly supported measures uf infer- 
nal iinprovement, especiallj' those which would result 
in rendering it easy to convey men and munitions of 
■war to the interior of the country, without the pos- 
sibility of hostile interruption. The e.xperience of 
tlie la.st war taught him, as it did many other states- 
men at the time, the necessity for ju'eparation for 
such contiicts in times of peace. On two occasions 
while in congress Mr. McLane found himself in a 
position of antagonism, not only to his own constitu- 
ents, but to the state generally. The tirst was on 
the celebrated Missouri question on the restriction 
of that state with regard to slavery. Mr. McLane 
was instructed by the legislature of his .state to vote 
in favor of restricting the new state from permitting 
the existence of slavery within its limits. Under the 
oath which he had taken to support the constitution, 
he decided to go against these instructions, and iu 
the belief that tliey were unconstitutional, he did so, 
the result being that, desjiite personal objection that 
was made in some quarters, he was elected to the suc- 
ceeding congress, and his reputation was more firmly 
established than ever. Again, in 1834 the failiu'e of 
the election of tlu' president by the Jieople made it the 
duty of the house to make a .selection from the tliree 
candidates having the highest number of votes. Mr. 
McLane held that in giving his vote lor president un- 
der the con.stitutional jirovisions devolving the elec- 
tion upon the house of representatives, it was his 
right to vote according to his own judgment, with- 
out being bound either by his instrnetiiiiis from his 
constituents or by any pojnilar preference exhibited. 
He acted in agreement with the i>rineiple which he 
laid down and gave his vole conscientiously to the 
candidate having the smallest number of votes. In 
the house, Mr. McLane was a nu'mber of the com- 
mittee on commerce, chairman of the federal com- 
mittee, chairman of the committee of ways and 
means, and member of the special committee to in- 



vestigate the affairs of the Bank of the United 
Stales. In 1837 Mr. McLane was elected by the 
legislature of Delaware to a seat in the senate of the 
United States. In the house and iu the senate he 
proved himself in favor of a tariff policy, both !vs 
a source of revenue and as a measure of protec- 
tion to domestic manufacture. In May. 1839, Gen. 
Jackson appointed Mr. McLane minister of the 
United States to the court of St. James. In this po- 
sition he displayed such a happy combination of 
diplomatic qualities that he made the most favt>rable 
impression upon the court and the people of Great 
Britain. He remained abroad two years, and in 1831 
was appoiiUed .secretary of the treasury iu the second 
cabinet of Gen. Jackson. Here he displayed unsus- 
pected talent for the administration of financial af- 
fairs, while at the .same time his conciliatory spirit 
served to sii.slaln harmony between the sections of the 
United Slates at a time when this was threatened by 
the free-trade iiolicy of the people of the southern 
states. In 1S33 .Mr. McLane was appointed .secretary 
of state. The change was made in consequence of 
his having refused, as secretary of the treasury, 
to permit the removal of the government deposits 
from the United States Bank. In 1834 Mr. JIcLaue 
retired from the cabinet, and from that time until 
184.") devoted himself to his private affairs. He re- 
sided on a fine estate in Cecil county. JId., and from 
]S37 to 1847 was president of the Baltimore and Ohio 
Railroad Co. In 1845 he was apjiointed minister to 
England, and remained abroad until the .settlement 
of the Oregon bonndarv question, retiu'ning home 
in the siunmer of 184(i. " In 18.50 and 18.")1 >Ir. Mc- 
Lane served as a delegate to the Maryland constitu- 
tional con enfion. He died in Baltimore Oct. 7, 1S.57. 

FORSYTH, John, secretary of stale. (See In- 
dex.) 

INGHAM, Samuel Delucenna, secretary of 
the treasury, was lidrn in Pennsylvania Sept. 16, 
1779. Very little is known about his early life. It 
aijpears that he hail been well educated, and had a 
mechanical turn of mind, as he had charge of a 
pajier mill in New Jersey for a number of years. 
Afterward he was elected member of the legislature 
of Peimsylvania, and probably studied law, as he 
was pnillinncitaiy for one of the courts of that state. 
In 1813 lie was elected to congress, and was a mem- 
ber of the house of representatives until 1S18. and 
afterward from 1833 to 1839, always as a democrat. 
He was appointed by President Jackson secretary of 
the treasury, March 0, 1839, but was succeeded 
Aug. 3, 1IS31, by Louis McLane, having resigned 
from the cabinet on account of the scandal caused 
lliroughoiit the country concerning Mrs. I^aton. wife 
of the seerelary of war. Mr. Ingham owed his 
position to the intlueuce of .Tohn C. Calhoun, who 
liad just been elected vice-president. From the be- 
ginning of Jackson's administration, Jlr. Ingham 
Inid exercised great influence over the president, but 
he lost this. ^Ir. Ingham died iu Trenton, N. J., 
June 5. ISdO. 

DUANE, William John, secretary of the treas- 
siu'v, was born in Clonmel. Ireland, in 1780. His 
father, William Duane, was educated and married 
in Ireland, but settled in India when his .son was 
fcair years old, remaining there until 1795, when he 
returned to America, wliere he was born, and lie- 
came editor of a deimieratic jiaper published in Phil- 
adelphia, ealleil the " .\urora." Willi.-un J. Duane 
learned the trade of his father, which was printing, 
and devoted some years of his life to that. He then 
studied law, an<l in 1815 was admitted to practice at 
the bar in Philadeljiliia. and s j in .showed by the 
evidence of his skill and ability that he had at length 
cho.sen the path to success and fame. He became a 
very noted lawyer, while the fact of his being inter- 
ested in education gained for him the friendsliip of 



OF AMERICAN BIOGKAPHY. 



IS.'j 




Stephen Girard, who employed him to draw up his 
will. This instrument comprised about ID. 000 words, 
and was perhaps OIK! of the most elaliorale and de- 
tailed documents ol' the liiud ever made. In the 
meantime Jlr. Duane had gained a national reputa- 
tion, and had liecome known to President JacLsou. 
In 1833 the latter was making every cfTort toward 
the removal of the government deposits from the 
U. S. Bank, a design which was creating the great- 
est possible excitement in all parts iif the country. 
At this time Louis McLane was 
secretary of the treasury, and it 
rested with that olliciat, by the 
act of 181ti, which created the 
U. S. Bank, to remove the gov- 
ernment funds from that institu- 
tion at any time, iid'orming con- 
gress at the same time of his rea- 
sons for the removal. Congress 
had already expressed its eonfl- 
dence in the solvency of tlie bank, 
and Secretary McLanc accord- 
ingly declined to issue the nece.s- 
sary order. In May, 1833, Jlr. 
IVIcLane was transferred from 
the treasury to the state depart- 
nieiil, and William J. Duane 
was appointed to succeed him 
jQi //'y^/li, '" "'c former ollicc ; but the 

• °<^l-U^i/Ui.. president met with the same 
ililtieulty in the case of Mr. 
Duane that he had encountered in that of the pre- 
vious secretary. Mr. Duane did not agree with Pres- 
ident Jackson as to the advisability of the removal 
of the deposits, and ]>ositively refused to issue the 
neces.sary order. As he also declined to resign his 
po.sition, and as Jackson was determined to have his 
will in the matter acceded to, he removeil Mr. 
Duane from the treasurj-, and appointed in his place 
HogerB. Taney, who was in agreement with him on 
the sul)jcct anil who issued the necessary order two 
days after accepting the ollice. on Sept. 24, 1833. 
Jlr. Duane returncvl to Philadelphia and settled 
down to the practice of law. In 1S38 he published 
" Narrative and Correspondence Concerning the Re- 
moval of the Deposits." Jlr. Duane was "also the 
author of " The Law of Nations Investigated " (Phil- 
adeljihia. 180!)). and "Letters on Internal Improve- 
mcnts"(l,sn). Hedied in Philadelphia S<'pt. 2T,186,j. 
WOODBURY, Levi, secretary of the navy. (See 
Index.) 

EATON, Jolin Henry, secretary of war, was 
horn iu Tennessee in 1790. Having been thoroughly 
educated, he determined to choose the profession of 
the law as his vocation in life, and accordingly de- 
voted himself to that study for a number of Tears, 
when he was admitteii to practice at the bar of is^ash- 
ville, Tenn. lie was an active demncrat in poUtics, 
and became a member of the United Sl.-itcs senate. 
Having made the aciiuaintance of Andrew Jackson, 
the two became warm jiersonal frienils, and when 
Jackson was elected president he apjiointed Mr. 
Eaton secretary of war. He conlimied to hold this 
ottice, h<i\vever, only until 183L when the general 
disruption of the cabinet on account of Jlrs' Eaton 
can.seii him to resign. His wife, born JIargaret L. 
O'Neill, afterward wife of John 15. Tim'berlake, 
purser of the U. S. navy, w.as a woman of great 
beauty and fascination, 'but unfortunately with a 
cloudy repntation. Owing to disagreeable stories 
which were circidated conceniing her. the families 
of the members of the cabinet, exce|)ling Mr. Van 
Biiren, declined to receive her .socially. This nnide 
President Jackson, who warmly adopted her cau.se, 
very wroth, and he made a ilemaial upon his secre- 
taries that .she should l)e socially recoirnized, besides 
writing a note on the subject to Vice-President Cal- 




houn. The latter declined to interfere in what he 
called a "ladies' quarrel," while the members of 
the cabinet, excepting I lie .secretary of slate, as be- 
fore said, held tenaciously to their [Kisition. Finally, 
in 1831, there was a general disruption of the cabinet, 
Martin Van Bureu being succeeded as secretary of 
slate by Edward Livingston, of Louisiana, Samuel 
B. Ingham giving up the treasury department to 
Louis McLane of Delaware, John H. Eaton retiring 
from I'le war department in favor of Lewis Cass, 
John Branch of North Carolina 
resigning from the navy depart- 
ment, lo be succeeded by Levi 
Woodbury of New Hampshire, 
and John Maciiherson Berrien of 
Georgia giving place to Roger B. 
Taney as attorney-general. The 
whole alTair forms an incident in 
cabinet history nut very credit- 
able to President Jackson. Like 
all the members of Gen. Jack- 
son's tir.st cabinet, excepting Mar- 
tin Van Bureu, Mr. Eaton was but 
little known, and was a man of 
no remarkable degree of ability 
or induence. In 1834 he was ap- 
pointed governor of Florida, and 
held that office until l.s3(;, when 
he was sent to Spain as United 
States minister, and remained 
there until 1840. Mr. Eaton wrote 
a " Life of Andrew Jackson," which was published 
in Philadelphia in 1824. He died in Washington, 
D. C, Nov. IT. 18r.(). 
CASS, Lewis, secretary of war. (See Index.) 
BRANCH, John, secretary of the navy and 
governor of North Carolina (1817-20), was born in 
Halifax county, N. C.. Nov. 4, 1782, the descendant 
of a family which h.ad distingui.shed itself in the 
war of the revolution. After graduating from the 
LTniversity of Nortli Carolin.a in 1801, he studied 
law with .ludge John Haywood, but never followed 
the profession, preferring the nnjre active career of 
politics, in which he was emi- 
nently siu'cessful. His lir.st ap- 
pearance in public life was in 
1811, as senator iu the legislature 
from Halifax county, an office to 
which he was chosen aimually 
until 1817, when he was elected 
governor of the .state. After serv- 
ing the constitutional term, he 
was again elected senator in the 
legislature, and in 1824 was sent 
to AVashington as senator from 
North Carolina, and was chosen 
again in 1827. He resigned on 
being .selected by President Jack- 
sou as secretary of the navy. On 
the dissolution of the cabinet in 
consequence of the alfair of Mrs. 
Eaton. Mr. Branch returned to 
his home and was elected a mem- 
ber of the house of reiiresenta- 
tives in 1831. In 1832 he was again in the state 
.senate, and in 1835 a mendier of the convention tc 
revi.se the stale constitution. In 1834 he was the 
democratic candidate f<n' go^■ernor, but was defeated 
by Gov. Dudley. In 1843 tlie president ajipointed 
hmi governor of Florida, after which he retired to 
jtrivate life. Ilis first wife was Mi.ss Fort, by whom 
lie raised a large family. He was married for a sec- 
ond time til Mrs. Bond (born Jordan) who died shortly 
after her liusliarnl. (JdV. Branch died Jan. 4, IS(i3. 
DICKERSON, Mahlon, secretary of the navy 
and guvernor of New Jersey (181.">-17), was born in 
Hanover, N. J., Apr. 17, 1770. He was a descend- 




186 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOP-EDIA 




c4M^no 



ant of I'liilcnion Dickerson, an emigrant from Eng- 
land, who .settled in Salem, Mass., hut in 11)72 re- 
moved to Soutliold. L. I. His iirandcliildren re- 
moved to New Jersey about 1745, and from tliem 
the Dieker.sons. Dickin.sons, or however the name is 
spelled, are de.scen(le(I. The son of one of these was 
Jonathan Dickerson, wliose son, again, was Mahlou 
Dickei-son. the early life of whom is not known. 
He studied at Princeton College, where he was 
graduated in 1789, and was licensed as an attorney 

^_ in 17'J3. The outbreak of the 

whiskey insurrection in the fol- 
lowing year took him into Penu- 
sylv.-uiia as a volunteer. Afterward 
he studied law for a time in the 
offlci" of James Milnor, of Phila- 
delphia, and was admitted to the 
bar of Pennsylvania in 1797. He 
was something of a writer, and 
contributed t(.i the " Aurora" news- 
paper, wliieli was edited by Wil- 
liam Duaue. In 1799 Diekerson 
was chosen a member of the com- 
mon council of Philadelphia, and 
in 1802 was appt)inted by President 
Jefferson a commissioner of bank- 
ruptcy. In 1805 he was made ad- 
jutant-general, and in 1808 resigned 
that otlice to become recorder of the 
city. Dickerson's father having 
died, leaving a valuable property in 
Morris county, X.J.,his son went there to reside. This 
was in 1810, and in 1812 he was elected a member of 
the state assembly from that couuty. In the follow- 
ing year he was made a justice of the supreme court. 
In 1815 he was chosen governor without opjiosition, 
and again in 18n'). In 1817 he was made .senator, 
and reelected si.\ years later, being succeeded in 
1829 by Theoilorc Frelinghuysen. He was, how- 
ever, elected to till a vacancy, and, altogether, was 
U. S. senator for si.xteen years. In May, 1834, he 
received the afipointment of minister to Russia, 
which, however, he declined in June of that year, 
being appointed l)y Gen. Jack.son secretary of the 
navy, a position wliicli he held for four years, when 
he resigned, lie was .-irierward for a time judge of 
the district court of New Jersey. During the latter 
part of his life he was extensively interested iu min- 
ing and the manufacture of iron in Morris county. 
He published: "Speeches in Congress, 1836-1846," 
and died Oct. .">, ISoil 

BARRY, William Taylor, postmaster-general, 
■was born at Lunenlung, Va., Fell. .5, 1785. While 
he was a mere boy his family re- 
moved to Kentucky, and after 
picking up what schooling he 
coulil on the frontier, he was sent 
to AVilliam and Mary College, 
where he was graduated in 1807. 
lie now began to study law, and, 
after his .admission to the bav, 
settled in Lexington, ICv., where 
he soon succeeded iu obtaining a 
larg(! practice. As was the case 
, with almost all lawyers of elo- 
.' (pience and ability in the far 
\Vcst in those days, .Mr, Barry 
' was elected to the slate legisla- 
ture, and afterward to congress. 
He also held many official posi- 
tions. He saw .some service dur- 
y^'-'^'-^^ iug the war of 1812, and is .said 
<>• to have been at the battle of the 
Thames, In 1815 he was ap- 
pointed to fill a vacancy in the U. S. senate, and 
in 1816 was made judge of the supreme court of 
Kentucky. In that state he held the position of lieu- 




tenant-governor, state secretary, and chief justice of 
the supreme court. When Gen. Jackson took his 
seat in the presidential chair, in making up his cab- 
inet he a|ipoiuted Mr. Barry post ma.ster- general. 
I'p to this time this was not a cabinet otlice, but 
President Jackson, with his usual arbitrariness, made 
it such to please Maj. Barry, who was his personal 
friend there. The latter, however, although a good 
lawyer and excellent judge, had not the administra- 
tive faculty sufficiently developed to handle the post- 
master-genenilship in a way to either make friends 
or keep them. His management was speedily attack- 
ed in the house of representatives, and on Apr. 10, 
1885, he resigned. Mr. Jackson continued his friend, 
however, and a|ipoinled him minister to Spain, and 
Mr. Barry sailed for that country, but died in Liver- 
pool, Eng. , Aug. 30, 1835. His body was brought 
home and bulled al Frankfort, Ky. 

KENDALL, Amos, po.st master-general, was 
born at l)\msiable, Ma.ss., Aug. 16, 1789, his ances- 
tor, Francis K., having migrated from England to 
America about 1640, and settled at Woburn, !Mass. 
He worked on his f:Uher's farm in bis younger days, 
getlinir some .schooling at the academy at New Ips- 
wich. N. H., and was graduated from Dartmouth 
College in 1811. He then entered on the study of 
law at Groton, Mass., but in 1814 made his way to 
Washington, D. C.. and there arranged to teach iu 
the family of a Kentucky congres.-^man, near Lexing- 
ton, in that state Proceeding to that place, by a 
change of arrangement he became tutor in the fam- 
ily of Henry Clay, who was absent 
from the country in the negotia- 
tion of the treaty of Ghent. In 
October of that year he was ad- 
mitted to the Kentucky bar. at 
Frankfort, but shortly Ijecame 
editor and ])ostmaster at George- 
town, ill the same slate. Remov- 
ing to Frankfort in September in 
1816, he became sole editor of the 
"Argus of AVestern America," 
the state newspaper, in wliich he 
gave a zealous support to the 
democratic party; was also inter- 
ested iu obijiiniug passage by the 
stale legislature of an "act to ap- 
propriate tines and forfeitures to 
the |iurpose of promoting educa- 
tion." In October, 1818. he mar- 
ried >Ii.ss M. B. Jlorefolk, of Jefferson, Ky,, who 
died in October, 1823. He afterward married, Jan- 
uary, 1S26, Miss Coyle, of Georgetown, Ky, In 
Maicli, 1829, he was appointed fourth auditor of the 
U. S. treasury, , by President Jackson, who had just 
entered on his first term of otlice, and removing to 
Wa.shington, I). C, spent there the remainder of his 
life. He acquired great influence in the administra- 
tion of the new president, and was largely the means 
of having the "Globe" newspaper, published i.t the 
seat of government, supersede the " Telegraph " as 
its org.'Ui. In June, 1835, be was ap|ioinled jiost- 
master-general, and found the department in dis- 
order, and heavily in debt. Visiting the officers and 
clerks to faniiliari/e himself with the routine of their 
work, one of them sugucsled that he had the con- 
trol of funds, and should be happy to acconmiodate 
the new incumbent with loans: he received for 
answer, "I never make my.self dependent on those 
whom it is my duty to control." "A very correct 
principle," was the rejoinder. "But," says Mr. 
Kendall in his autobiography, "his assent to the 
principle came too late, the prior offer being deemed 
proof of corruption, and as soon as convenient his 
services were dispensed with. ' This was a key to 
his policy in the conducl of iiost-office alTairs, and 
by the system of administration which he adopted 



I 




f^cSH, 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



187 



he was able to report to the president on Apr. 1, 
1836, that he was free from debt. In carrying out 
his plans of reform he incurred tliu liostilily of power- 
ful mail contractors, and was successfully tliwartcd 
by one lirm so employed, who secured I he jiaymcnt 
to themselves of large sums of money, lo which they 
had no valid claim. Not content, however, with this 
success, his adversaries proceeded to bring liim into 
court as a private individual, alleging that they had 
suffered by his withholding their money from iliem. 
They secured judgment in their suit against Mr, 
Kendall, and pending its collection had liim confined 
to the prison limits, which, in such cases, were 
coterminous with the boundaries of the District of 
Columbia. Mr. Kendall, who was not a man of jie- 
cuniary means, forthwith established (1.S41), for the 
support of his family, "Kendall's E.xpositor," and 
then the " Union Democrat " (1842), a weekly paper, 
but these were soon discontinued. Tlie first suit 
had resulted in a verdict of SlS.OflOagauist him, but 
a new trial was granted, which ended with a similar 
verdict of $11,000. Later proceedings of Iiis op- 
ponents were, however, practically negatived by the 
action of the U. S. congress, which, although it had 
been lirought into existence in the presidential can- 
vass of 1840, when the party opposed to Mr. Ken- 
dall came to power, paid the judgment for him, and 
then abolished the law of imprisonment for debt in 
the District of Columbia, establishing his reputa- 
tion as an honest man, and a pure, faithful, inflex- 
ible public officer. When he left the po.st-office 
department in Jlay, 1840, he received the most grat- 
ifying testimony in the .same direction, from those who 
had been a.ssociated with him in office, while he was 
postmaster-general. 'Mr. Kendall proposed a bill to 
establish a money order department in connection 
with the postal service, but did not succeed in secur- 
ing its passage. He afterward declined a foreign 
mi.ssion tentlered him by President Polk, having be- 
come interested in 1845, with Prof. S. F. B. Morse, 
in the ownership and management of the hitter's 
telegrapliic patents, which contracts and business 
filled his time until IStiO, and brought to him an 
ample fortune. With this came the ability to grat- 
ify benevolent inclinations, to which he had be- 
fore been a stranger, and his contribution of ^100,- 
000 to build the Calvary Baptist church in Washing- 
ton, followed by large gifts towartl rebuilding it 
when it was destroyed by lire, 1867, his founding 
and donating |S"20,000 to the Columbia Institution for 
the Deaf and Dumb, of which he was the first presi- 
dent, and his contribution of *"2o, 000 for two mission 
schools in the same city, attest his generous employ- 
ment of these facilities. In 1860 be published in the 
Washington "Evening Star" a series of vigorous 
protests against the secession of the southern states 
from the Federal Union, and he placed his own ele- 
gant house and grounds at the disposal of the gov- 
ernment, for the accommodation of the U. S. troops, 
in case they should lie needed, spending a year with 
his family at Trenton, X. .1., that the premises might 
be so occupied, .lune 2.'), 1864, his second wife died 
at Washington. She had been an active Chn'stian 
and church member in the city, her place of resi- 
dence, and on Apr. 2. 186.'). Mr. Kendall, who had 
for years lielieved in the fundamentals of the Cliris- 
tian faith, was received into the membership of the 
E street Baptist church, at Washington. From 
June, 1866, to October, 1867. he traveled in Europe 
with his son-in-law and daughter. ^Ir. Kendall was 
the author of an incomplete "Life of Andrew Jack- 
s<m " (N. Y., 1843): his own aulol)iogiaphy was 
pul)lished at Boston, Ma.s,s., by Williarn Stiekney, 
his .son-in-law, in 1872. He died, Nov. 12, 1869, at 
Washington, D. C. 

TANEY, Koger B., attorney -general. (See 
Index. ) 




BTJTLER, Benjamin Franklin, secretary of 
war and attorney-general, was born at Kinderhook 
Lauding, Columbia Co., N. Y., Dec. 17, 1793. He 
is said to have had for an ancestor on his mother'.'* 
side no less notable a person than Oliver Cromwell. 
His father was a mechanic in his early life, but af- 
terward he became a merchant and was known as a 
man of great industry and per.severance, and of 
.strict integrity. Young Butler attended in his early 
years the ordinary district .school, and assisted his 
father in his store. He is described as having been 
at this period a boy respectful and 
unassuming in his manners, and 
with an evident intellectual turn of 
mind. It chanced that his employ- 
ment in his father's store brouglit 
him into acquaintance with a Pres- 
l)yteriau clergyman, who lived near 
by, and he took pains to instruct 
him and to give him his first knowl- 
edge of books. At fouiteen the 
boy was sent to the Hudson Acad- 
emy; here he made the acquaint- 
ance of a young lawyer, and active 
democrat, who had just been elect- 
ed to the state senate. In this ad- 
vancement he bad been assisted by 
the elder Butler, and in order to re- 
turn in some measure tlie kindness 

which he had received, he began a 

friendly acquaintance with the son, 

often inviting him to his office and 
his house, encouraging him in his studies, and fi- 
nally, when his academic course was concluded, 
taking him into his office as a .student at law. This 
state senator was Martin Van Buren, and to this em- 
inent statesman the young law student owed all of 
his first advancement and progress. When Mr. Van 
Buren removed to Albany, in 1816, Mr. Butler ac- 
companied him, and soon attracted the attention of 
the prominent men of the capital. In the meantime 
he had become a racmberof the Presliyterian church 
and superintendent of the Suuday-.sciiool, in which 
capacity he gained the affection and confidence both 
of teachers and scholars by means of his winning 
character and devotion to duty. In 1818 he married 
a Miss Allen, sister of the gallant Lieut. William 
II. Allen. In October, 1817, Mr. Butler was admitted 
to the Ijar, and immediately after became the part- 
ner of Mr. Van Buren, a relation which continued 
until 1821, when the latter was appointed U. S. .sen- 
ator. One of Mr. Butler's most remarkable eases at 
this period was in connection with Aaron Burr, in 
the last effort to recover the celebrated Eden estate, 
which included property in the most valuable part 
of New York city. With Mr. Butler's assistance, 
Mr. Burr won suit after suit, and recovered in time 
a very large amount of property for his otherwise in- 
digent client. Two or three years after his admis- 
.sion to the bar, Mr. Butler confined himself lo the 
circuit courts, but he later aiipearcd in the supreme 
court, and took his place with the ablest lawyers of 
the time. In 1821 he was appointed district attorney 
of Albany county, a fact which sufficiently .shows 
his standing as a lawyer, he having been a practic- 
ing attorney only four years. In 182s Mr. Butler 
was elected a member of the legislature of the 
state, and in 1829 was appointed one of the re- 
gents of the university to fill the iilace of William 
H. Marcy, resigned. In 1833 Mr. JIarey, who was 
at the lime U. S. senator, was eleetwl governor 
of the state of New York, and resigned his .seat in 
the senate. The place was olTered to Mr. Butler, 
but w.-is declined by him. In ls;i;{ he received the 
appointment of couinn'ssioner for New York to ar- 
range the boundary line between that state and New 
Jersey. In the same year he W!is appointed attornei-- 



188 



THE ]NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



-^Wap^. 



general of the United States in place of Roger B. 
Taney, who was made cliief justice. In October, 
1836, while still discharging his duties as attorney- 
general, Mr. Butler was ap])ointe(l secretary of war 
iu the cabinet of President Jackson. lie continued 
to hold the two offices until March 4, 1837, when 
President Van Buren entered upon the duties of his 
administration, when Mr. Butler resigned the office 
of secretary of war, but retained the position of at- 
torney-general until .Tauuary, 1838, when he resigned 
that office also. He soon ufl(^r removed to New York 
city, where he resumed the practice of his [irofession, 
and where he continued to reside during the remain- 
der of his life. In 1838 he was appointed U. S. dis- 
trict attorney for the southern district of Xew York, 
and continued to discharge these duties until the in- 
auguration of President Harrison, when he resigned 
in 1844, and Mr. Butler and Daniel S. Dickinson 
were electors-at-large in the electoral college of the 
state, who cast their votes for .lames K. Polk. Pres- 
ident Polk offered Mr. Butler the place of secretary 
of war; this was declined. He, however, accepted 
the office of U. S. district attorney, and continued 
to occup3' it until the election of Gen. Taylor, when 
he was removed. In 1843 Mr. Butler had the mis- 
fortune to lose his wife, a bereavement which was 
very grievous to him, and which awakened a deep 
sympathy in all who knew him. In 18.5(j he made a 
visit to England. In \>i'A~i Mr. Butler prepared a 
plan for the organization of the faculty of law iu the 
University of the City of New York, which was 
adopted, and who.se ability and learning were thor- 
oughly endorsed by the faculty of the university. ^Ir. 
Butler was a student all his life, and stood among 
the highest of the members of the bar, which was 
at the time exceptionally strong. Although he was 
a prominent member of the democratic party during 
the early part of his life, the policy of the Missouri 
compromise drew him away from that party, and he 
was one of the early republicans who voted for Fre- 
mont in 185(i. In 1808, wearied out with his exten- 
sive labors in his jirofession, Mr. Butler visited Eu- 
rope with tile design of remaining aliroad two years, 
and arrived at Havre Oct. "Jillli, and Nov. 3d reached 
Paris, and on the .same day was taken ill with his 
last sickness. He died in Paris Nov. 8, 1868. 

BERBIEN, John Macpherson, attorney- 
general, was born in New .ler.sey, Aug. 23. 1781. 
His father was Maj. .lohn Berrien, a revolutionary 
soldier. The young man al tended Princeton College, 
where he was graduatcil in 17'.Mi, and afterward be- 
gan the study of law. He settled 
in Georgia, where he was admit- 
ted to the bar while still under 
age. He was solicitor of the east- 
ern district of that state, and in 
1838 a judge of the same district, 
al I lie age of twenty-nine, serving 
if^-\ 'ij^ in the latter position ten years. In 

^'^ ^ *"' 1822 he was sent to tlie'slate sen- 

ate, where he served through one 
iiTin, when he was chosen U. S. 
-enator, and served for four years. 
In 1829 Gen. .lacksou appointed 
Judge Beriien attornev general of 
the United Stales, but in l.s:^l be 
went out with the oilier members 
of the cabinet, on account of I ho 
quarrels which had been going 
2 on among them for some lime, 
and which culminated with the 
resignation of the whole body. 
In 1844 Jlr. Berrien was a Henry {'lay whig, and iis 
such appeared as a delegate in tlie Hallimore con- 
vention of that year, lie is said to have lieeii a mjui 
of remarkabU^ eloipience and C(Misidei'able personal 
magnetism. He died iu Savannah, Ga., Jan. 1, 18."j(). 







^^^^f^CLc/ 



JACKSON, Kachel Donelson, wife of Presi- 
dent Andrew .Jackson, was born in 1767, the daugh- 
ter of Col. John Donelson, a wealthy Virginia sur- 
veyor, who started for the banks of the Cumberland 
with a party of emigrants and settled at the French 
Salt Springs, where the city of Nashville now stands. 
Col. Donelson kept an account 
of this voyage, and entitled it: 
".Journal of a voyage intended, 
by God's permission, in the good 
boat Adventure, from Fort Pat- 
rick Henry on Holston river, to 
the French .Salt Springs on Cum- 
berland river, kept by John Don- 
elson." A personal friend of 
Jefferson and Clay, Col. Donel- 
son held commissions under each 
of them, surveying state lines 
and negotiating treaties with the 
Indians. He subseipiently re- 
moved to Kentucky, where Ra- 
chel married Capt J^ewis Rob- 
ards, a man of good family Af- 
ter her marriage to Gen. ./ackson 
in 1791, she settled at Nashville, 
Tenn.. and in 1804 the general 
bought an estate of 1.000 acres 
near Nashville, which lie named the Hermitage, and 
where he entertained Lafayette. The house was a 
single one, but in 1819 a new house was erected, the 
general saying that he was building it for Jlrs. Jack- 
sou, and consulting her in all its details. After the 
battle of New Orleans. Mrs. Jackson visited that 
city, where she received marked attentions, and was 
presented by the ladies with a valuable set of topaz 
jewelry. In 1816 she joined the <lnirch, and, to 
gralif'y her. Gen. Jackson built a chapel on their es- 
1,-ite. -Mrs. Jackson accomiianied her husliand to 
Florida, Washington, and to New Orleans. For 
several years she had suffered with heart trouble, 
and iu 1828 her health began to fail, her condition 
being aggravated by the circulation of unkind stories 
regarding her early history. A residence at the 
White House had no attractions for la'r, life at the 
Hermitage being all that slie desired. She was 
amiable, charitable, religious, domeslic, a competent 
housekeeper, beloved by all her servants, and a de- 
voted wife to Gen. .Jackson for nearly foity years. 
She had many nieces and nephews who vi.siled her 
constantly, and she was a great favorite with young 
jH'ople. Her death was hastened byaecidenlally over- 
iiearing an exagierafed and malicious story regarding 
herself, .•indshc'dicd at the Hermitage Dec. 22. 1828. 

STEVENSON, Andrew, speaker of the hcnise 
(1827-34), was born in Culpejier county, Va., in 
1784. He studied law. and iu sub.se(pieiit practice 
won a prominent place in the profession. He en- 
tered political life in 1804, as a member of the Vir- 
ginia legislature, where, for .several sessions he was 
sjieaker, gaining thereby the experience wliicli made 
him so able a presiding officer while in the national 
house. He entered congress first iu 1823, and served 
continuously until 1834, being speaker <luring the 
twentieth, twenty-first and twenty-second congresses. 
His occupancy of the speaker's chair covered the 
stormy times of the contest over the re-charter of the 
U. S. Bank, and even in the greatest heal of parti- 
san strife no accusation was ever made against the 
speaker's fairness and impartiality. After more than 
thirty years of active service, Jlr. Stevenson retired 
to his estate. He was sent as minister to the c(airl of 
St. James iu 1836. and remaiiie<l until 1S41. when he 
was succeeded by Edward Everett. i\Ir. Slevenson 
then devoted himself to agrieullural pursuits, and to 
the interests of the L'niversily of Virginia, of which 
lie was rector at the time of bis (l<-,-illi. which occurred 
at Blenheim, Albemarle Co., Va., June 2.->, 1857. 



»•♦»/ 




O 7 yyi^oc ^^^.^uc^^^-^ 



COPYRIGHT, tB93, BV JAMES T. WH(TF K TO 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



191 



cT'^ 4ife--^^^■■-lT-'^- 



.i::.^' 






■2, 










iP»'-)*^^J^-v.-- ' ■ 



F^eilde^ce ^ A\3irrir,Vi>., 8u.rf ,5 



VAN BTJKEN, Martin, dghlh president of 
the United States, and aovernor of New York 
(1829-30), was born at Kinderliook, N. Y., Dec. 5, 
1783. His father was a farmer in moderate cir- 
cumstances: his education was aecfuired at local 
scliools, and at fourteen he entered a lawyer's ofliee. 
Admitted to the bar in 1803. he removed to Hudson 
in 1807, and was .surrosate of Columbia county 
1808-1813. In 1807 he married Hannah Hoes, who 
died in 181!). A .JetTersonian from boyhood, he had 
taken part in a convention at eij;hteen, and by 1811 
was a declared eiiem.y of the I'. S. Bank and the 
"money power." In the state senate 1812-20. lie 
supported Gov. Tohipkins, luid for a time DeWitt 
(;iinton, but was mostly in opposi- 
tion to the latter. He was attor- 
ncy.gencral 18^5-1819. In 1816 
he removed to' Albany, entered 
into partnership with B. F. Butler, 
and became a regent of the slate 
university. In 1818, witli Marey 
and others, he established the so- 
called "Albany regenc}'," wliich 
for twenty years exercised a con- 
trolling influence in the politics of 
the state. In 1819 he brought or- 
der out of local cliaos, and showed 
magnanimily in jiromoling the elec- 
tion tn the I'. S. senate of Kufus 
King, whose opjiosilic in to the e.Nten- 
.sion of slave teriitory was more pro- 
nounced than A'an Buren's. Two 
years later he became King's col 
league. Before taking his seat he 
bore .a prominent ]iarl in the N. Y. 
constitutional conventicin of 1821, wliere he oiniosed 
the election of judges, defended the suprenu' court, 
then composed of his political foes, and advocated a 
property iiualitication for the right of suffrage, to be 
extended eipially to negroes. In the V . S. .senate he 
■was long chairman of tlie judiciary committee, and 




07 7'^c^ i<^i«.*T<^ 



a member of that on finance. He voted to restrict 
the admission of .slaves into Florida, urged the abo- 
lition of imprisonment for debt, .supjiorted W. II. 
Crawford for president, voted for the lai-ilfs of 1824 
and 1S28, without discussing them, tried in vain to 
alter the constitutional arrangement of the electoral 
college, favored a general bankrujit law, but o]i- 
posed the bill of 1826, and aimed at the equal dis- 
tribution of internal imiirovements. Througliout he I 
was a strict constructionist and a defender of slate ^ 
rights. Re-elected in 1827. he resigned tlie next 
year to become governor of New York. In this of- 
fice he suggested and urged the safet_v-fund banking 
.system wldcii was adopted in 1839. and vainly ad- 
vised what has since been found necessary in 
other states, the holding of elections forslate oflicers 
at a different time from that for president and rep- 
resentatives. In 1829 President Jackson, who \ 
thought, with Marcu.s Aurelius. that life can be made 1 
desirable only by spending it with jiersims wlio,share | 
one's ]u'inciples, rew;nile<l Van Buren's /calous suji- 
])ort by makini;- him secretary of state. As such liis 
chief .service was the .settlement of ditlicullies with 
England concerning the West Inditi trade. In 
June, 1831, he was .sent as minister to England, but 
the senate, in the following winter, refused, by the 
casting vote of Calhoun, its president, to cimtirm the. 
apiiointment. alleging as a rea.son for this unusual ac- 
tiiin a relieelion on a previous adminislralion 1n one ' 
of the late secret.'iry's papers. 'I'lie oilier parly much 
resented this indignitv put liy the whigs upiin their 
secoiKl favorite, and Venilanck said it would make 
Van Buren presi(h'nt. He soon had his revenge in 
being nominaled and elected vice-pre.si(h'nt. Though 
fully in .sympalhy with the measures of Jackson's 
.stormy second term, he wisely ke]il aloof from the 
niiise and dusi nf )iarty siril'e, and )ii-esided in the 
.senate with e.xeniplary eourlesy, dignity and fair- 
ness, ()ualifying himself for Ihe solitary step higher 
which remained to his ambition. He was elected 
president in 1836 by a small po]ndar m.ajorily over 



192 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOP J3DIA 



three competitors, but with 170 out of 283 electoral 
votes. His fortunes in tlie Wliite House were sadly 
luilike the placid course of his vice-presideutial life. 
Tlie tinaucial disii.sters which eiicinies of tlie late ad- 
ministration had been prediclins; as inevitable re- 
sults of its policy, and which .Jackson's supporters 
ascribed, jiossibly with as much reason, to the late 
bank and its misnian.airemcnt. now overwhelmed the 
country, and the man in power of course received 
the blame. To meet these difficulties he convened 
conirress in September, 1837. and urged a bankrupt 
law for corporations, the non-payment to the states 
of the last instahnent of the surplus, and especially 
his favorite and lasting idea, the independent 
treasury system; tliis was twice defeated in the 
house after jia.ssing the senate, hut became a law 
June 3(1, 1841), to be reiiealed in 1842, and perma- 
nently reinstated in 1846. Aside from this main vic- 
tory, he carried the preemption bill, settled some 
troubles on the Canadian border, and endured with 
outward calnuiess the dwindling of his popularity 
and the virulent attacks of his enemies. Calhoun 
said in the senate that "justice, right, patriotism, 
were mere vague phrases " to this "practical politi- 
cian." And yet he had adhered firmly to his own 
ideas of what* was just and jiatriotic, and in some 
cases delilierately injured his own interests in so do- 
ing. Von Ilolst credits liim with "courage, firm- 
ness, and statesmanlike insight" in the mailer of his 
financial policv. The democralshad no more avail- 
able candidate in 1840, but he was defeated by 140,- 
000 popular majority, receiving, of 294 electoral 
votes, but 60, representing seven .states. Disdaining 
to resume the legal practice which he had abandoned 
long before, he retired to Liiulenwald, an estate near 
his native town, and lieeanie "the sage of Kinder 
hook," His unconcealed opijo.silion to the annexa- 
tion of Te.xas diverted the nomination to Polk in 
1844, and fitted him to head the free-soil ticket, if 
not to lead the movement in 1848. He was put in 
the field over his refusal in advance, by a convention 
at I'tica in .June, and another at Buffalo in August. 
Though he carried no slati'. he contributed to the de- 
feat of Cass and polled over 2!MI.000 votes, where the 
Lilierty party bad had but 7,000 in 1S40, and 60,- 
OOO in"l844, thus marking the entrance into politics, 
as a not inconsiderable factor, of principles which 
twelve years later were to sweep the country and 
overthrow the slave-power. The ex-president's later 
life was wholly uneventful. He was loyal to his 
parly and to the Union; he gave no sign of restive 
ness, luider his long exclusion from tlie scenes and 
activities in wbieh lie had played a leading part; he 
did not become embittered or soured. nor<lid he " de- 
spair of the country " E.xcept for two years of for- 
eign travel, 18.")3-.').5, he lived in dignified and appar- 
enth' contented, happy retirement at Lindenwald, 
and died there greatly honored and respected by 
his neighbors. Though a zealous partisan, he had 
no bitterness of temi>er, he was on terms of 
personal amily with Clay, one of his chief polit- 
ical foes, and "visited Ashland in the year after his 
withdrawal fromofiice. His lack of enthusiasm and 
magnetism, the calm and uniform suavity of his 
manners, and his astuteness as a iiolitical manager, 
especially in his earlier years, led to his nickname of 
"the fox." But it is apparent from his career that 
lie had convi<-tioiis and the courageof them, and was 
able on occasion to sacrifice iirefermenl and popu 
larity to the duties of statesmanship. He won high 
rank as a lawyer, was an able and persuasive, though 
not a eomnianding speaker, and inclined to verbosity 
as a writer. B(yond .state jiapers and .s]ieeches. he 
left nothing but an incom])lete "_Iii(|uiiy into the 
Originand Course of Political Parties." imblishcd in 
1807 His life, meagre as it was in elements of strik- 
ing interest or moral impressiveness, has been repeat- 




edly handled by W. H. Holland, "W. Emmons, F. J. 
Grund (German), and D. Crockett, in the campaign 
of 1836; M. Daw.sou, 1840; \V. L. Mackenzie and 
others, 1846. Of more value are the sketch bv W. A. 
Butler, 1862, and the volumes by W. (). Stoddard, 
in " Lives of the Presidents." and E. M. Shepard, in 
the " American Statesmen " series, both 1888. That 
by George Bancroft, jiuhlished in 1889, was written 
long before. None of his ]iredccess()rs and sueces- 
.sors in office, e.xcept Washington and Lincoln, have 
been more abundantly written about. He died July 
24, is(i2. 

VAN BUREN, Angelica, wife of Abraham 
Van Bureu, w.-is born in Sumter District, S. C, about 
1830, a daughter of Richard 
Singleton, a prominent planter. 
She was presented to President 
Van Buren by her cousin, Mrs. 
Madison, wife of President Mad- 
i.son. while she was attending 
school at Philadelphia in 1837. 
This introduction led to her 
marriage to the president's son 
Abraham in 1838, and the fol- 
lowing New Year's Day she 
made her apjiearance as mis- 
tress of the Wliite House. Her 
youth and beauty made her at 
once popular, and a trip to Eng- 
land the following summer and 
the advantage of the presence of 
her uncle, Andrew Stevenson, 
at the court of St. James as U. S. 
minister gave her exceptional 
advantages. She extended her 
visits to the continent and returned to Wa.shington 
in the fall, fully equipped to resume her place as the 
first lad}- in an exceptionally brilliant society as- 
sembled at the capital of the republic. Mi's. Van 
Buren retained her position in society up to the time 
of her death, which occurred in New Y'ork city 
Dec. 29. 1878. 

JOHNSON, Richard Mentor, vice-president 
of the United States, was born at Bryant's Station, 
I\y.. Oct. 17, 1781. His early education was limited. 
He had four years at grammar school and finished 
his education at Transylvania University. He be- 
gan to practise law when he was only nineteen years 
of age. At twenty-two he entered into public life. 
At this time he wa.s practising 
at a place called Great Cross- 
ings, Ivy. He was elected to the 
state legislature in 1804, and af- 
ter serving two years in that po- 
sition was elcctecl to a seat in the 
house of representatives as a re- 
publican. He was re-elected to 
congress, and, with the excep- 
tion of a few months, served 
from 1807 until 1819. Imme- 
diately after the adjournment of 
congress in im2 he returned 
home where he organized llirer 
companies of volunteers. wlii<li 
being combined with anollier, 
he was ])laced in comiuaiid of 
Jhe whole, and look jiart in the 
bailie of IIk' Mauniee where lie 
killed an Indian chief, supposed 
to be Tecumseh. Afterward the 
tpicstion. "Who killed Tecumseh ?" passed into a 
.saying, an<l the fa.it has never been positively set- 
tled. After the fall of Tecumseh the Indians con- 
tinued a brisk fire while retiring, but a regiment 
biduglit u]) by Gov. Shelby .soon silenced them, 
while a part of Col. Johnson's men having flanked 
them, the rout became general. At the moment 




<U^^ 



vv-<-^. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



193 



when Johnson's regiment made their charjre, Gen. 
Proctor witli about tifty dragoons fled from the 
field. His carriage and papei-s were talien. It i.s 
said that his fliglit was so rapid that in tweut_v-four 
hours lie found himself si.xty-five miles distant 
from the battle-field, (kil. Johnson was carried 
from tlie field almost lifeless. He [lasscd through 
incredible fatigues, severities and privations during 
his passage from Detroit to Sandusky and from 
thence to Kentucky, being carried over a distance 
of 300 miles, through the wilderness, in the winter, 
su.spendcd l)etweeu two horses. He remained about 
two months in Kent\icky, when he liad so far recov- 
ered from his wounds that he was able to repair to 
Washington and resume his .seat iu congress. The 
fame of Ins exploits had jireceded him, and at the 
capital he was received with distinguished te.stimo 
nials of respect and adnuralion On his way to the 
house he was cheered by the populace, and congress 
passed a joint resolution ordering that he should be 
presented with a suitable testimonial for his emi 
nent services. In ISlil, at tlie close of his con- 
gressional term, Col. Johnson was elected to the U 
S. senate in place of John J. Crittenden, who had 
resigned. At the end of his first senatorial term he 
wasre-elected and served until Marcli 3, 1829. From 
this time until 1837 he was continuously electeil a 
member of tlie house of re|n'e.scnlalives. At the 
election of Martin Van Buren to the jiresidency Col 
Johnson was the candidate for vice-president, and 
■was chosen by the senate to that position, no choice 
having been made by the electoral college. At the 
end of his term of service he returned home, but 
was afterward again sent to congress, and was a 
member of that body at the time of his death. In 
181-1 Col Johnson was appointed Indian commis 
sioner. He died in Frankfort, Ivy., Nov 19, 1850. 
FORSYTH, John, secretary of state, and fif 
teeuth n'overnor of Georgia (1827-29), was born in 
Frederick county, Va., Oct. 22, 1780. His father, 
born in England, was a revolutionary soldier, who 
removed to Georgia in 1784. John was graduated 
from Princeton in 1799, studied law under >Ir 
Noel, and was admitted to the bar in August.a, Ga.. 
in 1802 He was appointed attorney-general of the 
state in 1808, elected representative to couiri'ess in 
1813, 1815. and 1817, U. S senator in 1818, resigning 
in 1819 to accept an appointment as U. S. minister 
to Spain. In 1823. while iu Spain, he was elected 
representative to congress, and again 
V in 1825; governor of Georgia in 1827, 

and U. S. senator in 1829, in jilace of 
J. M, Berrien. He was a delegate to 
the anti-tariff conventionat Jlilledge 
ville, Ga., in 1832, and resigned as 
U. S. senator in 1834 to be ajipoiuted 
secretary of state by President An 
drew Jackson. He was reappointed 
by President Van Buren. and served 
until March 3. 1841. Gov. Forsyth 
was a great lawyer, orator, diplo- 
niati.^l and statesman; in fact, (Jeor- 
gia has had no more brilliant pub- 
lic man. During his ten years as 
congressman, two years as governor, 
seven years as senator, four years 
as foreign minister, and seven years 

as secretary of statt — thirty years, 

in all. of "consecutive public life 
in the most varied service — he handled the most 
vital and dilticult subjects of national and inter- 
national interest with a broad and profound states- 
manship. As attorney general of Georgia lie 
exhibited marked legal ability, and achieved high 
distinction. He was. in every arena, an orator ot 
commanding eloipience. He was handsome, courtly, 
and fluent, and had a musical, magnetic voice, ex- 




tensive knowledge thoroughly at his command, a 
lofty .spirit full of.sympalliy with humanity, and a 
remarkable faculty of olfhand discussion. Besides, 
he was a deep tliinker. In congress he powerfully 
antagonized the policy of nullification, and support- 
ed with vigor and eloquence Henry Clay's com- 
promi.se measures. He stood slunclily by t"h(^ rights 
of Georgia, and his report on the original compact 
with the United States to extingiiisli tiie Indian title 
to territory in Geoi'gia was a masterful paper. He 
championed President Jackson in the debate on the 
removal of deposits from the United States Bank. 
As U. S. minister to Spain he br(night to a success- 
ful termination the negotiations for the cession of 
the valuable .state of Florida to the United Slates by 
the Spanish government. As the premier of two able 
jiresidents, whose administrations have become not- 
ed, he carried on some of the most imijortant trans- 
actions with foreign powers that the government 
lias engaged in .since the war of 1812, maintaining 
the national honor and interest with consummate 
tact and statesmanship. The legislature of 1S41 
passed appro]u-iate resoluti<ins ujion his death, and 
one of the finest counties of Georgia and one of the 
most attractive and fiourishing towns of that state 
bear his distinsuished name. He died in Washing- 
ton, D. C. Oct. 21. 1841. 

WOODBURY, Levi, secretary of the treasury. 
(See Index.) 

POINSETT, Joel Roberts, secretary of war, 
was born in Charleston, S. C'.. jlarch 2, 1779. Ho 
came of Huguenot ancestry. Immediately after the 
close of the revolutionary war his parents took him 
to England, and there he re 
mained until 1788, when the 
family returned to Charleston, 
and tile boy was sent to school 
in that city. In 17!t3 he was 
jilaced under the tuition of Dr. 
Timothy Dwight, at Greenfield 
Hill, Conn., where he remained 
for nearly two years. He was 
then sent to England, and was 
at school near London for .some 
time, when be went to Edin- 
burgli, where he .studied medi- 
cine. His health failing, he was 
sent to Li.sbon, where he re- 
mained for a winter, and then 
passed some time in the mili- 
tary academy at Woolwich, 
studying mathematics, fortifi- 
caticai and gunnery. In ISOO 
he returned to Charleston .'ind 
began the study of law, but soou 
after returned to Europe, and, with the exception of 
a brief visit to the United States, on the occasion of 
the death of his father. Mr. Poinsett continued to 
travel on the Continent and in Asia until 1809. On 
his return. President Jlnilison sent him to Sontli 
America for the jnirpose of investigating the condi- 
tion of the |)eo])le of that countrv, and to establish 
with them friendly relations, lie accomplished this 
object, and was in that country during the war of 
1812 On his return he was elected to the South 
Carolina legislature, and was afterward a member 
of congress, .serving in 1821 In 1822 lie was sent 
to Mexico on a special mi.ssion. and in 1825 went to 
that country ,a.s United States minister He remain- 
ed in Mexico until 1829. during which time he 
negotiated a treaty of commerce, and displayed a 
great deal of personal courage while resisting what 
amounted to actual iiersecution on account of the in- 
terest w hicli he took in e.stal)lisliing Ma.sonic hxiges 
in the city of .Mexico. On liis return to the United 
States, Mr. Poinsett sided with Presiilent Jackson in 
his opposition to the uuUificaliou measures of South 




194 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



Carolina. During the adraiuistration of President 
Van Buren he held the position of seeretaiy of war, 
and did good service in improving the condition of 
the ordnance department of the army, lie .strongly 
opposed the Mexican war; Init, liefnre this brolie 
out, he had practically retired from public service. 
Mr. Poinsett wa.s throughout his life devoted to sci- 
entitic ami literary .studies. While abroad he gave 
thoughtful attention to the collection of objects of 
natural history, which he afterward iircsented to 
the cities of Xew York, Philadelphia and Cliarles- 
ton. lie was noted as a clear, concise and energetic 
public speaker. He founded an academy of tine 
arts in Charleston, S. C, and published " "Xotes on 
Mexico, Made in 1822, with an Historical Sketch of 
the Revolution" (Philadeli)hia, 1824). Jlr. Poinsett 
died in Statesburg, S. C, Dec. 12, 1851. 

DICKEBSON, Mahlon, secretary of the navy. 
(See Ind.-x.) 

PAULDING, James Kirke, secretary of the 
navv. was born at Pleasant Valley, Dutchess Co., 
N. Y., Aug. 23, 1779. At the close of the revolu- 
tionary period West Chester county 
became the family home. The 
literary |iarlnership of the broth- 
ers, Washington and Wm. Irving 
and .1. K. Paulding, resulted jiar- 
tially from the marriage connec- 
tion of the hitter's sister to Wm. 
Irving; Paulding coming to New 
York city in the early part of his 
career. A comic luuuUing of local 
matter published imtler the name 
of "Salmagundi," was the out- 
come of tliis literary combina- 
tion. The aiipointment of Paul- 
ding as .secretary to the board of 
navy commissioners at Washing- 
ton, grew out of the fact that 
President Madison warmly ap- 
proved of Paulding's atliluile in 
a reply to an attack on the United 
States by the London " Qiiarter- 
ly." After holding, for a twelve years' iiiterv.-d. the 
post of naval agent, in Xew York city. President Van 
Buren made Paulding secretary of the navy, an 
office from which he w-ithdrew at the close of Van 
Bureu's i)re.sideney, and removed to Dutchess coun- 
ty, making it his permanent residence. Inspired by 
the reception given "Salmagundi," his pen worked 
in new fields, chiefly fiction. He died at Hyde Park, 
Dutchess Co., N. Y.. Apr. 0, 1860. 

KENDALL, Amos, postmaster-general. (See 
Index.) 

NILES, John Milton, postmaster-general, was 
horn in Windsor, Conn.. Aug. 20, 1787. He received 
only a fair education at tint common schools of his 
neighborhood, but being ambitious, and determined 
to rise, he applied himself to the study of law, and 
with such .success that he was admitted to the bar, 
althoiHTh not until he was thirty years of age. He 
tiien lieg.an to practice law, having settled in Hart- 
ford, but finallj' finding that to make his fortune in 
that profession would probably be a slow and very 
laborious jiiece of work, he cast about him for some- 
thing else to do, and established th(t Hartford 
"Times." He .surrounded himself with capable 
editors and Ijusiness men, and soon maile the 
"Times "a power in the New England states. It 
was a democratic paper, and its intluential support 
of Gen. Jackson gave him many votes in the eastern 
states. Soon after his ina\iguration. Gen. Jackson 
appointed Maj. B. H. Norlon, who was the editor 
of the Hartford " Times," jiosl master of Hartford, as 
a n'ward for the service of the paper during the pre- 
ceding campaign. Against this, however, .\lr. Niles, 
who was the publisher of the paper, protested, and 





even went to Wa.shington, armed with powerful cre- 
dentials, and worked upon Gen Jack.sou with such 
effect that the latter dismissed Norton from his po- 
sition, replacing him by Mr. Niles, an act which 
origiuiUed a term very much used in politics for 
twenty years thereafter of " Nortonizing." To Nor- 
ton, however, he gave a good po- 
sition in the Boston custom-hou.se, 
a mesisure which was entirely sat- 
isfactory. Mr. Niles was appoint- 
ed to the U. S. .senate in IS;!,!, and 
served four years, and again in 
1843, serving si.x years. In 1840 
he was appointed by President 
Van Buren postmaster general, 
but only held the position about 
a year. In 18.51 Mr. Niles went 
to Euro])e, and on his return went 
out of jiolitics and retired to pri- 
vate life, devoting himself main- 
ly to agriculture and horticulture. 
He amassed a considerable for- 
tune, and in his will bequeathed 
$70,000 in trust to the city of Hart- 
ford, directing that the income 
therefrom should be devoted to 
the worthy poor. He had a fine 
library, which he benueathed to the Connecticut His- 
torical Society. Mr. Niles published a number of 
works, including "The Independent Whig" (1816); 
"Gazetteer of (lonnecticut and Khode Island " (Hart- 
ford, 181il); "History of the Revolution in Mexico 
and South America, with a View of Texas" (1829); 
" The Civil Officer" (New York, 1840). He died in 
Hartford May 31, 18.56. 

BUTLER, B. F., attorney-general. (See Index.) 
GRUNDY, Felix, atlorneygeneral, was born in 
Berkeley county. Va., Sept. 11, 1777. His father 
was an Englishman, who emigrated to this country 
and for a time roved al)out, seeking a satisfactory 
locality whereon to settle. When Felix was t\vo 
years old, the family lived in Pennsylvania, in Berks 
county, near what is now Brownsville, but which 
was at that time a wild country, overrun with 
Indians. They lived there only a year, when they 
removed to Kentucky, and there suffered greatly 
from Indian attacks. Three of 
Mr. Grundy's sons, of whom there 
were .seven, Felix being the _young- 
est, were killed by the savages. Of 
course, under the conditions ol 
frontier life, it was inipo.s.sible to 
receive (-yen the most meagre ed- 
ucation, excepting at the family 
fireside. It is said that the young 
Gr\indys obtained their instruc- 
tion from the mother, who ap- 
pears to have been a woman of 
ability, and very earnest in the 
discharge of her duties. After a 
time Felix was sent to an academy, 
and having been well grounded in 
the English branches, and a little 
in the cla.ssics, be determined to 
study law. He was ad milled to the 
bar.and in 1799. when he wastwen- 
ty-two years of aire, was elected a 
member of the Kentucky constitutional convention, 
and inimeiliali'ly after to (he state legislature, in 
which body he continued until 180(i. In the latter 
year he was a|)poinled a judge of the sujireme court 
of the state, and in 1807 was chief justice. In the 
winter of that year he resigned his i)osition and 
went to Nashville, Teim.. where he .settled, and 
began to ]iractice law. He was es]iecially s\iceessful 
in criminal cases, and soon gained an iiilltiential 
position. He was a democrat in politics, and in 1811 




J^/^/r^'')^ 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



195 



■was elected by that party a membci' of congress, and 
re-elected two years later. lie resigned in 1814, 
and coutinucil to practice law during the war jieriod 
and until 1819. when he became a member of the 
legislature of Tennessee, and the following year one 
of the commissioners appointed to settle the Ken- 
tucky boundary Hue dispute. In 1829 he tilled out 
the unexpired term of John H. Eaton, in the l'. S. 
senate, the latter having been appoiiiteil secretary of 
war. He was personally favored by Jlr. .lacksou 
in 1833, when he was up for the election for the sen- 
ate, and was successful. In 1838 Mr. Grundy was 
appointed by President Van Buren attorney-general, 
and served in that office about a year, when he re- 
signed, and again entered the senate. Jlr. Grundy 
was a " t;iriJt-for-revenue ■' man. and opposed to 
so-called protection. Personally. Felix Grundy was 
greatly admired, being a man of line personal ap- 
pearance, of a social and agreeable disposition, and 
an able and eloquent orator. His most tiuished ora- 
tion was that delivered on the deaths of JetTersou 
and Adams. He was extremely popular, and the 
legal literature of the southwestis tilled with anec- 
dotes about him. His last political act was to 
speak in Tennessee in favor of Van Bureu against 
Harrison. He died in Nashville, Tenn., Dec. 19, 
1840. 

GILPIN, Henry Dilwood, attorney-general. 
was born in Lancaster. Eng.. Apr. 14, 1801. He 
descended from an English family, settled in Kent- 
more, Westmoreland Co., his ancestors having emi- 
grated to this country in U>9(i. and settled on the 
borders of Chester and Delaware coiaities, on the 
banks of the Braudywiue. The Giljiins were all 
Quakei-s. Joshua Gilpin visited Euroiie, where he 
spent seven years traveling on the continent, and de- 
voting himself particularly to botany. In 1800 he 
married JIarv Dilwood, the daughter of a banker at 
Lancaster, and remained there until shortly after 
the birth of his son, Henry I)., when he returned to 
the United IStates. The family remained in this 
country until 1811. when they returned to England, 
and yoimg Henry was for four years in a pi'ivate 
school in that country. In 181tj the family tinally 
settled permanently in Philadelphia, and Henry 
wa.s sent to the L'uiversity of Pennsylvania. He took 
the academic course, studied law. and after a period 
in the office of Joseph R. Ingersoll. was admitted to 
practice at the bar in 1822. In the meantime he had 
occupied the position of secretary of the Chesapeake 
and Delaware Canal Co., which owed its existence 
to the suggestion of his grandfather. Henry's great 
ability as a lawyer grew to be recognized, and in 
1830 his successful management of an imiiortant in- 
ternational case gave him a wide reputation. This 




Vn,»tr»iry -tFa unta'iiaT/^' 



case involved the official standing of twoPortugue.se 
ministers, each of whom had been duly accredited 
to this country by one of the two contlicting govern- 
ments of Portugal. Mr. Gilpin's sjigacity and judg- 
ment in this matter secured for him the high regard 
of President Andrew Jackson, and the contidenee of 
the supreme court. In 1832 he wa.s appointed to 
succeed Mr. Dallas as U. S. district attorney at Phil- 



adelphia, a position which he held to the satisfaction 
of all concerned during the next live years. At the 
same time he was one of the government directors 
of the I'. S. Bank, and gave great as.sistance to Pres- 
ident Jackson in his ellorts to sujipress that monop- 
oly. His attitude toward the bank, however, and his 
strong democratic principles interfered with Mr. 
Gilpin's advancement, as, when the president ap- 
pointed him governor of the territory of Michigan, 
the senate refu.sed to confirm the appointment. In 
1837 President Van Buren aiipointed Mr. Gilpin 
solicitor of the treasury, and on Jan. 10, 1840, he 
was appointed attorney-general of the United States, 
having reached that elevated position while still un- 
der forty years of age. As the chief prosecuting of- 
ficer of the United States government 3Ir. Gilpin 
was noted for the distinguished power and ability 
w'hieh he showed in handling the gravest and most 
important cases. Mr. Gilpin retired from political 
life at the close of President Van Buren's term of 
office. He hati acquired a competency through the 
successful practice of his profession, and he now de- 
termined to devote the remainder of his life to the 
interests of literature and art, and to such social de- 
mands as might be made upon him. He had al- 
ready given evidence of special literary taste and 
capacity, having from 1826 to 1832 edited the " At- 
lantic Souvenir," which was the first of a long series 
of literary and art volumes pub- 
lished yearly, and commonly 
called "Annuals." Healso pub- 
lished in 1826 his ' Biography of 
the Signers of tlie Declaration of 
luilependeuce. " of which a new 
edition was speedily called for. 
He contributed freelj' to the 
" American Quarterly Review," 
the "Democratic Review;" and 
the "North American Review." 
He edited and superintended the 
publication of the " Madison 
Papers," which were published 
in three volumes, octavo.in 1840, 
under the auspices of congress. 
Jlr. Gilpin also edited or pre- 
pared "Opinions of the At- 
tornevs-Gcneral of the L'nited 
States" (1841); "A Northern 
Tour, being a Guide to Sara- 
toga, Lake George, etc." (1825); 
Walter Scott, compiled from Pas.sages in His ■\Vrit- 
ings"(1831): a translation of Chaptal's "Essays on 
Iniporl Duties and Prohibitions" (1841); "Life of 
Martin Van Buren" (1844); besides a large number 
of publi>hed addresses, speeches, and reviews. He 
also published " Keiiorts of Cases in the U. S. Dis- 
trict Court for the Eastern Di.strictof Pennsvlvania, 
1828-36" (Philadelphia, 1837). During the latter 
part of his life Mr. Gilpin made an extensive tour 
through Great Britain and the continent of Europe, 
Egypt, and the East, and while abroad received 
distinguished attentions from the most eminent 
scholars and public men. Mr. Gilpin was for a 
considerable time director and afterward president 
of the Pcnnsylvaiua .Vcademy of Fine Arts, direc- 
tor and vice-president of the Historical Society of 
Pennsylvania, trustee of the University of Pennsyl- 
vania "from 1852 to 1858, and a director of Gira"rd 
College from 18.")(i to 1858. At his death he be- 
queathed to the Chicago Historical Society the sum 
of $57,000, and g.ive his large and valuable library 
to the liislorieal Soc'iely of Pennsylvania, accora- 
panieil by a gift of money sufficient for the erec- 
tion of a buililing in which to jireserve the collec- 
tion. Mr. Gilpin married, in 1835, Eliza Johnston, 
widow of J. S. Johnslon, U. S. senator from Loui- 
siana. Mr. Gilpin died in Philadeliihia Jan. 9, 18(i0. 




"Autobiography of 



19G 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 




MACOMB, Alexander, soldier, was born in 
Detroit, Mich., Apr. 3, 1782. His fatlier, Alexander 
Macoinl) (born in Belfast, Ireland, July 37, 1748. and 
died in Georgetown, D. C, in 1882), came to tlie 
United States wlien very young and cngaircd in the 
fur trade with John Jacob Astor and Ella.-; Ivane. 
Later lie settled in New York city and became a 
ship owner and a large landed proprietor, owning 
extensive tracts of land in North 
Carolina, Kentucky, and Geor- 
gia. In 1791 lie purchased from 
the state of New York 8.(i(M»,000 
acres of land on the St. Law- 
rence river, including such of 
the Thousand Islands as be- 
longed to New York. The 
younger Alexander, after re- 
ceiving a common-school edu- 
cation, in 17Sti) entered the U. S. 
army as a cornet of cavalry and 
was promoted to be captain in 
180.5 and major in 1808. When 
the war of 1812 opened, he 
was lieutenant -colonel of en- 
gineers and adjutant-general of 
the army. At liis own request 
he was made colonel of the 3d 
artilleiT, and in 1813 fought 
gallantly at Niagara and Fort George. He was 
raised to the rank of brigadier-genera! in 1814 and 
assigned to the command of the northern frontier. 
At Platt.sburg, N. Y., on Sept. 11, 1814, he met and, 
although the odds were strongly against him, de- 
feated the British forces under Sir Geo. Provost, 
driving them back into Canada. For this signal 
victory he was made major-general, while congress 
gave him a vote of thanks and ordered a gold medal 
struck in his honor. At the close of the war he re- 
turned to service in the engineer corps, and in 1828 
succeeded Gen. Jacob Brown as general-in-chief of 
the army. His last active service was |ierformed in 
the campaign against the Seminole Indians in 183.5. 
Gen Macomb was the author of: "A Treatise on 
Martial Law and Courts jNIartial in the United 
States" (1809); "A Treatise on the Practice of 
Courts Martial" (1840); and he also edited Samuel 
Cooper's " Tactics and Hegulations for the Militia" 
(1836). He died in Washington, D. ('., June 23, 
1841. His remains rest in the congressional ceme- 
tery at Washington. (See also " Memoir of Alexan- 
der Macomb," by Geo. H. Richards, New York, 
1833.) 

MACOMB, William Henry, naval officer, was 
born in Detroit, Mich., June 16, 1818, the .son of 
Gen. Alex. Macomb. He was appointed a mid- 
shipman in the U. S. navy in 1834 and by suc- 
cessive promotions, reached the rank of commo- 
dore in 1870. From 18.56 until 1858 he command- 
ed the Port.smouth of the East India .squadron, 
and in Novemlier, 1856, aided in the capture of the 
barrier forts. Canton river, China. He took part in 
the Paraguay expedition of 1859, and in 18(i2 and 
1863 commanded the .steamer Genesee, of the block- 
ading squadron. He jiarlicipatcd in the attemiited 
passage of Port Hudson, on March 14. 18();i. and 
during the following three months in frequent en- 
gagemenls witli the Confederate batteries along the 
Missls-sippi river. In ]8(;4 and 1S65 he commanded 
the steamer Shamrock of the North .Xmeriia block- 
ading squadron, and led the naval force that bom- 
barded and captured Plymouth, N. ('., on Oct. 30, 
1864. Later he accompanied the naval expedition 
up the Roanoke river. North Carolin.a. In 1869 he 
was commander of the Plynioulh of the European 
squadron. At the time of "his death lie was engaged 
as in.spector of lighthouses. He died in Pliiladelphia, 
Pa., Aug. 12, 1873. 
11—16 



HATS, John C. , Indian fighter, was bom in Ten- 
nessee, and went to Texas in 1837, locating in San 
Antonio. He did much surveying on the frontier, 
and commanded in scores of engagements against 
tlie Indians, ra|iidly achieving fame as an "Indian 
tighter." He fought in the battle of Salado. as cap- 
tain of the advance company against Gen. Woll and 
1.400 Jlexicans, Sept. 18, 1842, and while in jiursuit 
of them had a perilous engagement on the 22d. In 
the autumn of the same year he comnian<led the ad- 
vance conii)any of the Somervell expedition against 
Mexico, and in 1844, at the head of sixteen dar- 
ing men. had a desperate and bloody hand-to-hand 
tight with .seventy Comanclie-i. who .stubbornly 
fought until many of their number fell. Hays re- 
ceived several serious wounds, but won the field. 
He commanded a regiment under Gen. Taylor in 
1846, and won a national fame by his storming of 
Independence Hill and the bishop's palace at Mon- 
terey. Under Gen. Scott, on the march from Vera 
Cruz to the City of Mexico, he greatly increased his 
reputation as a wise and dauntless olticer. He went 
to California in 1849, was elected the lirsl sherift" of 
San Francisco, and was afterward for a number of 
years surveyor-general of the United States for Cali- 
fornia. He died about 1861. 

CHILTON, Horace, senator, was born in Smith 
tounty, Tex., Dec. 29, 1H53. His father was Geo. 
W. Ciiillon, and liis motlier Ella Goodman, both of 
Alaliama. He was reared in Tyler, Tex., where he 
has since resided, was etlucated in the schools of 
that town under the tutorship of Thos. Smith and 
John T. Hand, and attended the 
Lynnland Institute in Harden coun- 
ty, Ky., one se.-^sion. At lift ecu 
years of age he was under the 
nece.s.sity of earning his own liveli- 
hood, and also that of his mother 
and sister. He left college in the 
midst of his educational course, to 
obtain work. He entered a print- 
ing office, where he worked fen' a 
year, acijuiring a practical knowd- 
cdge of llie printing trade, all the 
while pursuing bis studies at night, 
the only time he could call his 
own. He labored in this calling 
in various towns in Texas ancl 
Louisiana, and finally started a 
small iiewspajier in Tyler, nin- 
ning this journal until he .saved 
money enough to sustain him.self 
while slmlying law. He was married in 1877 to 
Mary Vi. Grimian. and they have now five chil- 
dren. He was appointed assistant attorney-general 
of the state by Gov. Roberts in 1881 without solicit- 
ation, and after discharging the duties of that office, 
he returned to a successful iiractice. In 1888 he 
was electe(i a delegate at-large to the uatioiiid demo- 
cratic convention at St. Louis. In 1891 he was ap- 
])ointed U. S. senator as a democrat, to till tlie va- 
cancy crcateil by the resignation of .lolm H. Reagan, 
and look his se;'it Dec. 7, lsi91. Senator Chilton is a 
finished speaker, and what he says is chanicteri'/.ed 
by sense, directness, and simplicity. One of his first 
acts after his appoiiitmeiil was to make an address to 
his fellow-townsmen in which he came out strongly 
against the sub treasury idea, which possessed tlie 
Farmers' Alliance men in Texas. A few sentences 
of this speech are worth quoting: " Concerning this 
scheme my own duly is jilain. The constitution of 
my country is againsi il. The iilafform of the dem- 
ocratic parly is against il. Economy, business judg- 
ment, good old corn-field common sen.se. I he experi- 
ence of the jiast. the hopes of the future, I he unan- 
imous warnings of our great statesmen, all stand in 
its way." 






COPYRIGHT. 189!, BY JAMES T. WHITE d CO. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



199 







^:fy' J:;,i;t;!:i54»*iiXJS*^^^S?^'^S'^iS 



HAKBISON, ■William Henry, ninth presi- 
dent of the United States, was born at I?erl\cley, 
Charles City Co., Va., Feb. 9, 1773. His father, 
Ben Harrison, was a direct descendant of the 
famous Col. Harrison, officer in tlie army of Oliver 
Cromwell of England. He was speaker of the Vir- 
ginia house of burgesses and afterward a zealous 
member of the Continental congress; and the .same 
Ben Harrison, June 10, 177t>, as chairman of the 
committee of the whole in congress, rejiorted to that 
body the resolution declaring the independence of 
the British colonies. William Henry Harrison was 
a studious lad; there were books at Berkely and he 
made good use of them. There is no record of the 
precise dates of his entry into or his graduation from 
Hampden-Sidney College, but after leaving it he 
turned his attention to the study of medicine. He 
was but sixteen when Washing- 
ton became president in 1789, but 
it was a time when the few edu- 
cated young men of the republic 
matured early, and his future was 
to be cast in a way which made 
him no exception to the rule. It 
was a periotl of alarm and danger 
upon the western frontier, from 
the incursions of Indians incited 
more or less directly by English 
intluence, and so serious had the 
troubles come to be that the tide 
of westward progress threatened 
to cease, or at least to be checked. 
At this time young Harri,son 
announced his intention to en- 
ter the United States army. Rob- 
ert Jlorris, the celebrated finan- 
cier, under whose guardianship 
he had been placed, was so op- 
posed to the project that he 
■went to President Washington to consult him as 
to the best means of counteracting it. But the 
president overruled the tinancier's objections, and in 
April, 1791, cau.scd a commission to be issued to the 
young man as ensign of the 1st regiment, Unilcd 
States artillery, the regiment being at that lime in 
the heart of the Indian country, on the site of the 
present city of Cincinnati, Ohio. Not long after he 
joined the connnand one of Gen. St. Clair's veterans 
wrote of him: "I wmdd as soon have thought of 
putting my wife into the army as this boy, but t have 
been out "with him, and I "lind that those smooth 
cheeks are on a wise head, and that slight form is 




^ /^/^Oa-L^^^^n^ 



almost as tough as any one's weather-beaten carcass." 
His performance of duty was such as soon drew to 
him the attention of Gen. Anthony AVayne, who 
succeeded St. Clair after the disastrous defeat of the 
hitter's army by Indians, Nov. 19. 1791, and dur- 
ing the next year he was made a lieutenant. It is 
noted that he had already learned one lesson not 
always learned by military men, the value of perfect 
sobriety in spite of all temptation to the use of in- 
toxicating liquors. Dec. 38, 1793, a .strong detach- 
ment of infantry and artillery occupied the ground 
where St. Clair had been defeated, and built a fort 
called Fort Recovery. In the gcncr.al order of 
thanks for the excellent performance of a perilous 
duty, Lieut. Harrison received especial mention. At 
the battle of the Miami, Aug. 20, 1794, he was 
under constant and great exposure, winning the 
marked approbation of Gen. Wayne, who .said of 
him in despatches to the war department: "My 
faithful and gallant aide-de-camp, Lieut. Harrison, 
rendered the most essential service bj- communicat- 
ing my orders in everj' direction, and by his conduct 
and bravery exciting troops to press for victory." 
And at the close of the campaign of 1795 he was 
made a cajitain of artillery, and placed in command 
of the important post of Fort Washington (now 
Cincinnati), with orders to report and watch all 
movements in what was then Spanish Louisiana, 
the vast unknown Southwest and West. By the Jay 
treaty of 1794, Great Britain surrendered i(s [losses- 
sion of posts upon American soil and Capt. Harrison 
received and occujiied the several posts in his tem- 
torial limits for the United States government. And 
shortly after getting his captain's commi.s.sion, he 
married Anna, daughter of J. C. Symmes, founder 
of the Miami settlement and one of the Unilcd 
States j'.idges of the territory, thus allying hini.self 
by a new and permanent tie to tlie pioneers of the 
western border. In 1791 he resigned his military 
commission and was at once ajipointcd a secretary 
of the northwestern territory, being also ex-oHicio 
lieutenant-governor, and in tlie freipient prolonged 
absences of his .superior, acting governor. When 
the territory was declared (179S) to be entitled by 
its population to a delegate in the United States con- 
gress, the almost mianimous choice of the voters fell 
(1799) upon young Harrison, and he took his seat in 
the body at the age of twenty-six. Here he soon 
secured the )ias,sage of a resolution providing for a 
committee of investigation into the existing land 
laws for the public domain, and as chairman of the 
committee (a trust never before and perhaps never 



200 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPiEDIA 



since conferred upon a territorial delegate) he re- 
ported a bill wliicli wlieii passed worked a revolution 
in the mauagcmont of tlie imblic lands of tlic I'nited 
States, so tliat the entire countrv west of tlie Penn- 
sylvania border, to the sliore of the Paiili<- Ocean, 
owes its facility of settlement and the wise distribu- 
tion of its area ainoiif; many, instead of its absor|)tion 
by a smaller number of owners, to the clear-headed 
statesmanship of the younj: representative of the 
northwestern territory. By the discussions in con- 
nection with the passaire of this bill (somewhat 
modified by the U. S. senate) his name bfcamo more 
widely and more favorably known than tiiose of 
some men who had been loiitr in congress. In 1800 
the northwestern territory was divided and he became, 
by appointment of President John Adams, the 
governor of the new territory of Indiana, including 
the present .states of Indiana, Illinois. Michigan and 
Wisconsin, to which position he was .siibsecpiently 
reappointed under Presidents Jelfcrson and Madison. 
He entered upon the duties of the office (which 



His decision as to them was made final and his sig- 
nature upon a title was a cure of all defects. With 
reference to all the Indian tril)es he was made the 
general agent and representative of the United States 
in charge of treaties and treaty payments, and his 
corres])ondence with tlie govermnent at Washington 
relating to the vast ma.ss of Indian atfairs involved, 
became one of the onerous burdens of his position. 
When Louisiana was regained (ISIKi), all of ujijier 
Louisiana with line boundaries, e.\cept upon the east, 
was ailded to his jurisdiction. He had many op- 
portuiuties for tlic acquisitions of wealth by judicious 
investments in land, but in his whole adnunistration 
he was so full of integrity and so morbidly sensitive 
to public opinion and criticism, that it seemed ixs if 
he feared to acquire property lest it should be 
charged upon him that he had gotten it through ad- 
vantage given him by his otlicial place and power. 
His discharge of duty now required long and peril- 
ous journeys from place to place, on horseback 
through the woods or in boats up and down rivers 










carried with it the superintendency of Indian aifairs) 
In 1801. Then tlu-re were but three considerable 
settlements in all the territory: one Clark's grant, 
veiy nearly opposite Louisville, Ky., one at Vin- 
cennes on the Waliash river in what is now Indiana, 
and the third a string of French villages along the 
Mississip]ii, from Kaskaskia (111.), to Cohokia in the 
present Missouri. Here Gov. Harrison was invested 
with one of the most extraordinary coinnu'ssions in 
the history of the eoimtry. The new rejuiblican in- 
stitutionsof the territory were to be fostered and 
developed, says his biogra|iher, \inder his autocratic 
power. The "people had no voice whatever. Gen. 
Harrison was commander of the territorial militia. 
He was Indian commissioner, land commissioner, 
sole legislator and law giver. He had the power 
given liini to adopt frcmi the laws upon the l)ooks of 
any of the .states any and every law which in his 
judgment applied to'the needs of the territory. He 
appointed ail the magistrates and all the other civil 
officers, and all the militia olliccrs below th(^ grade 
of general. It was his ditty and he was given 
authority to divide the country into counties and 
townships. He held the ])ar(ioniiig power, was 
made judge of the merits of existing land grants, of 
which many were technically worthless or defective. 



which carried more Indian canoes than any other 
craft. He had come to understand Indian character 
remarkably well, and to have great influence over 
many chiefs and warriors. He proved himself their 
true'friend, but there was really no perfect ))eace 
with any tribe at that time, and bis ability as a 
watchful military commander was all the while em- 
ployed to prevent the skirmish line, as the advanced 
settlements might well be calli'd, from liecoming a 
general battle ground. In ISO.") he obtained from 
congress a law for the organization of the territory, 
and jirovision was made for an election by tlie jieople, 
of a territorial legislature, which was "to name the 
men from whom congress was to choose five to act 
as a council of the territory. In bis first message 
to the legislature, the governor urged interference 
by law to prevent the sale of liquor to tlie Indians. 
In his iiersonal dealings with them he was fearless 
anil yet lu-udent. availing himself of his previous 
experience and increasing his knowledge as to their 
nature. Harrison did not neglect his duties in any 
pari of the vast ari'a entrusted to his care. When in 
ISO,") upper Louisiana was scjiaratcd from his juris- 
dictiim the citizens of St. Louis lu-esciited him with 
a formal vote of thanks for the manner in which he 
had served their interests. When offered what 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



201 



would have been a third part, of the city of St. 
Louis as au inducement for employing his othcial 
influence to build it up, he did what he could for 
the local welfare, but refused to lake the proffered 
reward. By this lime his name had liecome almost 
indenlitied in the minds of his countrynien with ter- 
ritorial affairs and with the tautrleil story of Indian 
diplomacy. Durins his Icmsr administration, indeed, 
he negotiated no less than thirteen important treaties 
with the tribes. But as the conspiracy of Tecumseh 
and his brother the prophet waxed stronger, and the 
natural results began to appear in .attacks upon de- 
fenceless settlers, the demand for war with Kngland, 
which was more or less prevalent (in lSll-12) through- 
out the United States, found strongest cxjiression 
amom: the people of the e.\trerne western border, 
who, with some truth, attributed the stirring up of In- 
dian hostility to British intluence. Early in I he sum- 
mer of bSll, news came to Vincennes, the governor's 
headquarters, that a thousand Indian warriois had 
gathered at Ti]ipecanoe, Ind., the prophet's town. 
Gen. IIarri,son sent them a messenger, and on the 
27th of .July (1811), had a council with them, which 
was followed by Harrison's advance upon lliem in 
October at the head of 1.000 men. this military 
movement having been authorized fnmi Washington, 
D. C. Nov. 7th, at almost a mile and a half from 
the Indian town, at the early dawn they were fiercely 
attacked by the savages who hoped to surpri.se them, 
but Harrison's vigilance prevented that, and in the 
battle which ensued the Indians were thoroughly 
worsted. The American commander escaped un- 
hurt, the nearest bullet passing through the rim of 
his hat. The influence of the jieople who had pre- 
announced a complete Indian victory was entirely 
shattered by this victory of the American forces, and 
the legislatures of Kentucky and Indiana, as well as 
President JIadison in his message to congress, ex- 
pres.sed theirthanks to the governor for his "masterly 
conduct in the direction and mano'uveriiig of the 
troops," and " for the collected firmness wliich dis- 
tinguished the ctmimander on an occasion requiring 
the utmost exertion of valor and discipline." June 
18, 1812, war was declared between Great Britain 
and the United States, and the savages rose in mass 
as fast as the news spread among them. At the in- 
vitation of the governor of Kentucky, Gov. Harri.son 
proceeded to Frankfort and thence by suggestion of 
puhlic men. among them Henry Clay, sent his views 
upon military affairs to President Madison. Mack- 
inac was even then in the hands of the British; in a 
few d.ays more Gen. Hull had surrendered Detroit, 
and the entire border was open to any movenient of 
the British or of their savage allies. During this 
conference, Harrison, although he was not a citizen 
of Kentucky, received the appoint meiit of brevet 
major-general of Kentucky militia, and shortly after 
a conunis.sion from the U. S. war department as 
brigadier-general in the regular army. Tlie latter 
oftiee he did not accept until he could inform the 
'Washingtcm aiuhorities of steps already taken and 
learn if his new eiimmission pliK rd liim under the 
order of Gen. Wincliester of llie U. S. army, who 
had been aiipoinlcd to the command of the I'iirce in 
the Northwest. He was already at the head of 
nearly H.OOO volunteer troops from Kentucky. Ohio 
and Indiana, who were clamorcnis that he and no one 
else should lead them in the struggle that was im- 
minent, simply liccause they knew his cajiacily as an 
Indian fighler'and did not I'liink much of Winchester 
as such. Their determinalicui was such that when 
'Winchester arrived with his commission in his 
pocket, Harrison turned over the e<immand to him 
and at once left camp for his home. Before he 
reached it. however, new orders from Wa.shington 
were placed in his hands (at Indianapolis) appoint- 
ing him, instead of Winchester, commander of the 



Northwestern army, with extraordinary power, such 
as had been before given otdy to Gen. Washington 
and Gen. Greene. Forthwith joining the trooji.s, 
who were almost in a state of nniliny, in part be- 
cause of dissati.sfaction with their commander, and 
in part because of the wretched condition of the 
commissariat. Harrison concentrated his army at 
the rai)ids of the Miami, anil thence jn-oiio.sed to 
move on ^Maiden, in Canaila, and upon Detroit, 
Mich., which had been surrendered to the British by 
Gen. Hull, The campaign which followed is traced 
in detail in the life of Harrison, l)y W. O. Stoddard 
(New York, 1888). It included the massacre of the 
Haisin, so called (.Ian. 21, 1813), in which the 
American troo|is under Winchester were almost 
exterminated by British and Indians, the fortification 
of Fort Meigs, and its .subseiiuent relief when be- 
sieged in the ensuing spring by the enemy. Har- 
rison's urgent .suggestions to the United Slates gov- 
ernment that armed vessels be const i-ucled upon the 
lakes residted in the outfit of a fleet by Com. O. 
H. Perry, and Perry's famous naval victory ov.er 
Great Britain with the consciiuent clearing of those 
waters of any foe, followed by Harrison's co-o]iera- 
tion with him, and the pursuit of the British forces 
under Proctor, until they were overtaken in Canada 
and the battle fought (Oct. 5th) which ended in 
their defeat, the death of Tecum.seh and the total 
disper.siou of the belligerent Indians. 
The losses in tliis action were but 
nineteen killed and fitly wounded 
on the side of the British and the 
struggle was over 
in a few minutes, 
but all the artil- 
lery and stores of 
the Britisli army 
in upper Canada 
were now in the 
hands of Gen. 
Harrison and so 
was the province 
itself. Yet the real and great value of the victory 
was its effect vipon all the savage tribes of the Norl h- 
west. It .settled forever the vexed (|nestif)n of the 
boundary between Indians and the whites, clearing 
the way for the removal of llie red man from all the 
territory now included in the great slates of the 
JlissLssippi valley. The news spread fast tli rough 
the United States. President Madi.son sent a mes- 
sage to congress eulogizing Harrison and his men, 
and it was declared upon thefloorof ihe U. S. senate 
that his "victory was such as could have secured 
to a Roman general in the best days of the republic, 
the honor of a triumph." Harrison really went into 
Washington now in a kind of triumphal ]irogres.s, 
hut the ju'ejudice of the then secretary of war. Gen. 
John Armstrong, threw unexpected obstacles in the 
way of his further .service and issued in Harrison's 
forwarding to Washington his resignation from the 
army. In the president's absence from Ihe city, the 
resignation was at once acceiited by the secretaiy. 
President Madison ujion his relurn was not equal io 
Ihe appropriate remedy of the wrong which had 
been done, but straightway appointed Harrison to 
Ihe hea<l of an important commission to treat with 
the Indian lril)es, his coadjutors being Gov. Isaac 
Shelby of Kenlucky and Gen. Lewis Cass of Michi- 
gan. As such Indian commissioner, he carried <in 
with wisdom and success what hail already been Ihe 
great work of his laborious life. When in 1S16, 
having become a citizen of Ohio and Ihe owner of a 
good farm at North Bend, on llie Ohio river, fifteen 
miles below Cincinnati, Hon. .lohn McLean, repre- 
sentative in congress from that state resigned to 
accept the judgeship of the supreme court of the 
state to which he had been elected and there were 




202 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



six candidates in the field for tlie succession, Gen. 
HarrisDU was cliosen by a majority of more than 
a tlio\isaud over all his competitors. It was at 
this lime that the enemies which lie had raised up 
by liis rigid exactness witli army contractors, 
strucli a severe blow at him, one of them bring- 
ing forward a plausilile accusation of improper con- 
duct on Harrison's part while he was on tlie field. 
An investigation was demanded, but before its ter- 
mination liis friends injudiciously offered a resolu- 
tion tendering him the thanks of congress for his 
services and ordering a gold medal to be struck in 
commemoration thereof. This was to be done in 
connection with a sunilar lionor to Gov. Shelby of 
Kentucky. When a vote was readied on it in the 
senate liis name was struck out of the resolution by 
a vote of 13 to 11. Two years liiter (JIaicli 30, 
1818) the resolution was unanimously adopted in 
the senate, and met with but one adverse voice in 
the house, and he received the medal; the report 
then made to congress wiped away all charges again.st 
liiiii, and declared that "Gen. I lariison stands above 
susiiicion." He was re-elected to congress by the 
people of Ohio, took a sufficient part in all impor- 
tant discussions, gave especial attention to western 
lands, Indian affairs and the proper organization of 
the national militia, also voted again.st theproiiosition 
to restrict the peojile of Missouri territory from or- 
ganizing as a state with a claii.se in their constitution 
permitting slavery. He declared his belief that the)' 
should tie free to regulate their own domestic insti- 
tutions, but in 1822 this vote cost him a defeat when 
he was a candidate for re-election. He was a mem- 
ber of the Ohio state senate in 1819, and a presidential 
elector in 1820, voting then for James Monroe for 
president. In 1824 he entered the U. S. senate from 
his adopted state, and was there accounted one of its 
useful members with personal |ioiiularity among his 
associates. He was made U. S. minister plenipo- 
tentiary to the new republic of Colombia, S. America, 
in 1828, by President John Quincy Adams, and re- 
signed his senatorial seat to accept the post. AVhen 
Andrew Jackson became president (1829) he had 
hardly been sworn in before Harrison's recall was 
determined on. No suitable provision was made for 
his return to the United States, and fully three 
months went by before he came back at liis own ex- 
pense. He now retired to his farm ui'ar North 
Bend, and being in needy circumstances erected a 
distillery for the profitable consumption of his com 
crop, but before many months had passed, at a 
public meeting in Cincinnati of the Agricultural 
Society of Hamilton County, of which he was presi- 
dent, he pleaded eloiiueiitly against the vice of 
drunkenness and the wickedness of manufacturing 
■whiskey, saying that he could so speak of the evil 
of " turning the staff of life into an article which is 
so destructive of health and happiness, because in 
that way I have ruined niy-self, but in that way I 
shall live no more." There was no temperance senti- 
ment or movement as that now exists, at the time, 
and the assumption of this position by a public man 
called for far more than ordinary devotion to moral 
principle. About this time he became clerk of the 
Cincinnati court of common pleas. In 1838 he re- 
ceived 73 electoral votes for president of the United 
States to 170 ca.st for Martin Van Buren; but the 
whig national convention at Harri.sburg, Pa,, Dec. 
4, 1839, gave him the preference over all other 
competitors as its candidate for that othee. and after 
the " log cabin "canva-w wliieh followed, he received 
240 electoral votes to 60 cast for Van Buren. March 
4, 1841, he was inaugurated as president at Wash- 
ington, but died of imeumonia, following a chill, just 
one month frbiii that day (.April 4th), his life, as is 
now generally thought, literally worn away and de- 
stroyed by the hordes of applicants for public office 




<C^ ^«^ 



<Pt-**'>^ (A-^- 



to whose iiersecution lie was subjected. His body 
was buried in the congressional cemeterv at Wasli- 
ington, but a few years later was removed to Noith 
Bend. O. The stale of Ohio afterward took a deed 
of the land in which it reposes, and in 18^7 voted to 
raise money by ta.xalion for a suitable monunieni to 
his memory. Various " lives " of this greatest and 
best of Indian conimis.sioners, pioneer, governor of 
Indian Territory and iiresident, have been written. 
That by AV. O. Stoddard, already noted, has been 
followed in the preparation of this sketch. I'resideut 
Hairis(.n died .\pril 4. 1841, 

HARBISON, Anna Symmes, wife of Presi- 
dent W. II. Harrison, was born near Morristown, 
N. J., July 25, 1775, tliedaugliler of Col, John Cleves 
Symmes, of the Continental army, and of Miss Tut- 
hill of Southold, L, I, Her mother dying soon after 
her birth, Anna was brought up by her maternal 
grandparents ; attended school 
at East Hampton. L. I,, and sub- 
sequently was placed in a school 
kept by Mrs. Isabella Graham 
in New York city. In 1794 she 
removed with her father and 
stepmother to Ohio, settling at 
North Bend. AVliile visiting a 
married sister at Lexingtcjn, 
Ky., Anna met ('apt. Harri.son, 
and was married to him at North 
Bend, Nov. 22. 1795. Mrs. Har- 
rison was describeil at this time 
as being very hanilsonie, with 
an animated countenance, and a 
graceful figure. She accompa- 
nied her husband to Philadel- 
phia, Indiana, and Ohio, finally 
settling at North Bend; and dur- 
ing his many enforced absences, 
althougli in delicate health, she 
faithfully performed her household duties, took 
charge of her ten children, and emploved a jirivate 
tutor to instruct them. Mrs. Harrison was hospi- 
tably inclined, and always glad to receive her friends 
at her home, but she had no taste for fashionable 
life, and did not contemplate a residence at the 
AVliite House with any pleasure. On account of 
delicate health, she did not acconijiany her husband 
to AVashington, I). C., when he went on to lie in- 
augurated, and after his death she remained at North 
Bend until 1855, when she renuived to the home of 
her only surviving son, J. Scott JIarrisou, a few miles 
distant, where she remained until her death. Mrs. 
Harrison was modest and retiring, generous and 
benevolent, an extensive reader, a devout Christian, 
and during all her life took a deep interest in public 
affairs. She died Feb. 25, 18(>4. 

AVEBSTER, Daniel, .secretary of state, was 
born at Salisbury, N, II., Jan, 18, 1782, His 
father was a man of sterling character, but limited 
means, who had served with credit duriiigthe French 
war, anil at its clo.se .settled in that ]i(irlion of the 
newly formed town of Salisbury, which is now 
known as Franklin. The place was then on the ex- 
treme border of civilization, and in a. state of natural 
wildness; but by the labor of his own hands he soon 
converted it into a productive farm, ca)iable of 
yielding a comfortable support to his family. On 
the breaking out of the revolution.ary war he took 
service as a private, but soon rose to the rank of 
major, in which capacity he es])<'eially liislinguished 
himself at the battle of Bennington. Daniel Welister 
was his second son, and he was born while his father 
was .still away from home with the army. The 
early years of "the son were .spent u])on his father's 
farm in that sparselj' settled frontier settlen^ent, 
where schools and competent teachers were as yet 
unknown. His earliest instruction was received 




^:^ ^<^^z:^:^ 



CO»>VRIGMT, 1B9?, BY J*Mt9 T. WMITC A CO. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



206 



from his mother, a woinan of character and iiitelli- 
geiice, but, the lad showing apt parts, and an 
avidity for knowledge, it was decided by his father 
to send him to college, and he accordingly un- 
derwent about a year's preparation at the Exeter 
Academy, and under the tuition of the Hev, Samuel 
Wood in the adjoining town of Boscawcn. Of 
his life at Exeter, his classmate, the late James H. 
Brigham, once wrote in a private letter: "lie was 
then about fourteen; was attending to English 
grammar, arithmetic, etc. ; always very i)rompt and 
correct in his recitations. He had an independent 
manner, rather careless in his dress and apjiearauce, 
with an intelligent look; did not join much in the 
plays and amusements of the boys of his age, but 
paid close attention to his studies." At the age of 
tifteeu he entered Dartmouth College, prepared by a 
nine months' course of the English branches at Phil- 
lips Academy, and half a year's study of Latin and 
Greek under the Hev. Samuel Wood, who gave him 
board and tuition for the moderate charge of $1.00 
per week. Under this gentleman h(' made rapid 
progress in Latin, reading with great delight Virgil, 
the entire ^Eneid and also the orations of Cicero. 
Throughout his life these continued to be his favorite 
authors, and the influence of their style and imageiy 
is to be clearly traced in his published orations. 
His outfit for college was of a somewhat meagre 
description. Though now a lay judge in one of the 
New Hampshire courts, his father had to practice 
the most rigid economy to sujiport his lai'ge family. 
and to give this one son tlie benefit ol a libei'al 
education. The consequence was that Daniel went 
to college clad in home-spuu. and this, with his rustic 
manners, brought upon him the ridicule of some of 
his classmates who happened to have more in their 
purses than in their heads. But his [lerseverance, 
punctuality and close attention to his studies soon 
won him the respect of his instructors. From the 
first he stood high in his class, and one of his class- 
mates has written; "He was peculiarly industrious; 
he read more than any one of his classmates and 
remembered all. He was good in every branch of 
study, and as a writer and speaker he had no equal." 
Another has said: "He was not confined to small 
views and technicalities, but seemed to possess an 
intuitive knowledge of whatever subject he was 
considering, and often, I used to think, a more 
comprehensive view than his teacher." He soon 
developed remarkable power as an extemiioraneous 
speaker, and such was his reputation as an orator 
that in his eighteenth year he was selected by the 
villagers of Hanover to make their annual Fourth of 
July oration. The speech was delivered without 
notes of any kind, and was generally siqijiosed to be 
extemporaneous, but his college-mates knew that it 
had been carefully written and couunitted to mem- 
ory. His memory was peculiarly retentive. A 
classmate says of him : " By reading I wenty or more 
pages of poetry twice over, I liave heard liiin repeat 
their contents almo.st verbatim." His ability as a 
writer ;ind debater gave ri.se to the opinion wliile he 
was still in college, that lie was an onniivorous 
rciider. But he was not. He rea<l few authors, liut 
he .selected them with great care, and read with 
fixed attention. He was no literary gourmand. He 
devoted very little time to works of fiction; his taste 
was for liistory. jihilosophy and general literature. 
In a letter to a friend, written just after his gradu- 
ation, he .says: "So nuicli as I read I make my 
own. When a half hour, or an liour at most, has 
expired, I close my book and think it all over. If 
there is anything particularly interesting to me, 
either in sentiment or language, I endeavor to recall 
it and lay it up in my memory, and commonly can 
effect my object. Then if. in debate or conversation 
afterward, any subject came up on which I liad read 




^.t^ hcA^ 



something, I coidd very easily talk, .so far as my 
knowledge extended, and then I was very careful to 
stop. " While a student he devoted more than twelve 
hours a day to study, and yet the common impression 
is that he was an idler in college. This coming to his 
ears in his mature life, he exclaimed: "What fools 
people are to suppose that a man can make anything 
of himself without hard study! " At a later time he 
said: "I do not know experimentally what wealth 
is, nor how the bread of idleness tastes." For at 
least two of the winters that he spent in college he 
taught school to eke out his income; in 1797 in 
Salisbury at $4.00 a month, and in 1798 at " Shaw's 
Corners ' at $6.00, "boarding round among the 
neighbors." On his graduation in 1801, at the age 
of nineteen, he began the .study of the law, but in 
order to aid his brother Ezekiel to go through college, 
he was soon induced to take charge of an academy 
at Fryeburg, Me. , then at a salary of 
$350. His spare hours there he em- 
ployed in copying deeds, and tliere- 
by paid his board, which enabled 
him to give efflcient help to his 
brother, who afterward proved 
worthy of the sacrifices he had 
made, and became an eminent law- 
yer. In 1804. refusing an offer of 
$1,500 a year as clerk of the court 
over which his father presided, he 
entered the office of Christoplier 
Gore, in Boston, to complete tlie 
law studies he had prosecuted dur- 
ing all his leisure hours since his 
graduation. In the succeeding year 
he was admitted to the Bo.ston bar, 
and at once returning to New Hamp- 
shire, he began the practice of the 
law in his native county, removing 
two years later to Portsmout h . w here 
was a larger field for his abilities. 
He soon acquired an extensive practice, and one 
sufficiently remunerative to allow him to marry, 
which he did in the following 3'ear, 1808. He was 
a member of the federalist party, and, becoming en- 
gaged in politics, he was, in 1812, elected to con- 
gress, where he at once took a front rank, lioth as a 
debater and a practical statesman, among such men 
as Langdon Cheves, William T. Lowndes, Henry 
Clay and John C. Calhoun. Lowndes said of him 
at tills time: "The South has not liis superior nor 
the North his equal." Finding his iiractice at Ports- 
mouth inadequate to the support of his growing 
family, he, in 1816, removed to Boston, where, ig- 
noring politics, he devoted himself exclusively to his 
profession. His reputation as a lawyer had gone 
Ijefore him, and he was soon employed in several 
important cases, among otliers that of Dartmouth 
College, in which his argument before the U. S. 
supreme court at Washington made his fame as a 
lawyer national, and gave him rank among the most 
distinguislied jurists of the country. In 1820 he was 
ollcicd and declined the noniiiialion of senator from 
;\[assaclnisclts. but, two years later, yielding to press- 
ing solicitations, he consented to serve as the rep- 
resentative of the city of Boston in tlie eighteenth 
congress. He was elected by a large majority, and 
in December of the same year he delivered at 
Plymouth, on the anniversary of the landing of the 
Piigrims, the fii-st of that remarkable series of dis- 
courses, which gave him the fir.st rank among 
Americjin orators. He todk liis seat in congress in 
December. lS2ii, and early in the session made a 
speech on the Greek revolution, which at once es- 
tablishcil his rei)Ut!ition as one of the first statesmen 
of the time. In the same year he was again elected 
as the Boston representative in congress, receiving 
all but 10 of the 5,000 votes cast at the polls. In 



206 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



^Ii^U^ 




DAXIEL WEBSTER S UW-OFFICE. 



1826 he was again a candidate, and again elected, 
with not a hundred votes against liini. He sup- 
ported the administration of John Quincy Adams, 
first in the house of representatives and then in the 
senate, to which he was chosen in 1S27, hut he was 
a member of tlie opposition during the succeeding 
administrations of Jaclsson and Van Buren, when 
measures of the first moment Avere discussed, and 
political events occurred of the most novel and ex- 
traordinary character. In all these deliates Mr. 
AVcbster took a prominent part, and he is generally 
regarded as having risen to the height of his forensic 
ability in his two-days' speedi in reply to Col. Hayne, 
of South Carolina, on the right of " nullification." 
B\it Jlr. Webster was a pa- 
triot and not a partisan, and 
therefore, though a leader of 
the opposition, he gave a 
cordial support to the meas- 
ures taken by President 
Jackson for the defence of 
the Union in 1S32-33. The 
doctrines of the president's 
proclamation against nullifi- 
cation by South Carolina 
were mainly drawn from his 
speeches, and on this issue 
he was the chief dependence 
of the administration on the 
floor of congress. But liis 
support ended with Jack- 
sons defence of the Union. 
When the administration 
developed its financial sys- 
tem he strenuously opposed 
it, predicting accurately the general collapse of 
business which occurred in the spring of 1837. 
He was in favor of a national bank, and "of a mixed 
currency of specie and convertible paper, issued 
by state banks. The latter kept within safe bounds 
by a law requiring payment on demand in specie, 
and regulated by "the "national institution. It Wiis, 
doubtless, his advocacy of the.se principles, and 
the illustration of the opposite that was given in 
the financial panic of 1837, that led to the downfall 
of Mr. Van Buren's administration. In 1839 Jlr. 
Webster made a brief visit to Europe, passing his 
time principally in England, but spending a few 
weeks on the continent. His fame had preceded 
him, and in the highest circles he wa.s evervwhere 
received with the attention due to one of tlie most 
distinguished citizens of the United States. On the 
accession of Gen. Harrison in 1841, he was placed 
at the head of his cabinet as secretary of state, and 
until 1843 he held the same position in the cabinet 
of his successor, John Tyler. It was during his in- 
cumbency of that office "that he .seltlcd wiih Great 
Britain the long-standing controversy in resard to 
the northeastern boundary of Maine, "and other diffi- 
cult iiucslions which had .ui-^en out of the detention 
of Anurican vessels by Brilish cruisers on the coast 
of Africa. While holding this office he also took 
steps that led to a recognition of the independence 
of the Sandwich Islands by the principal maritime 
powers, and prei)arcd the instructions uuder which 
Caleb Cushing concluded a treaty with China. In 
1844 Mr. Weljsler aspired to a" nomination to the 
presidency, but Mr. Clay was chosen, and defeated 
by Mr. Polk, with the connnencement of whose ad- 
ministration Mr. Webster returned to the .senate of 
the United States, where he remained until the death 
of President Harrison and the accession of Jlr. 
Fillmore. He opposed the Mexican war, becau.«e he 
clearly saw that it woidd lead to acquisitions of 
territory which would endanger the stability of the 
Union;"but, the conflict once begun, lie voted for 
such supplies as were required for its efficient prose- 



cution, and he gave to it one of his sons, who lost 
his life in consequence of the hardships of the ser- 
vice. As he had feared, the acquisition of the new 
territory extorted from Mexico led to agitations on 
the .subject of slavery, which, during the years 
1849-50, seriously endangered the Union. California 
was then applying for admission as a state. Her 
people had formed a constitution which [jrohibited 
slavery, and the southeni leaders in congress opposed 
her admission under a free constitution. This 
aroused a clamor at the North for an extension of 
the Wilmot Proriso, to include not only California, 
but the new territories, about to be formed, of Utah, 
and New Mexico. This the southern leaders re- 
garded as an indignity, and because some of the 
northern states had pji-ssed laws forbidding the ex- 
ecution of the existing fugitive slave law, they ' 
demanded a new law more strenuous in its proAnsions 
than that of 1793. The differences between the two 
sections seemed irreconcilable, and there were loud 
threats of disunion. In this emergency Jlr. Clay 
conceived of a compromise which .should concede to 
the North the admission of California as a free state, 
and to the South such a fugitive slave law as was 
demanded. Mr. Clay was then in feeble health, and 
fast approaching his end, but, having matured his 
plan of compromise, he one evening in January, 
1850, in weather so inclement as to endanger his 
life, called upon 5Ir. Webster at his dwelling, and 
laid it before him. Except in some minor details 
the plan met Mr. Webster's full approval, and in a 
speech which he delivered in the senate on the 7lh 
of March following, he advocated its adoption. 
For this speech he was bitterly denounced by the 
abolitionists. Mr. AVhittier, in his poeru of 
" Ichaljod," likening him to a fallen spirit, and even 
Mr. Emei-son .sajing of him: •'He became to me 
the t_\"pe of decay. To gain his ambition, he gave 
ease, pleasure, happiness, wealth, and then added 
honor and truth. lie had a wonderful intellect, but 
of what importance is that when the rest of the man 
is gone? He was oblivious of consequences, and 
consequently oblivious." This is not the place to 
consider the justice of this denunciation. It may, 
however, be remarked, that when he made that 
speech !Mr. Webster could have had no hope of the 
presidency. He must have known that the nomina- 
tion of his party lay between Mr. Fillmore and Gen. 
Scott; and the election of Franklin Pierce by 103 
electoral votes over his opponent indicated a state 
of public feeling which he would have been a poor 
reader of the times not to have 
recognized. The point of view of 
Jlr. Emerson and Mr. Web.sterwas 
totally different. Jlr. Emerson re- 
garded public affairs in the light 
of the "eternal verities," and with 
him there could be no compromise 
with wrong. Mr. Webster viewed 
things as a i)ractical statesman, who 
sees that warring interests can be harmonized only 
by nuitual concession. To him the constitution 
was the iialladium of our liberties. It recognized 
slavery, and hence slavery might be treated with, 
and. if occasion required, conciliated. He followed 
his 7th of March speech by public addresses of un- 
surpassed ability, delivered in various parts of the 
Union, wherein he enforced the duty of forbearance 
and mutual concession by the two ojiposinsi sections. 
In the nature of things a conflict was inevitable; but 
there can be no question thai it was postponed for a 
decade by the exertions of Mr. Webster and Henry 
Clay, and in that jieriod the North acquired a 
strength it had not at the time, and which enabled it 
to finally suppress the rebellion. But for this dis- 
interested act iif duty to his cnuntry Mr. Web.ster 
W!is covered with an opprobrium which followed 




OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



207 



him to his grave, and even yet survives in the minds 
of a large uuml)er of his countrymen. It is im- 
mrtiul iiistory only that -will judge him truly. 
Perhap-s no man born in this country has ever im- 
pressed his own generation with a .sense of personal 
intellectual greatness as did Daniel Webster. In the 
common phase of the jieople he was the " Godlike 
Daniel," and eultivalcd nu-n did not hesitate to .style 
him the "Olympian .love." and a "descended god," 
and one Eugli.shinan said of liim: " he looked like a 
cathedral." This was partly the effect of his im- 
posing personal apjiearanee, but doubtless it was 
more largely due to the universal impression that he 
■was one of the greatest, if not the greatest, lawyer, 
orator, and statesman of his country and his lime. 
The last service hediil for his countiy was his work 
in the crisis of 1850. At the close of Mr. Fillmore's 
administration, in which he served as secretary of 
state, he retired to his home at jMarshfield, Mass., 
and there he breathed his last on the 24th of 
October, 1852, his last words being, "I still live." 
His collected writings and speeches were published 
in six volumes, 8vo, in 1S51, and his correspondence 
has a)>penred in two volumes, 8vo, since his death. 

EWING, Thomas, secretary of the treasury, 
was born near West Liberty, Ohio Co., Va., Dec. 
28, 1789. He was the .son of George Ewing, a native 
of New Jersey and an oilieer in the revolutionary 
war. He removed to Ohio in 1792, and the family re- 
sided in Athens comity in that state thereafter. 
Young Thomas was not _yet nine years old when he 
got his tirst glimpse of pioneer life on the frontier. 
The boy had been taught to read, but excepting 
what tuition he obtained at home from an elder sister 
he had to dejiend upon his own reading and reflection 
for an education. He was, however, very fond of 
hooks, though there were few in his neighborhood, 
these including " Wat ts's Psalms and Hymns," "The 
Viear of Wakelleld," the "Athenian Oracle," a 
translation of "Virgil." and "Morse's Geograi)hy," 
certainly a varied and not altogether an uiunteresting 
library. After a time the commtmity succeeded in 
obtaining teachers from the East, some of whom 
were college graduates, and from these the hoy 
gradually picked up a knowledge of English litera- 
ture, .something from the clas.sics, and a smattering 
of malhcmatics. In 1809 young Ewing went to 
Athens, where he passed three months in the aeail- 
emy, ha\'ing saved enough money to pay his way 
during that length of time. He also accumulated 
some new books, and then, after a simimer of hard 
work, returned to Athens, where he entered as a 
regular student at the Ohio University, and remained 
until 1815. He now read " Blackstone's Commen- 
taries" at home," and on .Inly 15th went to Lan- 
caster, where he studied law with Gen. Beeeher for 
fourteen months, being admitted to the bar in 
August, 181ti. He was successful in his very fir.st 
ca.se, and was congrattdated by the members of the 
har on his adminible conduct of it. He soon gained 
a special reputation for his success in handling crim- 
inal ca.ses. Mr. Ewing continued to practice law in 
Lanea.ster from ISUJ In 18H1. His tirst enlranei; into 
political life was at tlie jioinl where m.-my of our 
most distinguished men have ended. In 1830 he was 
elected to the United Slates senate, and .served \intil 
18:i7. his politics being whig, while his views on the 
tariff were those of Henry Clay. In the senate Jlr. 
Ewinir was said to have wielded great power. He 
introduced a munber of important bills, advocated a 
reduction in the rat<'s of i>ostage. and the recharter- 
ing of the I'nited States Bank, ojiposing President 
Jackson in his views with regard to removing the 
government deposits from that in.stilulion. Mr. 
Ewing's tirst term in the .senate concluded in 1837, 
when he returned to Ohio and entered industriously 
into the practice of law. On March 5, 1841, Jlr. 



Ewing entered the cabinet of President Harrison as 
secretary of the trea.sury, a position which he con- 
tinued to hold after the death of the president and 
until the recon.slructiou of the cabinet by Tyler, 
when he was succeeded by Walter Forward Sept. 13, 
1841 . In 1849 Mr. Ewing was appointed by I'resident 
Taylor secretary of the interior, that deiiartment 
having been newly estal)lished and now organized 
by its tirst secretary. Mr. Ewing wasamong the tirst 
to recommend the transcontinental railroad, and 
also the California mint. In 1850 Mr. Ewing again 
entered the senate, being appointed to succeed in 
that body Thomas Corwin, who had been made sec- 
retary of the treasurj'. In this, which was his last 
term in the senate, Mr. Ewing oppo.sed the fugitive 
slave law and Clay's compronnse bill, and advocated 
the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia. 
At the close of his term Mr. Ewing retired from the 
senate and from public life, and went back to Lan- 
caster, where he resumed the practice of his profes- 
sion, He was considered the most eminent member 
of the Ohio har, and ranked in the supreme cotirt of 
the United States with the foremost lawyers of the 
nation. In 18(51 Mr. Ewing was a member of the 
peace congress, but on the out- 
break of actual war he ranged 
him.self on the side of the LTnjon, 
to which he proved a most val- 
uable adherent. 5Ir. Ewing was 
the guardian of Gen. William T. 
Sherman, whom he adopted when 
the boy was nine years old, and 
whom he sent to West Point as 
soon as he had reached a suitable 
age, thus preparing for the service 
of Ills country' one of its very 
greatest generals. Sherman mar- 
ried. May 1, 1850, Ellen Boyle 
Ewing, the daughter of his bene- 
factor. In strength and mass- 
ivencss of intellect Ewing is con- 
sidered not to have had an equal 
in the history of his slate. He 
was remarkahle also for physi- 
cal power, being a man of large 
fi'ame, and many stories are told of his extraor- 
dinary strength. On one occa.sion when he was a 
young man, he is said to have forded a swollen stream 
leading a hor.se, with its rider, a nu.ssionary, landing 
both .safely on the other side of the stream. At an- 
other time, seeing a number of .stout men trying in v.ain 
tothrowachopping-axe overthe cupola of the court- 
house in Lanca.ster. and observing their inability to 
come near -success, he stopped, took the axe handle in 
his lianil and tlungl he axe easily live feet or more above 
the tower, and then passed on. Jlr. Ewing was not 
considered an eloquent orator, but his great jiower 
lay in the fact that he coidd .say more than any one 
else in a few words. During the last years of Daniel 
WebsKM', that great statesman and advocate fre- 
quently .sought the aid of Mr. Ewing in weighty 
cases, and diu'ing the most of Ewing's later jirofe-s- 
sional life his liusin<'ss was chiefly before the supreme 
court at Washinglon. At the time of Ewing's death 
James G. Blaine wrote of him as follows: " He was 
a grand and massive m,an, almost without peers. 
Willi no little familiarily and a.ssociation with the 
leading men of Ibe day, I can truly say that I never 
met with one who impressed me so profoundly." 
Mr. Ewing had four .sims. Hugh. Philemon, Thomas 
and Charles. Mr. Ewing died in Lancaster, O., 
Oct. 2(i. 1S71. 

BELL, John, secretary of war, and candidate 
for the presidency (1860), was horn near Xasliville, 
Tenn., F<'b. 15, 1797. His parents were in moder- 
ate circumstances, but they were able to send him 
to Cumberland College, now Nashville Univei'sity. 




208 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPJEDIA 



He was graduated from that institution in 1814, be- 
gan the study of law, and wlien only nineteen years 
of age was admitted to the bar, and settled at Frank- 
lin, Tenn. He at once became popular amonu; the 
people where he lived, and havinir entered polities, 
his iufiueuce was reeoirnized at a time of life when the 
majority of younjr men are about coniniencini; a col- 
lege course. In ISIT. when he was only t wenty years 
old, he became a slate senator. He was wiseenoujrii, 
however, to discover that this compliment .should 
not be taken as a just judi^ment of liis intellectual 
capacity, and at tlu' close of his first term of service 
he declined a re-election and returned to the i)ractice 
of law, which he continued to follow for the ue.xt 
nine years. In 182(i, however, he was induced to 
enter the field ajrainst Felix Grundy, a man who was 
not only exceedinirly popular on his own account, but 
who was a friend and protege of Andrew Jack.son. 
At the time .lackson was a candidate for the presi- 
dency against the younger Adams. The canvass was 
a very exciting one, lasTing for twelve months, but 
at the end of it Ulr. Bell, in the face of the powerful 
odds against him, was elected to congress in 182Tby 
a majority of one. From this time Bell held his po- 
sition for fourteen years, during which period his 
name was piominently before the country in con- 
nection with the most important <lebates and meas- 
ures. While in agreement both with (Jen. .lackson 
and John V. Calhoun in general politics.Mr. Bell op- 
po.sed the favorite schemes of both ; in the case of 
the former, the removal of the deposits from the U. 
S. Bank, and with regard to the 
lalter, his nullitication project. 
While he was in favor of the 
U. S. Bank Mr. Bell voted against 
its recharter in 18;i2. partly be- 
cause he believed that Jackson 
would veto the bill, and also be- 
cause he considered the move- 
ment as purelv political. lu the 
matter of the 'tariff Mr. Bell w.as 
originally an opponent of the .sys- 
tem of protection, and in 1832 he 
opposed it with a speech in the 
house, but he afterward changed 
his opinion on the subject and 
was on the side of the i)rotec- 
tionists. He was chairman of 
the judiciarj' c<iuunitte(! of the 
house for a time, and for ten 
years was chairman of the com- 
mittee on Indian all'airs. Mr. 
Bell was one of the founders of the whig jiarty. His 
secession fr(3m the democrats began with his refusal 
to vote for the removal of the deposits from the U. 
S. Bank. His election to the speakership of the 
bouse in 1834 against the democratic candidate, Jas. 
K. Polk, also marked this transition. Mr. Bell was 
opposed to Van Binen in his policy with regard to 
removal from office, strongly disapproving of such 
removal for merely politieid retisons. In"l83.5, the 
rujiture between Bell and President Jackson culmi- 
nated, yet Mr. Bell was re-cli'Cted to congress by as 
heavy a vote as ever. In regard to the abolition of 
slavery in the district of Columbia he was in favor 
of such a movement, and he opposed the gag law 
in 1838. Throughout his course he was su|iported 
by his constituents. In 1841 Mr. Bell went into the 
cabinet of Gen. Harrison as secretary of war, but 
resigned in the autumn of that year. The follow- 
ing Tennessee legislature ottered him the I'. S. sen- 
alorsliip. liiit this he declined in favor of one who 
he thought belter dcscrvcil it at the hands of his 
party, and during the next six years he was not in 
jiolitics. In 1847, at the urgent recpicsl of citizens 
of his county, he entered the stale .senate, and dur- 
ing the same year, a vacancy having occurred in 




tlie U. S. senate, he wa.s elected to the office, and 
in 1853 was re-elected for the term which expired 
March 4, 1839. Jlr. Bell was a consistent oppon- 
ent of annexation. He opposed the Kansas-Ne- 
braska bill in 1854, and also the bill which would 
admit Kansas under the Lecompton constitution. 
He was in favor of the compromise mea-sures of 
185n. and fouirhl the repeal of those measures. 
All of this brought him into conflict more partic- 
ularly with Senator Douglas, whose grand territorial 
views he handled without gloves. In the great Le- 
compton debate of March. 1858. Senator IJell made 
a very elaborate speech in which he opposed the 
measure. He held that the reje<tion of the Lecomp- 
ton constitution would not be a til jiretext for South- 
ern men to advocate disunion, while its acceptance 
woidd be an actual overturning of the |ieace prin- 
ciples of our government. He was strongly in favor 
of the Pacific Railroad, and sustained ihe right of 
congress to donate lands fortlii' purpo.se of foimding 
agricultural colleges. In 18G0, when all i)arties 
were broken up, in the midst of the excitement pre- 
liminary to the war of secession, the "' Bell-Kverett 
ticket " brought Mr. 15ell before the country as a 
candidate for the presidency in the "Constitutional 
I'nion" party, Edward Everett being associated 
with him as vice-president. While this ticket had 
no chance of success it received the electoral votes 
of Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee. The rebel- 
lion found Jlr. Bell opposing secession, but also op- 
posing coercion. In the beginning of the year 1861 
he recommended for Tennessee an armed neutrality, 
but less than a week later he spoke at Nashville, ad- 
vocating Ihe sustaining of the southern slates. 5Ir. 
Bell died at Ctunberland Iron Works, Tenn., Sept. 
10, 1869. 

BADGER, Georg-e Edmund, secretary of the 
navy, Avas horn in Newbern, N. ('.. Apr. 13, 1795. 
After studying at the conunon scluiols. he was sent 
to Yale College, where he was graduated in 1S13. 
He turned his attentimi to Ihe law, anil entered an 
oltice in Raleigh, where he completed his .studies, 
and was admitted to the bar. He was elecled a mem- 
ber of the legislature of North Carolina, in which he 
continued from 1816 to 1820. During the next live 
j'ears he occupied the position of judge of the superior 
court at Raleigh. From this lime mitil 1840 he de- 
voted himself to the practice of his profession, at the 
.same time interesting himself greatly in polities on 
the whig side, and was very earnest and inilustrious 
diu'lng the Harrison campaign. The hitler was in- 
augurated president, March 4, 1841. and when the 
aniuamcemeiit of the members of his cabinet was 
made on the following day it included Ihe name of 
George E. Bailuer. of North Carolina, as secretary 
of the navy. Mr. Badirer continued in this ofliee un- 
til Sept. 13, 1S41, when he retired from Ihe cabinet 
on account of President Tyler having deserted Ihe 
whig party. .Mr. Bailger was succeedeii by Abel P. 
Upshur. On returning to North Carolina, .Mr. Bad- 
ger was elected lo the V. S. senate to till a vacancy. 
In 1848 he was re-elected for a full term, at Ihe ex- 
piration of which he gave up public life, and once 
more .settled down to taw practice. In 1853 Presi- 
deiU Fillmore sent in Mr. Badger's name lo Ihe .sen- 
ale for justice of the U. S. supreme court, but he 
was not confirmed. At the beginning of Ihe civil 
war, iMr. Badger represented ^Vake county in the 
convention which carried the stale out of the Union. 
He strongly urged ai;ainsl Ihe jiolicy of .secession, 
but in favor of maintaining the right of the state to 
regulate its lo( al affairs. .Mr. Badger died in Ra- 
leiL'h, N. C.,May 11, 1866. 

GRANGER," Francis, postmaster-general. (See 
Index.) 

CRITTENDEN, J. J., allorney-general. (See 
Index.) 





'/TL 




COPrRtCHT. laSJ, BV J*Mf9 T. WHITE A CO. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHT. 



211 




TYLER, John, tPiith president of Uie United 
States, was born at Greenway, Charles City Co., 
Va.. March 29, 1790. His father, John Tyler(1748- 
1813), was a friend of Jeffer.sou and apron'iinent man 
in Virginia politics, .speaker of the housi' in 1781, 
governor 1808-11, and Ihi'nU. S. district judge. At 
eleven the boy bore a leading jiart in assaidtiiig and 
punishing a tyrannical schoolraaster, who, on com- 
lilaining to Judge Tyler, was answered with the 
motto, " Sic semper lyranim." Graduating from the 
College of William and Mary in 1807, he was ad- 
mitted to the bar in 1809. and" found an ea.sy pas.sage 
from the law to politics, in which his sii'c.cess was 
rapid and steady until he reached 
the White House. He was sent to 
the legislature when just of age, 
and for five succe.ssive years, 1811- 
18K), then to congress 18I()-21, 
where his course, as afterward in 
the senate, was in opposition lo 
the tariff, the bank, and every- 
thing that savored of c<'ntraliza- 
tiou. In the di'bate on the ad- 
mission of Missouri in 1S20, he 
declared himself opjiosed to the 
perpetuation of slavery, and no 
less to any restrictions on its ex- 
tension ; giving as a ground for 
this nuxcd position tlie extraor- 
dinary argumciil that (he evils of 
**/j? '' the i)ectdiar inslilulion wouU be 
^(X/'y~^ lessened, and the (irospect of its 
abolition increased, by ditVusing 
it over a wider area. This love 
for a coalition of moderate theory and extreme 
practice, though seldom sui)))orfed by such start- 
ling paradoxes, characlcri/cd Tyler's mind, and re- 
appeared in the most notable actions of his public 
life. Owing to ill liealth he declined a re-election in 
1821, but was again in the legislature lK23-2r), and 
governor 18at>-27. He entered the V . S. senate in 
March, 1827, succeeding John Handolph, and was 
reelected six years later. Originally a republican 
of the Virginia school, he had supi)orted Madison, 




Monroe, and in 1824, W. H. Crawford, for the pres- 
idency, and had at first preferred Adams to Jack- 
son, but joined the opposition after Adams's first mes- 
sage in 182."). He voted against the tariff bill of 1828, 
and early in 1832 advocaled tariff for revenue, and 
only ini'idcntally for protection. He condcnuied both 
the South Carolina nullitlcation movement and 
Jackson's proclanuition .against il; when the " foice 
bill " came >ip in the senate. Feb. 20, 1.833. Calhoun and 
his supporters having withdrawn, Tyler's was the 
only negative vote. Thus, though he believed the 
bank to be "the original sin against the con.stitii- 
tion,"he joined Clay and the national republicans 
in censuring the president for removing the deposits, 
an act which he considered an abuse of power. 
When the Virginia legislature instructed its .senators 
to vote to expunge from the record these resolutions 
of censure, he manfully resigned Feb. 29. 1836. He 
was now regarded as a martyr to the whig cause, 
though his connection with that somewhat inclioate 
party was liut accidental and temporary. The re- 
sults of this misunderstanding, some years later, 
were inevitable, in view of the character and oi)in- 
ions of Tyler, who aspired to be not a mere iioliti- 
cian, hut a statesman, and was never an op|)ortuu- 
ist. In the chaotic ))rcsidential contest of ]83(i ho 
received the votes of f(nn- .southern states. In 1838 
he was chosen jiresident of the Colonization Society, 
and was sent .-nrain to the legislature. In ]S39he was 
.again a candid.'Ue for the senatorship. b\it was de- 
feated by W. C. Hives. In the whig national ccm- 
vention which met at Ilarrisburg, Dec. 4, 1.839, lie 
.supported Clay and is said to have shed tears over his 
defeat by Harrison. The next daj' lie received the 
second i)lace on the ticket, as a sop to the malcoij- 
tent democrats. The year that followed was full of 
shouting for " log cal)in and hard cider," and .sing- 
ing about " Tijipecanoe and Tyler too;" it was a 
hurrah campaign, with no platform and little deli- 
nile conception of principles. President Harrison 
died a month .after his inaugur.aticm, and Tyler suc- 
ceeded lo his high jilace .\\ir. 4, 1841. He put forth 
an inaugural which .satisfied the whigs. and com- 
menced the usual ejections and appointments in their 



212 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



interest. But his whiggery was a jilaiit of casual 
growth, ami soon made way for liis original democ- 
racy. In all sincerit}' lie licld his own interpretation 
of "his nimiination and election, and t'iay was much 
mistaken in supposing that he " dared not resist." 
After convening congress in e.xtra session Jlay 31st, 
the senate having a whig majority of .si.\, and the 
house of twenty-live, he invited them to consider the 
bank iiuestion, plainly promising to reject any meas- 
ure that might seem to him unconstitutiimal or inex- 
pedient — " a power, " he adde<l, "which I could not 
part with, even if I would." The indicated collis- 
ion soon came; he refused to listen, except on a con- 
dition of his own, to a privately proposed compro- 
mise, and on Aug. 16th, veto<Ml the hill incorporating 
a U. S. Bank. Thewhigs, now angry and suspicious, 
but reluctant to break with the |)resident, renewed 
their negotiations with the White House, and endeav- 
ored to meet the supposed views of its occuiiaiU bj- a 
" liscal corporation bill," passed Sejit. 4th. Hut this 
was not tlie same witli the " liseal agency " which he 
hadappriivcd, and his second veto, ^ept. Uth, let loo.se 
the dogs of war. All the cabinet resigned two days 
later, except Webster, who, though censured by 
many, retained the secretaryship of state, ostensibly 
to complete the negotiations concerning the north- 
western lioundary between the United States and 
Great Urilain, the relations of the two countries be- 
ing then siimewliat critical. By going witli his col- 
leagues, Webster wouhl have completed tlie triumph 
of his rival. Clay, but haidly, as some fancied, have 
forced Tyler to" resign. The other cabinet positions 
were tilled by W. Forward, of Pa., J. McLean, of 
O., A. P. l'p"shnr, of Va., H. S. Legate, of S. C, 
and C. A. Wickliffe, of Ky. Though these were 
all pronoimced anti-deniocrals, the leading whigs in 
congress issued a manifesto Sept IHth, severing polit- 
ical relations with the administration, 'i'he Ashbur- 
ton treaty was .signed Aug. 9, 1842, and as .soon as it 
was adopted by parliament Webster resigned, in 
May, 1,S43; his "successors were Legare, l"pshur, and 
Calhoun. By graduid changes the cabinet became 
mainly demociatit'. The chief events of Tyler's term 
after iiis veto of the bank bills (as to which iiublic 
opinion within the next three years veered aijout to 
his position) and the con.sequent rupture with con- 
gress, were the establishnienl of a uniform .system of 
proceedings in bankrujitcy, August, 1841, the pass- 
ing of the i)rotective larilf in 1S42, and the annexa- 
tion of Texas. A treaty for this purjiose was con- 
cluded by Calhoun, Aiir. 13, 1.S44, and rejected by 
the senate. The scheme, steadily prosecuted by Ty- 
ler, attained success in his last days of power, thus 
smoothing the way for Polk's administration and for 
the war witli Mexico. But Tyler, however fearless 
and consistent in adherence to the principles of his 
whole life, had sacriticed his own political fortunes, 
and fallen lietween the two stools of the opposing 
]>arlies. oik' of which regarded him as a deserter, and 
tlieiither as a dimlitful acquisition. A convention 
in BalliiiKire, on the same day (^lay 27, 1S44) on 
which Polk was nominated, ])ut Tyler in the field 
for a second term, but he withdrew in August, after 
a democratic meeting in New '\'ork had endorsed his 
chief ollicial acts. A campaign edition of his '" I>ife 
and Speeches " appeared at this time. For the next 
sixteen years he lived in retirement at "Sherwood 
Forc.sl,""on the James, near his birthplace. In the 
Richmond "Enquirer," .Jan. 17. 1S(>1, he urged a 
convention of border states to devise means for a 
peaceful settlement of impending dilliculties. He 
was an unsuccessful commissioner from the Virginia 
legislalureto President Buchanan in this interest, and 
a president of the futile jieai'i' convention which met 
at Washington, Feb. 4th. Its resolutions being reject- 
ed in the senate, and ignored by the house, he ad- 
vised secession in the Virginia convention, March 1st, 



and in Jlay became a member of the provisional 
congress of the Confederacy. In the fall he was 
elected to its iiermaueut congress. His life, by his 
son, Lyon (Jardiner Tyler, liears the title, "Letters 
and Tiini's of the Tylers, ' ami ap|ieare<l at Richmond 
in two volumes. 1S,S4-S,5. Like most of the presi- 
dents who preceded him, he had been the object of 
tierce as.saults and bitter calumniation on the iiart of 
his enemies in both parlies, many membei-s of which 
he had alienated from him by his sometimes vacil- 
lating course, and ]iarticularly by his change of 
liolitics. Tyler felt keenly the nature of the estima- 
tion in which he was held by many in both jiarties, 
whose respect he would have been glad to gain. He 
suffered under the attacks made upon him, and 
.speaking of them he .said: "I appeal from the vitu- 
peration of the present day to the pen of impartial 
history, in confidence that neither my motives nor 
my acts will bearthe interpretation wliich forsin.ster 
reasons has been placed uiion them." Mr. Tylerdied 
at Hiehm i, \:\.. .Ian. l.s. Is(i2. 

TYLEK, Julia Gardiner, wife of President 
Tyler, was born on Gardiner's Island, near East 
Hampton, N. Y., May 4, 1820. She was educated 
at the Chegary Institute, New York city, and after 
a short time spent in travel in Eurojie .she went to 
Washington with her grandfather, David Gardiner, 
in 1S44. A few weeks after her arrival they accept- 
ed an invitation from President Tyler to attend a 
pleasure excursion ilown the river, which took place 
Feb. 28tli, on the war steamer Princeton. The festiv- 
ities on the occasion were .sadly 
inarred by the expliLsion of a 
gun on the vessel, causing the 
loss of life. Among those killed 
was Miss Gardiner's father. His 
body was taken to the White 
House and the young lady was 
thrown into the society of the 
president owing to the peculiar 
circumstances attending her fa- 
ther's death. President Tyler's 
first wife had died shortly after 
he entered the White Hou.se, 
and the president paid Jliss 
Gardiner marked attention, 
which resulted in their mar- 
riage in New York city, .Iurie2(), 
18-44. For the succeeding eight 
months of President Tyler's 
term, she lucsided over the 
White Hotise with tact, grace 
and dis;niiv. After the 4th of March, 184."), Mrs. 
Tyli'r relircil with her husband to the seclusion of 
tlieir countiy place. "Sherwood Forest," on the 
banks of the.Iames river, Va. She remained in Vir- 
ginia until after the civil war, her husband having 
died in the second year of the strife, and lln-ii went 
to reside with her mother, at Castleton Hill, Stateu 
Island. After several years' residcMiee there she re- 
moved to Kiehmonil.Va".. where she died .Inly 10,1889. 

LEGARE, Hug-h Swinton, attorney-general, 
was boni at ( 'h.-nleslon, S. C., Jan. 2, 1797, of 
Huj^enot descent. He received his early training 
froiu Moses Waddell, D. I)., and was graduated 
from South ('ar>lina College in 1H14, and after read- 
ing law, well! .-iliroad in b'^17. and sjient two years 
in advanced studies at Edinburgh. Heturning in 
ls2it. he divided his time between a cotton planta- 
tion, a law ollice at Charleston an<l his duties in the 
legislature, in which he served for several terms. 
As attorney-general for the state in 18;iO-32. he op- 
])osed the inovcmeiit of the nullifiers. 'With S. Elli- 
ott, and afterward alone, he conducted the "South- 
ern Kevicw,"a (piarterly, of which his writings were 
the chief feature. He was in Belgium as U. S. 
charijt'-d' affaires, 1832-3G, and in congress 1837-39. 




OF AMERICAISr BIOGBAPIIY. 



213 




'^^ 



•where lie won much rei)utation us a speaker, and op- 
poseil Fresi(U'nt Vuu Burcn's sub-treasury scheme. 
His success at the bar came slowly, but was eminent 
in his later years. His strong interest in classical 
subjects was the moving cau.se of some of his most 
notable papers, whicli appeared in the " New York 
Keview" in 1S4IM1. Under Pres- 
ident Tjier he became attorne_v- 
general in September, 1841, aiid 
succeeded Webster as secretary of 
state, Jlay 9, 184;S. A few weeks 
later he went north with the pres- 
ident and other high officers, to 
attend the unveiling of the Bun- 
ker Hill monument, where he died 
suddeidy. He was one of the most 
accomplished scholars of the South, 
and one of the few Americans of 
distinctly literary tastes and pur- 
suits who have attained eminence 
in politics. His writings, with a 
memoir, were collected in two vol- 
umes in 1846. 'Phese were edited 
by his sister, Mary Swinton Le- 
gare, born at Oliarleston about 
1800. She gained some repute as an animal |iainter, 
married a 3Ir. Bidlen, became a resident of West 
Point, Lee Co., la., in 1849, and there founded a 
school for the higher education of women, called 
Legare College, jlr. Legare died .lune 20, 1843. 

UPSHUR, Abel Parker, secretary of state and 
of the navy, was boru in Northampton county, Ya., 
June 17, 1790. He received an academic education, 
and studied law with the celebrated William Wirt. 
In 1810 he was admitted to piactice at the bar, and 
resided in Uichmond, Ya., during the next fourteen 
years, when he settled in S'orthampton county. He 
became a candidate for the state legislature, and was 
elected. In 1820 he received the aiipointmcnt of 
judge in the general court. In 1820 he was a mem- 
ber of the state constitutional convention, and was 
again made .judge of the general court, tliis time by 
election to that otlice, in which lie continued until 
1841. On Sept.lS, 1841, President John Tyler ap- 
pointed Juilge Upshur secretary of the navy," and he 
continued in charge of that dejiartment until June 34, 
1843, when he was appointed secretary of state. He 
held the latter otlice 'until ^Marcli (>, 1844. when he 
was succeeded by John C. Calhoun. Judge Upshur 
was a fine constitutional lawyer and an able writer 
on legal topics. He was a pro-slavery democrat in 
politics. On Feb. 28, 1844, Presidei"it Tyler, Sec- 
retary of State Ui)shur, and Secretary of the Navy 
Thom.as W. Gilmer, with other otlicials, were on 
board the United States war steamer Princeton, in 
the Potomac river, when a large wrought-iron gun, 
with which e.xiierinienis were being made, exploded, 
killing Judge Upshur, Mr. Gilmer, Jlr. Maxcy and 
others. Judge Upshur was the author of a number 
of e.s.says and speeches, which were published, and 
also of an important work, entitled " Brief Inquiry 
into the True Nature .and Character of our Federal 
Governnn/nt: Keview of Juilge Joseph Story's Com- 
mentaries on th<' Constilufiou" (Petersburg, Ya., 
1.840). He (lied Feb. 28, 1844. 

FORWARD, Walter, secretary of state, was 
born in Hartford county. Conn., in" 178(!. He had 
the advantage of an excellent education, and while 
still a young man. went (o Pittsbuig, Pa., where 
he settled, ami for a time ablv edited a demo- 
cratic newspaper, called the " 'rree of Libertv." 
Meanwhile, lie devoted himself to the study of law, 
and at the age of twenty, was admitted to' practice 
in Allegheny county. He soon became well estab- 
lished in his profe,s.sion, and continued activelv en- 
gagwl in the law course of Pittsbuig until 1822. 
In that year he wjis elected to congress to till a va- 




'^yy-C/1'Tyi^CVy-l/t 



cancy, occupying the jiosition for three years. At 
this time he was a democrat, but iu 1824 he worked 
for the election of John (Juincy Adams for presi- 
dent, and was recognized as an active whig. In 
1841 President Harrisiai made him tirst coiiiiitroller 
in the United States treasury, and when Mr. Harri- 
.son died, and was .succeeded 
by Tyler, the latter appointed 
i\Ir. Forward secretary of the 
treasury, and he continued in 
the cabinet until 1843, when he 
went back to his profession. In 
1849 President Tyler apiiointcd 
5Ir. Forward a member of tlje 
legation at Coiienhagen, and he 
remained there two years, when 
he resigned the position, in or- 
der to accept that of jiresideiit 
judge of Allegheny county dis- 
trict court, tt is worthy of re- 
mark that he was the first pres- 
ident judge of that county elect- 
ed by tlie people. He was con- 
sidered by the oldest members 
of the local bar as the ablest 
of the bar. also, of his lime in 
western Pennsylvania. Mr. 
Forward was taken suddenly ill while pleading in 
the court, and died in forty-eight hours. His death 
took iilace in Pittslinig, Pa'., Nov. 24, 1852. 

BIBB, George M., secretary of the treasury, 
was born in Yirt;iiiia in 1772. He received his early 
education in the town .schools, and was .sent to Prince- 
ton College, where he was graduated at the age of 
twenty. He then studied law. and was admitted to 
practice at the bar. He now removed to Kentucky 
where he settled, and began his professioi.al life. 
He entered into politics, and being recognized as a 
man of more than usual aliility rose rapidly to pub- 
lic iireferment: became a member of the legislature 
of the state, was afterward elected to the slate .senate, 
and was then made chief justice of the state, and 
twice reapjiointed. In 1811 Mr. Bibb was elected 
a memlier of the U. S. .senate, succeeding Henry 
Clay iu that position, and he remained a member (if 
that body during the twelfth and thirteenth cou- 
gres.ses. In 1829 he entered the twenty-tirst con- 
gress, having been again chosen .senator from Ken- 
tucky, and in the twenty-second congress served 
with Henry Clay as his colleague. He continued in 
the .senate until 1835, when he was succeeded by 
John J. Crittenden. On June 15, 1844, President 
John Tyler appointed Mr. Bibb secretary of the 
treasuiy, and he continued to fill that office until 
the beginning of the administration of James K. 
Polk, when he was succeeded by Hubert J. Walker. 
On retiring from the treasuiy de|iaitiiient. Mr. Bibb 
continued to practice law at the capital, and for a 
time held a .subordinate position in the office of the 
attorney-general of tlie United Stales. ]Mr, Bibb 
published in 18t)8-ll, " Keports of Cases at Common 
Law and in Chancery in the Kentucky Court of Ap- 
peals." During the latter part of his life he resided 
in Georiretown, D. C.. where he died Apr. 14, 1859. 

SPENCER, John Canfield, .secretary of war 
and of the treasury, w,-is born at Hudson, N. Y., 
Jan. 8. 1788, .son of Judge Ambrose Spencer. He 
was graduated from Union College in 1806, was 
secretary to Gov. I). I). Tompkins in 1807-8. and 
in 1809 began legal ]iractice at Canandaigua, N. Y., 
where he remained for thirty-six years, and wa.s 
liostmaster in 1814, He was made ina.sler in chan- 
cery in 1811, brigade judge-advocate in the army on 
the frontier in 1813, and in 1815 as-sistant attorney- 
general and district attorney. While in congress as 
a democrat, 1817-19, he wrote the report of tlie com- 
mittee ou the L'. S. Bank, which was afterward 



214 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 




5.<^J 



U-t-rveX^ 



used by President Jackson at a time (1833) when the 
opinions of its author on this siil)ji'ct had jireallj' 
chan<red. He was in the assembly IS19-20, speaker 
tlie latter year, state senator 1H34-2.S, a siipjiorter of 
De\Vitt Clinton, and active with J. Duer and 
B. F. Butler, in the revision of the N. Y. statutes. 
He was for a time ('onnected with 
the anti-Masonic parly, and special 
attomey-jieneral, under a law pass- 
ed for the purpose to jirosecute the 
supjiosed abductors and murder- 
ers of Will. .Moriran, liut had a dif- 
ticulty witli E. T. Tliroop, then 
acliiis; L'overiior, and resiirned in 
May,' 1830. In ISlfc' he was .sent 
to the legislature for another tcnn. 
As .seoretarv of stale and superin- 
tendent of .schools, ls;jH-40, he did 
much to advance piililic instruc- 
tion. In October. 1S41, he en- 
tered President Tyler's caliinet as 
secri'taryof war. Tliurlow "Weed, 
.s]ieakinff of Spencer, says: "He en- 
tered tlie cabinet with the notion 
of being able to bridge over tlie 
breach between Tyler and the whigs of Xew York. 
In this he was iierfcctly sincere, though, with 
our knowledge of his political eccentricity of char- 
acter, none of us doubted that from the moment 
lie entered the caliinet he would zealously es- 
pouse and warmly defend Tyler's views and 
policy." The New York "Tribune," then just 
started, said of Spencer's appointnrent; "A matter 
of surprise to many, but we trust a subject of regret 
to none; New York should have some voice in the 
cabinet counsels, and no abler and worthier hand 
could be found than our present secretary of the 
state of New York. With a wide and wellestab- 
lislied fame as among the soundest and ablest Amer- 
ican lawyers, lie possesses a reputation for purity of 
purpo.se and dignity of aim rarely enjoyed." While 
holding this po.sition a terrible aftiiction fell upon 
him; his son, a midshipman on tlie U. S. .school- 
ship Somers, headed a mutiny and was hanged at 
the yard-arm. Dec. 1, 1843. When the big gun 
burst on the Princeton in 1843. killing .secretaries 
Upshur and Gilmer and the father of President Ty- 
ler's future bride, two other persons and two sea- 
men, the cabinet was reconstructed, Calhoun made 
secretary of state and Spencer secretary of the treas- 
ury. In a short time Spencer resigned and his 
place was filled by Hibb of Kentucky. Spencer had 
been practically ignored and insulteil for some time 
by Tyler. Tlie 'New York "Evening Post" said 
that "the cause of the change was Spencer declining 
to deposit 1100,000 as secret service money with ii 
contidential agent at New York to fit out" a naval 
expedition against Mexico. As he could discover 
no act of congress directing such a disposition of 
public money, Mr. Spencer declined to give the or- 
der or allow it to be given to his subordinates -ind 
the next day he received a peremptory order to 
transfer the money. Seeing the game was up. Mr. 
Spencer coolly wrote a second refusal, and that day 
he sent in a written resignation and remained in the 
department just twenty-four hours afterward, hav- 
ing in that short space squared all the ends of his 
concerns with it." The last day of tlie.session Tyler 
withdrew the nomination of Ijeubcn 11. Wahviirth 
for the supreme bench and substituted ,Tohn C. 
Spencer. Objection was made and Walworth's 
name was reinstated, but the senate contirmed no- 
body. Thus ])iactieally closed the career of one of 
the most indefatigable men in the land, too indu.slri- 
ous, almost, to feel domestic bereavement. Toward 
the close of January, 1844, Spencer's nomination for 
district judge over New York, Vermont and Con- 



necticut to succeed Smith Thompson, was rejected 
by 2(i nays to 21 ayes. Among those who voted 
against Spencer were Bayard, Hcnlon, Berrian, 
Choale, Clayton, Crittenden, and Daylon. For him 
were Buchanan, Colquitt, King, McDuftie, Sevier, 
and Silas Wright. John C. Spencer put many u.se- 
ful things into the laws of New York, and he serveil 
the state well, but he never wa-s an attractive man 
because his ambition was kiln-dried. Nathan Sar- 
gent says that Sjiencer was "a man of great abili- 
ties, industry, and endurance, curt manners and 
irascible temper, and beluie being tendered a po.si- 
tion in Mr. Tyh'r's cabinet he had written iui aildrcss 
U|ion Tyler's treachery to the whig |)arty iiKire se- 
vere than anything that appeared frnm any other 
tpiarter, and fairly flayed the president, lashing him 
!is with a whip of scorpions, yet after this Mr. 
Tyler could offer him and he accept the place of 
secretary of war, and second, that of secretary 
of the treasury. It it* but just to say of him that he 
rendered the country important service in the treas- 




ury department, which he administered with ability, 
assiduity, integrity, and faithfulness seldom equalled 
since the days of Hamilton." In 1H45 he removed 
to Albany. In 1849 he received the degree of LL. D. 
from Union, of which lie had been a regent from 
1840. He edited De Tocqueville's " Democracy in 
America," 2 vols. (1838), bore a prominent part in or- 
ganizing the N. Y. asylum for idiots and .served as 
a member of .state commissions. He dieil at Albany 
May 18, 18.">5. A review of his legal and political 
career, by L. B. Proctor, appeared in 1886. 

■WILKINS, 'William, .secretary of war, was 
born in Carlisle, Cumberland Co., Pa., Dec. 20, 
1779. He was the son of John Wilkins, an old 
resident of that place, and was educated at Dickin- 
son College, Pa. After graduation lie studied law 
in the otliee of George Watts, in Carlisle, until his 
admi.ssion to the bar in 1801. He then went to Pitts- 
burg, where lie ojiened an office, and soon had a 
lucrative practice. He occupied a number of ]iosi- 
tions, being jiresident of a common c<iuncil. member 
of the legislature, iiresident jiidgeof tlie fifth judicial 
districtof Pcnnsylvaiiia.and judge of the United Slates 
district court for western Pennsylvania. While in 
thai position he was elected to congress, but declined 
to serve. In is;si, however, he gave up bis ]iosiiion 
on the bench to take that of Uniteil States .senator 
for six years. In the .senate he was an Andrew 
Jackson "ileinocraf. In 1833 lie was a candidate for 
vice president, and received the electoral vote of 
Pennsylvania for that oHiee. The following year 
he was appointed minister to Kus.'iia; in l><4'.i lie was 
again elected a member of lli(^ house of representa- 
tives, and served until January, 1H44, when Presi- 
dent Tyler a|)pointed him .secretary of war. In 1855 
he became a member of the Pennsylvania .state sen- 
ate from Allegheny county. Altliough firmly at- 
tached to the denmcratie party. Mr. Wilkins sup- 
liiirted the goveninient throughout the civil war. and 
while in his eightieth year became a member of the 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



215 



Hiiine Guards, iiml ]ianulcd on liorsfback, ))cinK 
aiiiKiiiUcd a miijor-gpiicral. Mr. VVilkins was the 
tirst president of the Hank of Pittsburi;, of wliioli 
Iw was one of the incorporators. He was twice mar- 
ried, tir^t to Catherine Ilohiics of Baltimore, Md., 
and second to JFatilda Dallas, daughter of Alexander 
J. Dallas, for a while secretary of the treasury. 
He died at Homewood, Allegheny Co., Pa., June 23, 
1H()5, leaving four daugliters. 

HENSHAW, David, .secretary of the navy, 
was born in Leicester, Mass., Apr. 2, 1791. He was 
the sou of David Henshaw and grandson of Dauicl, 
who went from Boston to Leicester in 1748. An 
earlier American ancestor was .Joshua Henshaw who 
lived in Dorchester in 1668. David Henshaw (second) 
obtained a common-school education in Bo.ston and 
began to learn the drvig business while he was still a 
boy. Soon after he became of age he established 
himself in a store of his own in which he was suc- 
cessful. He took a deep interest in politics, being a 
demcK'rat and a free trader. In 18;i0 he was ap- 
pointed collector of the port of Bo.ston, and between 
18;!6 and '40 represented his district in both houses 
of the legislature of the commonwealth. In 1839 
Mr. Hensliaw was sent to the house of representa- 
tives from Boston and served through one term. At 
the same time he interested himself in a number of 
railroad (irojccts, particularly in the roads running 
from Boston to Worcester, Albany, and Providence. 
President Tyler appointed Mr. Henshaw secretary of 
the navy, and he held the office a few months, but, 
failing to be confirmed by the senate, auother ap- 
pointment was made. Mr. Henshaw died in Boston, 
Apr. 11, 1872. 

GILMEB, Thomas Walker, secretary of the 
navy, and governor of Virginia (184(1-41), was born 
in Virginia about 1798. His education was limit- 
ed, but in spite of obstacles he studied law and be- 
gan practice at Charlottesville, and while so en- 
gaged edited a local newspaper. Entering polities, 
he Was sent repeatedly to the legislature, and served 
as .speaker during two terms. In 1840 and 1841 be 
was governor of his native state, and tlio same year 
entered congress as a whig. Here lie sustained 
President Tyler, and in 1842 was elected again, this 
time by the democrats, and served until Feb. 18. 
1844, when he resigned to accejit the portfolio of 
secretary of the navy in the cabinet of President 
Tyler, and .served but ten days, being killed by the 
explosion of a gun on the steamer Princeton Feb. 
38, 1S44. 

WICKLIFFE, Charles A., po.stnia.ster-gencral, 
was born in Bardstown, Ky., .June 8, 1788. He re- 
ceived his education in an excellent school in his 
native place, and, having graduated, went into an 
olfice to study law, and in 1809 was admitted to prac- 
tice at the bar, and establisheii himself at Bardstown, 
where he soon obtained a lucrative business. At the 
beginning of the war of 1812 Jtr. Wickliffe entered 
the .service of the LTnited States, and during the 
battle of the Thames, which occurred Oct. 5, l8i;i, 
lie acted as aid to Gen. Samuel Caldwell. This 
biUtle took jiliice at the Moravian setlleiucnt on the 
Thames river, Ontario, Canada, between tlie Ameri- 
can forces under (^en. William II. Harrison, and the 
British army, besides 2.000 Indian allies under the 
great chief Teeumseh. the whole body being com- 
nianded by Gen. Proctor. Teeumseh was killed 
during the' tight, as is believed, by Col. Hichard .M. 
Johnson, who decided the battle by a brilli,-iiit 
charge of cavalry. During this engagement the 
British lost heavily in killed and wounded, liesides 
600 prisoners captured, and a large (luantity of can- 
non, stores, etc. WicklilTe distinguished himself 
during this battle, as Gen. Caldwell, who was his 
con>inan<ler. was with his brigade in the thick of it. 
In 1814 Wicklitle was elected to the state Icirislature of 



Kentucky, and served until 1823, when he was .sent to 
congress, where he remained during the next ten years. 
Ill 1884 he was again elected to the state legislature, 
and was made speaker. Two years later lie became 
lieutenant-,govern()r, and in 18;!9 was for a time act- 
ing governor of Kentuckj-. When John Tyler suc- 
ceeded Gen. Harrison as incsident of the L'nited 
States, he appointed Wicklill'(^ postmaster-general, 
his commis.sion dating from Sept. 18, 1841, and lie 
remained in this position until March, 184.'5, when 
President Polk .sent him to Texas to make an invcs- 
ti.gation into the feeling there with regard to annexa- 
tion. In 1861 Mr. Wickliffe was a member of the 
peace congress, and he took his .seat in the hou.se of 
r('|ireseiitatives in the same year as a union whig. 
In 1864 he was a delegate to the Clii(!ago national 
democratic convention. Mr. WicklilTe was an un- 
popular man among tho.se who were not of his own 
standing in society, on account of his possessing a 
manner which was autocratic and disagreeable, and 
especially obnoxious to those .socially beneath him. 
An idea of the estimation in which lie was held by 
the lower classes may be obtained from the fact that 
they nicknamed him "The Duke." He died ia 
1869. 

PORTER, James Madison, secretary of war, 
was born in Selma, Pa., Jan. 6, 1793. He was the 
son of Gen. Andrew Porter, who fcaight through 
the revolution, and was personally commended by 
Gen. Washington on the field for his conduct at the 
battle of Germantown. He was also a brother of 
David Rittenhouse Porter of 
Pennsylvania. Like the latter, 
he was educated for the bar; dur- 
ing the war of 1812 he served in 
the field, having volunteered as 
a private, although he was after- 
ward a commissioned officer. 
He settled iu eastern Penu.s)'l- 
vania, where he opened an office, 
and obtained a very large prac- 
tice, not only in that section, but 
in the surrounding counties, both 
in his native state and New Jer- 
sey. In 1888 he was a member 
of the Penn.sy Ivania constitution- 
al convention. In 184.3 President 
Tyler .sent his name to the sen- 
ate for the office of secretary 
of war, but he was rejected. 
He was one of the founders of 
Lafayette College, Easton, Pa,, and was for more 
than twenty-five years president of the board of 
trustees of that institution. He was a prominent 
member of the Masonic fraternity for many vears, 
holding an official position in the Grand Lodge of 
the State of Pennsylvania. He died in Easton, Pa., 
Nov. 11. 1862. 

NELSON, John, attorney-general, was born in 
Fredericktown, Md., June 1, 1791. He was the son 
of Hoger Nelson, who was a brigadier general in the 
revolutionary army, and was left for <leacl on the field 
of Canideii, "but recovered and afti'rward became a 
member of congress and district .judge of Maryland. 
John Nelson was .sent to William and Mary College, 
where he was graduated in 1811. He took up the 
study of law, and two years later was admitted to the 
bar and began practice. Very little is recorded of his 
after life except that lie was a democrat in ]iolities, 
was a member of congress two years, from 1821, 
was appointed V. .S. minister to the court of Naples 
in 1881 by President Jack.son, of whom he was au 
eiilhnsiastic supporter, and attorney general of the 
United States by President Tyler, Jan. 2, 1844, suc- 
ceeding Hugh .S Legare. who died in office, retiring 
with tiiat ailmiiiistration, March 4, 184."). Mr. Nel- 
son died iu Baltimore, Md.. Jan. 28. 1860. 




I 



216 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 




'>2/^t'«'^iV-^ 



CRITTENDEN, John Jordan, V. S. attorney- 
general and irmeruor of KeDtucky (1848-50), was 
bom in Woodford county, Ky., Sept. 10, 1787 ; son 
of a major in the war of independence. He was 
graduated from William and Mary in 1807, became 
a lawyer, and praiti.sed at Russell ville. Logan Co., 
Ky.. until 1810, and thenceforth 
at Frankfort, Ky.. atlaiiiim: a very 
high position at the bar. He was 
attorney - general of the territory 
of Illinois in 1809; served in the 
war with Emrland, and was on the 
statT of Qin\ Shelby at the battle 
of the Thames, Oct. 5, 1813; was 
much in the legislature after 1815, 
and for several vears its sijeakcr; 
in the U. S. .senaV- 1S17-19; U. S. 
dislrict-attorncv under President 
J. Q. Adams, 1827-2!). Sent to the 
senate for a full term in 1835, lie 
became known as a friend of 
Clay, a supporter of the tariff 
and the bank, and an opponent 
of Calhoun's efforts to exclude 
anti-slavery documents from the 
southern mail-hags, and of Van 
Buren's sub-treasury system. Elected a third time 
he gave up his seat in JIarch, 1841, to become Pres- 
ident Harrison's attorney -general, but resigned six 
months later on account of disagreement with Pres- 
ident Tyler's policy. He took Clay's place in the 
senate in 1842, ami was re-elected in tlie fall for a 
full term; here he oiijiosed the annexation of Texas 
and the war with Mexico, and in 1S47 brought in 
the bill for the relief of the starving peasantry of Ire- 
land. He was one of the best of the old-line whigs, 
and after Webster and Clay one of their ablest leaders. 
After two years, 1848-50, as governor, he became at- 
torney-general imder President Fillmore. While in 
this office, 1850-53, he maintained the constitutional- 
ity of the fugitive slave law. Sent to the .senate for 
the sixth time in 1855, he opposed the repeal of the 
Missouri compromise, and the admission of Kan.sas 
under the constitutions of Topeka and Lecimipton. 
Steering a middle course he in 1800 supp<irted the 
Bell and Everett ticket, and projiosed an amend 
ment to the constitution prohibiting alike slavery 
north of 36- 30', and its abolition in the District of 
Columbia, and admitting new states with or without 
it. On the failure of his efforts at conciliation he 
became the leader of the Unionists of his state and 
a w'arm supporter of Jlr. Lincoln's administration, 
though opposing to the last the confiscation of rebel 
properly, the emancipation of slaves and the enlist 
ment of negroes. His age and character made him 
the patriarch of the .senate, in which lie was one 
of the ablest debaters. Retiring from his long and 
honorable service in that body March 3, 1861, he 
was presently sent to the house, where he made 
some notable siieeches in sujiport of the war as one 
not of conquest or .subversion, but simply of de- 
fence. His last sjieech. Feb. 22. 1863, lamented the 
departure, as he thought it, fi-om this original pur 
pose, and denounced enforced enlistments. He died 
at Frankfort. Ky , .July 2(!, 1863 His two sons 
were generals in the ojiposing .'irmies. 

MASON, John Young, secretary of the navy, 
and attorney general ol the United States, was born 
in Greensville eouiuy, Va., Apr. 18. 1709. In his 
boj'hood he studied in the common .schools of his 
neighborhood, and was afterward sent to the Uni 
versity of Xorth Carolina, where he was gradual<'d 
in 1S16. He fixe<l upon the profession of law as his 
future vocjltion, and went to Litchfield. Conn., 
where there Wiis a law .school of celebrity, and where 
lie remained three y<'ars, when he was a<imitted to 
the bar. He settled in Southampton county. Va., 



and. began practice, which soon became extensive 
and lucrative. He was elected to the Virginia as- 
semblv while still a young man, and continued to 
serve in that body for a number of terms. In 1829 
he wa.s a member of the state constitutional conven- 
tion, and in 1831 was elected a member of the U. S. 
liouse of representatives, where he remained until 
1837, when he was aiipointcd judge of the I'. S. dis- 
trict for Virginia. On the acce.s.sion of .lohn Tyler to 
the presidency Apr. 4, 1841, after the death of" Presi- 
dent Harrison, he retained the cabinet which had 
been appointed by Harrison until 1843, when he 
made a reorganization, which included Thomas AV. 
Gilmer, of Virginia, for secretary of the navy. With 
the other new members, iMr. Gilmer was confirmed 
by the senate Feb. 15, 1844, but thirteen days after- 
ward, on Feb. 28th, by an explosion of a gun on 
board the steamship of war Princeton, on the Po- 
tomac river, the secretary of state, Sir. Upshur, and 
the secretaiy of the navy, !Mr. Gilmer, lost their 
lives. The latter position was filled by Com. 
Lewis Warrington until !March 14, 1844, when John 
Y. Mason received the appointment, and was at once 
continued by the senate. On the accession of James 
K. Polk to the ollice of president, Mr. Ma.son was 
appointeil by him on 3Iarch 5th, and promptly con- 
firmed liy the senate, attorney-general of the United 
States. He continued to hold this ]H)silion until Sept. 
9, 184G, when he succeeded George Bancroft as secre- 
tary of the navy, the latter having been appointed 
minister to the court of St. James. At the end of 
the Polk administration, Mr. Mason went to Rich- 
mond, Va.. and settled there in tlie practice of law. 
In 1S.50 he was a member of the constitutional con 
vention of the state of Virginia, and ]>iesided over 
the deliberations of that body. In 18.53 Franklin 
Pierce became president, and he appointed Mr. Jla- 
son U. S. minister to France. He was reapjiointed 
by President Buchanan, and remained abroad dur- 
ing the rest of his life. He died in Paris Oct. 3, 1859. 
GRANGER, Francis, postmaster-general, was 
born in Sutfleld, Conn.. Dec. 1, 1702. He was sent to 
Yale College where lie was graduated in 1811. His 
father removed to New York state and settled at 
Canandaigua, where Francis was 
admit led to practice at tne bar. 
Heeutered politics and was elect- 
ed a nieniber of the New York 
state legislature, where he served 
for a number of years. In 183f). 
when Harrison was first nom- 
inated for the presidency, Fran- 
cis Granger was on the same tick- 
et with him as a candidate for 
vice-president. Harrison, how- 
ever, only received seventy-two 
electoral votes and the ticket was 
defeated. In 1838 Mr. Grangei- 
went to Congress. In 1841 when 
Harrison was elected luesident. 
Mr. Granger was ajipointcd by 
him postmaster-general, enter- 
ing upon his oltieial duties 
JIareh (ith of that ye.-ir. He re- 
tired from the |iosition in Sep- 
tember, 1841. when John Tyler 
assumed the presidency, and was offered a diplomat- 
ic i)ost abroad, but declined it. He was again sent 
to congress and continued in that service tintil 1843, 
when lie retired I'ldm |iublic life. Mr. (Jraiiger had 
the honor of giving his name to a )iolitical party, 
called the " Silver grays," so named from the beauti- 
ful silver-gray hair which crowned his he,-id. Mr. 
Granger wasa member of the peace convention of 
1861. In 1817 he married Cornelia H. Van Reiis.selaer 
who died in 1S23. leaving two children. He died in 
Canandaigua, X. Y., Aug. 28, 1868. 




0^cr^y^f^f^ 




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tS- 



eOPVmOHT. 1S9I, BY J»WfS T WU'TF « TO 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



219 




POLK, James Knox, eleventh president of the 
United States, was born in Meeklenburg, N. C, 
Nov. 3, 1795, of Scoteli-Irish antecedV'nts'on both 
sides. His srvandfatlier, Ezekiel Polk, was captain 
of a company of rangers during the war of the revo- 
lution, and did .service in the woods and mountain.?, 
where he protected the border from invasions of the 
Indian allies of Great Britain. He was also an active 
member of the Mecklenburg convention, of which 
his brother. Col. Thomas Polk, as chairman, adopt- 
ed what is termed the " Jlccklcnburg Declaration of 
Independence " long before the legislature of Vir- 
ginia instructed her delegates to the Continental 
congress to vote for separation from Great Britain. 
He was sub.sequentlv a member of congress and 
colonel of the 4th l^egiment of North Carolina 
militia. S.'imuel Polk, the father 
of .huncs K., was raised during 
the exciting times of the strug- 
gle for American indejiendence. 
In 1794 he was married to Jane 
Knox, daughter of James Knox 
of Iredell county, N. C., a cap- 
tain in the revolutionary war. 
In 1806 they removed with their 
family to ihe fertile valley of 
Duck river, in Tennessee. James, 
though not physically strong, 
was a lad of courageous dispo.si- 
tion, and very early gave evi- 
dence of extraordinary intel- 
lectual powers. There were no 
schools near by, and but few 
books were available. His pa- 
, rents gave him all the assist- 
ance in their power, which wa.s 
unfortimately little, but even 
with these limited resources he succeeded by his 
perseverance and industry in obtaining the founda- 
tion of a good education, lie craved lor further 
educational advantages, which for the time it 
seemed out of his father's power to give, and he 
therefore obtained a place for him in a country store. 
James K. Polk knew more of malhematicsand books 
than most boys of his age. but had never evinced 
a taste for trade, and while recognizing the fact 
that if he liecame a mercliant bis fortune wasassured, 
he felt that this w.-is not the ticlii in which he was 
called to labor. Recognizing tlii' justness of hispo- 
.sition. bis father reconsidered hisdeterniimilion, and 
resolved to educate the promising boy at any price. 
His father died in iy.i7, having lived to reaj) tlie re- 




ward of the sacrifices he had made and money ex- 
pended in the education of his son. Mr. Polk entered 
the law office of Felix Grundy at Nashville in 1819. 
That gentleman ranked among the leading lawyers 
of the day, and possessed an extensive political in- 
fluence that reached beyond the limits of his state. 
Gen. Jackson was a frequent visitor at the law office, 
and completely ca]itivated the heart of the young .stu- 
dent, whose inherited prejudices, political training 
and .scx'ial tendencies were in accord with those of 
his clio.sen leader. In 1820 James K. Polk was ad- 
mitted to the bar and immediately returned to 
Maury county, where he opened a law office in the 
village of Columbia. He at once attained an al- 
most phenomenal success, and part of the while 
practiced alone and at other times was assucialcd 
with the first lawyers of the state. In lH'>'i. when 
Maj. Lewis, quartermaster of the Tennessee militia, 
was pushing the claims and jilaiming the nomi- 
nation of Gen. Jackson for the presidency, he had 
agents and correspondents throughout the .state. 
Among them was James K. Polk, whose political 
career actually began with this conueclion. In 1823 
he was elected to the state legislature from the Duck 
River district, returniul in 1834. and in 1835 was 
sent to the congress of the United States from the 
same district, and reelected every succeeding term 
until 1839, when he resigned to become governor of 
Tennessee. He was married Jan. 1, 1834, to Sarah 
Childress, daughter of Joel Childress, a wealthy 
merchant of Rutherford, Tenn., who was in ev- 
ery way fitted to become the wife of this rising 
statcsnian, and to shine in the career wliicli wjis 
opened to her. Mr. Polk was but thirty years old 
when he took his seat in congress, an<l had been 
elected as an active agent in the great Jacksoniau 
democratic political campaign. Part of the policy 
adopted by Jackson and his adherents was that 
neither he nor tluy sliouM take decided ground upon 
any exciting queslion during Ihe campaign. Jlr. 
Polk from the first was a free-trade advocate, a mod- 
erate strict const ructioni.st, and opposed to internal 
improvements, and in tlie.se questions at least was 
ahead of his leader. The annexation of Texas was 
brought forth in the political eanva.ss of 1834, and 
proved to be of greater importance than any other 
event in the ]iolitie:d cjireer of James K. Polk. 
The subject of amiexati<in was made an issue of the 
campaign again in 1S44, and Mr. Polk, who had al- 
ways strongly favored it. rejilied to a letter wrillen 
to him by the (;ili/.ens of Cincinnati re(piesting his 
views on the subject, in these terms: " I have no 



220 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



hesitation in declaring that I am in favor of the im- 
mediate re-annexation of Texas to the f^overnraent 
and territory of the United Slates. The proof is 
fair and satisfactory to my mind that Texas once 
constituted a Jiart (if tiie I'niled Stales, the title to 
which I regard to have lieeii as hidispiitable as that 
to any portion of our teriitory." In 1839, when 
Andrew Jackson pn'sented Ids first message to con- 
gress, the long war in whi<-h he was engaged against 
the Hank of the United States coininenced. From 
the hegimung to the eml of this struirgle Jlr. Polk 
was entirely in accord with the pi<'sidciit. In IHii'i 
he was appointed chairman of the Committee of 
Ways and jleans, the leader of the Iihum'. where he 
acquitted himself ably, and streiigtheiied his hold 
on the m:iin body of his party, while he slill retaine<i 
gooil relations with the extreme sdulliern wing. 
He was opposed to a protective larllV, and the slate- 
rights men were all with him. In is;i;i, when 
President .l;icl<son aimed his blow at the 
United Stales Bank, and decided that no 
more government funds should be depos- 
ited there, and that the money already on 
deposit mu.st be withdrawn, a panic was 
tlireatened, and there was a majority in 
the .senate ready to condemn the removal 
of the deposits. Mr. Clay iiilrodueed a 
series of resolutions censuring the jiresi- 
dent, and was supported by Calhoun, 
Tyler, and other strict con.struelionists. 
The )u-e.sident's conduct was as bitterly 
a.s.sailed in the hou.se as it was in the 
senate, but Mr. Polk kept an admiiustra- 
tion majority in working order thnaigli- 
out the session, and, as chairman of the 
committee of Ways and Means, subse- 
quently reported a series of resolutions 
fully sustaining the course of the i)resi- 
He advocated them with rare skill and, 
4, 1834, obtained a vote ujjon them, and 
through his efforts secured a complete victory for 
the president in the hon.sc of representatives. This 
was a great ses.sion in congress for James K. Polk. 
In 183") he was elected speaker of the house, 
with a strong Jaeksonian majority to sustain his 
rulings. He held this position until 18:i!). He took 
no part in the democratic national i-onvention, 
calli'd at Baltimore May II), 183.5, which nominated 
JIartin Van Buren for president, and Richard M. 
John.son for vice-president, b\it nftcrwaKl gave his 
hearty assent to the action of his chief and party. 
He was oppo.sed to the doctrines of Ihe anti-slavery 
reformers, and, while sjieaker of the house, a mem- 
orable event occurred in Ihe history of American 
politics, when the hou.se adopted what was later 
know'ii as " the gag rule," which was an effort to 
stop an aggravating flow of iietitions, generally i)re- 
senled by John Quiney Adams, relative to the 
abolition of slaverv. Jan. 18, 1837, a resolution was 
adopted by a vote of 139 to ()9, "that .all 
petitions relating to slavery, without being printed 
or referred, shall be laid on the table, and no 
action shall be had thereon." This immediately 
.gave an impetus to the anii-slavery movement, and, 
before the close of the year, the abolition societies 
numbered 2,000, and llieir rejected petitions to 
congress bore 300, 0011 names, 'in 1839 Mr. Polk 
decided not to become a candidate for another con- 
gressional term, having acceiited a nomination for 
governor of Teimessee, ,and returned home to enter 
upon a hard and imctataiii canvass, and was trium- 
phantly elected by a small majority of 3,000 votes. 
lie nnide an exeelleiU governor, and was again a 
candidate for that office in 1841, but before the elec- 
tion his defeat was certain. The change in the 
political feelings of the country Ibal bad elected 
AVilliam Henry Harrison president had also de- 




feated James K. Polk for governor of Tennessee, 
and placed .James C. Jones, the whig candidate, in 
the executive chair of that state, but Mr. Polk had 
Ihe s;ilisfacti(ai of reducing his majority to 3.000, 
again.st the 13,01111 nuijorily the whigs of Tennessee 
had given to Harrison. He was once more a private 
citizen, and resumed his law practice, which he 
found yielded him a larger income than he had ever 
derived from his official jjositions. He purcha.sed a 
hand.some residence in the aristocratic (piarler of 
Nashville, and, with the a.ssisiance of Mrs. Polk, 
imide his home a social centre, where he dispensed 
the niost liberal hospitality. There was, however, 
a drt'ided difference between the invilations ex- 
tended to this mansion and Ihe uiKpialitied welcome 
given to all who chose to visit the Hermitage, and it 
was even asserted, detrimenlally, that Mr. Polk had 
become a very aristocratic man to call himself a 
democrat. There were, no dcaibt, grounds for the 
charge, but it should also have been taken into con- 
sideration that the social position of Ihe Jaeksim 
and Polk families had never been equal, either in 
Ireland or .\merica. When the demoennie conven- 
tion assembled in Baltimore, ^lay 37, 1844. James 
K. Polk had not been thought of as a nomi- 
nee for lu'esident, though his name had been 
mentioned as a |ios,sibility for vice-iiresidenl. The 
friends of .Mr. Van Buren numbered more than 
oiie-lhird of the delegates present, ami were in a ])osi- 
lion to name the sueee.ssful candidate, tlnaigh they 
found that Van Buren could not .secure Ihe necessary 
two-thirds vote. It was also a.seerlained that they 
were obslinalely opposed to C'a.ss, Johnson and Bu- 
chanan, and olliers who had been meutioneil. The 
name of Mr. Polk was presented as a coneili.atory 
candidate. It was at once accepted, and he was 
unanimously nominated. George Dallas was nom- 
inated bir vice-iiresident. After an exciting canvass 
Polk was elected over Henrj' Clay, his distinguished 
opponent, by a iilurality of 40,000 on the popular 
vote, which did not include South Carolina, whose 
electors were selected by the state legislature. He 
receive<l 17.5 votes in the electoral colU'ge, against 
lOf) that were cast for ^Ir. Clay. .\s lar as Ihe pres- 
idential election ciadd be regarded as an expression 
of pojiidar feeling, Ihe people of the United Slates 
were decidedly in favor of the amiexation of Texas. 
Mr. Polk was an open advocaU' of Ihe extension of 
Ihe area of slavery, and had publicly expressed his 
views on Ihe subject of annexation. He also be- 
lieved that if the matter was not al (mce brcaight to 
issue there was immineni danger of the territoiy be- 
coming a dependency or a colony of Great Britain. 
Mr. Calhoun, as secrelaiT of .s|;\le, signed a treaty 
of annexation Apr. 13, 1844, which met with numef- 
ons obstacles and del.ays, but JIarch 1, 184."), the 
treatv was approved, and the following d.-iy signed 
by Mr. Tyler, who thus made things ready for his 
successor, and immediately despatched a mess(.nger 
to Texas to .announce the action of Ihe U. S. gov- 
ermnent, and call for corresponding legislation on 
Ihe part of Texas. March 4, 184.5, Mr. Polk was 
inaugurated president of the United States, and his 
inaugural address left nothing vuisaid that could 
have been desired by his jiarly. He was particular- 
ly Inippy in the selection of his cabinet. James Bu- 
chanan, of Pemisylvaiua, was m.ade s<'cretary of 
.state; Robert J. Walker, of Mississip|ii, .>;eeretary of 
the treasury; William L. Alarcy, of New York, sec 
retary of war; George Bancrol'l. of .Massaelnisetts, 
secretary of the navy; Cave Johnson, of 'I'ennessee. 
postmaster-general; and John Y. Mason, of VirLnnia. 
attoriiey-geni'ral. They were all M^BTHtK^^^H^ 
able men, in perfect .sympathy fKKsSKS^'i'itO 
with Mr.Polkandtheaggres,sive vBS^^nte 
policy his adminislration mu>-; Iy,Pw*«l" 
necessarilv assmne. jMaril 





OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



221 



Oth, the Mexican minister, Gen. Almonte, entered his 
formal protest against the annexation, asserting Unit 
it would sever from his country an inlegral jiart of 
her territory. On April 2d the American minister to 
Mexico was formall_v deliarrcd all diplomatic inter- 
com-sc. and June 4. 1S4."), the iiresideni of the Mexi- 
can republic. Gen. Herrera, issued a ]iroclaniation 
denouncing the act of annexation, and calling his 
fellow-citizens to rally in defence of their country. 
President Tyler had anticipated the Mexicans, anil, 
early in 1844, began to collect a body of Iroops on 
the Texas border. There were so)ne formalities to 
be vmdergone before the United States could legally 
land troops in Texas, or march them over the bor- 
der. After rejecting the French-English-Mcxican 
treaty, both hou.ses of tlie Texan coiiy:ress unani- 
mously adopted joint resolutions of tinal con.sentand 
agreement to the act of annexation June IH, 1H45. 
A convention of the people was summoned, and the 
act ratitieil on Julv 4th, and an act of congress was 
passed Dec. 29, 1845, by which Texas was admit- 
ted to the Union, and on the 81st another act was 
passed, extending the U. S. revenue system to the 
uncertain domain beyond the Nueces. Notwith- 
standing these decisive measures, the Mexican 
authorities did not declare war. and expressed a de- 
sire to negotiate concerning the disputed territory 
between the Nueces and the Kio Grande. The 
negotiations, however, amounted tolillle. President 
Polk and his party decided that the Texas which 
had been admitted to the Union was the identical 
ground which Napoleon had sold, and which was 
again lost by the ill-advised treaty of 1819. and 
the region to which the United States had ju.st 
laid claim originally belonged to the United States, 
and, having been recently recovered, an American 
army conlit justly be sent to take possession. Gen. 
Taylor was therefore .sent witli five regiments of 
infantry, one of cavalry, and four companies of light 
artillery, to assert the old French claim, the rights 
given to Texas by Santa Anna, and the new title of 
the United States. The twenty -ninth congress of 
the United States had meanwhile assembled. Pres- 
ident Polk's message was unusually long, and 
handled alfairs of the greatest national inijiortance. 
The failure of Mexico to pay claims provided for by 
existing treaties, and the outrages to which Ameri- 
can citizens were .subject, was forciblv put, while 
the subject of annexation received dueconsidei-ation. 
The tariti (piestion was presented in a maimer that 
led to the adoption by congress of measures subse- 
quently known as "the tariff of 184G." Next in 
importance to the great question of the Mexican 
war was the discu.s.sion between the United States 
and Great Britain regarding the Oregon boundary, 
which was settled to the satisfaction of all parties. 
May 7, 1846, the Mexican troojjs first opened fire 
on Gen. Taylor's command, at Palo Alto. There 
was no hesitation on either side, and a sharji en- 
gagement ensued, in which the American loss was 
nine killed and forty-five woun(le<l, and the ^Mexi- 
cans, though greatly superior in munbers, were 
forced to retreat. Several otlier battles were fought, 
and the Jlexican force retreated across the Kio 
Grande, atid left the Ainerican army as occupants 
of what seeiued to have been its exact destination, 
and sustained President Polk's as.sertion that the 
correct boundary of tlie old Mexican state of Texas 
was the Kio Grande river. He sent a speci.-d war 
message to congress. May 11. 184ti, wherein he de- 
clared, without reference to the ncLrolialions then 
pending, that Mexico had "at last invaded our ter- 
ritory, and shed the blood of our citizens on our own 
soil." War with Mexico was duly declared, and an 
act pa,s.sed givinir the president riO.Oill) men and 
$2,000,000 with which to carry it on. The whigs 
were all the while opposed to the war, and Abraham 




Linooln, who was at the time a member of the 
hou.se, introduced what became known as the "spot 
resolutions," which called upon the president to des- 
ignate the spot of Amcric;ui territory where the 
outrage had been committed, but. notwithstanding 
■ their opjiosition, the whigs genevally sujiported the 
war until it was concluded. On Aug. 10, 1840, Pres- 
ident Polk petitioned congress for the neces.sary 
authorit}' and funds to ])nrcha.se the territory from 
Mexico, in ease opportunity sluadd offer to do so by 
negotiation; his re(pie.st was griuitcd, and $30,000 
were apiiropriatcd for his ]ireliminary exjienses, and 
$:i,(M)0.000 more allowed to be used at his discretion. 
The Wilmol provi.so was added to this bill, wliich 
was to the effect that " neither' slavery nor involun- 
tary servitude shall ever exist in any part of said 
territory, except for crime, whereof the party shall 
first be duly convicted." The bill was pas.sed, but 
reached the senate too late to be acted ujion. The 
president vetoed a river and harbor appropriation 
bill, Aug. 3, 1846, because it savored too strongly of 
measures for internal improvements by the Fedeial 
government, against which he had declared himself 
in his first message. When the thirtieth congress 
was organized for business, December, 1847, the _ 
house was whig,with a wliig speaker, while the sen- •• ti^^ 
ate was democratic. President Polk's message "-i^?"' 
contained a review of the military situation, and ^'^^^^ 
suggested that tlie coiuitiT should demand of Mex- ^* f"~' 
ico iudenmity for the jinsi and security for the fu 
tnre. The Wilmot 
proviso again came 
ujj and was passed 
by the house, but 
the obnoxious 

amendment was 
struck out by the 
senate, and the en- 
lire matter returned to the house. There was a sharp 
contest, but California and New Mexico were already 
in American hands, and for fear of the risk of losing 
them the whigs yielded the point, and passed the 
bill without the proviso, and compromi.sed by at- 
taching the proviso to the act relating to Oregon. 
The political victory of President Polk's administra- 
tion over the anti-slavery oppositiim was complete. 
He had always opposed the agila'ion of the slavery 
question in congress, and urged tlial temporary civil 
governments should be provided for California and 
New Mexico. Before the middle of September, 
1847, the American army had captured the citj- of 
Jlexico, and no organized ^Mexican army remained 
in any part of the apparently ruined repulilic. An- 
other matter of almost eipial importance lo President 
Polk and the United St:ites was thaf, for awhile, 
there was no responsible government left in Mexico 
with which a binding treaty of |)eace could be made. 
The American troops continued in jiossession of the 
country, which they had partially conquered but did 
not car(! to retain, until an almost entirely new gov- 
ernment wasorg.-inized and (u'epared to discuss terms 
of peace. The aspirations of the annexation parly 
were more than realizeil by the terms agreed upon. 
Tex.'is, New Mexico, Arizona and California contin- 
U('d the property of the Uiuted States ujion the Jiay- 
ment of abo\it ll.i.OOO.OOO and a few minor consi<l. 
(■rations. Tlie treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, .signed 

in Mexico Feb. 'J, 184S. was.sanclic 1 liy the United 

States March 10th of that year, and t'lie Mexican 
war was at an end. The history of the administra- 
tion of affairs under President Polk is hardly 
paralleled in the annals of the United States. The 
great jiolitical democr.atic party triumphantly 
brought about its declared policy umler the leader- 
sjii]) of its choice. A war for the ac(|uisition i>f 
territory was led to a successful issue, while the whig 
jiarty questioned and condemned all the viclories 



-*:^ 



222 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



■won. Mr. Polk declined to accept a renomination 
and retired from political life when he resi>;ned the 
otti 'P of president. Mr Polk was oulj- fifly-four 
years old wliui he closed his remarkable polit- 
ical career, and no one realized how near was also 
the close of his life. His vitality had been reiluced 
by the cares of hisotlitx', and he had sulTered for a 
numher of years with malaria. The cholera, whii-h 
appeared in 1S4"J, found in him a ready victim. He 
was a man of the most coriect jirivate character, of 
simple habits, hrilli.-int intellect, and esscnlially fond 
of home life, the attractions in his h(mie provini;; a 
greater charm than did the piyest society of the capi- 
tal. He dic-d in Xasliville, "Tenn., June l.j, 1H49. 
See " Eulosiy on the Life and C'liaracter of the Late 
James K. Polk,'' by (ieorj-'c JI, Dallas; "James 
Knox Polk, " bv Jiiiin S. .Jenkins; "James Knox 
Polk," by William O. Stoddard. 

POLK, Sarah Childress, wife of President 
Polk, was born near .Murfreesboro, Hmherford Co., 
Tenn,, Sept. 4, 18(i;5, the dauj^hter of Joel and 
Elizabeth Childress. Her father was a farmer in 
good eiiemiistanccs. She was educated at the JIo- 
ravian Instit)ite, Salem, X. C, and .shortly after 
leavimr school, when but nineteen years of age, was 
married to James K. Polk, the ris'ing yoiuig stale.s- 
nnin. who had but begun his promising career. She 
accompanied her luisliand to Washington, and dur- 
ing the fourteen years of his .service in congre.s.s she 
■was a prominent tigure in Washington society. 
Deeply interested in her hnsbanil's future, she ac- 
qiuiinfed her.self with jndilic alfairs. and though 
never a iiolitician as the term isapplied at the present 
time she was better informed on the subject of na 
tional iiolilics than most of the women who had pre 
ceded her as mistress of the White House. She was 
in the fittest .sense of the term the helpmeet and com- 
panion of her husband, and was accustomed to look 
over the various journals of the 
day, and mark sucli passages as 
she deemed sufficiently important 
fur his nolice. She blended her 
life iiUo his, and elevated him to 
her ideal. As a widow, by her 
devotion to her husljand's mem- 
ory, and calm, dignilied demeanor 
she added to the influence of his 
life, and commanded the respect 
of all for herself. She was com- 
paratively young when her hus 
band dicil.and had Ixith beauty 
and social ability, but determined 
to live out till- life that was al- 
ready full, instead of re-entering 
society which she was so cmi 
nently tilted to adorn. After her 
husbands death she riMuained in 
the house, "Polk Place," at 
Nashville, Tenn.. where the rev 
erence in which she held her husband's memory 
■was most ap|)arent. She was universally beloved 
by all classes in Tennessee, and her simill fortinn^ in 
state bonds (all that she posses.sed), ■was exem|)ted 
from re]Midiation, and in all the mutations of public 
credit that have (X'eurred in Temiessee tl'cre was 
never any default of iiUerest to the honoreil lady, 
■who was one of the historic figures of America. 
President Polk left a large estate, Init during the 
civil war it depreciated in value, and before her death 
she found herself well-nigh peiuiiless. When a bill 
■n-as introiluced in congress to allow the widow of 
President Mm-oln a iiensioii of .'i.'i.dOO a year, it 
lacked one vote in the .senate to .secure its passage; 
that was the vote ol Si'iiator Howell Jackson of Ten 
ncssee. who offered to vote for the bill, |)rovide(l it 
■was ameniled so as to give amuial pensions of $,"i,flOO 
to Mrs. Polk and the widow of President Tyler, as 




^ylw^ ^ iw% 



'^ 




■\vell as Mrs. Lincoln. The bill pa.s.sed and became 
a law, and fron; that time to her death, Mrs. Polk 
lived on the jieiisiim. She died Aug. 14, 1891. 

DALLAS, George Mifflin, vice-president and 
U. S. minister to Russia and England, was born in 
■Phil.adeliihia July lb, 1T92, the second son of .V. S. 
Dallas. He was graduated first from Princeton with 
the highest honors in ISIO, read law with his father, 
and directly after his admission to the bar in 1813 
went abroad as .secretary to Gallatin, who was sent 
to St. Petereburg as a commis- 
sioner, the czar having offered to 
aid in negotiating a peace with 
Great Britain. This mediation 
being declined by England, Dal- 
las went to L<indon to arrange for 
a meeting el.^ewh(•re, and came 
home in 1814 with the British 
proposals, which were not ad- 
mis.sible. After helping his fa- 
ther for a time at '\Vashinglon, 
he began practice, became solic- 
itor of the t". S. Bank, and in 18r7 
ilc])uty allorney-general for his 
native city. He appeared as an 
orator July 4, 181,"), in vindication 
of the recent coursi' of the govern- 
ment toward England. He was 
maj-or of Phila<ielphia in 1828, 
U. S. attorney for the eastern dis- 
trict of his state 182tl-;!l ,and in the 
U. S. senate to complete an unex- 
pired term 1831-33. Here he was prominent as a de- 
fender of the liaidv which owed its existence to his fa- 
ther, and urged the renewal of its charter; but a lit- 
tle later he supported President Jackson in oiiposite 
measures. Declining a re-election he was attorney- 
general of his state 1833-3.5. In 1837 he was sent 
by President Van Buren as minister to Russia; some 
of his observations here were printed in the " Ceu- 
turv .'\Iagazine" for May and June, 1891. with the 
title " At the Court of the Czar." After his return 
in 1839 he declined the post of U. S. attorney-gen- 
eral. The democratic national convention, which 
met at Baltimore in May, 1844, placed him on its 
ticket with J. K. Polk, and he presided in the senate 
184.")-t9. The tariff bill of 1846 was in the direction 
of free trade ; the vote upon it in the senate being a 
lie, Dallas gave his casting vote for the new mea.s- 
ure. thus repealing the protective tariff of 1842, 
though he was previiarsly under.stood to be a pro- 
tectionist and was nominated on that ba.sis. He ex- 
lilained his action by expressing a conviction that 
the change was desired by a majority of the states, 
and saying that he "did not feel at liberty to coun- 
teract by his single vole the general will." Besides 
his .s|)eech al the time he published a " Vindication" 
in a series of letters. After seven years of devotion 
to his practice he was sent in February, 18,'i(i,as min- 
ister to England, succeeding Mr. Buchanan, who 
was soon to be iire.sident. His first year in this post 
was hara.ssed by the Central Americim (|uestion and 
•he demand of his government for the recall of Sir 
J. t'ramplon, the British Minister at Wa.shinirton ; 
these points he settled with nnich ability and tact. 
He wrote a scries of "Letters from Li>ndou in the 
Years 18.j(>-(i0." which were published by his 
daughter in 18()9. The Life of his father followed 
in l'871. Hcturning in May. 18(il. he (U'liounced the 
" Pernicious Sorceries of "Xullitieation .-md Seces- 
sion." Allibone's " Dictionary of Authors" gives 
the titles of thirlv speeches, fetters, etc., ■nhicli he 
put forth between 1811 and 18.'54; they include a 
"Vindication of President .Monroe" in 1819. and a 
Eulogy on President Jackson in 184.5. His last 
years "were spent in retirement in Philadelphia, 
where he died Dec. 31. 18G4. 



OF AMERICAN HIOGRAPITY. 



223 



BUCHANAN, James, secretary of state. (See 

Inck'X.) 

WALKER, Robert James, secrcttiry of the 
trciisiirv.was burn ;il XorllninilH'ilaucl. I'a., July 19, 
1801, tlie sou of .)iiii:itli;ui II. Wiilkcr. ;i revolution- 
ary soUlier and judj;!' of llii' counly, stall' ami V. S. 
courts. Ill- was graduated from tlie I'liivcrsity of 
Pennsylvania, was admitted to the bar in 1H21, "and 
opened an ottiee at l*ittsl)in% where he embark- 
ed in democratie polities, proposed .lackson in 1823 
for the pre.sideucy, and married in l.S^'.") a Miss Baehe, 
a fjrandnieee of Franklin and of A. .J. Dallas. 8et- 
tlins; in 1830 at Xatrhez, Mi.ss., he published in 18H4 
" Reports of Cases " in the stale supreme courl, and 
acquired much intlueiiee, whicli he used wilhtonsue 
anil pen, asjainst the nulliliers, wimiinir Madison's 
prai.se by his articles in the local paper, ami inducins; 
the legislature to denounce the South t'arolina doc- 
trines as treasonable. In 183(! lie was sent to the 
U. S. senate, where he inlroduecd the tirst Home- 
stead bill, and that recoiiuizinii Te.xas as an inde- 
pendent state, opposed the U. .S. Hank and a protect- 
ive tariff, supported .Jackson and Van Buren in the 
m.ain, and urged the abolition of the slave trade. He 
freed his slaves in 18IS8 and steadily favored gradual 
emancipation. This point he kept in view when, 
during his second term in the .senate, he proposed 
the annexation of Texas in a letter widely p\ibli.shed 
in .Tanuary. 18-14. His services were gratefidly re- 
membeivd in Texas, where his bust was placed in 
the capilol. He had much iiitlu- 
cnee with Tyler, ,and promoted the 
nomination of Polk, under whom 
he was secretarv of the treasury, 
1S4.")-19. In 111 is post he estab- 
lished the warehouse .system, pro- 
cured the creation of a department 
of the interior, effected a recii)ro- 
city treaty with Camilla, and car- 
ried the moderate tariff in 1836. 
His late years were spent chietly in 
Washington, in legal practice and 
minor public functions. In 18.53 
he declined the Jiost of commis- 
sioner to open trade with China and 
.Japan. In 18.57 he went to Kansas 
as fourth territorial governor, but 
would not be used in forcing slav- 
ery on the new .state " by fraud or 
forgery," resigned in 18.58. and ex- 
posed the state of affairs before con- 
gress. In the troublous early months of 1861 he was 
a resolute and clear-sighted Unionist, urging prompt 
and decisive measures. Sent abroad as U. S. financial 
agent in 1863, lie placed $-2.5l),OOl»,00O of the ,5-20 
bonds, and prevented the .sale of the second Confed- 
erate loan of |7.5.0(K), 1)110. He was eo-edilor fora time 
of the " Continental Monthly." and wrote forit .some 
papers on American resouices, etc., which I'arried 
much weight. He urged the building of the Pacific 
railroad and the imrehaseof .\laska and the Danish 
West Indies, and opposed the impeachment of Pres- 
ident .Jolmson and the apjilicalion to his adopted 
state of the reconstruction measures. He died in 
AVa.shington Nov. 11. 1.860, leaving a very high 
'•epulation as a lawyer, financier, statesman and pa- 
rioi . 

MARCY, WiUiam Learned, governor of New 
York (1833-39), secretary of war i |.845)and secretary 
of state (18.53), was born in Southbridge, 5Ia-ss., 
Dec. 13, 1786. Certain of liis ancestors formed part 
of a company who, in 1739, being at that lime resi- 
dents of Medtield and adjoining towns in tliu colony 
of .Mas.sacliusetts, oliiained a grant of land inWorces- 
ter county, which they named New ^ledlield. In 
1T38 this section was incorporated as a town under 
the name of Sturbridge, and among its first settlers 




<^^>>f:^i^s^^^^ 



was Moses JIarcy. He was of Knglish descent, born 
in Woodstock, ("onn.. and married in 1723, to a I'ru- 
denee Morris. In 1732 they removed to New Med- 
field, afterward Sturbridge, having a family of live 
children, which sub.seipienlly increa.scui to eleven. 
In Iheact of incorporation of Slurbridge, Moses Mar- 
cy is .styled " one of the principal inhabitants." He 
built the tirst gristmill in the town, held a number 
of iniportant local olHces, was ii colonel of militia, 
was appoinled the first justice of the jicace, and was 
the first representative sent by the town to the gen- 
eral court. He w.as a selectinan tliirly-one years, 
town clerk eiglileen. and town treasurer eight years, 
not infrcquenllv filling all these offices at once. 
During the old Vrench war be fitted out soldiers for 
the army on his own responsibility and from his own 
private resources. He died Oct. 9. 1779, leaving an 
iionoriiblc luime. a large estate and a numerous pos- 
terity. One of his graiid.sons, .Jedediah Marcy, was 
the father of William Learned .M.arcy, and the hus- 
liand of Kutli lycarned. He was a farmer by occu- 
pation, held a comniand in llie state militia and was 
a respectable citizen, higiily esleeiiied in his neigl^ 
borlioiHl. He was in comfortable circumstances, 
and after his .son William had gained all the advan- 
tages of iiistrucfion to be obl.ained in the common 
schools of his native town, he wassent lothe Leices- 
ter Academy. Having eompleled his academic 
course, the young man entered Mrown University, 
where he proved a careful and diligent .scholar, cor- 
rect in all his studies, while particularly excelling in 
the classics. While in collegia he enjoyed much mis- 
cellaneous reading and was able to cultivate his natu- 
rally refined literary taste. He was graduated in 1.808, 
and removed to the city of Troy, X. Y.. where he 
beean the study of law. Being duly admitled to 
the bar. he comnienced lu-aclice. but had hardly en- 
tered upon the active duties of his profession when 
war was declai-ed against Great Britain and he of- 
fered his services to the governor of the state. He 
was lieutenant of an infautiy company of Troy, 
which was first dispatched to "the northern frontier, 
and there he had an immediate opportunity of .see- 
ing active service, as he was one of the detachment 
wiiich captured the post of St. Regis and took the 
whole force of the enemy prisoners. After this en- 
.casement, Lieut. ^Marcy^ with his company, joined 
the main army under Gen. Dearborn, and for a time 
was on the frontier, but in 1814 was ordered to the 
city of New York, where he remained until the 
cliisc of the war, liavinu' alfidned the rank of cai>tain 
and a hi'zbly creditable, reputation. In 1S16 >Ir. 
JIarcy was 'ap])ointed recorder of the city of Troy, 
an office which he continued to hold until .lune, 
1818. when he was removed on account of his fre- 
quently expresscil dissatisfaction with the adminis- 
tration" of (xov. Clinton. By this time Mr. Marcy 
had become IhoroUL'-hly inrerested in politics and 
known as a member I'lf llie '■ Bucklails," as they 
were called, and in 1820 suiiported Gov. Tompkins 
in opposition to Mr. Clinton. He was for a time ed- 
itor of the Troy •' Budget." a daily newspaper which 
supported JIartin Van Buren, and as the " Buck- 
tails "or republicans, had a majority in the assembly, 
he was appointed iii.Ianuary. 1821, "adjutant-general. 
Two years later he was made comptroller of the 
state and removed to .\lbany. in which cilv he con- 
tinued to make his resideiice'fhereafler. >Ir. Marcv 
was by this time a recognized member of the " Al- 
bany iegencv." which exercised for so long almost 
supreme political power in the state. The office of 
comptroller was parlicularly important at the time 
when Marcv filled it. owing" to the heavy expendi- 
tures conneclcd with the conslruclion of the Krie 
and Cliam|)lain canals. In 1828 he powerfully con- 
tributed to the political revolution which resulted in 
the elevation of Gen. Jackson to the presidential 



^ 



224 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPJEDIA 



chair and gave ^lartin Van Burcn tbe goveinorsliip 
of the state of New York. On Jan. 15, 1829, Mr. 
Marcy was appointed one of llie associate jiisticesof 
the supreme court of tlie state, a position in wliieh 
he conducted liimsetf willi credit to the court and to 
himself. He i^resided at tlie spe(!ial circuit held at 
Lockport, in IHliO, for the trial of the abductors of 
William Morjran, who exposed the secrets of the 
JIasonic fraternity, and JIarcy's course duriuu; these 
important and exciliug trials, his urbanity, his firm- 
ness and his impartial decisions, were highly com- 
mended by men of all parties. Mr. Marcy was elect- 
ed as a democrat to the United States senate, tak- 
ing his seat in December, 1S31. His reputation for 
ability had already been recognized in Washington, 
and lie was complimented by being appointed to the 
important position of chairinau of the committee on 
the judiciary, and tomenibersliipin the committee on 
finance. Early in his experience of the senate, Mr. 
Marcy found Inmself called from his seat to sustain the 
reputation of his friend. Mart in Van Buren, against the 
aspersions of Henry Clay. In March, 1833,"'he spoke 
<fu the apiiorlionnient bill, in reply to Daniel Web- 
ster. Ill rei;ard to the tarilT. he was opposed to the 
surrender of the doctrine of jirotectiou, but in favor 
of removing the duties on non-protected articles, and 
he voted for the law of 1832, although hedid not ap- 
prove of all its provisions. In 1833 Senator JIarcy 
resigned his seat to take the position of governor of 
the state of New York, to which 
he had been elected, and he contin- 
ued to hold that office during three 
terms, or until 183'J, when he was 
again nominated, but was defeated 
by William H. Seward. As gov- 
ernor of New York, Mr. Marcy 
showed himself neither a timid 
man nor afraid of incurring respon- 
sibility, but, being a shrewd observ- 
er Unci possessing an almost intui- 
tive knowledge of men, he allowed 
the legislature of the state a wide 
latitude on all questions alTecting 
the interests of their constituents, 
so long as the jirovisions of the con- 
stitution were not disregarded. In 
his annual nies.iiage in 1834, Gov. 
Marcy advised extreme caution 
in the granting of bank charters, 
there being a sudilen rush and de- 
mand for these on account of the United States bank 
veto of President .lackson. In the winter of 1834 a 
coalition of the national republicans and anti-JIasons 
of the state of New York resulted in the adoption of 
the name of "•Whigs," which was soon after taken 
by the entire opposition to the democratic party. At 
the election in 1834 Gov. Marcy received a majority 
of nearly 13,000 over the vote" of Jlr. Seward. In 
his anmial message in 1835 he recommended a law 
which was afterward pa.ssed, providing for the sup- 
pression of bank notes under five dollars; and at the 
same time, by his advice, the legislature refused to 
grant any more bank charters. It wasatthis iieriod 
that the" rise of the abolition or anti-slavery party 
took place, a movement to which Gov. JIarcy was 
always ojiposeil, on the ground that it was calcu- 
lated to foster sectional picjudices and ill feelings. 
Throughout his ailmiiiistration Gov. Marcy used all 
his iniluence in opposition lo the speculative mania 
■which was at that time in existence, and which le- 
.suUetl in the panic of 1S37. On being defeated in 
the contest for the governorship in 1838. Gov. Marcy 
was appointed by President Van IJuren one of the 
commissioners to decide upon the claims against the 
Mexican government under the convention of A)nil, 
1839, an office which he continued to hold until the 
powers of the commi.ssion expired, February, 1842, 




&^i^.j£ec^. 



when he practically retired for the time from public 
life. Gov. JIarcy presided over the democratic con- 
vention at Syracuse, in September, 1843, and used 
his influence in the state in favor of James K. Polk's 
candidacy for the presidency. On the election of 
Mr. Polk, the friends of Gov. Marcy began to work 
in his behalf, and he was offered the place of secre- 
tary of war, which he accepted. As he held this po- 
sition during the war w ith Mexico, its duties were 
unusually arduous, and it is claimed for him that to 
his ability as the head of the war department the 
countrj' was greatly indebted for the brilliant results 
of the contest with Mexico. Indeed, he showed a 
peculiar fitness for the position he filled, both 
through the comprehensiveness of his mind and be- 
cause of the force and energy of his character. Dur- 
ing the administration of President Polk, Gov. Mar- 
cy held a very confidential relation with regard to 
the president, and was his most influential adviser. 
In 1848 he supported Gen. C'a.ss for the presidency, 
and upon the expiration of Mr. Polk's term, he re- 
turned to Albany and resumed his position as a pri- 
vate citizen. In 1853 President Franklin Pierce ap- 
pointed Gov. Marcy secretary of stale, and he con- 
tinued to hold the olHce through that ailministra- 
tion. In this position he gained the reputation of 
being an acute and able diplomatist and a statesman 
fully competent to cope with those of the great pow- 
ers "of Europe. Important questions came before 
him, such as the Danish sound dues, the enlistment 
question. Central American affairs, and the exciting 
conditions which surrounded the release of Martin 
Koszta by Capt. Ingraham, commanding the sloop- 
of-war St. Louis, at Smyrna, in July. 1853. An elab- 
orate discussion resulted in Washington between Sec- 
retary Marcy and M. Hulsemanu, the clutrgt d'uffaires 
at Washingion. the conduct of Capt. Ingraham being 
fully ajiproved by the United States government. At 
the end of President Piei'ce's administration in 1S.57, 
jlr. JIarcy went to Hallston Spa, N. Y., where he was 
found dead on the evening of July 4. 1857, sitting 
in bis liliiaiy with an open volume before him. 

BANCROFT, George, secretarv of the navy. 
(See Iiicli'X.) 

MASON, John Young, attorney-general. (See 
Index.) 

JOHNSON, Cave, postmaster-general, was born 
ill Kobcrtson county, Tenu., Jan.'ll, 1793. After 
having iia.s.sed through the schools, he studied law, 
was admitted lo the bar, and be- 
gan to practice in Clarksville, 
Tenn. In 1820 he was made cir- 
cuit judge, and continued in that 
position and in the practice of law 
until 1829, when he was .sent lo 
concress, where he remained un- 
til i837. In 1839 he was re-elect- 
ed to congress, and remained in 
the house of representatives until 
1845, when President Polk ap- 
pointed him postmaster-general, 
under date of March 5ih. Jlr. 
Johnson went out of ]iolities with 
the close of the administration, 
and continued to devote himself 
lo his private affairs during the 
remainder of bis life. From 1850 
to 1S.59 he was president of the 
Hank of Tennessee. He was a 
Union man in sentiment during the civil war, and 
was elected lo the. .state senate of Tennessee on that 
basis in 18(i3. but was obliged lo decline to serve on 
account of his advanced age and infirmity. Hedied 
in Clarksville. Tcnii., Nov. 23. 1860. 

CLIFFORD, Nathan, attorney general. (Sec 
Index. ) 
TOUCEY, Isaac, attorney-general. (See Index.) 






'<i?^ 



^^^/^— 



COPYRIGHT, 189!, BY JAMES T. WHITE A CO. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



227 



X... \x 





,.'K, ' -I ' f^^ 









uHiNriTni;ii;iiiiiuiiU::^iK;iii!iiii:i:,u!;;y"]n:Tn"iYrh.''' 

:5i^^*SiS'"i'^r*,»-,,.'^"'Jer,ce of- 2 actuary Taylor. 



TAYLOR, Zachary, twelfth presidpnt of tlio 
Tnitfd Stiites, was bom in Orange county, Va., St'pt. 
34, 1784. His ancestor came to Virginia in 1083. His 
father, Lieut. -Col. Richard Taylor, who had com- 
niMMileil the 9th Virginia in the revolution, .settled 
near the site of Louisville, Ky., in 178,5. Bred 
among old soldiers and Indian fighters, the youth 
turned naturally to the army, and in 1808 was ap- 
pointed lieutenant in the 7th infantry. In 1810 he 
became a captain and married Margaret Smith of 
Calvert count)', Md., who shared his perils on the 
frontier and .survived him, dying in l.H,')2. In April, 
1813, he took command of Fort Harrison on the 
Wabash, a post intended to pro- 
tect Vincenncs. Here, Septem- 
ber 4th and .5th. he with fifty 
men, two-thirds of them ill, re- 
pulsed a large body of Indians, 
and so effectively that a montli 
later none were found in llie 
vicinity; for this exjiloit he was 
brevetted major, an lionor prob- 
ably never before conferred for 
border service. Two years later 
he attained that rank by com- 
mission, and made a successful 
expedition against tln^ British 
and Indians on Kock river. In 
181.5, the army having been re- 
_ _ duced to a peace footing and 

Ta^v^«/>'>/^2i^-<Ci>7^ he to a captaincy, he resigned 
^ ^ ^ and went home to plant corn; 

' but he was soon reinslateil. to 

remain in the army until elected iiresident. He be- 
came lieulenant-eolonil in 1.810, had command at 
Fort Snelling, and built l'\irt .lesup in 1823. In 
1832 he was commissioned colonel, took jiart in the 
second Black Hawk campaign, and received the 
surrender of that chief. Ordered to Florida for the 
Seminole war in 1836, he gained the notable victory 
of Okechobee Dec. 2.5, 1837, was brevetted brigadiei- 

feneral, and in 1S38 given the chief command in 
'lorida. In 1S40 he was placed in command of the 
southern division of the western department, and 
established his family on a plantation at IJatou 
Rouge, La. His youth and middle life were sjieiit 
In obscure though' able and faithful .service; as Web- 
ster said in the senate on the day after Taylor's 




death, "It is not in Indian wars that heroes are cel- 
ebrated, but it is there they are formed." His op- 
portunity to achieve world-wide fame did not arrive 
until he was past si.xty. In anticipation of the annex- 
ation of Texas, he was ordered to prepare for her de- 
fence against Jlexico. On his acceptance .Inly 4, 
184.5, of the terms ]irescribed at Washington, he 
went to Corpus Christi with 1.500 men; b_v Xovcm- 
ber he had 4,000. He had been authorized by Sec- 
retary Marcy to recruit volunteers, and told not to 
wait for instructions, but to act on bis own .I'udg- 
ment — and apparently on his own responsibility. 
Taylor was a whig, and desirous not to take the 
aggressive; but the countiy between the Nueces and 
the Rio Grande was in dispute, and his troops were 
encamped on both .sides of the former. Texas was 
admitted to the Union Dec. 27. 184.5. and in March, 
lS4(i. ol)eying definite orders, he led his force to the 
Rio Grande, built Fort Brown on its left bank, opjio- 
site JIatamora. and established his depot of supplies 
at Point Isabel, thirty miles ea.st. On this Gen. 
Ampudia, commanding at Matamoras, demanded 
his withdrawal beyond the Nueces; he replied that 
he was there by order of his government and pro- 
posed to stay. While he was gone for .sup|ili('s. the 
fort was heavily bondiarded and its commandant 
killed; hastening to its relief with 3.288 men, his 
way was blocked by Gen. Arista with (J.OOO regulars 
and some a\ixiliaries. A coinicil of war favored re- 
treat, but Taylor said, "I shall go to Fort Brown or 
stay in my shoes." The enemy were driven olf in 
the actions of Palo Alto and Res.aca de la Palma, 
May 8th and 0th. anil Matamoras occupied May 18th. 
All eyes at home were turned toward Mexico, and 
Taylor recei\cd the brevet and commission of ma- 
jor-general. May 28lli an<l .Iune2!Hli. At Camargoon 
the San .luan he received reinforcements, and in 
September marched with (>.(')25 men against Monte- 
rey, which he attacked September 31.st. Am])udia, 
wiio had a garrison of 10,000, surrendered after 
three days' sharp fighting, and an armistice of eight 
weeks was agreed on. The I'. S. govermneut 
strangely overruled this arrangment. leaving Taylor 
no means of supply or advance. His reply to Sec- 
retary Jlarcy. written by the camji-fire, was so for- 
cilile a doctimcnt that it wjus a.scribed to one of his 
slatr who had nuich more literary re))ute than the 
general. His plans were set aside and most of his 



228 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



Toops transferred to Scott at Vera Cruz. When 
Santa Anna, tempted by Taylor's supiiosed defence- 
less condition, miirched against him with a fine 
army of 21,000, he had been joined by Gen. Wool, 
and had a regiment of Jlississippi ritlemeu, a mount- 
ed company of Texaus, a squadron of dragocms, and 
three Ijattenes that had seen service: the rest of his 
5,400 men were raw recruits. Taking his .stand in 
a pass before the hacienda of Huena Vista, he 
awaited the attack, which began Feb. 23, 1847. 
The battle raged throughout the next day, a "fear- 
ful, blocxly, breatlde.ss struggle," and for a time 
threatened defeat to the Americans, but ended in a 
solid victory and the retreat of Santa Anna with but 
a remnant of the best army in Mexico. Though 
Scott took the city of Mexico and ended the war, 
Taylor came lumie in November, 1847, the foremost 
man in America. The country appreciated his 
steady success against heavy ruiils, poorly supported 
Viy a government which was suspected of having 
meant to u.se him as a tool and sacritice him at need. 
The solid virtues and plain bluntness of "Old 
Rough and Ready" appealed to the popular imagin- 
ation. " He is an upright man," .said Gen. Scott to 
his wife. "No," said she; "he is a downright 
man." The Jlexican war was undertaken mainly 
in the interest of .slavery, and was generally con- 
demne(l in the North. Lincoln called it "a naked, 
impu<leiit absurdity." But the whigs, who disap- 
proved it. had done their full share of the fighting, 
and were quite willing to make political capital out 
of the fact. Their convention, held at Philadelphia 
June 8, 1848, nominated Gen. Taylor for the pres- 
idency on the fourth ballot, and he was elected 
against Cass and Van Buien. He knew little of 
politics, but chose ex|)crienced men for his cabinet, 
and in his brief administration pursued a prudent 
and conservative course, disappointing those who 
had distrusted him as a slaveholder. His message 
recommended the admission to the Union of Califor- 
nia, which had excluiled slavery, but not that of 
New Jlexico and Utah. The recent large accession 
of territory gave a new impulse to party passions 
and .sectional jealousy; these he strove to moderate, 
staniling as he did above them and respected by all. 
A patriot rather than a jiartisan, he regarded office 
as a public tru.st, and frowned on jobs and nepotism. 
Campaign lives of him by J. Frost, and J. R. Fry 
appeared in 1848, and inferior sketches by C. F. 
Powell, 1840, and H. Montgomery, 1847. Hi's eldest 
daughter, Sarah, liecame the wife of .leffer.son 
Davis. Presii|<-nt Tavlor died July 9, 18.50, 

TAYLOR, Margaret Smith.'wife of President 
Z. Taylor, was born in Calvert coimty, JId., about 
1790, the daughter of Walter Smith, a planter. She 
wa-s educated chietly at home, and developed sterling 
practical and domestic qualities, which .served her 
■well in after life. At an early age she became the 
■wife of Gen. Taylor, and followed him to the fron- 
tier, rarely leaving liini. She went with him to Tam- 
pa, Fla., where slie was iudefatigalile in her attend- 
ance on the sick and wounded; and to Baton Rouge, 
La., where she inaugurated, at the garriscm. weekly 
religious services, which eventually resulted in the 
erection of an Ejiiscopal church. .Mrs. Taylor was 
not ambitious socially, and after her husband Ijccame 
president she took no part in the social gayeties of 
the White Hou.se, and regretted that her husband had 
been elected president, designating the honor as a "plot 
to deprive her of her husband's society and to shorten 
his life by minecessary care." Her you'ngest daughter, 
Elizabeth, born in 1836 and educated in Philadelphia, 
had married Maj.Wm. W. S. Bli.ss in 184r>, and on 
her fell the duties of mistress of the White House. 
She was popularly known as Jli.ss Betty, and her 
youth and beauty aided her greatly in discharging 
the duties of hostess. Thoroughly domestic in her 



tastes, Mrs. Taylor continued to lead the same life 
in Washington, D. C, that .she had always led; de- 
voted to the interests of her husband and children, 
and giving a large part of her time to household 
duties. Her second daughter, Sarah, became tlie ■wife 
of .Jefferson Davis, and died soon after her marriage. 
After the jiresident's death Mrs. Taylor visited rela- 
tives in Kentucky, but sul)sequenlly removed to Pas- 
cagoula. La. , and made her home with her son, where 
she died Aug. 18, 1S.J2. 

FILLMOBE, Millard, vice-president. (See 
Indc-x.) 

CLAYTON, J. M., .secretary of slate. (See 
Index. I 

MEREDITH, 'William Morris, secretary of 
the treasury, was born in Philadeli)hia, Pa., June 8, 
1799. His" father was William Meredith, a distin- 
gtushed lawyer of Philadelphia, who married Ger- 
trude Gouverueur Ogden, a niece of Lewis Morris, 
one of the signers of t he declaration of independence, 
and of Gouverneur Morris. This lady was a woman 
of great accomidi-shments and of remarkable intel- 
lectual powers, and both she and her husband were 
contributors to the "Portfolio." a notable perioiiical 
of the time. ^Ir. AVilliam Meredith was president 
of the Schuylkill Bank, and for some time tilled the 
otflce of city solicitor. He brought up his .son care- 
fully, while the latter was remarkable for his pre- 
cociousne.ss, as he is said to have been only thirteen 
years of age when he was graduated B. A. "from the 
University of Pennsylvania, re- 
ceiving the second honor in his 
class which made him valedic- 
torian. Following the example 
of his father, the j-oung man 
chose the vocation of law, and 
at once gave himself up to study 
with such success that four 
years later he was admitted to 
practice. His youth, however, 
■n'as against him, and for .several 
years it appears that he never 
had a case. When he was twen- 
ty-five years ol<l he was elected 
a" member of the state legisla- 
ture, and continued there until 
1828,and was practically the lead- 
er of the whigs in the lower hou.se. 
Jlr, Mereditli was not successful 
at the liar until he had been a 
mendier of that fratcniity for 
thirteen years; he then chanced 
to lie thrown into connection with the celebrated 
Girard will case, which brought him into public 
notice, and soon after business began to come to 
him. Indeed, it is stated that in all the important 
cases in Philadelphia, between 1840 and 1873, Mr. 
Meredith was concerned. In 1834 he became pres- 
ident of the select council of Philadelphia, and 
continued to hold that jiosition until is::i9. In 1837 
he was one of the members of the .-itate constitutional 
convention. He was a prominent candidate for the 
U. S. senate in 1845. In 1849, when Gen. Zachary 
Taylor became president, he ap]iointed Mr. Mere- 
ditli secretary of the trea.sury, and he coiuimied in 
the ottice imtil the death of Gen. Taylor, when he 
returned to Pliilailclpliia. and resumed the practice 
of law. In ISOI Mr. Meredith was appointed by 
Gov. Curtin a member of the celebrated "peace con- 
gres.s," which di.sbaniled after much earnest effort, 
but without accomplishing anything. In the same 
year Mr. Meredith was appointed attorney-general 
(if the st;ite of Pennsylvania, and continued to hold 
that position imtil ls(i7, when he resigned. His .ser- 
vice in tills important otliee is credited with having 
been marked by the exhibition of rare ability. In 
1870 he was appointed by President Grant senior 




OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



229 




counsel, on the part of the United Statos, of the Ge- 
neva arbitration tribunal, and he assisted in prepar- 
ing the American case, but resigned soon after. In 
1873 he was again a delegate to the state constitu- 
« tional convention, of which he was made presiding 
officer. As a lawyer Mr. Meredith was highly 
esteemed, and in his cases before the U. S. supreme 
court, was listened to earnestly and with respect. 
He died in Philadelphia Aug. 17, 1873. 

PRESTON, William Ballard, secretary of the 
navy, was born in iSniithtield, Montgomery C'o.,Va., 
Nov. 25, 1805. After studying in the common schools 
he went to the University of Virginia, where he was 
graduated, and then studied law 
and was admitted to the bar. He 
entered political life while he was 
quite a young man; was elected to 
the Virginia house of delegates 
and to the state senate, serving 
tlirougli a number o{ terms. He 
was a whig in politics at this time, 
and in 181(i was sent to congress 
by that party. On Alarch 8, 1849, 
Jir. Preston assumed the portfolio 
of the navy department, having 
been appointed secretary by Pres- 
ident Taylor, and he continued 
in this position until the death of 
Gen. Taylor, when he went out 
of politics and public life. In 
1858 a scheme was on foot in 
Virginia to open commercial in- 
tercourse with France, and a line of steamers was 
projected for that purpose. Mr. Preston was sent 
to France to promote this scheme, but was obliged 
to return witliout achieving success, owing to the 
secession of the southern states. Mr. Preston was 
elected a member of the Virginia secession con- 
vention in 1801, but he was himself a Union man 
and opjiosed the secession movement so long as there 
was any use in such opposition. He was elected to 
the CJonfederate senate in 1861, and was a memlier 
of that bodv at the lime of his death, which occurred 
Nov. 16, 1S62. 

CRAWFORD, George Washington, secre- 
tary of war, governor of Georgia (1848—17), and pres- 
ident of the Georgia secession convention in 1861, 
was born in Columbia county, Ga., Dec. 23. 1798, 
the son of Peter Crawford, an early settler in the 
county, and one of its most prominent citizens. 
George was graduated from 
Princeton College in 1820, read 
law under Kichard Henry Wilde, 
and was admitted to the bar in 
1833. He was appointed attorney- 
general of Georgia in 1837, serving 
until 1831, and represented his dis- 
trict in the state legislature, with 
the exceiition of one vear, from 
1837 to 1842. In 1843 he was sent 
to congress to till ont the term of 
R. W. Habersham, and in the same 
year was chosen governor of the 
state on the whig ticket, and in 
1845 he was re-elected. Gov. 
Crawford made an able execu- 
tive. He found the finances of 
the state deranged, her credit im- 
paired, her currency depreciat- 
ed: the static railroad languishing, and the jieniten- 
tiary a burden. He remedied these dillicvillies. re- 
stored the state's credit by inducing the leading 
banks to receive state bonds and Central Bank- 
notes at par, making them available as UKrney, and 
equal in value loeoin. Hi' pledged Iiis personal es- 
tate to the extent of $150,000 to niake gofxl any loss 
by depreciation, but his patriotic i>ledge for the sc- 




euiity of the state's credit caused him no loss, for 
his management of the finances renewed confidence, 
and a fresh energy was infused into all the state en- 
terprises. In March, 1849, Mr. Crawfcird entered the 
cabinet of President Tajlor as secretary of war, 
but resigned in 1850, when the president died. 
With several other former governors of Georgia, he 
was a member of the Southern commercial c<inven- 
tion at Montgomery, Ala., in 1858, and in 1861 ]>re- 
.sided over the Georgia secession convention, which 
formetl the Confederate constitution for the state. 
Jlr. Crawford spent several years in Eurojic. and af- 
ter his return lived in retirement at his Imme in 
Hichmond county, where he died after the war. 

EWING, Thomas, secretary of the interior. 
(See Index.) 

COLLiAMER, Jacob, postmaster-general, was 
born in Trey. X. Y., .Jan. 8, 1791. While he was a 
young child his family went to Burlington, Vt., to 
live, and there the boy went to school and worked 
on the farm, earning his own support and gradually 
accumulating enough to jmy his expenses at the Uni- 
versity of Vermont, where he was graduated in 1810. 
After leaving college he went to St. Albans and 
studied law. During the war of 1812 he .saw .service 
on the Canadian frontier as a lieutenant of artilleiy 
in the state militia. In 1813 he was admilled to 
practice at the bar of the state, and continued indus- 
triously engaged in his professional bu.siness for the 
next twenty years in ditferent parts of Vermont. 
Jleanwhile in 1821 he was a mem- 
ber of the state assemblj' and again 
in 1837, and in 1833 he was elected 
an associate justice of the supreme 
court of Vermont. He continued 
to hold this office until 1842. The 
following year he went to con- 
gress, elected by the whig party, 
and remained a member until 
1848. On March 7, 1849, Mr. Col- 
lamer became jiostmastergeneral 
of the United Slates by appoint- 
ment by President Taylor, and 
continued to hold that office until 
the president's death, when he was 
.succeeded by Nathan K. Hall, of 
New York, "July 20. 1850. Re- 
turning to Vermont he was again 
electedTone of the justices of the 
supreme court of that state, and 
continued in office until 1854,when 
he became a U. S. senator, and held that po.sition 
until the time of his death. While in the senate Mr. 
Collamer was chairman of the committees on jiost- 
offices and post-roads and on the library. He died 
in Woodstock. Vt.. .J\dy 9, 1865. 

JOHNSON, Reverdy, attorney -general, was 
born in Aniuipolis, Md., >Iay 21, 1796. His father 
was John John.son, an eminent lawyer who filled the 
offices of attorney-general, judge of the court of ap- 
peals and chancellor of Maryland. His mother was 
the daughter of Reverd}' Ghiselin, who was long 
and well known as the commissioner of the slate 
land office at Annapolis, and was noted for her 
beauty as well as her intellect. Reverdy Johnson was 
sent to St. John's College, Annapolis, Md., where he 
entered the primary department when he was. six years 
of age. and he remained theie a student for ten 
years, when he left the institution being thoroughlj' 
trained in classics and mathematics. He now began 
reading law under the direction of his father, and af- 
terward wa.s for a while a student in the office of the 
late Judge Stephen. He was admitted to the bar, 
and began to jiraetice in Prince George's county, in 
the village of Upper JIarlborough, in 1816, when he 
was in the twentieth year of his age. Although 
so young, the attorney-general of the state appointed 




230 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



Johnson his fleputy for the judicial district, and the 
yoting man iierforined thi' responsililc tliities of this 
office most creditably. In 1S17 Mr. Johnson re- 
moved to Baltimore and beiian practice for himself, 
succeeding immediately, and e.xliibitinir a degree of 
brilliancy which has seldom been equaled, and which, 
with his solid acquirements, established liim at once 
in an excellent position. lie became a profe.s.sional 
as.sociate and intimate companion of .such great law- 
yers as Robert Goodloe Harper, William Pinckney, 
Roger B. Taney and others, who had already made 
the bar of Maryland famous. While attending to 
liis regular professional and official duties, Mr John 
son was for .several years also occupied in the task of 
reiiorliiig judicial decisions, which were published 
in seven volumes, under the title of " Johnson's 
Maryland Keports. " In 1821 he was elected a mem- 
ber of the stale senate of Maryland for five years, 
and was re-elected for another term, of which, how- 
ever, he only served two years, when he resigned 
and devoted iiimself to his cimsiantly increasing prac- 
tice. Mr. Johnson speedily reached a rank and rep- 
utation unsurjias.sed at the American bar He was 
frecpienlly eniploj-ed to argue important cases be- 
fore the supreme court of the United States, and his 
services were often in demand in distant parts of the 
United States, and even in England. In 1833 Mr. 
Johnson met with an accident which unfortunately 
resulted in his |)artially los- 
ing his eyesight. It hap- 
pened that Henry A. Wise, 
of Virginia, had challenged 
John Stanley, a member of 
congress from North Caro- 
lina, to tight a duel, and went 
to Johnson's residence near 
Baltimore for the purpo.se of 
preparing for the engage- 
ment. While he was practic- 
ing Mr. Johnson took the 
pistol and fired at a tree about 
ten feet di.stant. The ball 
struck the tree.but rebounded 
and entered his left eye, com- 
pletely destroying its sight. 
In 184.") Mr. Johnson was elect- 
ed a member of the United 
States senate, where he at 
once made his mark, and particularly for his cour- 
age in favoring the Mexican war — a cour.se in which 
he op]iosed the majority of his party. On the acces- 
sion of Gen. Zachary Taylor to the presidency of 
the United Slates, Ueverdy Johnson was appointed 
by him attorney genera! uiider dale Mareli 7. I.s4!l, 
and was continued bj- President Fillmore after the 
death of Gen. Taylor," until July 20, IH.'iO. when he 
was succeeded by John J. Crittenden. He now re- 
sinned his practice, and his fame as a lawyer .soon 
became national, to that degree that he was retained 
on one side or the other of almost every important 
cas(! in Ihecoiu-tsof Maryland and in "the United 
States supreme court at Washington. In 18.")4 Mr. 
Johnson was employed by an English mercantile 
house to argue a case befciri' the joint English and 
American claims commission, which was at that 
time sitting in London, in accordance with the pro- 
visions of an international treaty; his a.ssociate was 
the late Lord Cairns, afterward bail chancellor, who 
was at that time a leading member of tbe chancery 
bar. On the occasion of this visii to England Mr. 
John.son was received with veiy great altenlion on 
the part of all the leading public" men. On his return 
home he devoted himself to his enormous practice, 
and look no part in ))ublic .-dlairs until the period of 
the outbreak of the civil war. lie was cho.sen one of 
the(lelegates from Maryland to the peace convention 
which assembled in Wa.shiugton, and on January 10, 




ISfil, at the, time when Maryland wa.s considered one 
of the doubtful states, Mr. ./ohuson delivered a thrill- 
ing adilress to thousiuids of the citizens of Baltimore 
in which he advanced tlie strongest arguments pos- 
sible again.st the crime of secession. AH of this is 
the more remarkable on account of the well known 
jiolitical independence of Mr Johnson, which had 
led him into the democratic party in 18,j6 after the 
disruption of the whig party, and induced him to 
support the administration of President Buchanan. 
Even during the presidential compaign of 18l>0 Jlr. 
Johnson supported Stephen Arnold Douglas; yet, 
when war had absolutely broken out belfteen the 
sections, he supported the Union cause and the ad- 
ministration of President Lincoln. At the conclusion 
of the .struggle Mr Johnson defended the right of 
the southern states to be restored to their former po- 
sition and privileges. He was now a member of the 
United States senate, to which he had been elected 
by the legislature t)f JIaryland in 1863. He partici- 
pated in all the great debates, sometimes voting with 
the democrats and sometimes opposing them, but 
always resisting extreme and cruel measures of op- 
pression and retaliation toward the southern people. 
In March, 1864, he gave his vole in favor of the 
constitutional amendment abolishing slavery. As a 
member of the joint committee on reconstruction in 
the thirty-ninth congress, he opposed the views of 
the majority and favored the immediate readmission 
of the southern slates. While he o|)po.sed the mili- 
tary recon.st ruction bill when this was under discus- 
sion in the senate, he turned in favor of it on its re- 
appearance accompanied by the president's veto, 
judging that it offered the mildest terms which the 
South could probably obtain. In 1868 President 
JohiLson ajiiiointed him minisler to England, to suc- 
ceed Charles Francis Adams. Here he received at- 
tentions such as had never before been paid to an 
American amba.s.sador. Among the questions aris- 
ing between the two countries, that of the settlement 
of the Alabama claims was the most important, and 
this received ma.sterly treatment at the hands of Kev- 
erdy Johnson, who negotiated what was known as 
the "Johnson-Clarendon Treaty," which wa.s, how- 
ever, rejected by the L'nited States senate. As to 
this treaty it has been conceded by the best jiidges 
that it acconqili.shed its object, and that the subse- 
quent arrangement which was carried into efl'ert 
gave no additional security for peace and established 
no new principle whatever. The ojiposition to Mr. 
Johnson's treaty was jjurely factional, and caused 
by party jealo\isies. Gen. Grant assumed the pres- 
idencv in 1869, and Mr. Johnson was recalled from 
London, being succeeded by Gen. Koli't C. Scbenek. 
Keturning to Baltimore, Mr. John.son once more look 
up his law business, to which was now added the 
conduct of much imiiorlant litigation in connection 
with the restilts of the civil war and the elf oris to 
carry out in the southern slates the jirovisionsof the 
reconstruction acts. All of this brought about the 
di.scussion of conslimtional (pieslions never before 
rai.sed, and in numy such cases Mr. Johnson appear- 
ed, his arguments being considereil to be among the 
ablest modern expositions of our fundanienl.'il law, 
audit may be said that he will live in American hisiory 
as one of the foremost ex pounders of the Constitution. 
In 1872 Mr. John.son supported Horace Greeley for 
l)resident. In the latter jiarl of 1S7,') he made a .short 
tri]) to England on business, and, returning, went to 
Annapolis, where he became the gnesi of the gov- 
ernor of Maryland wliiU' lie awaited the call of an 
important case in the coml of ajipeals of the state. 
He had been the central figure of a brilliant dinner- 
party at the executive man.sion, where his delightful 
humor and fund of aneed(j|e had charmed all tlio.se 
]iresent, when he was suddenly .stricken down with 
apoplexy and died in a few hours on Feb. 10, 1876. 




,^y^tc£ccu.^ ycc^^i^t.<^c-u) 



COPYRIGHT. 1693, BY JAMES T. WHITE A CO. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



233 




\ ■ *-i_ _ ___—-="■ "^ '- - 'fte^tit^iK^i'l'ltird Fillf^ece^ 



FILLMORB, Millard, thirteenth president of 
the United States, was bom in Locke (now Sumraer 
HilD.N. Y.. Jan. 7, 1800. For four senerations liis an- 
cestors had been pioneers. .Toliu Filhnore, mariner, 
married Abigail Tilton at Ipswich. Mass.. in 1701. 
John Fillmore, his son (the father havinjr died at 
sea), was made administrator of his parents' small 
estate in 1723. After perilous adventures of his 
own, he settled at Franklin, Conn., then part of the 
town of Norwich. His son Nathaniel, the presi- 
dent's frrandfather, located at Benninston, Vt., 
and fousrht as a lieutenant in the battle of Bennini;- 
ton in the American revolution, under Stark. His 
son Nathaniel removed in early 
life to western New York, hav- 
ing married Phebe. daughter of 
Dr. Millard of Pittstield. Mass.. 
a woman of more than mdinary 
capacities. The future presi- 
dent remained on the fann with 
his family until he was about 
fifteen years old. He was early 
ilistinguished by his love of 
reading and his appetite for 
knowledge. His educational 
advantages were, however, lim- 
ited and at the age of tifteen, 
he wa.s sent from home to learn 
the trade of a clothier which as 
\ i^ 'Kv ''"'■'^ conducted furnished em- 

6 .^^Wz^ Plo.vment for but a p.yt of the 
^^ year. He rettirned to his fa- 

ther's home for the winter, but 
asked not to go again to his employer's because that 
employer had kept him for nuich of the lime at 
other work than that which belonged to him. This 
resulted in his being placed elsewliere: but while he 
fitted himself to be a carder of wool and a dresser of 
cloth he attracted the attention and made the ac- 
quaintance of Waller Wood, a Cayiiga county law- 
yer, and was enabled by liis assistance to buy his 
time and devote himself to study. With Mr. Wood 
he read law and general literature and at the same 
time surveyed land for his |iatron. In 1821 he re 
moved to firie county, N. Y., and in 1822 read law 
in a Biiflalo (N. Y.) law office, maintaining liimself 
by teaching school. In the spring of 1823 he was 




admitted to the bar at Buffalo. He at once removed 
to Aurora. N. Y.. where his father resided, and be- 
gan the practice of his profession, winning his first 
ca.se and a fee of four dollars. Here he remained 
imtil the spring of 1830, and fortius period the cases 
in which he was employed were so well managed 
that his reputation steadily rose and lie was led back 
to Buffalo at its close, where in a short time he 
formed a partnership with N. K. Hall, to which S. 
G. Haven was soon admitted. The firm of Fillmore, 
Hall A Haven became the leading law firm in west- 
ern New York, appearing ordinarily in every case of 
magnitude in that portion of the state. In 1826 Mr. 
Fillmore married Abigail, daughter of Rev. Samuel 
Powers. In the fall of 1828 he had also been elected 
to the general as.sembly of the state from Erie coun- 
ty, going to the legislature as the successful candi- 
date of the anti-Masonic party. He served in the 
legislature three succes.sive terms, and during these 
years he, with others, secured the passage of the bill 
abolishing imprisonment for debt, which was draft- 
ed by him in connection with John C. Spencer. 
In 1832 he was chosen to the U. S. house of repre- 
sentatives from his congressional district. Serving 
one term he resumed his iirofessional labor in Buffalo 
but in 1836 was re-elected and served continuously 
in the twenty -fifth, twenly-sixth and twenty-seventh 
congresses. ' He then declined further re-election al- 
though honored in the call of those which were giv- 
en him by the largest majority ever gained in his 
district. " In the twenty-seventh congress (1841-42) 
his party (whig) having come iiilo jiower at the pre- 
ceding presidential election Mr. Fillmore wa.s ap- 
pointed chairman of the committee of ways and 
means. The leading politicians of his .state made an 
earnest endeavor to secure his nomination for the 
vice-presidency of the United States at the conven- 
tion of their party in May, 1844, but unsuccessfully. 
Following this there was a general desire among the 
whigs of New York that he be nominated for gov- 
ernor of the state, to which he very reluctantly con- 
sented, and in September of that year he was by ac- 
clamation made the party's standard-bearer iu the 
contest for that high otlice. lie was disastrously- 
defeated in the canvass by Silas Wright, the nom- 
inee of the democrats. On the lllh of November, 
writing to his illustrious contemporarj-, Henry 



234 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



Clay, who was defeated in his presidential canvass 
at the same time, Mr. Fillmore said: "For myself I 
have iKi rejrrcls. 1 was uoniiuated much against ray 
will, and althduudi not insensit)le to tlie pride of suc- 
cess, yet feel a kind of relief at lieing defeated. But 
not so for you and the nation. Every consideration 
of justice, every feelinjr of gratitude conspired iu 
tlie niiuds of honest men to insure your election, and 
althou<:li always doul)tful of my own success, I 
could never doubt yours until tlie painful conviction 
was forced upon me." Inthe fall of 1S47 he was elect- 
ed comptroller of the slate of New York, and en- 
tered upon tlie duties of the office Jan. 1, 1848. 
But soon after the transmission of his lirst annual 
report to the state legislature, Jan. 1, 1849, he re- 
.signed his position to enter upon his duties as vice- 
president of the United Slates, to which po.st he had 
been chosen in the November preceding (1848) with 
Gen. Zachary Taylor as the successful whig candi- 
date for the |iresidency. The president dying in 
office (July 9, 1850) Mr. Fillmore at once a.ssumed 
his constitutional duties as president, and faithfully 
discharged them until the end of his term, March 4, 
1853. It is said tlial in his cabinet, made of Edward 
Everett of Jlassachusetts, secretary of state; Thomas 
Corwin of Ohio, secretary of the treasury; Alexander 
W. H. Stuart of Virginia, secretary of the interior; 
John P. Kennedy of Maryland, secretary of the 
navy; C. M. Conrad of Louisiana, secretary of war; 
P. S. Hubbard of Connecticut, postmaster-general, 
and Jolin J. Crittenden of Kentucky, attorney-gen- 
eral, there was never a dissenting vote in regard to 
any important measure of his administration, and 
all of them united in a cordial testimony to him, 
when by the closing of his term their official rela- 
tion.ships were .se\-ered. In the whig nominating 
convention for the presidency Mr. Fillmore's name 
was presented as a candidate but could not command 
twenty votes from the free states, a fact doubtless 
due to the official signature he had given as president 
to the fugitive slave bill of 1854 so called. In 1856 
he accepted the noiiiinalion of the American party 
for the same office but only gained the electoral vole 
of the state of Maryland." Mr. Fillmore's active 
participation iu pulilic life closed with this candida- 
cy and he retired to private life. His wife had died 
in 1853, shortly after the termination of his presi- 
dential career and iu 1854 a daughter grown to 
womanhiMid was also removed from him bv death. 
In May, 1855, he visited Europe, and while iu 'England 
was tlie recipient of marked attention from eminent 
people. He however declined the degree of D.C.L. 
from the Univcr.^ily of O.xfoid. In 1866 he made 
anotlier visit abroad willi liis second wife, Miss C. 
C. Mclnlo.sh. The public and political action by 
which Mr. Fillmore's jilace is determined may be 
succinctly .stated. AVilli entire honesty of purpose, 
and sufficient independence and courage to take 
ground against his jiarty if he conceived it to be 
right to do so, one notes this divergence in the early 
part of his congressional career, from the wliig 
(Henry Clay) ))oiicy in favor of a United States 
Bank, and rejoices to tind liim a supporter of justice 
in advocating the receipt by congress of anti slavery 
petitions. His labor in iletermining I lie legislation 
of the twentyseveiilli congress, by which llie tarill 
of 1842 was" enacted, were exacling, arduous and 
most highly creditable. This may well be said, 
when it is recalled that Jolin Qiiincy Adams rated 
that congress as tlie ablest lie had ever known. In 
the report before alluded to. made Jan. 1, 1849, 
which he presented as comiilroller of the state of 
New York, may be found the suggestion of a system 
of lianking with the stocks of tlie United States as a 
basis for tlie issue of currency which was substan- 
tially carried out in the n.ational banking system 
that came into existence iu the early portion of the 



civil war and continues to this day. When he be- 
came vice-president (1849) he found, as ])residing 
officer of the U. S. senate, that John C. Callioun of 
South Carolina had announced to that body in IS'26 
liis opinion that tlie vice-president had no authority 
to call senators to order and that this was settled 
usage. Mr. Fillmore in a carefully considered 
speech declared that he regarded it as his duty to 
preserve decorum, and that he sliould, if occasion 
made it necessjiry, reverse the action of his prede- 
cessors. His position commanded the warm ap- 
proval of the senate, and his speech upon the subject 
was ordered to be entered at length upon the senate 
journal. His presidential administration was not to 
be commended without qualitication, if judgment 
be given by ancient political and party standards; 
but on the crucial (piestion of slavery, especially 
in connection witli the " fugitive .slave law" hereto- 
fore referred to, his course cannot be apjiroved by 
men wdiose conscience is .sufficiently sensitive and 
enlightened to make them feel that a comjiaet to do 
evil does not become a valid oliligation, even if it be 
incorporated in a national constitution. Tlie judg- 
ment of his countivmen upon this point was sulli- 
ciently dcci.sive. Cheap postage was .secured during 
his administration, and Japan was opened first to the 
United States and then to the world liy the Perry ex- 
pedition of 18.53-.54. He checked tililiusteringaml in 
connection with the vi.sit of Kossuth lo llie United 
States made himself known as a tirm adherent of 
the " Jlonroe doctrine "of non-intervention by the 
United Slates with the affairs of foreign nations. 
As a citizen lie was a mixlel. taking the deepest in- 
terest in the civil, religious and intellectual develop- 
ment of the coniinuuity which was his home. The 
bioirrajiliv of Jlillanl Fillmore was piibli.slicd at 
BulTalo, 'X. Y., in 1856. He died in Buffalo, N. 
Y., March 7, 1874. 

FILLMORE, Abigail Powers, wife of Pre-s- 
ident Fillmore, was born at Stillwater. S;iratoga 
Co., X. Y., in March, 1798, the youugesi child of 
Lemuel Powers, a Baptist clergyman. Her father 
dying while she was an infant, her mother removed 
to Caj'Uga county, where Abigail was brought up in 
strict economy. She was stu- 
dious and ambitious, progressed 
rapidly in her studies, and at 
an caily age became a teacher. 
On Feb. 5, lSi6, she was mar- 
ried to iMr. Fillmore, and re- 
moved with him to Erie coun- 
ty. Mrs. Fillmore continued to 
teach after her marriage, faith- 
fully attended to her household 
duties, and aided her husband 
in his struggle to make a posi- 
tion for himself. In the spring 
of 1830 they removed lo Buffalo, 
where .she tlmrouglily enjoyed 
society and citv lite, being nat- 
urally sociable." When Mr. Fill- 
more" liecauK' ]ircsideiit her deli- 
cate health and her mourning for 
her sister prevented her from 
entering into the social gayeties of 'Washington, and 
the duties of hostess devolved upon her daughter. 
Mrs. Fillmore was fond of reading, and there being 
no books in the 'White House, President Fillmore 
a.sked an apjiropriation of congress, and appointed a 
room in the second story to be set aside as a library. 
Proud of her husband's ".success. Mrs. Fillmore made 
an effort to apix'ar at the public dinners and recep- 
tions when her health would permit. She was intel- 
lectual, warm-hearted, and of a cheerful disposition. 
After her death her husband said; "For twenty- 
seven years, my entire married life, I was always 
greeted with a happy smile." ^Irs. Fillmore at the 





C;S^Si4t/^T::--»'><. ^^ <i>^»'V^^C 



COPVRIOHT, IBO!, BY JAMtS T. WMITE < CO 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



237 




expiration of lier husband's term of office, was re- 
niowd to Willard's Hotel, Wasliiugton, D. C, where 
she died JIaich 30, 1853. 

CLAYTON, John Middleton, secretary of 
state and senator, was born at Dagsboronsh, Del., 
July 34, 1796. He was the eklest son of James, de- 
scendant of Joshua Clayton, who came to Pennsyl- 
vania with William Penn in October, 1683. Tlie 
father married Sarah Middleton of Virginian ances- 
try, and John M. was their second child. Receiving 
some preparatory instruction at 
schools near his home, he en- 
tered Yale College on the day 
he was tiftccn years old, and 
was graduated in the class of 
1815, with the highest honors. 
Such was his love of books that 
during his four years' college 
course he took no vacations, but 
spent them all in study. En- 
tering the office of his cousin, 
Thomas Clairton, in his native 
stale, he began the study of law 
and afterward pursued it at the 
law school at Litclitield, Conn., 
studying, he said, fifteen hours 
per day for twenty months. He 
was admitted to the hnr in Dela- 
ware, and in 1819 li.xed his resi- 
dence at Dover, the state capital. 
From the first he look high po.si- 
tion, although he came into competition with strong 
men. His power with juries was such that his polit- 
ical opponent and rival, James A. Bayard, said he 
had no superior in the country as a jury lawyer. 
His legal career lasted for ten years. In 1834 he 
entered the state legislature, and was subsequently 
secretaiT of state in Delaware, and stale auditor. 
In 18'38, in the fierce contest for the presidency of 
the United Slates between John Quincy Adams and 
Andrew Jackson, he threw himself warmly into the 
fight for the re-election of Mr. Adams, and the elec- 
toral vote of Delaware being so decided, the legisla- 
ture chosen was also in accord with the friends of 
Clayton. He was therefore cho.sen senator, and en- 
tered the senate at the special session in JIarch, 
1829, contemporaneously with the opening of Jack- 
son's eventful administration. His ability was 
quickly felt in that body. During the regular ses- 
sion of congress beginning in December, 1829, he 
took pait in one of the most famous debates ever 
had in the senate — that upon "Foote's Resolution," 
which gave occasion for the great encoimter between 
Daniel Webster and Mr. Haync, of South Carolina. 
John Quincy Adams wrote in his diary of Mr. Clay- 
ton's speech, that "it was one of the most power- 
ful and eloquent orations ever delivered in either of 
the halls of congress." He continued to be one of 
the most effective of the senators who antag<ini7.ed 
the several radical measures of Gen. Jackson's two 
presidential terms. He made an energetic inquiry 
into irregularities in the U. S. post-office department 
and ultimately secured im])ortant reforms in it. He 
was conspicuous in promoting the prompt passage 
of the compromise tariff in 1833, by which John C. 
Calhoun and the South Carolina nullification party 
were afforded a door for retreat from their threat- 
ened rebellion. He effectually advocated the land 
act of 1833, and strongly supported the U. S Rank 
in its a))plication for recharter and in its resistanixi 
to the removal of the jniblic deposits and of the 
pension fund. He voted for Henry Clay's resolu- 
tions condemning the removal of the dejiosils from 
the U. S. Bank, and was one of the U. S. senators 
named by President Jackson in his famous "Pro- 
test." In 1831 he was in the convention which re- 
vised the constitution of Delaware. In 1835 he was 



re-elected to the U. S. senate, but in the fall of 1836 
resigned and was made chief justice of Delaware. 
From 1833 to the date of his resignation, he had 
served in the U. S. senate as chairman of the stand- 
ing committee on the judiciary. He resigned liis 
judicial office in 1839, and entered the canvass of 
the whig speakers, who advocated the election of 
Gen. W. H. Harrison to the presidency. In 1845 
he was again chosen to the U. S. senate from his 
state. He took a prominent part in tirging the pay- 
ment of the French spoliation claims and in the ad- 
justment of the Oregon boiuidaiy question, sup- 
ported the war with Jle.xico, after that bad been en- 
tered upon, and pre.s.sed the nomination of Gen. 
Zachaiy Taylor for U. S. president in 1848. In 
March, 1849, he entered President Taylor's cabinet 
as secretary of state, but resigned in July, 1850, af- 
ter the death of the president. During his service 
in the state department he negotiated, -nith Sir Henry 
Lytton Bulwer, the Clayton-Bulwer treaty between 
Great Britain and the United States, relating to the 
proposed construction of a ship canal in Central 
America to connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, 
and through an agent sent to Hungary, he expressed 
the symjjaUiy of the people of the United States for 
Hungarian efforts after self-rule. Mr. Clayton was 
again elected to the U. S. senate in 1852, spoke on 
the 10th of March, 1853, in explanation of this treaty 
above referred to, which had been attacked by Sen- 
ator Cass of Michigan, and on the 14th replied to 
speeches of the same character by senators Mann of 
Virginia and Douglas of Illinois. Senator Clayton 
married a daughter of Dr. James Fisher, of Cam- 
den, Del., in 1833. She died three years later and 
he never remarried. He died at Dover, Del., Nov. 
9, 1856. 

■WEBSTER, Daniel, secretary of state. (See 
Index.) 

E'VERETT, Edward, secretary of state, sen- 
ator, and thirteenth governor of Massachusetts, was 
born in Dorchester, Mass., Apr. 11, 1794. He was 
the sou of Rev. Oliver Everett, from 1783 until 1799 
pastor of the New South church in Boston, and 
brother of Alexander H. Everett, an eminent writer 
and diplomatist. Edwa^i receiv- 
ed his early education in the pub- 
lic schools of Boston, and entered 
Harvard, from which he was grad- 
uated in 1811. While in college 
he displayed his natural literary 
talent by editing the college pub- 
lication known as the "Harvard 
Lyceum." After graduation he 
was for a while tutor in the col- 
lege, jiursuiug at the same time 
studies in divinity. In 1813 he 
delivered the Phi Beta Kappa 
poem at Har\'ard, his subject being 
"American Poets." This poem, 
written at eighteen, gave great 
promise that Everett's name might 
stand high on the list of American 
poets, but this jiromise was never 
fulfilled. He wrote but little po- 
etiy afterward, though one poem, 
"."Vlaric, the Visigoth," sustains his claim to rank 
amongthe jioets in the Engli.sh tongue. InlH13 he was 
made pastiir of the Brattle'strcet ( Uiiit;uian) church in 
Boston, where he speedily attained a high reputation 
for eloquence and spirit in his discourses. He also 
preached in Cambridge, and gained .i wide reputa- 
tion, yoinig as be w;is, of l)eing one of the most elo- 
quent, and especially one oif the most pathetic 
preachers in the United States. In 1814, having 
iieen chosen Eliot inofe.ssor of Greek in Harvard, he 
went to Europe to fit himself for the duties of his 
position, remaining abroad during the next four 







238 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



years. He pursued a wide course of study, and 
formed a distinguished circle of acquaintauces, iu- 
cludiug sucti eiuiuent p(!oi)le as Scott, Byron, .Jef- 
frey, Sir Humphrey Davy, anil Homilly. M. C'ou.sin, 
the French jihilosopher and transhUor of Phito, pro- 
nounced liim "one of the Ijcsi Grecians I ever knew." 
lu 1819 Mr. Everett returned, and entered upon his 
duties at Harvard. From 1K20 lie edited the "North 
American Hcview." to which he ccmtribulcd largely 
at that time, and also sulise(iuently, when the edilDr- 
.shi]i passed into the h.-inds of his lirother.AUwaiuler 
II. Everett. In i»2'i Edwaid Kvcrett married the 
daughter of Peter C. Hinoks.one uf the wealthiest men 
of IJoston, and two years later began his political ca- 
reer as a member of congress from the district of 
Boston. He sat in the house for ten successive 
years, but declined re-election in 1834. While in 
congress he voted on the whig side. In 1835 he 
was elected governor of JIassachusetts, which office 
he held by successive re-election for four years. He 
missed further re-election in 1839 by only one vote 
out of over one hundred thousand. In 1840 he went 
to Europe, and while there was appointed minister 
plenipotentiary to tlie court of St. .James, being fur- 
ther honored by receiving from O.xford University 
the degree of D.C.L., aii<l from Dublin and Cam- 
bridge'Univcrsities that of LL.D. In 1845, owing 
to ii change of admiiiisinilion, he was recalled from 
London, and during the ne.\t four years he was pres- 
ident of Harvard. In 18.52 occurred the death of 
Daniel Webster, who was secretary of state, and 
Mr. Everett was ajipointed by .Mr. Fillmore to fill 
out the few months remaining of the lalter's term in 
that office. In 1853 .Mr. Everett was elected U. S. 
senator, but he only held the seat one year, being 
obliged to resign on accoimtof impaired health. In 
1853, when the plan to purchase Jlount Vernon by 
private subscription was organized, Mr. Everett 
was invited to deliver an oration on Washington in 
behalf of the undertaking. His accomplishment of 
this task was one of the most memorable events in 
the history of literature and forensic eloquence in 
the United St.ates. The oration he delivered on that 
occa.sion has Iwen pronounced one of the nuist pow- 
erful, comprehensive, and elegant ever written in 
any language, comparing favorably with those of 
Cicero, Demo.sthenes, and Ivlmund Burke. During 
the spring of 185G and the summer of 1857, Jlr. 
Everett delivered this oration in the principal cities 
and towns of the coniitiy more than one hundred 
times, with the resiilt of turning into the treasury of 
the Mount Vernon As.socintion nearly $60,000. In 
addition to this, during 1858 and 18.59, he contribut- 
ed to the " New York licdger, " owned and publish- 
ed by Robert Boimer, a weekly article for which the 
latter paid in advance iflO.OOO" to the ladies of the 
Miumt Vernon Association. The receipts for other 
addresses and lectures delivered for charitable pur- 
poses were nearly .'JIOO.DOO. He took an active part 
in the discussion of the jiolilical questions of his 
time, but he was more noleil as an orator on literary 
and other public occasions. Collections of his 
speeches and addresses have been made at several 
periotls. One of these, made in 1850, in two vol- 
umes, contained more than eighty addresses ; a 
third volume a|ipeared in 1S.5«, aiwl a fourth in 
isti9. One of the best of these is the Phi Beta 
Kappa oration, which was delivered at Harvard, 
July 4, 1820. on the liftieth anniversary of the de- 
claration of independence, and a day on which, 
■within a few hours of each other. Thomas .Jeffer- 
son and John (Juincy Adams both passed away, 
even as their names lingereil on the ehxpieiU tongue 
of the great orator. In istiu, when the civil war 
■was threatening, and the condition of p:>litics ha<i 
broken the people into half a dozen jiarties, Jlr. 
Everett was candidate for vice-president, with John 



Bell, of Tennessee, for president, on what was known 
as the Bell Everett or Union ticket. The election 
gave them the electoral votes of Virginia, Ken- 
tucky, and Tennessee — 39 in all; the ticket received 
.5y0,()31 votes out of a total 4,602.170. Through- 
out the war Mr. Everett was a consisteiU Union 
man, always retaining, liowcver, a considerate feel- 
ing for the Southern people, whom he regarded as 
misguided and misled. His oration at the dedica- 
tion of the National Cemeteiy, at Gettysburg. Pa., 
Nov. 15, 1803, was a magnificent productioi\ in full 
accord with the gravity of the occasion, and couch- 
ed in eminently fitting language. This address is 
worthy of being ranked anu)iig the greatest intel- 
lectual tiiiuuphs of its author. Jvlward Everett's 
last appearance was at a meeting held in Faneuil 
Hall, Boston, Jan. 9, 180.5, for the purpose of as- 
si.sting the people of Savaimah. Ga. He was taken 
seriously ill after this fatiguing day, and never re- 
covered, dying in less than a week thereafter. 
Perhaps the best summing up of Jlr, Everett's in- 
tellectual gifts is to be fountl in an article by Geo. 
S. Hilli.ird, which was published in the " Nortli 
American l{eview," in 1837, for even at that time 
Mr. Everett had reached a high eminence in the 
regard of his fellow-citizens. "The great charm 
in Mr. Everett's orations," s,ays Mr. Hilliard. "con- 
sists not so much in any single and strongly de- 
veloped trait, as in that symmetr)' and finish which 
on every page gives token of the richly endowed 
and thorough scholar. The natural mov<'meiUs of 
his min<l are full of grace, and the most indiffer- 
ent .sentence which falls from his pen has that 
.simple elegance which is as difficult to define r.s it 
is easy to perceive. His level jiassages ai'e never 
tame, and his fine ones are never superfine. His 
style, with matchless He.\ibility. rises and falls with 
his subjects, and is alternately easy, vivid, elevated, 
ornamented, or picturesque, adapting itself to the 
dominant mood of the mind, as an instrument re- 
sponds to the toucli of a luaster's hand. His knowl- 
edge is so extensive, and the field of his allusions 
so wide, that the most familiar views, in jiassing 
through his hands, gather such a halo of huuiiaais 
illustrations that their likeness seems transformed, 
and we entertain doubts of their identity." Mr. 
Everett died in Boston Jan. 15, 1805. 

MEREDITH, 'W. M., secretary of the treas- 
uiy. (Sec Index.) 

COB'WIN, Thomas, .secretary of the treasury 
and governor of Ohio (1840-42), was born in I5our- 
bon couiUy, Ivy.. Julj- 29, 1794, the son of Ma- 
thias Corwin, who had removed 
from Morris county, N. J. His 
nuither was a native of Long Isl- 
and, and the daughter of a .sea- 
ca])tain. It was a common thing 
for eastern emigrants, who first 
settled in Kentucky, to remove 
over the river to Ohio, feeling that 
a slave state was no place to raise 
children. So it was with Jtathias 
Corwin, who. four years after the 
birth of Thomas, .settled in War- 
ren county, on Turtle creek. Here 
he p\irehased a farm, and was so 
highly respecleil tliat for many 
years he reju'esented his district in 
"the state legislature. Thomas was 
ambitious, and desirous of obtain- 
ing an education, but his appeals to 
his father for ojiportunity to stiidy 
were met by the statement that his services on the 
farm could not be spared. I'lUl shortly after, an ac- 
cident, which laid the lad by with a broken leg, 
gave him leisure, which he improved by n\aster- 
ing the contents of a Latin grammar, the juoperty 




OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



239 



of au ekler brother, who was a clerk of court, aud a 
man of considerable educatiou. This renewed the 
boy's desire for an educatiou, and being again re- 
fused any time to devote to study, he deliberately 
broke his leg again, that he niiglit secure the leisure 
he wanted. Upon this his father wilhdrew his o))- 
positiou, and the boy pursued his studies under his 
brother, who was his only teaelicr. He gained a 
thorough knowledge of the law, being (juick to ac- 
quire aud tenaciou.s in retaining the inforiuatiou given 
in the text-books, and in 1S18 was admitted to the 
bar. In 1823 he was elected to the state legislature, 
where he servetl .seven years, distinguishiug himself 
at the first session by a siiecch in opiiosition to the 
introduction of the \vhi|i])ing-post. In \H'40 he was 
elected a representative in congix-ss, where he soon 
became a whig leader. He remained in the hou.se 
until 1840, when he was nominated by the whigs as 
a candidate for governor of Ohio. The campaign 
that followed was a remarkalile personal contest. 
Corvviu spoke two or three liour.s a day for over 100 
consecutive days, witli so nuich wit and eloquence 
that he carried the state on election day liy a large 
majority. In 184u he was clioseu I'. 8. .senator, and 
was exceptionally bitter and brilliant in invective 
against the supporters of the Mexican war. He was 
secretarj' of the treasury during the administration 
of President Fillmore, a representative in congress 
for two terms {1858-61), and U. S. minister to Mex- 
ico under President Lincoln from 1801 to 1864. In 
Mr. Corwin the social instinct was ]irc-emiuent. 
It is .said of him that so keen ami brilliant was his 
wit that no one ever tired of his talk, and he often 
kept a party in constant laughter for hours at a time. 
He attributed whatever of talent he possessed to his 
Hungarian descent, of which he was extremely 
proud. The pronounced stand taken by him against 
the Mexican war hindered his political advancement, 
and he never had the faculty of saving money, so 
that in spite of his opportunities be died a compara- 
tively poor man. He lived a busy life, was a faith- 
ful ijublic otlicer, and was greatly loved in his 
adopted state. He died in Washington, D. C, Dec. 
18, 1865. 

CRAWFORD, G. W., secretary of war. (See 
Index.) 

CONRAD, Charles M., secretary of war, was 
born in Winchester, Va., in 1804. AVhile he was a 
child his jiarents removed to Louisiana, aud the boy 
was educated in New Orleans and afterward studied 
law, being admitted to the bar when he was twenty- 
four years old. He entered into jiolitical life, was 
elected to the state legislature through several terms, 
and in 1843 went to Washington as a member of the 
U. S. senate from Louisiana to till the vacancy caused 
by the resignation of Alexander Mouton, who liad 
been elected in 1837. Mr. Conrad remained in the 
senate until 1843, from whicli time until 1848 he 
contimied to practice law in New Orleans. In the 
latter year he was elected a memlierof congress, and 
coutinm'd in the house of representatives until July 
IT), IS.")!), when he entered the cabinet of President 
Fillmore as secretary of war, aud held that ottice 
until March 7, 1858, "when he was succeeiled by Jef- 
ferson Davis of Missi,ssi|i|)i. Mr. Conrad retunied to 
Louisiana and was practicing law at the time of the 
outbreak of the secession movement in 1860, when 
he began to exhibit a deep interest in the scheme of 
the .southern Confederacy. In 1861 he attended the 
congress at Montgomery, Ala., as a member from 
Louisiana, and was also a member of the two Con- 
federate congresses which existed during the war. 
In the course of this time, also, Conrad entered the 
Confederate arniv and rose to be brigadier-general. 
He <lied in New Orleans Feb. 11, 1878. 

PRESTON, W. B., .secretaiy of the navy. (See 
Index.) 




GRAHAm, William Alexander, secretary of 
the nav}' and governor of North Carolina (1845--49), 
was born in Lincoln comity, N. C, i5ei)t. 5, 1804, son 
of Gen. Joseph Graham. He was graduated from the 
University of North Carolina in 1834, became a law- 
yer, settled at Hillsb<irough, Orange Co., N. C, 
was much iu the legislature 
from 1833, and several times 
speaker. In 1840 he was sent 
to the senate as a whig to com- 
plete an unexi)ired term and 
remaineil there until March, 
1843. He tilleil the governor's 
chair 1845-411, and iu the latter 
year declinetl a re-election and 
the mission to Spain. His ser- 
vices to the part)' were thought 
to be einineut, and Mr. Fill- 
more, on succeeding Gen. Tay- 
lor as president in June, 1850, 
called him into the cabinet to 
hold the portfolio of the navy. 
During his two years' tenure of 
this position he initiated Com. 
Perry's expeditiou to Japim. 
In 1852 he was the whig can- 
didate for vice-president. After twelve years of re- 
tirement he entered the Confederate senate in 1864. 
In his last months of life he was a commissioner to 
adjust the northern boundary of Virginia. He died 
while on a visit to Saratoga, 'N. Y., Auij. 11, 1875. 

KENNEDY, John Pendleton, secretary of 
the navy and author, was born in Baltimore, Md., 
Oct. 25, 17i)5. He came of iiromiuent and wealthy 
ancestors, his mother, whose maiden name was Pen- 
dleton, being related tcj Judge Pendleton of Virginia 
and a descendant of Edmund Pendleton, who was a 
prominent member of the first C'ontiuental congress. 
From his youth up, young Kennedy had the advan- 
tages derived from the possession of wealth. He re- 
ceived a liberal education, graduating from the L'ni- 
versity of Maryland, at that time the Baltimore Col- 
lege, in 1812. He was in the United States service 
during the latter part of the war of 1812 with Eng- 
land, and studied law and was admitted to practice. 
From 1820 to 1823, he was a member of the house of 
delegates of Maryland. He was always a writer and 
during the early part of his life devoted his pen to 
the service of his pt)litical friends. He was a strong 
protectionist and wrote freely upon 
that subject. In 1838 he was elect- 
ed a member of congress and again 
in 1841 and 1843. In 1846 he be- 
came again a member of the Mary- 
land house of delegates aud was 
elected speaker. On" July 22. 1852, 
President Fillmore aiipointed Mr. 
Kennedy secretary of the navy, 
and he contimied to occupy that 
position during the administration. 
The country was forttmate in hav- 
ing in this position, just at that 
time, a man of Sir. Kennedy's fine 
intelligence, education and broad 
grasp of affairs, as it was mainly 
through his efforts that Commo- 
dore Perry's expedition to Japan 
and the .second Arctic Ex))edi- 
tion of Dr. H K. Kane were made 
feasible. After his retirement from active poll 
tics, Mr. Kennedy continued to show an interest in 
the Jiolitical discussions of the day by occasional 
contributions to the Washington "National Intelli- 
gencer, "among which, a number of years before the 
outbreak of the civil war were articles from his pen, 
uttering a warning note on the possibilities of the 
cxi.stiug political irritation between tlie North and 




/ Z'. /d-^.uj^ 



240 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



the South, eventually resultiuK either in a dissolu- 
tion of the Union or a sanguinary struggle between 
tlie two sections. AVhen the southern slates seceded 
Mr. Kennedy issued an appeal to tlie citizens of 
Maryland, showing how little tlial slate had to gain 
liy uniting its destinies with tlie Soulli and liow 
iiiuch tiy retnaining steadfast to the rnion. This 
appeal was descrilied by Raron (ienill. at that time 
minister from Prussia to the United States, as "one 
of the most statesmanlike and patriotic expositions 
of the subject he had seen." After the war Jlr. 
Iv'nnedy crosse<l the ocean and spent some time in 
England and on the continent, making three tri|)s to 
Kurope, altogether, before he died, lie made the ac- 
(juaintance of most of the literary men of the period 
and was especially inlimale wilh Thackeray, being 
said to have written the fourth chapter in tlie fourth 
volume of " The Virginians " at the rei[uest of its 
great author, on accoiuit of his familiarity with the 
scenery of the part of Virginia described in it. Mr. 
Kennedy made his home in 15:Ulimore when not in 
AVashington or abroad and his resilience there w.as a 
literary centre. lie was a member of an organiza- 
tion styled the " .Momlay Club," which met every 
Mondav at the house of some one of its members for 
social enjoyment and literary recreation. This club 
was peculiar in being composed of four doctors of 
law, four doctors of divinity, four doctors of medi- 
cine and four gentlemen of superior literary attain- 
ments luid reputation. At the meetings of this club, 
Jlr. Keiniedy was said to be specially notable for 
the brilliancy of bis conversaticaial abilities. One of 
his earliest literary adventures, published in 1^18, 
was the " Hallimore Red Book," a periodical publi- 
cation, something after the style of Paulding and 
Irving"s "Salmagundi." In this work Kennedy 
was a.s.socialed with Peter HolTnian Cruse, who died 
of cholera in Baltimore in IKi'i. Kenuedv at one 
time occupied as his town house the former lesi- 
deuce of William AVirl;a curious coincidence, owing 
to the fact that he iiublisbed his "Memoirs of the 
Life of William Wirt " prior to this period and that 
his occupying that particular house was purely ac- 
cidental. " Literature was more a pastime wilh >Ir. 
Kennedy than a pursuit, and he never looki'd uiion 
it as a source of pecuniary emolument. Ilis first 
novel was "Swallow Barn," which was published 
in Philadelphia in 18;!"J and who.se object was to 
give a description of the manners and customs prev- 
alent in the "Old Dominion " during the last century. 
He was so careless, howevei', with regard to the 
success or reputation of his literary adventures, that 
when the first edition of his "Swallow Barn" was 
exhau.sled, lie paid no attention to ils republication, 
and it was not until some ten years later that a new 
edition of it appeared. Ills next novel was " Horsc- 
Shoe Holiinson. a Tale of the Tory Ascendency" 
(1835). These two books were written in his otiice 
in the city of Baltimore. In 183;^ Kennedy was one 
of the umpires to decide as to the best tale contrib- 
uted in answer to an olVer of a prize on the part of a 
literary paper published in Baltimore, called "The 
Visitor." The prize was awarded to Kdgar Allan 
Poe for his stoiy, "A Manuscript Found in a Bot- 
tle." The prize was one hundred dollars and was 
the first success with which the gifted author of 
"The Haven" had been favonul. He also gained 
at tlie same contest a prize of fifty dollars, offered 
for the best poem and whicli was won by his 
"Coliseum," but he w,-is barred out on account of 
being the author of the successful tale. This inci- 
dent brought Jlr. Kennedy into an ac(|uaintance 
with Poe, whom he recommended for an editorial 
po.sitlon on the "Southern Literary Messenger," in 
whieli publication appeared some of his best stories. 
In 1838 Kennedy wrote and published his " Hob of 
the Bowl: A Legend of St. Inigoes." He also wrote 



"At Home and Abroad, a series of Essays, with a 
Journal in Europe in 18()7-68" (1872), and published 
a large number of discourses, orations and news- 
paper contributions. The uniform edition of all of 
Mr. Kennedy's works was published in New York 
in 1870, in ten volumes, of Mr. Kennedy's ability, 
so able a Clitic as Alexander Everett .said "His tal- 
ent in this respect is probably not inferior to that of 
Irving. Some of his smaller compositions, in which 
our author depends merely on his own resources, ex- 
hibit a point and vigor of thought, and a felicity 
and freshness of style that place them on a level 
with the best passages of the "Sketch Book." Dur- 
ing the latter |)art of his life, Mr. Kennedy occupied 
a residence on the banks of the Patapsco a few 
miles from Baltimore and in the immediate vicinity 
of a large number of cotton manufactories, in one 
of whicli he was largely interested. Mr. Kennedy 
was a member and constant friend of the Maryland 
Historical Society and also a trustee of the Peabody 
Institute, fcamded in Baltimore by Mr. George Pea- 
bodv of London. On Sejit. S. 1870, a tine tribute to 
his iuemory was delivered by Robert C. W'inthrop, 
which was" afterward imlilished. In 1871 appeared 
in New York his Life, wrillen by Henry T. Tiicker- 
man. Mr. Kennedy died in N'ewporl, R. I., Aug. 
18, 1870. 

EWING, Thomas, .secretary of the interior. 
(See Index.) 

STTJABT, Alexander Hugh Holmes, secre- 
tar}' of the Interior, was born in Staunton, Va.. Apr. 
3, 1807. He was the son of a revolutionary soldier, 
Archibald Stuart, who is said to have studied law in 
the same ollice with Thomas Jefferson, and after- 
ward rose to high positions in the councils of the 
state. Alexander Stuart, after having been prepared 
for a university course, went to Wiiliam and Mary 
folleire for a year, ami then at- 
tended the University of Vir,ginia, 
where he took the law course, 
graduating at the age of twenty- 
one, and being admitted to prac- 
tice at the bar In the same year. 
The young man took great inter- 
est in polities, being a .strong ad- 
herent of Henry Clay. He was 
in successful practice in Staun- 
ton when, in 183l>, he was elected - Z 
a member of the lower hiui.se of '_ , 
the Virginia .state legislature, and -;^ 
was continuously re-elected un- <■' fj/' 
til 1839, when he (leclined to .serve. ~^^*/ 
In 1841 Mr. Stuart was elected a ^-^ 
member of congress, .and in 1>*44 
was a presidenlial eleiMor on the ' 

whig ticket and tilled the same ^ ^JaJ^J^,:^. 
position on the lavlor ticket in 
1848. On July 23, 18,"")0, he as- 
sumed the ollice of .secretary of the interior, to 
which he had been ap]iolnled by President Fillmore, 
and in which he coiilinued until the conelusiim of 
that adminisl ration. .Mr. Stuart was a member of 
the convention of 18.")(i which nominated Millard 
Fillmore for the presidency, and from 18."j7 to IMIil 
was in the Virginia stale .senate. He was a strong 
Union man in sent Imeiit at I lieoul break of the civil war 
and earnestly resl.sied the secession of his slate, while 
he was one "of the first of the soiithcrn leaiiers to 
promote reconcilialion and iiolitical agreement after 
the war. But although elected a member of con- 
gress in 18(i.'"), he was unable to take his .seat on 
account of the "iron-dad" oath. In 1868 Mr. Stu- 
art was very active in his op])osilioii and resistance 
to the object iouable feat tires of t he reconstruction acts. 
In 187li he was elected rector of the University of 
Virginia, and, excepting a period of two years — be- 
tween 1883 and 1884 — he continued to till" that posi- 




OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



241 




tion uutil 1886, wheu he resiitnoil. Mr. Stuart was 
a menibor of the board of trustees of the Southern 
Edueatioual Fund founded by George Pc^abody. He 
was also for many years president of the Virginia 
Historical Society, 

COLLAMER, Jacob, secretary of the interior. 
(See luilex.) 

HALL, Nathan Kelsey, postmaster-general, 
was born in Marcellus, Onondaga Co., N. Y., March 
10, 1810. His ancestors were English, and his lather 
removed from New England to New York shortly 
before the birth of the subject of this sketch. When 
the boy was eight years olil the fainil_v settled in Erie 
county, and young Hall worked 
at the trade of a shoemaker, 
which was his father's, and part 
of the time on a farm, i>icking 
up his schooling in winter at the 
district schools of the neighbor- 
hood. In 1828 he went to Au- 
rora, and into the otHce of Mil- 
lard Fillmore to study law. He 
was admitted, in 1S;?2, to prac- 
tice at the bar, and .Mr. Fillmore 
having removed to ISuH'alo, Mr. 
Hall settled there also and went 
into partnership with him, Sol- 
oniou G. Hayden being after- 
ward admitted to the firm, which 
became Fillmore, Hall & Hay- 
den, and the mo.st prominent law 
office in western New York, 
existing uutil 1847. In 1881 
and until 1837 Mr. Hall held 
various local county and town offices in Erie county, 
including deputy clerk of the county, clerk of the 
board of supervisors, and city attorney and alder- 
man of Buffalo. In 1839 Gov. Seward ajipoiiUed 
him master in chancery, and in 1841 iudge of the 
court of common pleas. He was elected a member 
of the state a.ssembly in ISlo, and in 1847 I)ecame a 
member of congress. On July 20, 1850, Mr. Hall 
became postmaster-general in the cabinet of Mr. Fill- 
more, and continued to hold that office until 1852, 
when he was appointed U. S. .iudge for the northern 
district of New York, a po.sition which he held ujuil 
his death. .Judge Hall was a man of much more 
than ordinary ability, an able and upright judge, and 
thoroughly capable and qualified for adnunisirative 
office. "He died at Buiralo, N. Y., March 2, 1874. 

HUBBARD, Samuel Dickinson, postma.ster- 
general. was born in Middletowii, Conn.. Aug. 10, 
179!). After preparing for college he was sent to 
Yale, where he was graduated at the age of twenty, 
and after leaving college entered a law office with the 
intention of devoting himself to that profes.sion. He 
became suddenly wealthy, however, by inheritance, 
and giving up tlie law invested his capital, or a por- 
tion of it, in manufacturing. He became prominent 
in his neighborhood, interested himself in politics as 
a whig, and was sent to congress from his di.strict in 
1845. serving in the hou.se of representatives four 
years. He was appointed postmaster-general by 
President Fillmore, and a.ssumcd the office Feb. 15, 
1852. continuing in the cabinet until the close of 
that administration. Heturning to Connecticut he 
devoted himself to educational and charitable ob- 
jects, being president of the Jliddletown Hible Soci- 
etv until his death, which occurred at Middletown 
Oct. 8, 18.55. 

JOHNSOIT, Reverdy, attorney-general. (See 
Inde.v.) 

CRITTENDEN, J. J., attorney-general. (See 
Index.) 

BUTLER, William Orlando, soldier and can- 
didate for vice-president (1848), was born in .lessa- 
miue county, Ky., in 1791, of a family memorable 







for military renown. His grandfather, a native of 
Ireland, emigrated to America aliout the middle of 
the last century and settled in Pennsylvania. He 
had live .sons, who all entered the American army on 
the outbreak of the revolutionary war, and the 
patriotism and bravery of the whole family became 
so celebrated that Gen. Washington is said to have 
once given as a toast, "The Hutlers and their five 
sons," while Gen. Lafayette said of them, "When 
I w.-uit a thing well done I order a Butler to do it." 
William O. was the .son of Percival Butler, the 
fourth of these five brothers. He went to Transyl- 
vania University, where he was graduated in 18i2, 
and was stud_ving law in the 
oliiee of Koliert WieklilTc when 
the war with England broke out. 
Young Butler enlisted as a pri- 
vate, but was elected corporal 
before the army marched, and 
was soon made ensign. His reg- 
iment, under command of Gen. 
Winchester, advanced against 
the enemy near Frcnchtown on 
the river Uaisin, .-aid foui;hl two 
battles, one on .Jan. 18, 1813, in 
which the Americans were vic- 
torious, and another four da_vs 
later, wheu they were defeated 
and young Butler received a 
dangerous wound, being one 
of the few, however, who es- 
cajicd the massacre by which 
the British Col. Proctor dis- 
graced himself in violation of 
liis word of honor. He was captvn-ed and cariicd 
through Canada to Fort Niagara, where he remained 
imtil 1814, when he was exchanged, and rcHu-ning 
home was ordered South with the rank of captain to 
join Gen. .Jack.son. He was present at the attack on 
Pensacola and in the fighting before New Orleans on 
Dec. 23d. He also fought in the celebrated battle 
of .Jan. 8th, and was brevetted major for his conduct 
on this occasion, while Gen. .Jackson ap])ointed him 
a luember of his .staff. In 1817 he returned to the study 
of the law, and was admitted to practice. He married 
and settled on his patrinumial estate at the union of 
the Ohio and Kentucky rivers, where he continued 
to reside for twenty-five year.s. He served in the 
legislature and also' from 1839 to 1843 as a member 
of congress. He ran for governor for the state of 
Kentucky in 1844, but was defeated. He succeeded, 
however, in largely diminishing the usual majority 
of the whig parly. On the outbreak of the war with 
Jlexico, Col. Butler was created a major-geneial and 
marched with the Kentucky and other volunteers to 
the aid of Gen. Taylor. In the siege of ;Monterey, 
Biitler was second in conunand, and while bravely 
leading his luen during the .street fighting, was 
wounded and carried from the field. After he had 
recovered he joined Gen. Scott and was present at 
the capture of the city of Mexico. Congress pre- 
sented him with a sword of honor for his bravery at 
Mimterey, and the state of Kentucky gave him'an- 
other. Gen. Butler was in commanil'al the b;ittle of 
Saltillo and was comm.-mder in-chief of the army, 
succeeding Gen. Scott, at the time of the declaration 
of peace. May 29, 1848. The national democratic con- 
vention the same year nominated Gen. Cass.md Wil- 
liam O. Butler for president and vice-president, but 
they were defeated by Van Burcn and Adams. In 
1855 he was olTered the appointment of governor of 
Nebraska, but declined it. In IstU he went to Wa.sli- 
ington as a member of the "Peace Cong''ess." He 
jiublished a collection of poems, called "The Boat- 
man's Horn, and (Jther Poems." A life of him hj 
Fraiuis P. Blair, .Jr., was published in 1848. H!e 
died in Carrolllon, Ky., Aug. G, 1880. 



242 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



CLARKE, James Freeman, clergyman, re- 
foriner, and aullior, was born at Hamiver. N. H., 
Apr. 4, 1(^10. He was taken in infancy to Newlon, 
Mass., and cared fur liy his grandfather, .lames 
Freeman, pastor of King's Chapel in nostou, who 
conducted his early education on a peculiar and ad- 
mirable plau, described in his autobiography. At 
ten he was .sent to the Boston Latin School, and at 
fifteen to Harvard, where he had for classmates (). 
W. Holmes, B. H. Curtis, B. Pierce, W. H. Chan- 
ning, and others eminent in after life. In his senior 
year he was intimate with Margaret Fuller, who ex- 
ercised a deep intlueiice u|ion him, and to whose 
memoir {\X'>2) he contributed. Graduating in 1H29, 
and from the Cambridge Divinity .School in 1833. he 
■went at once to Louisville, Ky., to a.ssunie a Unita- 
rian pastorate. There he remained until 1H4(). hav- 
ing for his closest companion a brother of the jioct 
Keats, editing from ls3ti to 1S39 the "Western Mes- 
senger," to which K. W. Emerson .sent "Go(xl-bye, 
Pnuid World," an<i other poems, and translating 
De Witte's "Theodore" (2 vols., 1840). Early in 
1841 he returned to Boston and became iiastor of the 
Church of the Disciples, a small Hock gathered to 
"co-operate in the .study and (iractice of Chris- 
tianity. " Their church was free, their tendencies con- 
servative yet liberal, and while receiving the impress 
of their minister's independent 
mind and most tolerant spirit, 
they gave him freer scope than 
he might have found else- 
wliere. Yet when lie exchang- 
ed pulpits with Theodore Park- 
er, Jan. 2f), 184.5, some fifteen 
of his leading parishioners for- 
sook him. This loss he ])ro- 
voked, as he said, not because 
he had any sympathy with Mr. 
Parker's views, for he was al- 
ways "a supernaturalist in the- 
ology;" but he could not sit 
still and see an honest man 
tabooed for his opinions. In 
the same year, though not form- 
ally an abolitionist, he drew up 
the protest which was signe<l by 
173 Unitarian ministers against 
slavery as unchristian and inhuman. He compiled 
the service-book and the hymn-book for his congre- 
gation, 1844: the enlarged" edition, 18.")G, contained 
some very beautifid lyrics of his own, and the .selec- 
tions showed delicate" taste and the widest catholic- 
ity. This charge he held through life, except for 
tlie years ISSl-SS, when failure of health induced a 
long rest at his wife's home in western Pennsylvania 
and in Europe. He was a diligent writer, and his 
books had a wide circulation and great influence. 
In the "Life and Jlililary Services of Gen. AVm. 
Hull " (1848), he endeavored to rehabililate the fame 
of an unfortunate relative. "Eleven Weeks in Eu- 
rope" and "The Christian Doctrine of Forgiveness 
of Sin " ( 18.")2) were followed by "Christian Doctrine 
of Prayer" (18r)4-r)(i), and a volume of sermons, 
"The "Hour which Cometh and Now Is" (18()4). 
His "Orthodoxy, its Truths and Errors" (IHdti) 
was said to receive more favor from the " orthodox " 
than from his own people; he claimed that "a 
rational Uni^arian has no quarrel with a rational 
Trinitarian." Of his "Ten Great Heligions" the first 
volume (1870) reached a twenty-second edition in 
188<i; the .second volume did not appear till 1883. This 
book "lias done more than any other to increa.se the 
popular appreciation of the non-Christian religions." 
His later volumes wi're: "Steps of Belief" (1N70); 
"Common Sense in Ueligion" (1874); "Go up High- 
er; or, Heligion in (lominon Life" (1877); "Es.sen- 
tials and Non-essentials in Heligiou" (1878); "Me- 




7^^" - I rr - "^ /rt »^C^ 



mortal and Biographical Sketches "(1878); "Self-Ctil- 
ture" (1880); "Events and Epochs in Ueligious 
History" (1881); "Legend of Thomas Didymus. the 
■lewisli Skeptic"(1881); " ^Vnti-Slavery Days"(1883); 
"Ideas of the Apostle Paul Translated into their 
Mwlern Equivalents " (1884); "Manual of Unitari- 
an Belief "( 1884); " Evcrj'-day Heligion" (1886); 
"Vexed Questions" (1886). His interest in astron- 
omv, inherited from liis father, appeared in "How 
to Find the Stars " (187S); in 1859 he went to Illinois 
to see a total eclipse of the sun. For jioetry he had 
a genuine and precious gift, though he wrote too 
little of it, and iiublished but one volume " Exotics" 
(1876); in this, seventy-four of the ninety translations 
are his own, and of great merit. One of his finest lyrics 
was written on his seventy-eighth birthd;iy, but nine 
weeks before his death. Dr. Clarke's greatne-ss 
came largely from the breadth of his sympathies 
and the manly force of his nature. Strictly sjieak- 
iug, he was not a deep scholar nor a sy.steniatic 
thinker; but his reading was always fruitful, and his 
thinking was his own. Earnestly devout, and semi- 
evangelical in his opinions, he took nothing on hear- 
say or from tradition; and doctrines, whether ven- 
erable or novel, came freshly from his lips or pen. 
If a current of thought might pass l)eyond him, a 
recognition of brotherhood could not. His fearless 
sinceritj- made him original; as in earlier da\'s he 
exchanged with Parker, so in later years he invited 
Charles Bradlaugh to address his Sunday-school, 
which was done to edification. It was with topics 
as with men — none were foreign or indilTerent to 
him. He was proud of his great collection of auto- 
graphs, and esiiecially of a letter of Daniel Boone. 
He came to the front in politics when be saw occa- 
sion, as when he stoutly op])osed Gen. B. F. Butler's 
candidacy for governor. His influence was great, 
and his activities varii^d and constant ; every good 
cause found in him an advocate, and he cham- 
I)ioned whoever was ojijiressed. lie was a trustee 
of the Boston Public Library ; a member of the 
]\Iassachusetts Board of Education; long an over- 
seer of Harvard, which gave him the degree of 
D.D. in 1863; its professor of natural religion and 
Christian doctrine, 1867-71, and its lecturer on Eth- 
nic Heligions 1876-77. The forceful beauty and lofty 
independence of his character won a host of admiring 
friends, and his unresting diligence found a far 
larger audience than any^man's voice can commaml 
on Sundays. He died, deejily beloved and widely 
honored, at his suburban home in .Jamaica Plain, 
June 8, 1888. In 1883 he had written an autoliiog- 
raphy to 1840; this, with selections from his diary 
and correspondence, was edited by E. E. Hale, and 
published earlv in 1S91. 

DANFORTH, Joshua Noble, clergyman, was 
born in Pittstield. Mass.. Apr. 1, 1798. He was grad- 
uated from Williams College in 1818, studied at the 
theological seminary at Princeton, was ordained iu 
182.5, and became pastor of the church at Newcastle, 
Del., hut in 1828 he removed to Washington, D. C, 
to take charge of a church in that city. In 1832 he 
liecame agent of the American Colonization Society, 
holding this ]iosilion for two years, and was one of 
those who sneered at the "men with more blood 
than brains," who were all emjiting to abolish .slavery. 
In 1834 he acce|ited a call to the Congregational 
church at Lee. Mass., where he remained four yea i-s, 
removing to Alexiuidria, Va., to take charge of the 
Second Presbyterian church. He was agent for the 
American ( 'olonization Society a .second time in 1860. 
In 18.").") he received the degree of D. D. from I)<'laware 
College. Mr. Danforth has made numerous con- 
tribulions to both the religious and .secular press. 
He has published " Gleanings and (iroupings from 
a Pa.stor's Portfolio" (New York, 1852). He died 
Nov. 14, 1861. 




M^^i^cy&i 




COCYRIGMT, 1991 



ij, BV JAUFS T. WHITE & CO- 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



245 










4. .r,: 







aQl^ Perce 



FIERCE, Franklin, fouvteenth president of 

the United States, was born in Hillsbdruunh. N. H., 
Nov. 23, 1804. Gen, Pieree desceiuled from Gen. 
Ben,ianiiu Pieree, who was one of the early settlers 
of Hillsborough, though born at the town now 
known as Lowell, JIass,, in IToT. He fought through- 
out the revolutionary war, rose to the rank of cap- 
tain, and received his honorable disi^harge at West 
Point in 1T84. In 1789, after twelve succeeding 
years, he was a mendier of the slate legislature. In 
the meantime he had always felt keenly the disad- 
vantages of a defective education, and he determined 
that his .son shoidd liave a more 
agreeable and satisfactory experi- 
ence. Young Franklin Pierce, ac- 
cordingly, was sent to the academy 
at Hancock, and afterward to that 
of Francestown, to jirepare for col- 
lege. At the age of sixteen he en- 
tered Bowdoin College, fronr which 
he was graduated in 1834. He chose 
the law as a profession, and studied 
in the office of Judge Woodbury, 
of Portsmouth. N. H., and after- 
ward for two years at the law 
school in Norlhamplon, ^lass., and 
in the office of Judge Parker at 
Andicrst. In 1827 lie was admit- 
ted to tlie bar and began to prac 
tice at Hillsborough. He was for 
a long time unsuccessful, though 
he did eventually reach a position 
of eminence at the bar. The same 
year, 1827, in wliic'h he began to practice, his fa- 
ther was elected governor of New Hamiisbire, 
and two years later Franklin Pierce was elected 
to tlie state legislature from his native town. He 
held this position for four succes.sive years, and in 
the two latter was speaker of the lioii.sc. His ex 
perience in the New Ham|isliire legislature gave him 
clearness and accuracy of judgment and perception, 
and general ability as a [iresiding oHicer. He was 
considered a rising man, and in 1883 was elected a 
member of congress. Here be was appointed on 




important committees and did a large share of the 
drudgery of the committee-rooms. In the mean- 
time a sincere friendship existed between President 
Jackson and Mr. Pierce. The latter remained in 
the house of repicsentatives four years, and in 1837 
was elected to the senate, where he found himself 
among such eminent men as Callioun, Webster, 
Clay, Silas Wright, Levi Woodbury, James Bu- 
chanan, and many others. He did very little speak- 
ing until 1840, when, the subject of pension claimants 
being up, and Mr. Pierce having in committee thor- 
oughly acquainted himself with the sulijeet, he de- 
livered a speech which was highly aiiplauded and 
recognized as covering the subject with a proper 
sense of justice as well as symjiathy. There were 
times when Mr. Pierce rose in his speeches and ad- 
dresses to a very high pitch of eloquence, while his 
thorough education and wide reading had so tilled 
his mind that he was never at a loss for a happy 
illustration. As an illustration of this, the following 
quotation may be given of a speech which he made 
in the senate, in reply to the plea of "State neces- 
sit}' " made by the opiiosition or whig party as a 
reason for their wholesale turning out of officials on 
account of political opinion. Of this plea of "State 
nece.ssit.y " he said: " II was the jilea of the austere 
and amiiitious Strafford in the days of Charles I. ; it 
tilled the Bastile of France and lent its sjuictiou to 
the terrible atrocities perpetrated there. It was this 
plea which snatched the mild, eloipient and patri- 
otic Camille Desmoulins from his young and i)eau- 
tifid wife and hurried him to the guillotine, with 
thousands of others ei|Ually unotTending and inno- 
cent. It was upon this plea the greatest of generals, 
if not men — you caimot mistake me, I mean him the 
presence of whose very ashes within the jiast few 
months suffi<-ed to stir tlie hearts of a continent — it 
was upon this plea that he abjured the noble wife 
who had thrown light and gladness around his lium- 
bler days, and by her own lofty energies and high 
intellect had encouraged his aspirations. It was up- 
on Ibis ]ilea lliat lie cmiiuiilted that worst and most 
fatal act of his eventful life. Upon this plea, too, 
he drew around his person the imperial toga. It has 



246 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



in all times, in every age, been the foe of liberty and 
the iiulispeiisable stay of usurpation." Mr. Pierce 
retired from the U. S. senate in 1842 and settled in 
Concord, where he resumed his legal practice. In 
1844 he was offered the appointment of U. S. sen- 
ator, but he declined it. He also declined the nomi- 
nation of the democratic convention for iro\i'rnor, 
and in lH4(>thc post of attorncy-fjencral (jf the I'nited 
States, offered him by President Polk. In view of 
all this, it was a remarkable thing that on the out- 
break of the Mexican war Mr. Pierce should have 
entered the army, enlisting as a private in the ranks 
of a company which was being raised in Concord. 
He received the appointment of colonel of the 9th 
regiment, and .soon after, in JIarch, 1S4T, he was 
commissioned as brigadier-general in the army. On 
June 27th of the same year Gen. Pierce arrived in 
Vera Cruz, disembarked his troops and beg.-ui his 
march to join Gen. Scott. It was shortly after the 
arrival of these reinforcements that the latter liegan 
his movement on the cit}' of Mexico. At the battle 
of Conlreras, Aug. 19th, Gen. Pierce was severely in- 
jured b)- the fall of his horse. lie led his brigade, 
however, on the following day, but so great was the 
strain \ipon him that he fell and lay upon the field 
under the tremendous fire of Cherubusco until the 
enemy was routed and driven from the field. Gen. 
Pierce remained iu Mexico mitil the war was over, 
when he returned home, and in 1S.50 was elected pres- 
ident of the constitutional convention of New Hamp- 
shire. On June 12, 1852, the democratic national 
convention, which met for the selection of their can- 
didate for president of the United States, assembled 
at Baltimore. The nominating came to a deadlock, 
as thirty-five ballotings were held without residtiug 
in the choice of any one of the prominent leaders 
before the convention. At the ne.xt ballot the dele- 
gation fronr Virginia named Franklin Pierce. He 
continued to increase with every .successive ballot 
until the forty-ninth, when his votes were 282, with 
eleven for ail other candidates. Gen. Pierce was 
elected by a large majority, and entered upon his 
administration JIarch 4, 18,53, Mr. King of Ala- 
bama being elected vice-president. ThtT ailmiuis- 
tration of Gen. Pierce was remarkable for its con- 
flicts in regarfl to slavery, while there were nu- 
merous important interests which became a part 
of its history. In the first .year of his admin- 
istration a corps of engineers was despatched by 
the government to explore a route for a Pacific 
railroad. The same year witnessed the settlement 
of the Mexican boundary dispute under the transac- 
tion known as the Gadsden purchase of territcny 
which afterward became known as Arizona. The 
same vear was also signalized by the oiiening of in- 
tercourse between the United States anil the hith- 
erto exclusive empire of Japan. The ne.xt year a 
commercial treaty was concluded between these two 
powers through the labors of Townsend Harris 
(q. v.). On Jtdy 14, 185:!, the second World's Fair 
took place in the building known as the Crystal Pal- 
ace, erected in New York for that purpose, and 
which was afterward destroyed by fire. During the 
first three years of the administration great public 
disturbance was caused by the filibustering expedi- 
tions into Central America undertaken by Gen. Wil- 
liam Walker, "The Gray -eyed Man of Destiny." 
Although there was a falling ofT of these expedi- 
tions for a time, they were renewed and continued 
until 18(i0, on Sept. Hd of which year Walker, hav- 
ing been captured, was courtmaVtialed and shot. 
Difflculti('s with Cuba endangered the peiieeful rela- 
tions existing between the United States an<l Spain. 
It was during this period that James Buchanan, who 
had been appointed minister to England, in company 
with other representatives of the United Slates 
abroad, met at Ostcnd in Belgium and prepared the 



instrument known as the Ostend Manifesto, which 
favored the purchase and annexation of Cuba by the 
United States, but nothing came of this act." In 
1854 tlie Kansis and Nebraska bill was debated in 
congress and finally carried by the miuoritj* uniting 
with the southern members, and it was signed by 
President Pierce. This i)ractically repealed the Mis- 
.souri I'onipromise and reopened the whole slavery 
question. There was terrilile faction fighting in Kan- 
sas, where two rival governments were established 
as the result and civil war ensued, lasting for nearly 
a year. In the latter part of 1850 President Pierce 
appointed John W. Geary, of Pennsylvania, military 
governor of Kan.sas. whither he repaired witli full 
powers to restore order by such means as might in 
his judgment be best calculated to accompli.sh this 
result. Fortunately he was .successful in bringing 
abcait a condition of jieace. but in the meantime the 
slavery agitation had extended into all parts of the 
Union, and the new republican party brought for- 
ward John C, Fremont, of California, as the anti- 
slavery candidate for the presidency, and although 
he was defeated, and James Buchanan, the demo- 
cratic candidate, elected, the slavery question con- 
tiiuied to disturb |iolitics. the situation culminating 
in 1800 in the election of Mr. Lincoln and the out- 
break of the w.ar of the rebellion. On the expira- 
tion of Mr Pierce's term of office he retired to jiri- 
vate life at Concord. Perhajis the strongest of all 
his frieudshijis was that with Nathaniel Hawthorne, 
who, when he was a candidate for the jiresidency, 
wrote a life of Fraidclin Pierce, certaiidy one of the 
most graceful and beautiful tributes ever made by 
an author to his friend. They continued as close an 
association as was possible after Mr. Pierce's return 
to Concord, and were traveling together when Mr. 
Hawthorne died. During the remainder of the ex- 
presiilent's life he suffered under the shadow of 
numerous domestic afflictions. He died at Con- 
cord, N. 11., Oct. 8, ls(;<). 

PIERCE, Jane Means (Appleton), wife of 
President Pierce, was born at Hampton, N. H., 
March Vi, 18()(), daughter of Uev. Jesse Ajipletou, 
D.D. , who was called to the 
presidency of Bowdoin College 
while she was an infant. Miss 
Appleton was gifted with a 
strong mind, an ai'utely sensitive 
organism, and a delicate body. 
At the age of twentv-iTght she 
marrieil Franklin l^ierce. of 
Hillsborough, then a member of 
the lower house of jongress. 
Her marriage brought her into 
public life, and sub.serjucntly she 
performed the duties of her po- 
sition as mistress of the White 
House with a marvelous cour- 
age, considering her extremely 
delicate health, and the fact tlia't 
she cared nothing for fashionable 
life, preferring the (piiet comfort 
of her New Englaiul home. The 
loss of her youngest son. a prom- 
ising boy of t hiiteen years, just two months before Mr. 
Pierce's inauguration, was a shock from which slie 
never entirely recovered. He was traveling with 
his parents when an accident threw the train down 
a steep enib.uikment. and the lad was instantly 
killed. Notwithstanding this sorrow, Mrs. Pierce 
was .seldom aliseiit from the pulilic receptions at the 
White House, and prcsideil at the state dinners and 
other social functions. She was a woman of ex- 
treme delicacy and purity of mind, a true Christian 
and when she left theWbite Hou.se she left a host of 
warm friends behind her in Washington. Mrs. Pierce 
died at Andover, Mass., Dec. 2, 18(iH. 




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OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



247 




UhM<.<^-^ i^.^^&^ 



KING, William Rufus, vice-president of the 
United States, was bom in .Sampson county, N. C, 
Apr. 6, 178(5. He wa.s the sou of William Kins;, a 
delegate to the North Carolina convention on the 
adoption of the constitution of the Tniled States. 
William K. King studied in the public .schools, and 
was sent to the University of North Carolina, where 
he was graduated in 1803. He afterward entered 
the law office of William Dulfy, at Fayetteville, and 
was admitted to the bar in 1800, being elected in the 
same year a member of the state legislature, and by 
that body appointed .solicitor for 
the district of Wilmington. N. C. 
Jlr. King was again elected to 
the legislature in l.sos-9, and in 
1810 became a member of con- 
gress as a democrat, being the 
youngest member of Ihe house. 
He continued in congress until 
1816, when he received the ap- 
]iointment of secretary of lega- 
tion to the kingdom of Najjles, 
accompanying William Piuckney 
who hail been appointed minis- 
ter, and afterward going with Mr. 
Pinckncy to Russia in the same 
jjosition. He remained abroad 
two years, when be returned to 
America and .settled in Dallas 
count}', Ala., and be was a dele- 
gate to the convention wliich or- 
fanized the state government. He was the first United 
tates senator from Alabama, serving until 1.S44, when 
he was aiijiointed by President .John Tyler minister to 
France. While in Paris he succeeded in preventing 
the French government from uniting with England 
in a protest against the annexation of Texas to the 
United States" Mr. King ajiplied to be recalled in 
1846, and two years later was sent to the senate to 
fill out an unexpired term, and iu 1849 was elected 
for the full term of six years, serving in 1850 as 
president of the senate. On tlie election of Franklin 
Pierce as president of the United States in 18.52, Mr. 
King was elected vice-president on the same ticket ; 
but liis health failed, and lie was ordered by his 
physicians to Cuba before the inauguration took 
place. A special act of congress was passed to ena- 
ble him to take tlie oath of office in Cuba, which he 
did. He returned to the United States in April, 
18.i3. and repaired immediately to Alabama, his 
health beinu; completely shattered. He died near 
Cahawba, Dallas Co., Ala.. Apr. 18, 1853. 

MARCY, W. L., .secretary of war. (See Index.) 
GUTHRIE, James, secretary of the treasury, 
was born in Nelson county, Ky., Dec. 5, 1792. Re- 
motely he came from Scottish blood, but his more 
immediate ancestors immigrated to America from 
Ireland. His father. Gen. Adam Guthrie, was an 
early pioneer who went westward from Virginia. 
His son James received his education at an academy 
at Bardstown, and when he was about twenty years 
of age he began business by taking produce to New 
Orleans on Hat-boats and returning home by land 
through the Indian country with liis profits. He 
began to study law with .Judge Rowan, of Bards- 
town, and at "the end of two years was admitted 
to the bar, and in 1820 went to Louisville and be- 
gan practice. He soon began to be recognized as 
a young man of promise, and was appointed by the 
governor prosecuting .attorney for the county, and 
fullilled the duties oif his office wilh great zeal and 
ability. While still a young man lie excited thean- 
imosity of a member of the bar, named Hays, who 
attacked him in the street and shot him in the groin, 
producing a wound which confined Mr. (Juthrie to 
his bed for years and left liim lame forever afler. 
The occurrence i)riiduced such a condition of pop- 



ular indignati(m that the man Hays was diiven out 
of town and not long after committed suicide. From 
1821-30 Mr. Guthrie was engaged in hot political 
contests, arising out of faction fighting, in which he 
proved himself a liitter antagonist, and became tlior- 
roughly equipped in political warfare. He became 
a Jackson democrat, anti secured Kentucky for the 
hero of New Orleans when the latter was elected 
president. For nine years successively Mr. Guthrie 
was elected from I.,ouisville to the lower branch of 
the legislature, and was six years in the senate, at 
the end of which time he declined re-election. In 
1851 lie was jircsident of the convention which re- 
vised the constitution of the state. Throughout his 
career Mr. Guthrie was distinguished for his person- 
al courage and determination, and for the inflexi- 
bility of his democracy. At one time, during an 
unusually exciting election, a combination of ruf- 
fians was organized to kill )iim if he attempted to 
deposit a vote, or to a.ssist his friends, and be was 
urged not to risk his life on the occasion. He. how- 
ever, armed himself with a pistol, went up to the 
polls and voted. On another occasion, when a re- 
spected citizen of Louisville had been nuirdcred, and 
the prisoner was in danger of being lynched, the 
judge ordered tlie sheriff to bring him into court, 
whereupon the sheriff said that there were 5,000 fu- 
rious citizens about the jail ready to tear the mur- 
derer in jiieces as soon as tlie_v could reach him. The 
judge ordered him to summon the 
pome cmnitatus. To this the sheriff 
replied that he had done so, and 
could not get a force sufficient for 
the ]nirpose. Mr. Guthrie, who 
was sitting in court, raised his head 
and said to the sheriff : " Summon 
me." This w.as done, and Mr. 
Guthrie accompanied the sheriff 
to the jail, took the man out and, 
grasping him by the breast of his 
coat, carried him safely through 
the crowd to the court-room, his 
presence and bearing overawing the 
mob. !Mr. Guthrie was the founder 
of the railroad .system of Kentucky, 
securing subscriptions and grants 
for the new roads, and through 
his own personal influence and 
means carrying these undertakings 
through successfully. He also se- 
cured a charter for the University of JiOuisville and 
one for the Bank of Jjouisville. In 18.53 Mr. Guthrie 
was invited by President Franklin Pierce to take 
the position of secretary of the treasury of the Unit- 
ed States, and he continued a member of the admin- 
istration until its close. As secretary of thetrea.sury 
Mr. Guthrie succeeded in overcoming a numljer of 
abuses, anuing others the employment of secret in- 
spectors of customs, and a large numlier of unneces- 
sary officers, and the use of the public funds by 
bankers and other ]iolilical favorites, which had 
previou.sly been q\iite the custom. At the time he 
entered tlie treasury the un.settled accounts and Iial- 
ances amounted fo'the sum of $132,000,000, which, 
by his economy and his judicious metliods, he re- 
diiced in four years to $24,000,000. Besides this, 
during the .same period the navy was largely in- 
creased, many public (Mlifices were erected, and $10,- 
000.000 was paid to Mexico for the Jlesilla Valley. 
Another great improvenicnt which lie made in the 
treasury department was a change in the sy.stcm of 
rendering accounts; the practice being at that time 
to submit accounts for each ipiarter of the year, of- 
ficials being allowed an addilioiuil (piarter in which 
to make them uj) and transmit them tothetrca.surer, 
and it took from three to .six months to .settle them. 
Mr. Guthrie put an end to all this by establishing a 




^-OSJIU^ 



248 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPiEDIA 




CZ^-^^y^^'^'^^'^'^-:^''^ 



rule that all treasury accounts should he settled 
mduthly, and hesjuu by enforcing this order in the 
case of the collector of the port of New York, whose 
account aniounK'd lo !(;;iO,(HI(),(H)0 a year. Alto- 
gether Mr.Ctiilhrie eslahlished liimself as a reformer, 
and the good elVect of his administration of the 
treasury department has remained in it ever since. 
In 1865 Mr. Gullirie was elected U. S. senator, but 
resigned, on account of ill healtli, in IStW. From 
18()U-68 he was president of the Louisville and Nash- 
ville Hailroad. lie died in Louisville March 18, 
18(19. 

DAVIS, Jeflferson, U. S. secretary of war and 
President of the Confederate states, was born .June 3, 
1808, in that i)art of Christian county now in Todd 
county, Ky. ; the site of the village of Fairlield, the 
Baptist church of which is located on the exact spot 
where stood the house in which .lell'erson was born. 
His father, Samuel Davis, was a native of Georgia, 
and served in the war of the 
revolution — fir.st in the "mount 
ed guiuueii " and afterward as 
ca|>lain of infantry at the siege 
of Savannah. IHiring the in- 
fancy of his son. Samuel Davis 
removed from Kentucky to 
AVilkinson county. Miss. After 
passing through the county 
academy, JelTerson entered 
Transylvania College, Ky.. at 
the age of .si.xtccn, and was ad- 
vanced as far as the senior cla.ss 
w hen he was appointed to tlie 
U. S. Jlilitary Academy at West 
I'oint, which he entered in Sep 
lemlier, 1824, He was graduated 
in 1828, a:id then, in accordance 
with the custom of cadets, enter 
ed active service with the rank 
of lieutenant, serving as an otlicer of infantry on the 
northwestern frontier tmtil 1833, when, a regiment of 
dragoons having been created, he was transferred to 
it. After a successful camiiaigu again.sl the Indians 
he resigned from the army, being anxious to fidtilla 
long-existing engageineni with a daughter of Col 
Zachary Tavlor, afterward president of the United 
States. Mr, Davis married Miss Taylorat the house 
of her aunt, and in the presence of man}- of her rela 
tives, at a place near Louisville, Ky Then the young 
couple proceeded to Warren county, Miss., where Mr. 
Davis purchased a plantation from her brother, and 
settled down to plant cotton and study. Early in his 
life here he lost his wife, and thereafter lived in great 
seclusion in the swamjis of the Jlisslssijipi In 1843 
he took part in the political lifeof thecoimtry. Next 
year he was chosen a |)residential elect or-at large, 
and in the following year he was elecled to congress 
and took his seat in the house of representatives in 
December. 1845 The proposition lo terminate the 
joint occupancy of Oregon, and the reform of the 
tariff, w-ere the i.ssues of that time, and Mr Davis at 
once took an active part in di.seussing them, espe 
cially the Oregon iiuestion. In ,luiie 18411. was or 
ganized at VicUsbnig a regiment of Mis.sissijipi vol 
unteers for the Mexican war Mr Davis was in 
congress at the time but as he was elected its colo 
nel he inmiediately resigned his seat and hurried 
homeward to join the regiment, which never dotibt 
ing tlie acce]itance ot its colonel, had started tolMex 
ico without lum Mr Davis overlook his regiment 
at New Orleans, and hiuriedon with it to the seat of 
war. Detained for some lime at the mouth of the 
Rio Grande, his regiment was the last lo rejiort to 
Gen Taylor, but when it did so it was ordered to 
move with Ihe advance on Monterey In the attack 
on Monterey Gen Taylor divided his foice — sending 
one part of it by a circuitous route to attack the city 



from the west while he decided to lead in person the 
attack on the ea.st. The Mississippi regiment ad- 
vanced to the relief of a force which had attacked 
Fort Leneria, but had been repid.sed before the 
Jli.ssissippians arrived. They carried the redoubt, 
and the fort, which was in the rear of it, surrender- 
ed. The next day the American force on the west 
side carried snceessfully tin- lieiglit. on whieh stood 
the bishop's palace, which commanded the city. Ou 
the third (hiy the Memphians advanced frorn the 
fort, which they held, through lanes and gardens, 
skirmishing and driving the enemy before them luuil 
they reached a two-story house at the corner of the 
grand pla/.a. Here they were joined by an army of 
Texans. and frotn the windows of this house they 
o])ened tire on the artillery and such other troops as 
were in view. But to get a better iio.silion for firing 
on the buildings of the grand plaza, it was neces.sary 
to cro.ss the street, which was swejit by canister and 
grape, rattling on the pavement like hail; and as the 
street was very narrow, it was determined to con- 
struct a Hying barricade. Scmie long timbers were 
found, and with pack saddles and boxes (which 
served the purpose) a barricade was constructed. 
About the time it was <-oniiileted arrangements were 
made by the Texans and Mis.sis.sippians to occupy 
houses on both sides of the street for the purpose of 
more effective lire into the grand jilaza. " The ar- 
rangement made by me." .said Mr. Davis, in conver.s- 
ing with the writer on this e]iisode, "' for crossing it 
was, that I should go tirst; if only <ine gun was liicd 
at me. then another man should follow, and so on, 
another and another, until a vipIIv shoidd be tired, 
and then all of them .should rush ra]ii(ily across be- 
fore the giinscould be reloaded. In this manner the 
men got across with little loss. We then made our 
way to the suburb, where we foimd that an ollicer of 
infantry, with two companies and a .section of artil- 
lery, li.'id been posted lo wait for us. and, if needed, 
to aid our retreat." Early next iiuirning Gen. Am- 
jiudia, commander of the jMexican forces, sent in a 
ilag of truce, and asked a conference, w ith a view to 
ca])itulation. Gen. Taylor appointed Jefferson 
Davis, Gen Worth and Gov Henderson a connnis- 
sion to confer with the Mexican.s. Gen. Taylor re- 
ceived Jlonterey and its supplies, greatly needed by 
the armv, and sheller for the wciunded. while the 
Mexicans gained the ]irivilege of reliring peacefully, 
which, if it had been iHiised, they had Ihe power to 
take by any one of three roads in their pos.se.s.sion. 
But althoiigh the treaty was so fiivorable to the 
Americans, for some cause the administration at 
Washington disapproved it. "By this decision," 
said Mr Davi.s. " we lost whatever credit had been 
given us foi generous terms in the cai>itidation. and 
iu)stililies were to be resiuned without any inepara- 
tions having been made to advance further into the 
enemy's country." Gen. Taylor, with the body of 
his army, went to Victoria, and then made arrange- 
ments to send them all to report to Gen. Scott at 
Vera Cruz, except the small force that he considered 
himself entitled to as an escort on his way back to 
Monterey through an iiidficnilly ]ieople Of this 
small escort the Jlississippi rillemcn were part With 
these he proceeded through Monterey and Saltillo to 
Agna Nneva There he was joined by the division 
of Gen Wool, who had made the campaign of Chi- 
hnalma Gen Santa Amia was inlormed of this 
action, and that Taylor had oidy a handful of volun- 
teers who could readily be disper.MMl Thus assure<i 
he advanced on Agua Nucva (Jen, Taylor retired 
to the Angostura Pass, in tront of the iiacienda of 
Buena Vi.sta, and there piepared to receive the at- 
tack. After two days of bloodv fighting Gen, Santa 
Anna retired before the little force, most of whom 
had never before been \inder fire " The encounter 
with the enemy,' said Mr. Davis, near the close of 




^^^-^-^-^^^Jl^^i^^^c-y^^l^gctAJ-c^ 



COPVRIOHT, 189J, AT JAMES T. WHIT! 4 CO. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



251 



his life, "was very l)loody. The Jrississipiiiims lost 
mauy of their best nieu; for each ol'wliom, however, 
they killed several of the enemy. For, trained marks- 
men, the)' never touched a Iris^ger without having 
au oliject through both sights, and they seldom tired 
without drawing blood." The infantry against wlioni 
the advance was made were driven back, but the 
cavalry then moved lo get in the rear of the Missis- 
sippians, and this involved the necessity of falling 
back to where the jjlaiu was so narrow as to have a 
ravine on each flank. " lu this position the second 
demonstration of the enemy's cavalry was received. 
Tiiey were repulsed, anti it was quiet in front of the 
]\Iis.sissippians until an aide came and called from 
till' other side of the ravine that he could not im.ss, 
and tliat Gen. Taylor wanted siijiport to come as .soon 
as possible for the protection of the artillery ou the 
right flank. The order was promptly obeyed. They 
found the enemy moving in three lines upon the bat- 
teries of Ca].)t. Bra.xtou Bragg and the section of ar- 
tillery commanded by Geo. II. Thomas. The Mis- 
sissippiauscame up in line, tlicir right tiank oppo.site 
the first line of the advancing enemy, and at a very 
short range opened fire. All being shar|)shooters, 
those toward the left line obliqued to I he right and at 
close quarters, and against three long lines very few 
shots could have missed. At the .same time the 
gims of Bragg and Thomas were tiring grape. The 
effect was decisive: the infantry and artillery of the 
enemy immediately retired. At the close of the day 
Gen. Santa Anna himself led the retreat, as was .sup- 
posed, to go into quarters ; Init when the sun rose 
there was no enemy to be seen. The news of this 
victory was received with enthusiasm in the United 
States, and opened the road to the White House to 
Geu. Taylor. Early in the morning of this battle 
Col. Davis was severely wounded — a ball passing 
through his foot. lie persisted in remaining in the 
saddle until the battle was over, when it was found 
impossible to extract the foreign matter that had 
been forced into the woimd. Col. Davis therefore 
liad to resort to crutches, and in that condition 
returned home. On the way back he gave a strik- 
ing instance of his fidelity to the creed with which 
liis name must be fm-ever associated — state rights. 
The president had him ai3]iointed brigadier-general. 
Col. Davis declined the commis.sion on the ground 
that under the con.stitution volnuteers are militia, 
and that the appointment of their otflcers devolves 
necessarily on the governors of the states. This was 
lu 1847. The governor of Mississipj^i then appointed 
him U. S. senator to fill an unexpired term. He ac- 
cepted, and in 1848 he was imanimously chosen by 
the legislature. In 18ol) he was unanimously chosen 
as his own successor, and he took an immediate and 
active part in the debates — the Oregon (piestiou, the 
compronu.se measures of '50, frequently opposing 
Senator Douglas of Illinois, and advocating the ex- 
tension of the Missouri compromise line to the 
Pacific Ocean. In IS.'il Col. Davis, late in 
the canva.ss, was called on to take the place of 
the democratic candidate who had withdrawn, 
in con.sc(iuence of the belief that his dis- 
uiuon sentiments would lead to the defeat of the par- 
ty. It had just been defeated bj' over .s,()(IO majority 
in September. Mr. Davis accepted the post and re- 
<luced the majority to less than a thousand. Hethen 
retired to his plantation, and n'mainiMl out of pulilic 
life until the nondnation of Fraid<lin I'ieree .as pres- 
ident, when, having a warm friendship for Mr. 
Pierce and confidence in his ])at riot ism, lu^ entered 
the campaign as a speaker. On Pierce's election 
Jlr. Davis was invited to enter the cabinet as secre- 
tary of war, acecjited the place and served with 
great distinction during the entire term of four years. 
" While in the senate t had advocated as a military 
necessity and as a means of preserving the Pacific 



territory to the Union, the construction of a milita- 
ry railroad across the continent, and as secretary of 
war I was |)Ut in charge of the surveys of the vari- 
ous routes proposeil. During these four years I pro- 
jiosed the introduction of camels for .service on the 
western plains — a suggestion which was adopted. I 
also introduced an imjiroved system of infantry tac- 
tics, etfectedthe substitution of irim for wood in gun 
carriages, secured rifled nui.skets and rifles and the 
use of Minie balls, and advocated the increase of 
defences of the sea-coast by heavy guns and the use 
of large-grain powder." It was during Mr. Davis's 
terin of service as secretary of war that the troubles, 
a ])relude to the civil war, occurred in the Territory 
of Kansas — followed by the invasion of Virginia by 
Jolm Brown and his twentj' picked men who had 
been trained in the Kansas struggle. These events 
stimulated the sjiirit of the antagonistic free-soil and 
pro-slavery parties in both Nortli and South until it 
became plain to all that the controversy umst be .set- 
tled by an apjieal to arms. The ]irolonged contro- 
versy over Kansas ag.ain brought to the front the 
antagonistic theories of interpretation of the consti- 
tution — the state rights' theory which had become 
identified with the South, and the national theory 
which was almost unaniniouslj' held in the North. 
Mr. Davis earh' adopted the state rights' theory and 
maintained it by voice and pen imtil his dying day. 
It held that the founders of the constitution did not 
intend to create, and in fact did not create, a new na- 
tion, but only a new government ; that tins govern- 
ment, the Federal government, was not the sover- 
eign, nor had it any sovereign powers, but such 
functions only as had been delegated to it by the 
states which, from the date of the declaration of inde- 
pendence, had been and remained sovereign. The 
national theory, on the contrary, held that the Fed- 
eral government was sovereign, that the states had 
ceded their .sovereignty to it, and 
that rebellion against it was trea- 
son. It follows, if the state-rights' 
theory be correct, that the states, 
not iiaviug formally renounced 
the right of secession, had the 
same right to secede from the 
Union as they had to accede to 
it. Between theories so antago- 
nistic and so resolutely held, the 
only arbiter was the field of bat- 
tle. After various efforts at com- 
promise between the two parties, 
neither of whom had either de- 
sire or intention to compromise 
again, the Gulf states seceded. 
When orticially informed of the 
.secession of Mississippi Mr. Davis 
in an eloquent and touching speech 
took a farewell of the .senate, and 
hastened home, where he found that he had been 
appointed commaniler-in-chief of the ^[ississippi 
troops — a position he desired. Next he was noti- 
fied that he had been elected provisional jire.sident 
of the Confederate states — an honor he had not 
desired and had tried to avoid. But he did not 
refuse it as tendered, and on Feb. 18, 18(il, was 
inaugurated at Montgomery, Ala., as provisional 
jiresident of the Confederacy, with Alex. H. Sle- 
jiliens, of Georgia, as vice-president. From that ]ie- 
riod until the fall of the Confederate govermnent 
Mr. Davis's life was a jiart of the history of the 
Confeileracy, and it is impossible therefore to fol- 
low it out in detail. The chief events were the 
removal of the Confederate government to Rich- 
mond on the withdrawal oif Virgiina from the 
Union, where Mr. Davis continued to live until 
after the surrender of Lee at Appomattox. On 
receiving the news of Lee's snnender to Grant 




C-p2^^|<i2-<-<««--e^l>,<f«</ 



252 



TUE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



and of Johnson's capitulation to Sherman, Mr. Da- 
vis, accompanied by a few men wlio volunteered to 
accompany liim as an escort for the Trans-Missis- 
sippi, left l{iclimoiiil. " Hearing ou the road that 
niarauders were pursuin_:: my family, I changed 
my direction, and after a long and hard ride found 
them encamped and Ihrealeneil by a robbing ])arly. 
To give them the needed protection I traveled with 
tliem for several days until in the neighborhood 
of Iroiiville, Ga.. where I supposed I could safely 
leave them. Hut hearing about nightfall that a 
body of marauders were to attack the cam|i that 
night, and supposing them to be pillaging desert- 
ers from both armies, and that the Confederates 
would be true to me, I awaited their coming, lay 
down in my traveling clothes and fell a-sleej). Late 
in tlie night my colored coachman aroused me with 
the intellig<'nce that the camp was attacked, and I 
.slepjied out into the tent where my wile and clul- 
dren were sleeping, and saw at once that the as- 
sailants were troops deploying around the encamp- 
ment. I so informed my wife, who lu'ged me to escape. 
After some hesitation I consented. and a .servant wom- 
an started after me carrying a bucket, as if going to the 
spring for water. One of the surrounding troopers 
ordered uie to halt and demanded my surrender. 
I advanced toward the trooper, throwing olf a 
shawl which my wife had thrown over my shoul- 







ders. The trooper aimed his rille, wlien my wife, 
who witnessed the act. rushed forward and threw 
her arms around me. thus defeating my intention, 
which was, if the trooper raised his arm, to try to 
vmhorse him and escaitc with his horse. Then, 
with every species of petty pillage and oft'ensive 
exhibition I was taken from point to point until 
incarcerated at Fortress Monroe. There I was de- 
tained for two years before being allowed the priv- 
ilege of the act of habeas corpus." In Jlay, 1867, 
on being released from Fortress Monroe. Mr. Davis 
went to Canada and subse(|uently to Kngland. where 
lie was reci'ived wilb llie most disiingiiislicil honors. 
^Meanwhile the legal processes against him had been 
quashed. Mr. Davis returned to Mississip|ii, where 
he was made the ))residenl of a life insurance com- 
pany ;uid afterward went lo Heauvoir, whicli he sub- 
sequently inu'chased. From the s|iring of 1876 to 
the autumn of IS7!) he was eng.age(l in the prejiara- 
tion of his unisl elaborate book — a " History of the 
Kise and Fall of the Confederate Government," in 
two vohimes, octavo, of over 700 pages each. Since 
the close of the war Mr. Davis has resolulely ab- 
stained from taking any pari in politics, altho'.igh it 
was well known that the highest offices in the gift 
of the people of Mis.sissippi were at his {lisjio.sal. He 
was repealedly olfered tlie jiosition of U. 8. senator. 
In the last years of his life Mr. Davis wrote an ab- 
stract of his larger book. " .V Short History of the 
Confederate Stales," an octavo volume of over 700 
pages, and had begun an autobiography, which is 
incorporated in "Jefferson Davis, Ex-President of 




the Confederate States," a Memoir, by his wife, 
publfshed by the Belford Co., of New 1 ork, in two 
large octavo volumes. ISiH. He died at New Or- 
leans on a trip from Briartield back lo Beauvoir, on 
Dec. ti, ISSU. 

DOBBIN, James Cochrane, secretary of the 
navy, was born in Fayetteville, N. C in 1814. As 
a boy lie went to the district schools, and from there 
to Ilie University of North Carolina, where he was 
graduated in 1832. lie then en- 
tered a law oliice, and after tliree 
years of study was admitted to 
practice ami opened an office in 
Fayetteville, where he continued 
in the active lu'osecution of his 
professional work for the next ten 
years. In 1S4.1 he was elected a 
member of congress from his na- 
tive slate on the democratic ticket 
and remained in the hou.se of rep- 
resentatives imlil 1848. when he 
was elected to the state legislature. 
Here he contimied mitil 1852, be- 
ing speaker in his last term. In 
that year he was a member of Ihe 
dennicratic national convention, 
which was heltl at Baltimore, 
Md., and which nominated Frank- 
lin Pierce for Ihe (iresidency. ^/^ /LtJ'/ ' 
His eloquence at Ihe bar and in '^- '^ '<^'^!***^ 
the halls of legislature is said to 
have been very effective, and his amiable dispo.sition 
and urbane maimers made him a general favorite. 
The following year >Ir. Pierce appointed him secre- 
tary of the navy, and he continued to hold thai otlice 
until the close of the administration. 31r. Dobbin 
died al Favi'llevillc Auu". 4. 1857, 

McClelland, Robert, secretary of the inte- 
rior and governor of Michigan (1851-53), was born in 
Greencastle, Pa., Aug. 2. 1807. As a teacher he ac- 
quired means to lake a course at Dickinson College, 
Carlisle, Pa . from which he was graduated in 1829, 
and in 1831 wasadmitled to Ihe barin Chand.)ersburg, 
Pa., going to Jlonroe. ^Mich., in 1833. In 1835 he 
was a member of the first constitutional convention, 
in 183!) a member and speaker pro leni. of Ihe lower 
house of the legislature. In 1840, again a member 
of Ihe house, in 1843. member and 
speaker of the house. In 1S43-49 
he was elected for three con.secu- 
tive terms as member of congre.s.s. 
In 18.50. a mendier of the consti- 
tutional convention for that year. 
In 1851 he was elected governor, 
and in 18.52 was reelecled In 
1853. was appointed secretary of 
the interior by I'resident Pierce. 
His last public service was as a 
member of the conslilulional con 
venlion of 1867, fnim Wayne 
county, where he was then a res 
ident. He was thus a member of 
the three conventions that have 
been held to eonsirnci or revise 
the funilamenlal law of the state 
of Michigan Duriiur his con 
gressional term Gov. McClelland 
was a member and then chair 
man of the comnutlee on com 
merce. and favored and proctn'cd in some degree 
legislation for Ihe improvement of lake harbors. 
Gov, McClelland supported .lohn tjuincy A<lams in 
his demand for the right of pelilion. and voted to 
receive a liill offered by .Mr. (Jiildings for Ihe aboli- 
tion of .slavery in the Distiiel of Columbia. He al.so 
supported the " Wilmot Proviso, " designed to pro- 
hibit slavery in newly acquired territory. As sccre- 




/^vT^i^'a.-''^ 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



253 



tary of the interinr Gov. McClelUiud iutrotluced 
many reforms, ami his admiiustration of the depart- 
meut was above reproach. He was a pure man. both 
iu his official, his professional and his personal life. 
He was a delegate to the national convention in 1848 
and 1853. At the close of his term as secretary of 
the interior he setted in Detroit. Mich., doini; .some 
office practice, though mainly giving his attention to 
private business. He made a Eviropean tour in 1870, 
and (lied at his home in Detroit Aug. 30, 1880. 

GUSHING, Caleb, attorney - general of the 
United States, was born in Salisbury, Mass., Jan. 
17, 1800. Having exhibited at au early age remark- 
able powers of intellect and great fondness for 
study, he was prepared for a university course, en- 
tered Harvard when he was only thirteen years 
of age, and was graduated in 1817. His collegiate 
career is said to" have been one of luuisual bril- 
liancy, ami two ye-ars after his graduation, when 
only nineteen years of age, he was appointed a tutor 
at Harvard, in" mathematics and natural philosophy. 
The time between his graduation and his ajipoint- 
ment to this position was passed by young Cusliing 
as a law stvident at Harvard, and iu 1831 he entered 
the law office of Ebenezer Moseley, at Newbury- 
port, where he studied for a year, being adinittetl to 
the bar in 1833. In the following year Mr. C'ushiug 
was married to Caroline Wilde, daughter of Judge 
Wilde, of the supreme judicial court of Ma.s.sachu- 
setts. a lady who is said to have possessed rare intel- 
lectual endowments. At the bar ilr. Cushing at 
once gave evidence of great ability, and his ri.se into 
a lucrative practice was remarkably rapid. For 
many years Cu.shing and Rufus Choate were popu- 
larly considered as at the head of the famous Essex 
bar" In 183.5 Mr. Cushing was chosen a representa- 
tive to the state legislature from Newburyport. and 
in the ne.xt year was elected senator from Essex 
county. He. however, continued to practice law 
nntil 1839. when he took his wife to Europe, where 
they traveled fur two years, and where Mr. Cushing 
employed himself in studying the laws, statistics, in- 
stitutions and literature of the countries which they 
visited. In December, 183.i, ]Mr. Cu.shing took his 
seat in the house of representatives, where he con- 
tinued until March, 1843. In congress, on the 9th 
of Februan,-, 1836, iu a debate on the naval ap- 
propriation bill, iu committee of the whole, Mr. 
Cushing made his maiden speech, in reply to the 
well-known Kentuckian, Ben Hardin, who was 
called "the terror of the house," for his arrogant 
and violent mixle of denouncing and attacking those 
who opposed him in debate. Although a thoroughly 
respectful address, Mr. Cushing's speech irritated 
the Kentuckian to such a degree that when the Mas- 
sjiehusetts man had sat down, he arose and pro- 
ceeded to tear him to pieces in his customary maimer 
of rending those who dilfered from himself in opin- 
ion, or resisted him in argument. At the request of 
a number of members, the floor was afterward con- 
ceded to Mr. Cushing for the purpo.se of enabling 
him to make a return to this attack. The result was 
astounding, as the yoimg man not only showed him- 
self skilled at repartee and rejoinder, but in his per- 
orati<m poached upon the classic preserves so often 
frequented by the Kentucky orator, and with such 
success as to rouse the house to the highest pitch of 
excitement, and to make the galleries resound with 
peals of laughter at the discomtited Ben Hardin. 
From this time forward Jlr. Cushing was recognized 
in the house of representatives as a factor which 
must be considered in connection with any public 
question that was under debate. Up to the time of 
the accession of John Tyler to the presidency, Jlr. 
Cushing was a consistent whig in politics, but the 
break-up in the party which then took place drove 
him over to the other side, and he supported Tyler 




with great force and fervor, although the latter was 
read out of the party iu a manifesto from a caucus 
committee of congress. In return for his services, 
the president nominated Cushing for secretary of the 
treasury, but the senate refused to conlirm. He was 
then appointed commissioner, and afterward envoy 
extraordinary and minister plenipotentiaiy to China, 
and sailed in" July, 1843, on board the steam frigate 
Jlissonri, which was destroyed by tire at Gibraltar. 
After this accident Mr. Cushing pushed ou by way 
of Egypt and India to China, and in six months suc- 
ceeded in negotiating a treaty and establishing reg- 
ular diplomatic relations with the celestial empire. 
In 1844 he completed his journey around the world, 
returning to the United States through Mexico. Pos- 
ses.sed of extraordinary vitality and 
great activity of mind and boily, 
Cushing could hardly remain quiet 
for auy length of time, and in 1845 
he made an extended tour in the 
northwest territory, which he ex- 
plored in every direction, sleeping 
iu the woodsand obtaining his food 
by hunting and fishing, far removed 
from every vestige of civilization. 
In 1846 Mi-. Cuslimg was elected by 
both parties to represent the town 
of Xewbnryport iu the legislature; 
in the meantime the war with Mex- 
ico was the one great question be- 
fore the ]iid)lic mind, and with re- 
gard to it Mr. Cushing was enthus- 
iastic. He tiled to induce his state 
to appropriate ^30,000 to raise a 
regiment of volunteers, but was 
unsuccessful, and subscribed a large 
sum of money himself for this purpose, obtaining 
the rest from friends. The regiment was raised, 
and Mr. Cushing went with it to the seat of war as 
colonel. He was promoted to brigadier -general, 
but had no ojiportunity for seeing active service. 
While in Jlexico Gen. Cushing was nominated by 
the democratic party for governor of JIas.sachu- 
setts, and in 1848 he was again a candidate for the 
same office; but, though he received the largest vot« 
that had been cast for the party in many years, the 
state was whig, and of course he was defeated. He 
was a member of the state legislature for the fifth 
time in 18.50, was maj'or of the city of Newburyport 
iu 1851-.53, and in the latter year was appointed an ad- 
ditional justice of the state supreme court. On the 
accession of Franklin Pierce to the presidency, Caleb 
Cushing was made attorney -geueral, and his decis- 
ions, which were very numerous, have been often 
quoted as exhibiting remarkable legal lore and gen- 
eral erudition, combined with extraordinary sagacity 
and shrewdness. He retired from the position of 
attorney-general in 1857, and during the next two 
years was again in the legislature of Massachusetts, 
in April, 1860, Mr. Cushing was president of the dem- 
ocratic national convention held in Charleston. S. C. 
During the continuance of the war of the rebellion 
Mr. Cu.shing was employed on confidential missions 
by President Lincoln, and by the heads of the de- 
partments. In 1866 he was made a member of the 
conmiis.sion instructed to revise and codify the laws 
of congress. In 1868 Mr. Cushing was sent to Bo- 

fota to accomplish a diijlomatic mission with the 
'uited States of Colombia, and was suece.ssfid in 
arranging it. At the Geneva conference, arranged 
for the purpose of settling the "Alabama" claims, 
Mr. Cu.shing was one of the counsel for the United 
States. In 1874 he was .sent out as minister to Spain, 
where he remained until 1877. Mr. Cushing died 
in Newburyport, Mass., Jan. 2, 1879. 

CAMPBELrl), James, postmaster-general. (See 
Index). 



254 



TIIK NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 




YOUMANS, Edward Livingston, scientist 
ami (•(liti)r, was borii ill C'oeviiiiins. Albiiny Co., 
N. Y., .June 8. 1821, the son of C'atlieriue (Seolield) 
and Viiieenl Voumans. At tlie aj;e of three years 
he began to attend the distriet school of the 
Presbyterian church, and early developed a taste 
for literature, taking pailieularly to the classics. 
Through this extreme fondness for books, he really 
educated hini.self in a nio.st 
thorough and syslenialic man- 
ner, in spite of the fad that he 
■was attacked with oi>hthalmia 
at the aire of thirteen. His stud- 
ies, though frequently interrupt- 
ed by this cause, were never en- 
tirely discontinued, and along 
with his other .studies, he dipped 
into science, of which he soon 
acquired considerable knowl- 
edge, particularly of applied sci- 
ence, devoting himself to all ini- 
jiortant works on scieulitic agri- 
culture. From a desire to assist 
those whose eyesight might be 
afflicted as his was. he invented 
the chemical chart, which makes 
clear to the eye, and easily re- 
membered, the most imjiortant 
principles and laws of clu'mi.stry, 
as it was then understood. It exhibited the impor- 
tant elements, binary compounds and salts, and the 
minerals of chief intere.st to geologists and agricul- 
turists, together with the most important organic 
bodies. He was requested to write a book to ac- 
company it, the result of which was his "Class- 
book of Chemistry." Brief, clear in style, and devoid 
of technicalities, it had an astounding and coiUinuous 
sale, has been written and rewritten, the sale of its 
three editions being 144,000 copies. His " Cliemical 
Atlas." which appeared a few years later, was an ex- 
tension of the chart mi'tliocj, and also had an accom- 
panying tcxt-l)ouk. He, moreover, undertook the 
stniiy of medicine, and received the degree of M.l). 
from the University of Vermont . For seventeen years 
he lectured throughout the country, and was the first 
to expound, in a popular style, the doctrines of the 
"conservation of energy, and the mutual relation of 
forces." In 18.56, through reailing a review of Herbert 
Spencer's " P.sychology. " his interest was aroused, 
and led to a correspondence with the author, thus 
beginning an acquaintance which eventuated in the 
publication of Spencer's writings in America, he 
Iiaving foreseen the great intineuce they were des- 
tined to exert on the American mind. In IHGl he 
married Jlrs. William L. Lee. In 1866 he filled 
the chair of clieu\istry in Antioch College, and de- 
livered there a course of lectures. The "Popular 
Science Monthly "was started by the Applclons in 
1873, at his suggestion, and the success of the journal 
is an evidence of his foresight and judgment. He was 
its editor until his health failed. He had made ar- 
rangements with Herbert Spencer to write t he ' ' St ndy 
of Sociology," which was to appear simnltane- 
ously in an American and ICuropean magjizine. He 
made a contract with the "(ialaxy " for its Ameri- 
<'an |iublicalion, but through some misunderstanding 
the editors of this journal maintained that the tirst 
InstalnKuit came too late for publication at the time 
specified. Pealizing the necessity of establishing a 
new scientific journal, the " Popular Science .Month- 
ly" was conceived, platmed and started, contained 
the delayed article, and appeared two days Ijefore 
the " (J.'Uaxy," in less than two weeks fnan the fii'st 
conception of the project. He was alw.ays deeply 
intere.st eil in having the works and writings of scien- 
tific men published in America. He died in New 
York city in March, 1887. 



YOUMANS, ■William Jay, editor, was bom 
in Saratoga, N. V., Oct. 14, 1838, a younger 
brother of Edward Livingston Youmans. He 
passed his youth in farm work and in picking up 
such instruction as he could from the district school 
until about 18.'J4, when he began serious study, de- 
voting himself more particularly to science, and es- 
pecially chemistry. His brother Edward taught 
him at tirst, and in fact prepared him for college, 
and he went to the Yale Scien- 
tific Scho<il and afterward |ias.s- 
ed 
of the 



through the medical course 
J«evv York Universitv, 




*-y*(i^-"^r-;- 



where he was graduated in 1.86,i. 
In the same year he went to 
England and had the go(«l for- 
tune to comjilete his education 
in natural history under the able 
teaching of Piof. Huxley. Re- 
turning to America he went -', 
^Ve.st and settled in Jlinnesota, ^^ 
where he passed three years in 
the practice of medicine. He 
was successful, but being devot- 
ed to natural science, on the pro- 
jection of the " Popular Science 
Monthly" by his brother Ed- 
ward, through the publishing house of D. Appletoh 
& Co. in 1872. he left Minnesota, and returning 
to Xew York joined his brother. With him Dr. 
Youmans shared the management of the new scien- 
tific journal, which met with the greatest success, 
and grew into wide i>opularity and appreciation. 
On the drath of Prof. E. L. Youmans, in 1887, his 
brother. Dr. Youmans, became .sole editor of the 
"Popular Science Monthly." Dr. Y'oumans is a 
writer of ability and has for many years contribiUed 
to the pages of the magazine now under his charge, 
besides preparing for Aiipleton's "Annual Cyclo- 
ptedia" a number of important articles on scientific 
subjects for each yearly i.ssue. He also edited Hux- 
ley's "Lessons in Elenientary Physiology." 

DA'VENPOKT, 'William Francis, o]H'rating 
dentist, was born in New York city M.-irch Ho, l.'^.")4. 
He is descended from William Davenport, who emi- 
grated from England abo\U lOfiO, and setth'd in 
Westchester, X. Y. Young Davenjiorl was left en- 
tirely to his own resources at the age of fifteen, and 
acquired his position through his 
own efforts. He commeiuvd the 
study of dentistry at the Xew 
Y'ork College of Dentistry, in 
1877, receiving his diploma in 
1880. In the spring of 1879 he 
was appointed assistant demon- 
.strator in the operating depart- 
meiU. and tlic following year was 
made demonslrator and superin- 
tendent in the same department, 
and clinical lecturer on operative 
dentistry. After three years' ser- 
vice he resigned, but began active 
practice wiule still holding this 
position as <'arly as 1878. an<l .soon 
acqiured a reputation as a skill- 
ful and reliable operator. He 
established himself in one of the 
wealthiest hicalities in Mew Y'ork. 
and soon acquired a lucrative and 
select practice. He was for some years identified 
with the First District Dental Society. an<l has been 
called u|ion to give clinics at the meetings of the 
society — has also devi.sed operating instruments for 
advaiiced melhoils, and he is a Fellow of the Amer- 
ican Geogra])hical Society, a nu-mber of the Jletro- 
politan Jiuseum of Art, and other organizations. 





i*>^^/ 



cr^^gr-^^^'Z^.s/ 



CcC<:^dxy7i.^C'i'!/^ 



COPYRIGHT, 1991, BY JAMfS T. WMlTf ft CO. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY 







'' •"(irtiimijiiin "i 



BUCHANAN, James, fiftpontli pri'sidpnt of 
tbc Uiiilcil Slates, was born near Mcrccrsliur^-, Pa., 
Apr. 23, 1791. .James Buchanan's parents were of 
Scotcli-Irisli flescent. His father was born in the 
county Doncfial, Ireland, in ITHl, and emigrated to 
America in 1783, .settlini; in C'umberhmd eounty, 
Pa., where he married and was blest with eleven 
children. His son -James was the second of these 
children and his father seems to have been well-to- 
do, as the boy was educated first at 
a good school in Mercerslmr}; and 
afterward, in 1S()7, entered tlie jim- 
ior class in Dickinson t'ollene, from 
wliieh he was jjraduated two _years 
later. He went to Lancaster where 
he studied law, and in 1812 was ad- 
mitted to the bar in that town. This 
was the time of the war with Ena;- 
land, and Uuclianan's political prin- 
eiples beiuii tliose of the federalist 
party, were against war. yet his tirst 
: luiblic address in Ijaiieaster was in 
-behalf of the enlist nu'iit of volun- 
teers, and he enrolled his own 
name as one of the etirliest to take 
up this duty. This was in 1814, 
and in October of tliat year lie was 
elected a member of the lower 
liousp of the I'ennsylvania legis- 
lature, and re-el(!Clcd in 1HI.5. 
After the close of the se.s.sion he retired to Lancaster 
and returned to the jiractice of his pr<ifession in 
which he was already becoming well known mid 
somewhat distinguished. About this time oecurreci 
the roniaiiti<t experience wliich caused him to always 
remain unmarried, and had an itniiortaiit intluence 
In .shaping his career. He was engaged to a young 
lady of tine personal character and irreat lieautv.and 
it was his intention to devote hirnseif entirely to his 
profession and not to again enter pnl)lic life, when 
the death of this young lady changed all his plans, 




and being offered the nomination for congress he ac- 
cepted it gladly and was elected to the seventeenth 
congress, being at tlie time twenty-nine years old. 
At this time the countrv was politically (juiet ; war 
excitement w.-is forgot ten; there was no sectional dis- 
turbance and the turn of legislation was rallier tow- 
ard improvements and bills for the amelioration 
of conditions, than anything more grave. An illus- 
tration of this was a bill introduced in Deceniber, 
1821, for the purpose of establishing uniformity in 
the matter of bankruptcy. The discussion of this 
act continued nearly tliree months and brought Mr. 
Buchanan forward as a <lebater. The measure itself 
included commercial insolvency onl_v, and in this 
form would doubtless have passed, iiut an amend- 
ment intended to cover all insolvent debtors was the 
cause of a great deal of feeling. !Mr. Buchanan was 
in favor of the bill but opposed to the amendment, 
claiming that the measure had a very wide be.-iring, 
and that if it should become a law it would virtually 
amount to a judicial consolidation of the Union, an 
object which showed the tendency of Mr. Buchan- 
an's mind at this early jieriod of his career, .'Uid 
which was displayed just forty years later when the 
fpiestion of the .absolute disintegration of the I'nion 
was on the UipiK. In s|)eaking to the bill in (pies- 
tion Mr. Buclianan said: " JjCt a bankrupt be |U'e- 
sentcd to the view of society who has be<-onie weal- 
thy since his discharge and who, after having ruined 
a number of his creditors, shields himself from the 
payment of liis honest debts liy a certificate, and 
what effects wouhl such a spectacle be calculated to 
produce? Examples of this nature must at length 
demoralize any people. The contagion introduced 
by the laws of tile countrv would for that very rea- 
■son spread like a pestilence, until honesty, honor, 
and faith will at length be swept from the inter- 
course of society. Leave the agricultural interests 
pure and uncorrui>ted, and they will forever form 
the basis on which the constitution and liberties of 
your country iimy safely repose. Do not, I beseech 



258 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 







you, teach them to think lightly of the solemn oli- 
ligations of contracts. No goveninu'iit on earth, 
however corrupt, has ever cnactcil a haiikrupl law 
for fanners. It would lie a perfecl nmnsler in this 
country where our insiitutions dcpeiid altogether 
upon tiic virtue of the iieiiplc. We have no consti- 
tutional power to pa.ss the anieiidnient proposed hy 
the gentleman from Kentucky, antl if we had we 
never sliould do so, bec'ause such a provision would 
spread a moral taint tlirough .society whicli would 
corrupt it to its very core." In considering 
the subject of protection Jlr. Buchanan 
said that lie sliould consider himself a traitor 
to his country in giving any support to a 
bill which should compel the agricultural 
to bow down before tlie manufacturing in- 
terest. Concerning slavery lie .said: " I be- 
lieve it to be a great political and a grave 
moral evil. I thank (Jod my lot has been 
cast in a state where it does not e.vist, but 
while I entertain these opinions I know it 
is an evil at present beyond remedy." Mr. 
Hiicbanan was one of the most efficient sup- 
porters of President .lacksmi in congress, lie 
was chairman of the judi<-iary committee of 
the house, and in that pnsilion was able to in- 
troduce and advocate imjiortant measures. 
Ill August, 18;M, .Mr. Biicliaiiaii received the 
ajipoiiitment to the Russian mission from 
General .Jackson, with the additional duty of nego- 
tiating a commercial treat v with that country. The 
mis.sion succeeded and >Ir. Buchanan remained at 
the Russian court until the autumn of 1833 wlien, 
after making a short tmir of the continent and 
England, lu' returned lo the United States. In 
1834 Mr. Buchanan was cho.seii senator from Penn- 
sylvania, and as a democrat found himself opjiosed 
to such men as t'lav, Webster, Clayton, Tom Ewing, 
Frelinghuysen anil other eminent debaters. lie 
■was, however, able to liold his own, even against 
such powerful opposition, and although offered in 
1839 by President Van Buren the position of attor- 
ney-general of the United Stales, he preferred to re- 
main in tlie senate. In 184.') President Polk olTered 
Mr. Buchanan the position of secrelurv of state, 
which he accepted, and in that position found him- 
self obliged to handle two very important national 
questions, one being the .settlement of the Oregon 
bouiKlary and the other that of the annexation of 
Texas. In the treatment of these ilelicate questions 
and others Mr. Buchanan exhibited a tact and good 
judgment which increased his already high reputa- 
tion as a statesman and diplomatist. In 1852 Mr. 
Buchanan was a candidate with Gen. Cass, Sen- 
ator Douglas, Gov. Marcy and others before the 
Baltimore convention for the nomination for the 
presidency, but it was soon found iieees.sary to ac- 
cept a compromise candidate, and Franklin Pierce 
received the nomination. Mr. Biicbanaii at once ex- 
pressed his salisl'a<:tioii with tin's .-iclioii on the i>ai1 
of the convention, and declared bis intention to aid 
in the election of Mr. Pierce, who was opposed by 
Gen. Scott as the whig candidate, against whom 
Mr. Buchanan delivered an important and influen- 
tial speech at Greensburgh. Pa. President Pierce, 
being elecled. offered Mr. Buchanan the mission to 
Englanil which, after much deliberalidii, the l;itter 
con.sented to accept. He arrived in IjOiidon in 
August, 18,53, and continued lo represent the United 
States at the court of St. .James imtil the spring of 
185(i with marked ability, being recognized b}- the 
diplomatic corjis at that court as the equal of "an_v. 
At the iialional democratic convention in Cincinnati 
in 1S.")(1 .Mr. Buchanan was nominaleil for the presi- 
dency. It was an ex<aling period and Mr. Buchan- 
an felt the responsibility which he would assume if 
he should be elected. In oppo.sition to him the 



newly formed republican party entered the field 
with Gen. John C. Fremcmt, hoping to carry the 
country by the enthusiasm which it expected to pro- 
voke through the use of the name of the explorer, 
but in this they were unsuccessful, and Mr. Bu- 
chanan was elected, obtaining an electoral vote of all 
the slave holding states together with the states of 
California, Indiana, Illinois, Penn.sylvania and New 
Jersey. The situation was ominous. The preced- 
ing administration had witnessed the repeal of the 
Mi.ssouri compromise, which opened the sectional 
struggle, (piieled during the existence of that meas- 
ure. The troubles in Kansas were at their height, 
and in his management of the delicate question there 
involved >Ir. Buchanan brought down upon himself 
severe denunciation from the press and pulpits of 
the North. In a general way in his treat meiit of this 
question, as later in his handling of the greater .sec- 
tiimal question which arose in the last <iays of his 
administration, Mr. Buchanan .showed liis chief 
failing.s — weakness of character, and a tendency to 
"trim." During his administration the Clayton- 
Bulwer treaty do.sed the perplexing and irritating 
question inherited from formeradniiiiistratioiis. Mr. 
Buchanan's iiidustiy during the whole time of his 
occupancy of the presidential chair was incessant 
and untiling, and at one period, after the resigna- 
tion of Gen. Cass, he was virtually his own secretaiy 
of state. It was during his administration that the 
first success of the Atlantic cable was established, 
Aug. 5, 1858. Ill the same year Minnesota was 
admitted to the Union, followed by Oregon in 1859. 
The events of the latter part of his administration 
became to Mr. Buchanan sources of serious mi.sgiv- 
ing and constant worriment. The Dred Scott de- 
cision by the supreme court grcatlv excited the 
North, while John Brown's raid at flarjier's Fernr 
stimulated the anti-slavery and anti-soulbeni feel- 
ing. Under these conditions the camiiaign of 1860 
became a period of widespread anxiety. Mr. Lin- 
coln was elected, and on the SOtli (if December 
Soinh Carolina seceded. By the Isl of February, 1861, 
this had been followed by the .secession of the states 
of Alabama, KInrida, Georgia, Louisiana, Missis- 
sipiji and Texas. TheConfe(lerate government was 
organized with .Jefferson Davis as president and 
Alexander H. Stephens as vice-president. Mean- 
while the national government was aiipar- 
enlly pandy/.ed, and the friends of the South 
in the cabinet and in both hou.ses of con- 
gress were able to do much in the interest 
of their cause by increa.sing the inefliciency 
of the army ami navy while distracting the 
president with diverse coim.scls. All the 
military jiosts and ports in the southern 
states with four exceptions were seized l>y 
the Confeilerate authorities. One decided 
movement .was made by Jlr. Buchanan in 
the direction of positive action in the at 
tempt to reinforce the garrison at Fort Sum- 
ter by .sending the steamer Star of the West 
with men and provisions to Charleston har- 
bor, but on being fired upon she was com- 
]ielled to return. 'Oii Ibeitih of March, 1801, 
>Ir. Buchanan relireil from Washington to 
hiscounliy-seat at Wheatland, leaving flic country on 
the eve ofa revolution, for which be was at that time 
held t(i be responsible. Feeling the injustice of the 
prevailing opinion Mr. Buchanan spent a jiortioii of 
ins leisure after his retirement in writing a vindica- 
tion of his policy under the title '■ Buchanan's Ad- 
ministration," which was published in 1866. Dur- 
ing his iiicumbency of the White House, being 
unmarried, Mr. Buchanan was assisted most grace- 
fully and charniingly in disp<Mising its hospitalities 
by his niece, Mi.ss Harriet Italic, long remembered 
as one of the most agreeable and accomidished ladies 









^^^-^--7^ 



COIiVRIOHT, 1892, BY JAMES T. WHITE A CO. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



261 




who ever iiiulcrtook this onerous duty. Mr. Bu- 
chauau died in Laneaster, Va., June 1, 18G8. 

BRECKINRIDGE, John Cadell, vice-pres- 
ident of tlie Tuitcd Stales, was liora near Le.\- 
ington, Ivy., Jan. :21, IfS'Jl. 1 lis grandfather was 
a IT. S. senator, aud at one time attorney -.gener- 
al. Young Breel<inridge. after .studying at Cen- 
tre College, Danville, went through a law cour.se 
at the Transylvauia Institute, and then lived for 
a time in Burlington, la., but finally established 
himself at Lexington, Ky., and 
soon obtained a good law prac- 
tice. The war with Me.vico at- 
tracted liim, aud as a regiment of 
voltHiteers was formed in liisstate, 
he joined it, and was elected ma- 
yn: He went to Mexico, but it i.s 
not on record that he was suc- 
cessful in a military way. His 
time .seems to have been mainly 
emiiloycd in acting as counsel for 
Gen. Pillow, who got into trouble 
with his associate and superior 
olticers, which reached the point 
of litigation. After t he war Breck- 
inridge returned and was elect- 
ed a member of the Kentucky 
house of repieseutatives. In 18ol 
he was elected a member of con- 
gress, and re-elected for the next 
term. President Pierce olfered 
him the position of minister to Spain, but he de- 
cliueil it. In the presidential election of 18156 
Breckinridge was successful in being elected vice- 
president of the United States. In 1860 the out- 
and-out slaveholding interest of the South desired 
him as its candidate for the presidency, but he 
was opposed by tluise delegates to the conventicm 
who supported Stephen A. Douglas, which resulted 
in a division of the party, each of these two gentle- 
men running as a candidate. He received seventy- 
two votes in the electoral college against twelve for 
Douglas, all the southern states voting for him ex- 
cept Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and Missouri. 
Though defeated for the presidency he was elected 
U. S. senator to succeed John J. Crittenden. While 
in the senate, he defended the coiu'se of the South, 
and was expelled from the .senate on Dec. 4, 1861. 
The following 3-ear he was appointed major-general 
in the Confederate army, and at the battle of Shiloh 
commanded the reserve. In August. 1863, he at- 
tacked Baton Rouge, and was defeated. He fought 
at Murfreesljoro, Chickamauga, and Chattanooga, 
and defeated Gen. Sigel in I he spring of 1864, near 
Newmarket. In that .summer he was with Lee diu'- 
ing the battles of the Wilderness, and in the latter 
part of that year was defeated bv Sheridan in the 
Shenandoah Vallev. The last of his war record 
was a battle near Na.shville, Dec. 15. 1864. In 1865 
lie was .sc'cretary of war in the Confederate cabinet. 
When the Confederate govermnent tied from Rich- 
mond he was oni^ of the ]iarty. which he left, how- 
ever, and made his escape througli (ieorgia to the 
Klorida Keys, and lluMice sailed for Cuba, and after- 
ward from llav.aua to Europe. The story of the 
flight of Breckinridge is an interesting oni'. After 
the separation of the members of the Confederate 
Sovermnent he rode on lior,sel)aek through Florida 
under the n;ime of Col. Cadell, having with him bis 
son and Cnl. Wood, who w.as a nephew of Zaehary 
Taylor, and another olHcer n.amed Wilson, all mem- 
bers of the gener.al's siatf. Near the town of Madi- 
son, Fla., they reachecl the plantation of Gen. Fine- 
g!in, to whom he jnesenled the tine horse he was 
riding, and wa.s sent forward by carriage towanl 
east Florida. Is is slated that Brickinridge was 
obliged to be very wary even while traveling through 



this part of the South and within so brief a period 
of the date of the surrciuUir. Curiously enough, 
they enc'ouiUered on the road an old conntrywomaa 
who told them that a traveler hurrying in the same 
direction had applied at her house for a meal, for 
whicii. on oblaining, he had given a gold-piece to 
her. The old woman had discovered, through re- 
membering a portrait secaiin an old illiisl rated paper, 
that this luu-ried traveler was J udah P. Benjamin. 
So it happened that the two members of the ex-Con- 
federate government were Uyiug from the country 
within a few miles of each other without either 
being aware of the fact. Breckinridge remained 
abroad until 1868, when he returned to America aud 
lived in retirement until his death, which occurred 
at his home in Lexington, K}-., Jlay 17, 1875. 

CASS, Lewis, secretary of state, was born in 
Exeter, N. IL, Oct. 9, 1783, the son of Jonathan 
Cas.s, a soldier of the revolutionary war, and his 
wife, Mary (Gilman) Cass. Lewis Cass was the 
elih'st of six children. He showed a fondness and 
capacity for stud3- in his early years that was encour- 
aged by his father, who gave him an education be- 
yond his means, and in 171)3 when he was but ten 
years old, he was placed in the academy in Exeter, 
where he came in contact with the strong personal- 
ity of Benjamin Abbott, whose stern disc-ipljne and 
(■orrect principles and scholarshii) left its imprint on 
the minds of his scholars. He spent seven years at 
the academy, becoming proficient in the classics, 
mathematics and the niddern languages, and subse- 
quently taught some months in this academy. 
Meanwhile, his father had accepted a commission in 
the army raised for the defence of the western fron- 
tier, and had been brevetted major. He was for a 
time commander of Fort Hamilton, and held this 
command until the treaty of Greenville. In 1800 he 
removed his family to Ohio, where they settled at 
Marietta, in the .southern portion of the state, having 
traveled from the east jiartly on foot and partly by 
boat; a .year later they moved farther north, settling 
near Zanesville, where Maj. Ca.ss 
located forty land warrants for one 
hundred acres each. Lewis, who 
had preceded the family in the west 
about one year, arriving there in the 
latter part of 179i), remained at Ma- 
rietta to st\idy law in the ollice of 
K.J. Meig.s, subsequently governor 
of the state of Ohio; he however 
.spent a portion of his time a.ssistiug 
his father to prepare his home in 
the wilderness. About this time 
Ohio came into the Union as a Jef- 
fersonian slate, and the first certifi- 
cate of admissidn to the bar under 
the new constitution was given to 
Lewis Cass; in the aninmn of 1M03, 
he settled at Z.ancsville and began 
the jiractice of law. In 1804 this 
settlement assumed the dignity of 
a counly .scat, and the .same year 
he was eleclcil prosecuting attorney, and began 
his public career. I'mbably through his infiuen- 
tial fri(Mids at Marietta and general acquaintance 
throughout the .state, he had llins early acquired 
a widespread reputation as an able jurist and plead- 
er, and he also already commanded a lucrative 
|iraclice and was .soon known as one of the foremost 
men of the b,ar. In IMIKI he w.as married to Eli/.a- 
beth Spencer, of Virginia, a descendant of Gen. 
Spencer, of revolutidiiary fame, and also in this year 
was elected to the legi.slalure of Ohio. He was ap- 
pointed by the governor a member of the committee 
to impure into the movements of the supposed trai- 
tor, -VarouBurr, and drafted the bill which the com- 
mittee reported and which empowered the authori- 




262 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPiEDIA 



ties to arrest the men and boats which had been 
made ready for the expedition down the Ohio river. 
It was also at his instigation that the legislature of 
Ohio adopted a resolution expressing its attachment 
to the government, abhorrence of rebellion and in- 
surrection, and confidence in the administration of 
President Jefferson. This resolution was framed by 
Cass and forwarded to the president, who was not 
slow to recognize the marked ability of the docu- 
ment and in ISOT ollered him a coraniission as Unit- 
ed States marshal of the state of Ohio, which office 
be retained until 1813. after the outbreak of the war 
of 1812. In May, 1813. Ohio was called to furnish 
her (piota of men for the war, and 1,200 volunteers 
were summoned to leather at Dayton: these were di- 
vided into three reguiients and Lewis I'a.ss was com- 
missioned colonel of the third, under Gen. Hull, at 
that time governor of Michigan territory. He was 
in command of the advance guard when the army 
crossed into Canada from Detroit, and rirafted the 
proclamation addressed to the inhabitants by the 
general, and also commanded the detachment at the 
bridge of Aux Canards, that drove into the British 
outposts. Much to his indignation, he was included 
in the capitulation known as Hull's surrender, and 
■was paroled. His liery nature illj' brooked this in- 
dignity, and rather than disgrace himself by a sur- 
render, he broke his sword in two, and, greatly ex- 
asperated, immediately hastened to Washington, 
■where he made the first report of the affair to the 
TJ. S. government. He was appointed major-gener- 
al in the Ohio militia in 1812, but not having been 
exchanged was ])reveuted by his parole from enter- 
ing into the service for a time. January, 1813, he 
■was instructed by the president to raise two regi- 
ments of regular troops, and his parole having been 
removed about the middle of January, Feb. 20, 
1813, he was appointed a colonel in the army, and 
sub.sequeutly. on accouut of his fidelity and energy, 
was brevetted brigadier-general in the regular armj' 
and assigned to act under ^Maj.-Gen. Harrison in 
the West, and appointed to the 27th regiment of in- 
fantry. He participated in the battle of the 
Thames in Canada, Oct. 5, 1813, and at the end of 
the campaign was left in command of Michigan with 
head(iuarte"is at Detroit. Oct. 2'.l, 1813, he was aji- 
pointed governor of Michigan by the president, and 
with the exception of some occasional absences, he 
resided in this territory for a period of eighteen 
^ vears. Julv 22, 

, !_ 1814. Gen. "Har- 

rison and Gov. 
Cass met in coun- 
cil with a number 
of hostile Indians 
and entered into 
an agreement in 
whicli the com- 
missioners pledg- 
ed protection and 
the Indians prom- 
ised assistance, 
and Gov. Cass re- 
turned to Detroit 
in company with a band that became pei-sonally at- 
tached to him. Uj) to the lime he had assumed the 
governorship of the territory, the United .States had 
sold no land. Then its interior was a great wilder- 
ness numbering hardly (i.OOO white inlial]ilants in the 
entire territory, while the pO|iMlalion of savages was 
estimated at 40.0(10. Xo roads had been opened, no 
surveys made; no iiro])er titles could be .secured to 
the settlers for their lands, and the savages were res- 
olute in their hostility. In addition to tlie work he 
did in bringing Michigan out of this Gallic torpor he 
accomplished the task of a.s.serting northweslern in- 
dependence and preserved the national dignit}' by 





opposing British interference, whose insidious efforts 
to render American possession of the northwest un- 
tenable continued in a greater or less degree during 
his entire term as governor, and uj) to the time of 
the Ashburton treaty in 1842. Subsequently to 
April, 1818, all the land north of the northern line 
of Illinois and ea.st of the Mississippi was under the 
government of Cass, and he was also ei-offieio su- 
peiintendent of Indian affairs in the territory, and in 
this capacity came in contact with the Indians of the 
whole northwest ; and it is no exaggeration to say 
that to his exertions and influence is due the actual 
I)ossession of the northwest. 
He negotiated a score of treat- 
ies of great importance, trav- 
eled through the wilderness 
studying how he could civilize 
the red man and ho'iv he might 
open the vast western region 
for peaceful settlement. He 
started surveys, built roads and 
military works, lighthouses 
along the lake shore, arranged 
counties and townships, started 
the democratic maehiuery of 
self-government, and made the 
laws, which were codified and 
published and have since been 
known as the Cass code. The 
record of his management of the Indian affaii-s is 
one almost without parallel in the history of the 
United States. During his regime they were treated 
with a clemency, fairness and justice that contrib- 
uted to the esteem of the government and won for 
him the appellation of the "Great Father at De- 
troit," for whom the Indians manifestly entertained 
the most unbounded affection and respect. In 1828- 
29 he added to his already well-known reputation as 
an author by publishing in the " Xorth American 
Review" an account of the expedition he took in 
company with the ethnologist, Schoolcraft, and .six 
other gentlemen, for the exploration of the iijiper 
lakes anil hea<l waters of the Mississippi, where they 
traversed 5,000 miles in three canoes, with Indians 
for guides. In 1831, when President Jackson recon- 
istructed his cabinet, Cass was tendered the i>ortfo- 
lio of secretary of war, which he acceptetl. and as- 
sumed the duties in August of that year. The only 
Indian war that had taken place in tliT' northwest 
since 1812 occurred immediately after Cass became 
secretary of war — it was known as the Black Hawk 
war, and was managed by the war departmenl with 
quickness ami decision. He was eminently fitted to 
cope with the Indian question, which, about this 
time passed throu-b a dangerous crisis when the 
Chcrokees were removed from their original posses- 
.sionsin Georgia and Missi.ssippi. In 1833 he accom- 
panied .Jackson on his tour toward the north. Prior 
to his appointment as minister to Paris, which met with 
the unanimous ai>proval of the senate, he gave his 
noted report to congress upon the military and naval 
defences of the United States, which embraced a de- 
tailed sunnnary of existing resinn-ccs. offensive and 
defensive: he advised the building of a strong line of- 
coast forlifiealions. and the maintenance of a strong 
navy. At the time he accepted the position of min- 
ister to France, the diplomatic relations between the 
two countries was by no means harmonious. The 
French minister at Washington had been recalled in 
1835, and the United States had waited long for the 
ratification of the treaty iiegolialed in 1831 by which 
France promised to pay for the sjioliations of Amer- 
ican commerce: dignified demands forthe fulfilment 
of this treaty were disregarded and the chamber of 
deputies refused to pass the ajipropriation bill, but 
juilicious threats had their effect, and the hostility 
of the dejjuties was overcome. Gen. Cass tern- 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



263 



porarily settled the matters by payment of interest, 
and tlie nuiuey was tiually paid, and he was received 
as American minister in France, where he became a 
warm personal friend of Lonis Philipjie. He was 
called to important dnlies while abroail, and it was 
chiefly due to his representations that France re- 
fused to ratify the quintuple treaty wherein Great 
Britain sought to maintain the right of search on the 
high seas. He made a vigorous protest against this 
treaty, which was iiublished in pamphlet form and 
had an enormous circulation. The IJriti.sh were en- 
raged; he was attaclicd by Lord Brougham in the 
parliament, to which he vigorously replied in the 
senate. He made a long lour on the old frigate, the 
Constitution, during hismiuistrj' at Paris, and wrote 
some interesting de.scriptive articles whicli were pub- 
lished in the "Soutliern Literary iMesseuger," and 
were replete with [iractical philosophy and historical 
information, and are lasting monuments to his schol- 
.^ arsliip. He resigned his mission to France in 1S43, 
and returned to America, where he was warmly re- 
ceived and tendered a reception in Faneuil Hall, 
Boston, which, on account of previous engagements, 
lie was compelled to decline, but was given an en- 
thusiastic public welcome in Xew York and Phila- 
delphia. He had for some time been spoken of as 
a popular nominee of the democratic part}' for pres- 
ident. The country was at this time iu a state of ex- 
citement over the annexation of Te.\as, and his views 
of the cpiestions of the day were anxiously anticipat- 
ed. He pledged himself for annexation and would 
no doubt have been elected if he had been nominat- 
/ ed, but James K. Polk received the nomination and 
was elected, receiving the warmest support from Cass. 
Feb. 4, 184.5, Cass was elected U. S. senator from 
Michigan, and was appointed to the second place on 
the committee on foreign relations, and, from that 
time forward was deeply interested in matters of in- 
ternational importance. He resigned his place in 
the senate May, 1848, when he was made democrat- 
ic candidate for the presidency. He was re-elected 
to till |his own uuexi^ired term when Gen. Taylor, 
his opponent, was elected for president. He was a 
power in the senate, of which he was a member dur- 
ing the celebrated debate on the appropriation bill, 
and was also a member of the Ihirty-tirst congress, 
famous in the history of our country. He was an ar- 
dent supporter and main ally of Henry Clay in his 
compromise measures, and declared he would resign 
his seat in the senate if he w-as instructed by the leg- 
islature t<i support the Wilmot proviso, and he was 
equally oppo.sed to the soutliern rights dogma. He 
was a prominent candidate for the chairmanship of 
the committee of thirteen, but urged the appoint- 
ment of Mr. Cla)' in his stead, and thepas.sage of the 
■bill forming that committee was mainly due to his 
efforts. He gave his support to all the measures 
originated by it except the fugitive slave law, upon 
which he declined to vote though present in his seat 
in the senate. In 18.51 he was ag.ain elected .senator 
by a large mai'oiity, and was also a prominent dem- 
ocratic candidate for the presidency in 18.52, but was 
unsuccessful as in 1844. He never again laid his as- 
pirations for the presidential chair, and served the 
remainder of his terra in the senate. In 1859 he ac- 
cepted tlie portfolio of secretary of state under Pres- 
i(ient Buchanan. He openly disapproved of Presi- 
dent Buchanan's message, which asserted that there 
was no power in the con.stitution by which the gen- 
eral government could coerce a state. He expressed 
his opinions publicly in the cabinet meeting where 
the me.s,sage was first n^ad and eight days thereafter 
reasserted the .Iack.sonian principles of 18:i'.i-33, and 
when the president refused to reinforce the Charles 
ton forts and nei;leclcd to prepare for the collec- 
tion of duties at that port, he sent in liis resignation, 
which the president accepted without condescending 



to argue the question. This terminated his public 
career of fifty-six years of active service. His .sym- 
pathies were with the Union during the civil war 
and it was a satisfaction to him to live to see its tri- 
umph. He was first president of the American Ilis- 
torical Society, and gave many valuable contribu- 
tions to literature, anu)ng others " France, its King, 
Court atid Government," which was written while 
he was minister to Paris and created cpiite a .sensa- 
tion in its day. Tlie clo.sing days of his life were 
passed quietly at his home iu Detroit. In public 
and private Hie he was an honest man, whom care- 
ful and judicious investments, coml)ined with able 
management, had made wealthy a man wliose nation- 
al pride and love for his country elevated her from co- 
lonialism to national dignity and tilled her people with 
a .sense of their pride. He died at the advanced age 
of eighty-four, and the public press and resolutions 
of the societies to which he belonged, and the grief 
of his friends were testimonials of the esteem in 
which he was held. He died at Detroit, Mich., 
June IT. 18G(). 

BLACK, Jeremiah Sullivan, attorney-general, 
was born in Somerset county, Pa., Jan. 10, 1810. 
He came of Scotch-Irish ancestry, and his father, 
who was a member of congress and for several years 
an associate judge, was a man of intiuence and con- 
siderable prominence. Young Jerenuah, after ac- 
quiring a thorough classical and mathematical edu- 
cation in the public schools, turned his attention for 
a time to farming. But he had considerable ambi- 
tion and had already thought of the law as the proper 
profession for him to follow, and at the age of si.x- 
teen he went into the office of a well-known Somer- 
set lawyer, Chauncey Forward, where he remained 
three years, when he was admitted to practice al- 
though still in his minority. In 
1831 he became deputy attorney- 
general for Somerset county, and 
manned a daughter of his former 
preceptor in law, jMr. Forward. In 
1842 he became president judge of 
the court of common pleas of his 
judicial district, composed of the 
counties of Somerset, Bedford, Ful- 
ton, Franklin, and Blair. In 1851 
he became cliief justice of the su- 
preme court of Pennsylvania and 
was re-elected in 1854. In 1857, on 
the accession of .lames Buchanan to 
the presidency, he was made U. S. 
attorney - general. In December, 
1860, lie was appointed secretary 
of state, succeeding Gen. Cass, who 
had retired from tlie cabinet, wliile he himself was 
in turn succeeded by Edwin il. Stanton. All of 
this change in the cabinet was the result of differ- 
ence of opinion between Judge Black and the presi- 
dent, the former believingin preserving the integrity 
of the Union by force if necessary, while Buclianan 
could not be made to recognize that under the con- 
stitution the U. S. government had power to prevent 
a state from seceding. In 1801 Judge Black went 
out with the administration, and for a short time 
was reporter of the supreme court of the United 
Slates. In 1872 he was a member of the constitu- 
tional convention of Penn.sylvania, but he kept out 
of political life thereafterand devoted himself tothe 
practice of the law, appearing in some of the most 
important cases argued before the supreme court of 
the United States. He was generally successful, but 
when he appeared in 1808 in the McCardle case, 
which was tried to establish the legal .stattis of the 
reconstruction act, he was defeated by Jl.at Carpen- 
ter, who had been engaged by Secretary Stanton on 
tlie other side. Judge lilack also appeared in the 
contest over the Vauderbilt will and in the cele- 




264 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 







brated McGarrahan claim. He was one of llie most 
able lawyers of his time, skilled in arirunient, learn- 
ed in the law, and as good a controversial writer as 
he was a speaker. Duriuu: liis latter years he con- 
tributed verj' freely to the mairazines on public 
questions, and for a time had a sharp discussion in 
the newsjiapers with Jefferson Davis. Judge Black 
died at York, Fa., Auu. I!), If<y3. 

THOMAS, Philip Francis, .secretary of the 
treasury, and governor of Jbuyland ( 1 84H-.il ), was 
born at Easton, Talbot Co., Md., Sept. 12. 1810. He 
was of English descent, and his family claimed re- 
lationshi]) to that of Sir Philip 
Francis, the reputed author of the 
"Lettersof Junius." Ilewascdu- 
cated at Dickinson College, Pa., 
and, after graduation, studied law 
alid practiced the profession in his 
native town. He was elected to 
the state legislature in 1S38. and 
to the U. S. house of representa- 
tives in 183'j. serving in that body 
until 1841, when he declined a re- 
election. In 1848 he was chosen 
governor of Maryland, and held 
that olHce uiuil 1851, when he ac- 
cepted the position of .slate comp- 
troller. He was subseiiuently 
collector of the port of Balti- 
more, and U. S. commissioner of 
patents, which last otlice he re- 
signed in December, 18(10, to ac- 
cept the position of secretary of the treasury in 
Mr. Buchanan's cabinet. During the civil war he 
sympathized with the Confederates, and, having 
been elected to the U. S. senate in 18CT, was refused 
a seat on account of disloyally; but he was admit- 
ted to the house of representatives on beinir elected 
a member in 1875. He died in Baltimore, .Md., Oct. 
2, 1890. 

DIX, John Adams, secretary of the treasury 
and governor of xvew York (1873-75), was born in 
Boscawen, N. H., July 24, 17!»8. He studieil, when 
a boy. at the school at Salisliury. from there went 
to Philip's E.xeter Academy, and llieuce to the Col- 
lege of Montreal. In 1812, when the war with Eng- 
land broke out, he was ajipoiiiled 
a cadet, and in the following year 
an en.sign, the regiment to which 
he belonged being sent to the 
Canadian frontier. In 1814 he 
was second lieutenant of the 21st 
infantry, stationed at Fort Consti- 
tution, N. II., and was afterward 
appointed adjutant. During the 
same year he was transferred to 
an artillery regiment. After the 
war he continued in the service, 
and was ajipointed aide de-camp 
attached to the department com- 
manded by (Jen. Brown, and was 
sta.ionedat Brownsville. In all his 
leisure time for the five or si.\ years 
I) / -J fl /ix which had ela]isedafterleavinircol- 

Wtm/-^h^'^\y^ leffe,Capt.Di.\ had devoted himself 
y irv I, vc — t,nhestudyof thelaw, and in 1820 

' he was lulniitted to the bar in 

Washington. Here he remained until 1S2(!. when 
he received his first diiilomatie aiipointment, that of 
a special messenger to Copenhagen to convey some 
dispatches from the state department. On his re- 
turn from Denmark he was stationed at Fortress 
Monroe, but in 1828 he resigned his commission on 
account of ill health. Mr. Di.\ now settled in Coo- 
'perstown, N. Y'., where h<' practised law for two 
years. In 1830 he removed to .\lbany. and was ap- 
pointed adjutant-general of tlie state, and three 




years later secretary of slate and stiperintendent of 
common schools. The democratic jiarty at this time 
was ruled by what was known a.s the " Alliany re- 
gency," of which Peter Cagger, Dean Kichmond, 
Thuflow Weed, William H. Seward and William 
Ca.ssidy were members ; to this combination Gen. 
Di.\ belonged. In 1840 the election of Gen. Harri- 
son and the defeat of the local democratic candidate 
threw him out of a position, and, as he had always 
been addicted to literary pursuits, he tmited with 
others in establishing and editing a paper called the 
"Northern Light." devoted to literature, science, 
art, and finance. In 1841 he was elected a member 
of the as.seml)ly. The following year he went 
abroad and traveled in southern Europe, and visited 
Madeira. Between 1845 and 1849 he was in the U. 
S. senate as a democrat, hut the pressure of political 
and social intluences threw him into the free-soil 
movement, and in 1848 he was nominated by that 
parly .as governor of the stale of New Y'ork, but 
was defeated by llamillon Fish. Pre-sident Pierce 
appointed him a.ssistant treasurer at New Y'ork. In 
1856 Gen. Di.x supported Buchanan and Breckin- 
ridge, and in 1800 oppo.sed Mr. Lincoln, voting for 
Breckinridge ami Lane ; yet so highly was he es- 
teemed as a citizen, that after the defalcation in the 
post-office of New York in May, 1800, he was ap- 
pointed to the ]iosition of postmaster. On June 11, 
1861, he was appointed .secretary of the treasury by 
President Buchanan, and held that office tmlil the 
close of the administration. This appointment was 
the result of the demand mad(^ by the leading capi- 
talists and bankers of New York, who feared for the 
financial stability of the country unless the position 
were hekl b}- some one in whom they had absolute 
confidence. The result demonstrated the correct- 
ness of this impression, as the government, which 
had previously been in severe straits for money, 
found no further trouble in obtainingall it required. 
Shortly after the appointment of Gen. Di.\ occurred 
the incident in New Orleans .so often quoted in con- 
nection with his shai]) military way of handling 
whatever duty fell to his hand. The captain of a 
revenue culler in that ]iort refused to obey his order 
to briuir it to New York. Secretary Dix telegraphed 
to the collector of the port: " Te"ll Lieut. Caldwell 
to arrest (^'ajit. Breshwood, assume command of the 
cutter, and obey the order I gave through you. 
If Capt. Breshwood after arrest undertakes to inter- 
fere with the command of the cutter, tell Lieut. 
Caldwell to consider him as a mutineer and treat 
him accordingly. If anyone attempts to haul down 
the American tlag. shoot him on the s|)ot." On the 
inauiruration of President Lincoln Secretary Dix re- 
turned to New York, where he immediately took an 
active part in all local pre|iarations for the war. He 
was the first president of the Union Defence Ccmi- 
mittee, and presiiled at the Union Square meeting 
Apr. 24, 1801. He organized and sent to the front 
.seventeen regiments, and was appointed a major- 
general, one of the four comniancling the New York 
state troops. The following June he received his 
commi.ssion as major-general of volunteers, and was 
put in command of the department of Maryland. 
Here his energetic and jtidicious course had much 
to do with preventing Maryland and Baltimore from 
going over to the ConfedenUe cause. In 1862 Gen. 
Dix was in comuiaMd at Fortress Jlonroe, and in 
18(>3 was ajuioiiUed to the command of the depart- 
ment of the Kast, with headipiarlers at New York, 
where he remained until the dose of the war. In 
1860 Gen. Dix was ajiiioinled naval officer of the 
port of New York, and later in the same year re- 
ceiveil tlu^ ap|)oinlnu'Ut of minister to France. 
While in Paris he made himself very po]iular, and 
gratified both Americans and foreigners by his open- 
hearted hospitality. In 1872 he ran for governor of 



OP AMERICAN BIOGUAPIIY. 



265 



the state of New York on the republican ticket, and 
was elected by a majority of 53,000. He was renom- 
inated in 1874, but was defeated. Gen. I)i.\ was a 
vestryman of Triuit}' Church Corporation, and in 
1873 "comptroller of the .same body. He was very 
prominent in the Episcopal church, and was a dele- 
gate to the convention of the diocese of New York, 
and deputy to the general convention of the church. 
In 18o3 he was president of the Missis.sippi and Mis- 
souri Railroad Co., and in 18(ii5 .-uid for five years 
thereafter was president of the Union Pacific Hail- 
road Co. In 1872, durinjr the troubles in the Erie 
Railway Co., he was called in to act as president, a 
position which he held for a few months. Gen. l)i,\ 
marrieil Catharine Morgan, a daughter of .John J. 
Morgan of New York. by whom he had seven children, 
two of whom survive him. He was a man of tine 
education and thoroiigh culture, a remarkable lin- 
guist and an e-\celleut classical scholar. An instance 
in this direction was his translation of the " Dies 
Ine," which was privately printed in 1803 and re- 
vised in a new edition in 1875, and was considered 
one of the best translations ever made of that re- 
markable poem. Besides this literary w(n-k Gen. 
Di.\ wrote: " A Winter in Madeira and a Sununer in 
Spain and Florence," being a record of his travels in 
those countries. Then " Speeches and Occasional 
Addresses," two volumes, 18G4; " Stabat JIater," 
translation, privately printed in 1868, and numerous 
reports and pamphlets on different subjects. His 
memoirs were w'ritten by his son. Rev. Morgan Dix, 
and published in 1883, a quarto edition, privately 
printed, being issued at the .same time. Gen. Dix 
was one of the original trustees of the A.stor Library, 
having been appointed to that iiosition by John Ja- 
cob Ast(n\ He wa.s iniiversally esteemed not only 
as a man of established jirobity. but also as one pos- 
sessing remarkable judicial and administrative pow- 
ers, and whose clear comprehension of atfairs ren- 
dered him a most valuable authority and adviser in 
times of public confusion or peril. In New York 
Lis associates were among her most eminent citizens, 
by whom he was esteemed as one of the leading men 
of his time. He died in New York city Apr. 21, 
1879. 

FLOYD, John Buchanan, secretary of war 
and governor of Virginia (1850-52), was born in 
Blacksburg, Va., June 1, 1807. He was the son 
of John Floyd, a governor of Virginia, and a can- 
didate for the presidency in 1832. 
John H. Floyd received a liberal 
education, graduating in 182G 
from the College of South Caro- 
lina, and afterward studying law 
and being admitted to practice. 
From 1836 to 1839 Mr. Floyd re- 
sided in Arkansas but in the lat- 
ter year he settled in Washington 
county, Va., in the practice of 
his profession, at the same time 
interesting him.self in politics, 
and serving in the slate legisla- 
ture for several years. In 1850 
!Mr. Floyd was eiecte<l governor 
of Virginia, and on retiring from 
that otiice in 1853 was again elect- 
ed a nienilier of the legislature. 
During the campaign of 1856 
he supported Mr Buchanan, who, 
while making up his cabinet 
after his inauguration March 4, 
1857, appointed Mr. Floyd secretary of war. He 
continued in this otiice \uilil the end of 1860, when, 
having determined to follow his .slate into secession, 
he resigned and was succeeded by Simon Cameron. 
During the following winter Jlr. Floyd was gener- 
ally accused of having secretly aided the secession 




cause by designedly sending the army fo the extreme 
ends of "the country, and at the same time forward, 
ing large quantities of ammunition and arms to the 
South, where they were deposited in the arsenals, 
read)' to be captured when the Southerners should 
want them. These and other serious charges against 
Secretary Floyd's integrity having been very gener- 
ally put in circulation, he went to Wa.shiugton, and 
having presented himself iu coiirt was placed under 
bail as he insisted upon a trial. Accordingly the 
house of representatives ordered the appointment of 
a special conunittee. and the charges against Mr. 
Floyd were thoroughly investigated, with the result 
that he w'as found completely innocent of every one 
of them. Relurning to Virginia, Floyd was ap- 
pointed brigadier-general in the Confederate army, 
and saw his tirst service in September, 1861. In 
February, 1862, Gen, Floyd was in command at 
Fort Donelson, and so managed that by hard fight- 
ing he succeeded in getting his troops oitt of the fort, 
leaving Gen. Pillow with his force and Gen. Buck- 
ner to bear the brunt of Grant's attack, while Floyd 
managed to save the most of his men. Gen. Floyd 
fell imder the displeasure of Jefiferson Davis for 
having taken to tiight with his army, and was re- 
lieved of his command. Floyd married Sally Bu- 
chanan Prestou, his own cousin, who was a niece of 
Patrick Henry, and sister of William C. Preston of 
South Carolina. Mr. Floyd died near Ablngton, 
Va., Aug. 26, 1863, 

TOUCEY, Isaac, attorney -general, secretary 
of the navy, and governor of Connecticut (1846-47), 
was born in Newtown, Conn., Nov. 5, 1796. He 
was educated by private tutors, went into a law 
office, and in 1818 was admitted 
to practice at Hartford. Four 
years later he was chosen attor- 
ney for his county, and continued 
to hold the po.sition until 1825. 
During the next ten years he 
practiced law in Hartford, and 
in 1835 was a member of the 
house of representatives, where 
he continued four years. From 
1842 to 1844 he was again state 
attorney; in 1845 ran for gov- 
ernor of Connecticut on the dem- 
ocratic ticket and was defeated; 
ia 1846 was elected to that office 
by the slate legislature, and was a 
c;"indidate again in 1847, but was 
defeated. On June 31. 1848, he 
succeeded Nathan Clifford as 
attorney -general of the United 
States, "being apiiointed by President Polk and serv- 
ing until the close of that administration. In 1850 
Jlr. Toucey was a member of the senate of Con- 
necticut, and two j-ears later a member of the state 
house of representatives. The .same year he was 
elected a member of the U. S. .senate from Connecti- 
cut and served live years. When President Buchan- 
an formed his cal)inet, Jlr. Toucey was a]ipointed 
secretary of the navy, assuming the oftice March 6, 
1857, and remaining therein until the accession of 
Abraham Lincoln, when he was succeeded by Gid- 
eon Welles, also of Connecticut, -\fter leaving the 
cabinet, Mr. To\icev returned to the practice of his 
profcssidn in Hartford, and inleresicd himself in the 
all'airs of Trinity College, in which he established 
two scholarships, besides giving it a large share of 
his estate. He was accused by the reimblicans of 
sympathizing with the South during his adminis- 
tration of the navy department, and it was claimed 
that he sent United St.'ites war vessels abroad in the 
interest of the Confi'derates, an accusation he vehe- 
nientlv denied. Mr. T'ouccy died in Hartford, Conn., 
July 30, 1869. 




oGfjx.^'Lji.''^-o-c.tX.je^ 



266 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 




/^*«-e-^ 't£<r^^ 



COBB, Howell, secretary of tlie U. S. treasury, 
twenty-secoud governor of Georgia (1851-53), speak- 
er of the U. S. house of rcpreseutatives, and presi- 
dent of the provisional congress of the Confederacy, 
was horn at Clierry Hill. Jefferson Co., Ga., Sept. 7, 
1815. His father was Col. John A. Cobb, of Green- 
ville, N. C, who removed to Georgia when young, 
and his mother, Sarah Uootes, of Fredericksburg, 
Va. Howell was graduated from 
the University of Georgia, Athens, 
in 1834, was "admitted to the bar in 
1836, and the same year was chosen 
a Van Buren elector. He was elect- 
ed solicitor-general in 1837; repre- 
sentative to congress in 1842, 1844, 
184(), and 1848, and speaker of the 
hdusf in 1849; governor of Georgia, 
as nominee of the Union party, in 
1851, and representative to congress 
in 1854. In 1857 he was appointed 
T.T. S. secretary of the treasury by 
President Buchanan, a po.sition 
which he resigned in 1800. He was 
president of the Confederate provis- 
ional congress, and brigadier and 
major-general in the army of the 
Confederate states. Gov. Cobb was 
an able and successful lawyer, and made a reputation 
as a vigorous prosecuting officer. As a congressman, 
he won distinction both u])on the floor and in the 
s]ieaker's chair. lie was an equally vigorous cham- 
pion of tlie Union and of state rights. His election 
by two votes, as s|>eaker of the tliirty-tirst congress, 
after a month's coiUest with Robert C. Wiulhrop, 
terminated one of the most heated campaigns that 
ever took place in the national councils. Gov.' 
Cobb's bold and powerful championship of southern 
views and iiistiliuion-i gave him in the house the un- 
disputed leadership of the southern side, and that, 
too. di'spile the fact llial he demonstrated signally 
his independence and sincerity. In 1848-40 a meet- 
ing of southern memliers of congress, alarmed by the 
encroachments upon what they deemed the consti- 
tutional rights of shivery, pronudgaled an address, 
signed by democralie senators and representatives, 
which Gov. Colib. with his collcagnc, 5Ir. Lumpkinj 
and Hepresentalivcs Buytl .-uid Clarke, of Kentucky, 
refused to sign. In defence of their course they 
publi-shcd a paper written by Cobb, which was wide- 
ly circulated. Gov. Cobb obtained wide celebrity 
by great speeches on many of the vital questions of 
the time, including the tariff, the annexation of Tex- 
as, the Oregon issue, and the Jlexican war. He 
demanded the extension of slavery into California 
and New Mexico, and siiii])orled the compromise 
measures of 1850. Upon llie latter issue he boldly 
antagonized the extreme men of his own state. ai\d 
accepting the nomination for governor from the 
Union party (1851), took the stump, and after a long 
and animated contest, wastriiunphantly elected over 
Gov. Charles J. McDonald, the candidate of the 
southern rights jiarty. After his term as governor 
he resumed law |>raelice, lliough contiiuiing to take 
an active part in iiolitics. He stumped tlie North in 
1856 for Buchanan. His administration as secretaiy 
of the treasury was very able. He devoted tint sur- 
plus to I)uying bonds .■iiid decreasing the jiublic debt . 
but as the war loomed up, and the national credit 
became affected, he was obliged to abandon this 
policy, inasmuch as the government itself had to 
Ijorrow money. His resign.-ition from the treasury 
was due to the fact that his state needed his services. 
In the agitation leading up to Linculn's election 
Gov. Cobb's name was widely mentioned for the 
presidency. Bui in Georgia his Union views were 
used against him. Two state conventions in Geor- 
gia, to appoint delegates to the famous Charleston 



convention, met, one a Cobb body, and the other 
anti-Cobb. Gov. Cobb promptly withdrew liis 
name, in a good-tempered and patriotic letter. He 
warmly advocated secession, and the intiuence of 
himself and his lirother, T. R. R. Cobb, aided large- 
ly in carrying the secession of Georgia, upon which 
hinged, probably, the action of enough southern 
states to make the movement effective. 'When the 
Charleston convention broke up. Gov. Cobb defend- 
ed the .seceders in many eloquent speeches. "The 
hour of Georgia's dishcmor in the Union," he said, 
"should be the hour of her independence out of the 
Union." Although not a member of the Georgia se- 
cession convention, he was invited to a seat on the 
floor, and the. convention of the seceded southern 
states, which met in JIontgomer_v, Ala., Feb. 4, 1861, 
elected Gov. Cobb jiermanent president of the body. 
A provisionid Confederate government was founded, 
and officers elected. Gov. Cobb was spoken of for 
provision.-il [nvsident. but Jefferson Davis was final- 
ly elected. By the time of the organization of the 
permanent (Jonfederate .states government. Feb. 23, 
1862, Gov. Cobb had withdrawn from civil life to 
the Confederate army, having been commissioned 
brigadier-general, but he and liobert Toombs, Mar- 
tin J. Crawford, and Thomas R. R. Cobb, issued at 
that time an address to the people of Georgia, ex- 
pressing confidence in final success, but placing the 
situation clearly before theiu, telling them the " uu- 
jialatable facts." naiuely, that they were in conflict 
witli a determined foe. whose numbers and resources 
were greater than their own, and that foreign inter- 
ference was a very remote possibility. Gen. Cobb 
served to the end of the war. After its close he op- 
posed reconstruction vigorously, making a notable 
.speech at the famous "Bush Arbor " galherinir in 
Atlanta. Ga., July 4, 18G8. He was oneof theaVilest 
and most popular public men Georgia has ever had, 
being at once orator, statesman, a luaster of the 
hu-stiugs, a power in conventions, and an adminis- 
trator of the highest order. Asa Georgia executive, 
and a cabinet official, his integrity and ability were 
eminent. The war destroyed, for him. what seemed 
a stromr chance of securing the presidency of the 
United Stiites. He died in New York city Oct. 9. 1868. 
HOLT, Joseph, jurist, was born Jan. 6. 1807, 
in Breekenridge county. Ky.. and was educated at 
St. Joseph's College. Bardstown, and Center College. 
Danville, in that state. He studied law with Robert 
AVicklitfein Lexington, and opened an otfice at Eliz- 
abethtown, where for one year he juactised his pro- 
fes.sion in partnership with the celebrated Ben. Har- 
din. In 1832 he removed to Loui.s- 
ville. and while pursuing his pro- 
fession was for a year assistant 
editor of the Louisville "Adver- 
tiser." a daily jiaper published by 
Shatlrach Peun. In 1833-35 he 
was coiumonwealth's attorney for 
the Louisville district. In 1835 he 
was a member of the democratic 
convention that nciminated JMartin 
Van liureii anil liichanl >f. Jolin- 
S(ai for ])rcsideiit and vice-]iresideiU. 
and on the floor of the convention 
in an eloquent speech, which made 
him widely known as an orator, 
vindicated Col. Johnson from cer- 
tain imputations cast upon him by 
thedelegation from Virginia. After 
the a<ljournmeiM of the conven- 
tion he proceeded to West Point 
under an .appointment from President Jack.son. as 
vi.sitor to attend the annual examination of cadets. 
The same vear Mr. Holt went South, continued the 
practice of "law. first at Port Gilison, and afterward 
at Vicksburg, Miss. At that early date he frequently 




met; 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



207 



contended with the ablest legal talent of the state in 
impiirtant cases. lie was CDUiisel for the city of 
Vieksbuig in a famous suit involving the claim of 
the heirs of Newit Vick. founder of llie <'ily. to a 
strip of land along the river front that Vick had de- 
voted to the public use. In this and other suits he was 
the opponent of Sergeant S. Prentiss, the distin- 
guished orator. In 1843 Mr. Holt returned to Louis- 
ville, but owing to impaired health abandoned his 
profession. Iii 1848-4!l, and again in I sruVr) 1 , he 
made a tour of Kurope and the East, exploring 
Egypt, and ascending the Xile to its first cataract, 
crossed the great desert by way of Sinai and Petrea 
to .leru.salem, and thence out to Damascus and Con- 
stantinople into Greece, visiting its ancient battle- 
fields as far north as ThermopyUe. Having returned 
to the United States, he again "fixed his residence at 
Louisville, and in 18,52 delivered the address of wel- 
come to the Hungarian patriot, Louis Ko.ssiUh, on 
the occasion of the reception given him by the peo- 
ple of that city. Taking part in the presidential cam- 
paign which resulted in the election of Franklin 
Pierce, he delivered at Louisville an address, which 
was published, discussing the questions involved in 
the canvass. His eloquent s]ieech in support of 
James Buchanan for the presidenc}-, delivered at 
Frederick, JId., in ISod, was also publi.shed. He 
transferred his residence to Washington iu April, 
1857, and iu September of that jear was appointed 
commissioner of patents, which olfice he held imtil 
March, 1859. On the death of Aaron V. Brown he 
was chosen postmaster-general, serving until Decem- 
ber, 1860, and constantly advocating the policy of 
making that department self-sustaining. He suc- 
ceeded .lohn B. Floyd as secretary of war, and re- 
mained iu that jiositiou until some days after Lin- 
coln's inauguration. His lofty and devoted patriot- 
ism, the great characteristic of his eventful career, 
was conspicuously shown at this period. As secre- 
tary of war, he actively co-operated with Gen. Scott 
in providing against hostile demonstrations at the 
inauguration of President Lincoln, and in a report, 
■which was afterward published, described the plot 
that had been made to .seize the capital. Although 
he had been a Douglas democrat, he now gave his 
earnest support to the admiiustration of ilr. Lin- 
coln, and his best efforts to the defence of the na- 
tion. In a letter to .loshua F. Sliced, of Loiusville, 
Ky., May 31, 1861, which was p\iblished and exten- 
sively circulated in the "West, ilr. Holt ilenounced 
the so-called " right of secession" as 'a right with 
no foundation in jurispruch'iice or logic, or in our 
political history; which JIadison, the father of the 
Federal constitution, denounced; which has been 
denounced by most of tlie states and prominent 
statesmen now insisting upon its exercise; which, 
on introducing a principle of indetiuite disintegra- 
tion, cuts up all Confederate government by the 
root, and gives them over a prey to the caprices and 
passions and transient interests of their members, as 
auluumal leaves are given to the winds which blow 
upon Ihem. In 1814 the Richmond ' Enquirer' pro- 
nounced seces.sion to be treason, and such was then 
the doctrine of Southern statesmen. "What was 
true then is ecpially true now. The prevalence of 
this iicrnicious heresy is mainly the fruit of that 
farce, states' rights, which demagogues have so long 
been jilaying \uider tragic masks, and which has 
done more than all lliings else to un.settle tile foun- 
dations of the republic by estranging the people 
from the Federal govermnent, as one to be distrusted 
and resisted, instead of being, what it is, emphat- 
ically their own creation, al .all times obedient to their 
will, and, in its ministrations, Ihe grandest rellex of 
the greatness and bctieficence of popidar power that 
has ever ennobled the history of our race. Said 
Henry Clay: 'I owe a supreme allegiance to the 



general government, and to my state a subordinate 
one.' This terse language dispo.ses of the whole 
controversy which has arisen out of the .secession 
movement in regard to the allegiance of Ihe citizen. 
As the ]iower of the state and Federal govern- 
ments are in perfect harmony with each other, so 
there can be no conflict between the allegiance due 
them ; each, while acting within the sphere of its 
constitutional authority, is entitled to be obeyed ; 
but when a state, throwing off all constitutional 
restraint, seeks to destroy tlie general goverment, 
to .say that its citizens are bound to follow it in 
this career of crime, and discard tlie supreme alle- 
giance they owe to the government assailed, is one 
of the shallowest and most dangerous fallacies that 
has ever gained credence among men. " In addresses 
delivered during the summer Of 1861 at Louisville, 
Camp .loe Holt, N-e\v York and Boston, he denounc- 
ed the rebellion and urged the maintenance of the 
Union at all hazards and .sacrifices. The same j'ear 
he was a member of the commission to investigate 
the war claims of the deiiartment of the "West, and 
iu 1862 was a member of the commission on ord- 
nance and ordnance stores, and on both made elab- 
orate reports. President Lincoln appointed him 
judge advocate of the army Sept. 3, 1862, and in 




f'St.Ofpcl._p,;.,i. 



1864, when the bureau of military justice was creat- 
ed, he was commissioned as its head with the title 
of judge-advocate general with the rank of briga- 
dier-general. He expressed his strong apjiroval of 
the emancipation proclamation, and in 1863, when 
the question of the advisability of enlisting the able- 
bodied slaves of the country in the military service 
was under discussion, it was referred by the secreta- 
ry of war to Judge Holt for his ojiinion as to the 
legality of such action on the ]iart of the govern- 
ment. Aug. 20ib of that year, in a carefully con- 
sidered report, he answered the question in the affir- 
mative, holding "that the obligation of all person.s, 
irresjiective of creed or color, to bear arms — if jihys- 
ically capable of doing so — in the defence of the 
government under which they live, and by which 
they are prolecled, is one that is universally acknowl- 
edged and enforced. Corre.s]ioniling to this obliga- 
tion is the duty resting on tlKJ.se cliarged with the 
adminislralion of the government to employ .such 
persons in the military service whenever the public 
safety may demand it." This view was adojited, 
and as a result the armies of the Union were rajiidly 
strengthened by large bodies of effective lroo|is, 
who, uncrushed by the shackles of slavery they had 
so long worn, fought with heroic loyally for Ihe flag 
of freedom iqion every lialll<'lield on whicli Ibey .ap- 
peared. In Xovember, 1864, on the resignation of 
Attorney-General Bates, the seat thus made vacant 



268 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 




IT^ll 



in the cabinet was tendered to Judge Holt by Presi- 
dent Liucnhi, and its acceptance urged, lie, how- 
ever, declined the pmtlered honor, staling, in liis 
rea-son of declin.ilion, that he could better serve the 
government in the position he then occupied than in 
tiie more exalted one to which he was invited. His 
loyalty to the L'nion during the civil war was lui- 
coinpromising and defiant of all foes. He was sur- 
passed b\- none in the joyful anticipation of the ul- 
timate triumph of the republic, and of the 
refulgent glories and blessedness with which 
that triumph would crown the American 
people. In a speech delivered at Charles- 
ton, S. C, Ajir. 14, KSI)."), after the r.-using of 
the stars and stripes over Fort .Siunlcr, re- 
ferring to that linal victory, he concluded 
with these words: "And then, my country- 
men, with your starry banner undimmcd 
and unlorii, and floating on every breeze 
from Elaine to the Gulf, and from the 
Atlantic to the Sierra Nevada and the 
shores of the I'acitic, the rc|)ublie, re- 
deemed from the cur.se of slavery and 
from the nuichinations of its conspirators, 
regenerated and luuiticd by tin; struggle through 
which it has pas.sed, and ennobled by a sense of duly 
performed, will rebound from the blow it has re- 
ceived, and will enter upon a career of prosperity, 
of freedom, of national srreatness, so vast, so far- 
reaching, that in the distant centuries to come, amid 
the grandeur of its power and the unclouded splcn- 
dorsof its renown, even this uughty conllict, with 
all its agonies and its triumphs, may be forgotten, or, 
if recalled, oidy as a dim and almost unremeinbered 
event in the sublime history of the past:" In a re- 
port made to the seeretiiry of war in \iHi4. on a trea- 
sonable organi/.alion in the northern states known 
as the "Knights of the Golden Circle," Mr. Holt 
gave vigorous expression to his opinion of the 
criminality of rebellion, and characterized the men 
engaged therein with a wealth of invective worthy 
of a Cicero denouncing Catiline. As judge-ad- 
vocate general, he eondncted the now historic 
trials of Gen. Filz John Porter and the as.sassins of 
President Lincoln. Some time after the trial of 
the assassins of Lincoln, and the execution of The 
sentences, whic'li had been approved by President 
Andrew Johnson, he (Johnson), through others, 
charged that Judge Holt had, on laying before him 
for his action the proceedings of the mililarv com- 
mission, suppressed and withheld from him a pe- 
tition for clemency in the cjise of Jlrs. Surratt, 
signed by five meud)crs of the conunission, and 
that he had signed her death-warrant in ignorance 
of the existence of such pclilioii. In two elabo- 
rate publications Judge Holt refuted this dishon(n'- 
ing accusation — in sujjport of which no testimony 
was ever offered — by a ma.ss of proofs presented, 
conspicuous among which was the statement of 
William II. Seward, secretary of state, and Kdwin 
51. Stanton, .secretary of war, that this petition for 
clemency was before llu^ president and was coiisi(!- 
ercd by him before the .sentences were carried into 
effect ; al.so the statement of Attorney-tieneral 
Speed, that after the trial of the assa.ssins, and be- 
fore their execution, he had seen the record of the 
trial in the president's otliee, and that this petition 
for clemency was then attached to it. Judge Holt 
has always insisted that President Johnson was 
promiiled to Ibis defamation by fear of ihechun'h 
of which Mrs. Surratt was a prominent and /.eahais 
member. Judge Holt was brcvetted major-sreneral 
in the U. S. army J I arch 18. Isti."), "for faithful, 
meritorious and distinguished .services in the bu- 
reau of military justice during the war." He was 
placed on the retired li.st Dee. 1, 1875. Since then 
he has resided at Washington, D. C. 



THOMPSON, Jacob, secretary of the interior, 
was born in North Carolina .May "lo, 1X10. After 
due preparation, he was sent to the University of 
Norlii Carolina, where he was graduated in 1881, 
and immediately after began the study of law. He 
was admitted to the bar in 1884. and went to 
Mississippi, .settling in the uorthea.stern part, in 
what was known as the Chickasaw country, it 
having been ceded by the tribe of Indians of that 
name to the United States. This cession included 
6,f)4'.J,000 acres, and was made between 1H82 and 
1884. so that when Mr. Thompson .settled there he 
soon found an ample field for the exercise of his 
legal abilities, there springing up litigation of all 
sorts, calculated lo keep a good lawyer actively em- 
ployed. As a matter of fact. Mr. Thompson was 
very successful in his iiractice, anil also \)ecame pop- 
ukir among the people about him. and in 1888 was 
elected a member of congress on the denuxratic 
ticket, and continued to serve his district in that ca- 
pacity for nearly twenty years. In the house of rep- 
resentatives, Mr. Thomiisou was iit one time chair- 
man of the committee on Indian affairs. He was 
ojiposed to the ilissouri com]iromisc, and went on 
record as being in favor of the repiuliation of the 
Mississippi bonds. He could have been sent to the 
U. S. senate to fill a vacancy, in 184.5, but he declin- 
ed the aiijioinlment. On March 
5. 18.')T, Thomiison entered Mr. 
Buchanan's cabinet as .secretary 
of the interior, and coiuimied in 
that office until January, IMtil, 
when he resigned, and returning 
to Mississippi became an adherent 
of the Confederacy. In 18fi2 Mr. 
Thompson was made governor 
of Mississippi, and continued to 
hold iliat (iftice mitil lsti4. when 
for a time he was in tla; Confed- 
erate army, attached to the .staff 
of Gen. Beauregard. Jacob 
Thompson was sent in this same 
year to Canada on a secret mis- 
.sion, which, had it been success- 
fully carried out, would have 
been a very .serious matter for 
the United States. He was >mder 
instructions to orgaiuze a plan 
l)y which the prisoners of war at Camp Douglas, in 
the suliurbs of Chicago, were lo have been released, 
when they would seize the city. It was al.so said of 
Thompson that he was at the bottom of a mnnber of 
incendiary schemes, the purpose of which was to 
destroy .some of the princijial northern cities by fire, 
and even to introduce disease, s\ich as yellow fever, 
by means of infecfeil rags into the norlhern states. 
Fortunately, both for the peojile of the North ;uid 
for "Sir. Thomps<in, none of these jilans succeeded, 
and at the close of the war he was permitted to re- 
turn to the United States. It is stated tliat when he 
died Jlr. Lamar, who was at that time secretaiy of 
the inferior, crealed inlense exciiemeiif through the 
North liy ordering the American flag fo be half- 
m.'islcd over the inferior de|iarfment building. J.acob 
Tlioni]ison died in Memphis, Teiui., Mar<-h 24, iss.5. 

BROWN, Aaron 'Vail, |)o.st mast cr - general 
and governor of Tennessee (I84(>-48). was born in 
Brunswick county, Va., Aug. 1."), 17!).'). While 
quite young he was sent to Chapel Hill Univer- 
sity. North Carolina, where lie was graduated at the 
age of nineteen, and in the following year, 181.'>, 
his parents having settled in Teimessee. he entered 
an ortice and began the study of law and in due time 
was admitted to the bar. and was for a time a part- 
ner of James K. Polk, afterward president of the 
United States. In 1821 Mr. Hrown was .sent fo the 
stale legislature of Tennessee, where he remained 




OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



269 







durins tlie next ten years. From that lime until 
18;i9 lie was engaged in his law practice, but in the 
latter _vear was sent to congress where he reniaint'tl 
until 1845, when he was elected governor of Ten- 
nessee and held that office two years. In I80O Mr. 
Brown was a member of the .sduthcrn convention 
wliich was held at Xashville. and 
where he introduced wlial was 
known as "The Tennessee Plat- 
form." In 18o'J Mr. Brown was 
a delegate from Tennessee to the 
national democratic convention 
tlial was held in Baltimore, and 
it became his duty to rcpnrt to 
he convention from tlic commit- 
tee, the platfonu which was 
adopted as that of the democratic 
party. Sir. Brown was ajipoint- 
ed ])ostmasler-geiieral by Presi- 
dent Buchanan, and confirmed 
by the senate. Mari'h G, 1857, but 
only held that office two years 
when he was taken with his last 
illness and died. While po.stmas- 
ter-general. Jlr. Brown showed 
a great deal of administi-ative 
ability, especially in improving 
the mail routes to California, both by way of the 
isthmus and across the continent. lie established a 
route by way of the isthnnis (if Tchuantepec. another 
route overland from SIein|ihis to St. Louis and San 
Francisco, and a third across the continent by way 
of Salt Lake. For mauj' years he was one of the 
most trusted and valuable leaders of the democratic 
party, and all the purelj' party measures of his day 
received his ajiprobation and support. A volume of 
his public speeches and addresses was ]iublishcd in 
1854. Mr. Brown died in Washington, 1). C. March 
8, 18.59. 

KING, Horatio, postmaster-general, was born 
in Paris. O.xford Co.. Me.. June 21. 1811. He de- 
scended from a revolutionary soldier, was educated 
at the common schools of the period, and in 1839 
began to learn printing in a local newspaper office. 
This was the "Jeffersonian," and ho eventually be- 
came its owner and editor. In 1833 he transferred 
this property to Portland, where he ccmtiuued its 
publication for five years. In 1839 he received a 
subordinate clerkship in (he post-office department 
at Washington, and conlimied in that department 
for more than twenty years, rising in position until 
he became tirst assistant postmaster-general in 1854 
and postmaster-general for something less than a 
mouth in 18G1. While acting in this capacity he 
■was questioned by a member of congress from South 
Carolina in regard to the franking ijrivilege, when, 
by his reply, he was the first todeny officially the 
power of a state to take itself out of the Union. Dur- 
ing the civil war. Sir. King was one of the commis- 
sioners ordered to administer the emancipation law 
in the District of Columbia. After that he practi-sed 
as an attorney, but ciaitimiing his interest in the 
post-office department, he aidc<l in procuring the 
passage of acts of congress putting into u.se what is 
known as the " penalty envelope." by which the use 
of government envelopes for the [irivate affairs of 
officials was effectually stopped, and thus consider- 
able sums saved annually to the department. Mr. 
King was made secretary of tlie AVashiiigton Jlon- 
ument Society in ISSl. when a renewed effort re- 
sulted in the completion of the monument. He also 
served as treasurer of the Maine Soldiers' Belief 
As.sociation. In 1877 he visited Europe and on his 
return ])ul)lished a volume, entitled "Sketches of 
Travel; or. Twelve Slonths in Europe." 

STANTON, Edwin M., attorney-general. (See 
Index.) 



JOHNSTON, Harriet Lane, "lady of the 
While House" during .Mr. Bm^haiian's administra- 
tion. was born at Mercersburg, Pa., in 1833. the youn- 
gest child of Elliott T. and .lane (Buchanan) Lane. 
Her grandfather. .lames Buchanan, emigrated from 
the north of Ireland to America in 1783. and .settled 
near Mercer.sbtng. In 1788 he married Elizabeth 
S])eer. the daughter of a well-to-do farm(n-. of Scotch- 
Irish descent, and their eldest son. .James Buchanan, 
became president of the United States. Harriet's 
parents were married in 1813. her father being a 
merchant, and a descendant of an old and aristocratic 
English family that had settled in Virginia during 
thcrrevolution. Harriet's early years were pa.ssed in 
Mercersburg, but her mother dying when .she was 
seven years old. and her father two years later, .she 
made her home with her uncle. .lames Buchanan, at 
Lancaster, Penn., aud he became her guardian. As 
a child Harriet enjoyed good health, a remarkable 
flow of spirits, and at an early age showed signs of 
the brilliant qualities and wann .sympathies which 
in after y<'ars made her so admired and beloved. 
She attended a day-school at Lancaster, afterward 
spent three years at a boarding-school at Charles- 
town, Va., w'here she made great progress in music, 
and subsequently spent two years in the convent at 
Georgetown, D. C, spending her Sundays with her 
unclei James Buchanan, who was at that time secre- 
tary of .state. After leaving the convent. Miss Lane 
visited several of the large cities, and was much ad- 
mired wherever she went In 1853 Mr. Buchanan, 
having been appointed minister at the court of St. 
James, she accompanied her uncle to England, 
where she received flattering attentions from the 
cjueen, ranked as the wife of Mr. Buchanan at court 
entertainments, and was much admired for her 
beauty, grace, and winning maimers. At this time 
she was described as tall, well form- 
ed, with golden hair, violet eyes, 
and a lovelj' expression. She visited 
at many country houses among the 
nobility and gentry, and became 
very fond of English people aud 
English life. She traveled on the 
continent, was with her uncle at 
Ostend, at the time of the conference 
between the' American ministers to 
England, France, and Spain, was a 
guest of the American minister to 
France, and was present when Mr. 
Buchanan and Tennyson received 
the degree of D.C.L. at the Uni- 
versity of Oxford. When Mr. Bu- 
chanan became president of the 
United States Miss Lane became the 
mistress of the White House, and. 
although in deep mourning for a 
brother and sister, she fulfilled her 
duties faithfully. In 1860thePrinceof Walesvisited 
this country at "the invitation of President Buchanan, 
was a guest at the AVhite House for five days, and on 
his departure jireseiited Jli.ss Lane with a set of en- 
gravings of the royal famil}-. The social life at 
Wa.shington was espeei.ally brilliant during Miss 
Lane's oecuiiancy of the jiosition of mistress of the 
White House, and her tact in managing the discord- 
ant elements, that were created in society by rea.son 
of the portending civil war, enabled her to preserve 
.social luuly u|) to the very eve of .sece.s.siou. On 
President Buch.'inan's retirement from office Miss 
Lane accompanied him to his country residence, 
Whcatlands, near Lanca.ster, Pa., where she took 
charge of tlie household until she was married to 
Henry Elliott Johnston, of M.aryland. in January, 
18(!ti."afler which she made her home in Baltimore, 
spending nuich lime at Wheatlands, which finally 
passed into her possession on the death of her uncle. 







270 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 




PURINTON, Daniel Boardman, ninth pres- 
ident cif Denisdii L'nivi-rsity (IWllt- ). was boru in 
Preston coiintv, Va., Feb. lo. \HT)(). He is of Puritan 
stock, beini; ninth in descent from John Aldcn of Plv- 
moutli. His fatlier was Jesse >[. Pnrinton, D.f). 
Gradualins; from the West Viririnia University in 
1S73, at the head of his chiss, lie was immediately 
employed as a member of its faeidty. After five 
years of preparatory tcachinir, 
he held siK-ccssiv<'ly the chairs 
of lojric, mathemalicsand met- 
aphysics, from the latter of 
which he was called to Deni- 
sou, Two years before this 
he had lipen honored by Deni- 
son with the dejrree of LL.I). 
Short ly before cominsi to Gran- 
ville he published a clear and 
forcible treatise on " Christian 
Tlieism." His administration 
is visrorous and popular, and 
. jiives promise of great success. 
Large additions have already 
been made to the invested en- 
dowment, measures are well 
imder way for a great inci'ease 
in facilities for work in the nat- 
ural sciences, and the school 
has strengthened its liold upon the confidence of the 
denomination, as is shown by the gratifying increase 
in number of students. Thliroughnessin the class- 
room has been a distinguishing feature from the 
very beginning, and tliis has given the college a high 
standing in "the institutions where its alumni till 
positions of trust and usefulness. 

WILLETT, Marinus, soldier, was born in 
Jamaica. L. I,. July :il, 1740. He was one of thir- 
teen children and lived to survive all the others of 
his family. Before he was eighteen years of age, 
the French and Indian war being on, lie entered the 
provincial army with a second lieutenant's com- 
mi.ssiou, imder the command of t'ol. Oliver Delancy. 
It is an interesting fact that Willett dves perhaps 
the oidy description extant of the uniform of the 
provincials in that contest. It was "a green coat, 
trimmed with silver twist; white small-clothes and 
black gaiters; also a cocked hat with 
a large black cockade of silk ribbon, 
together with a silver button and 
loop." He shared Abercrombie's 
defeat at Ticonderoga in 1758, and 
immedialelv after accompanied Col. 
Hradsircct in his expedition against 
Fort Frontcnac, at the foot of Lake 
Ontario. He left the seiTice soon 
after this, as fatigue and exjiosure 
had greatly impaired his health. 
Willett was one of ilie leaders of the 
"Sons of Liberty," in New York 
city, and when "the British troops 
there were ordered to Boston, after 
the skirmish at Lexington, and at- 
temi)ted to carry off a' large (|uan- 
tity of, spare arms, in addition lo 
their own, Willett led a bo<lv of 
citizens who captured the baggage wagons "con- 
taining them and took them back to the city, and 
those arms were afterward used bv the first regi- 
ment raised in New York, M'illelt received the 
appointment of captain in ('apt. HIcDougall's regi- 
ment, and accompanied (Jen. Richard ;Montcomery 
in his northern expedition. After the c-ip'ture o"f 
St. John's, on the Sorel, he was placed in command 
there, a post which he held until earlv in 1770. He 
received the appointment of lieutenant-colonel in 
November of that year, and the following spring 




was in command of Fort Constitution, on the Hud- 
son river, opposite West Point. In May he was 
ordered to Fort Stanwi.x, where he commanded 
until the summer of 1778, when he joined Washing- 
ton and was at the battle of Monnumtli. In 1779 
he accompanied Sullivan in his campaign against 
the Indians, and during the ne.xt three years was 
actively engaged in the Mohawk valley." In 1783 
he led the la.st hostile movement against the British 
at Oswego. At the close of the war he returned to 
civil pursuits. He was for a .short time a member 
of the New York state assembly, and from 1784 
to 1792 was sheriff of New York. In the latter 
year he was sent by Washington, who liighly es- 
teemed him, to treat with the Creek Indians at 
the South, and the .same year was aiijiointed a 
brigadier- general in the .-irniy, but declined the 
position. H(^ was elected mayor of the citv of 
New York in 1807, after the removal of I)e Svitt 
Clinton, and in ISIO was the Tammany candidate for 
lieutenant-governor. He was a presidential elector 
and president of the electoral college in 1834. Col. 
Willett died in New York city Aug. 22. 1830. A 
fuller account of his life may be found in "A Narra- 
tive of the Military Actions of Col. Jlarinus Willet.t." 
HCWARD, Blanche "Willis, .uilhor. was born 
in Bangor, JIc. , July 21, 1847. In 1875 she made her 
first imjjortant appearance in 
authorship by her novel, "One 
Summer," which was ]niblished 
in Boston, and at once attracted 
attention and tlattcring criticisms 
on account of the brightness and 
vivacity of its dialogues and its 
pleasing scenes and incidents. 
She traveled in Europe, and in 
1877 published "One Year 
Abroad," a sket(!h of her tour. 
In 1880 she brought out "Aunt 
Serena;" in 1882 "Guenn;" in 

1886 " Aulnay Tower," and in 

1887 "Tonvthe Maid," a novel- 
ette. She "settled in Stuttgart, 
Germany, where she has, since 
1886, edited a magazine publish- 
ed in English. "Guenn," says 
the "London Academy," "is 
one of tho.se books that not only 
cliarm but salisfv. " 

BURNET, Robert, soldier, was born in Little 
Briton, Orange Co., N. Y., Sept. 22, 1702. He was 
brought lip on a farm, and continued the pursuit of 
agriciilture until 1779, when, although only seven- 
teen years of age, he entered the revolutionary army 
in an" artillery c(mipany commanded by ('apt. Eben- 
ezer Stevens," Here he rose to be lieutenant, and was 
in command of redoubt No. H at West Point at the 
lime of Arnold's treason, in September, 1780. He 
was afterward proinoled to be major, and was one 
of the oftieers who attended the meeting which 
was convened at the time of ihc Newburgh sedition 
in 1783. He was under the immediate command 
of Washington until the army was disbanded, 
and on the occasion of the evacualion of New 
York by the British be commanded the rear-guard 
in the American army which enlcred that city. 
He w-as one of the group of ofiicers who bade 
farewell to Washington at f'raunce's tavern. He 
then returned lo his old lionie and devoted him- 
self to rural pursuits until the time of bis death. He 
lived to see tlie lepreseMtalivcs of seven genera- 
tions of his kindled. Tliesc iiirludcd bis great-grand- 
father and great-grandchildren. ]\Iajor Burnet's fu- 
neral was attended by a neighbor, U/.al Knapp, who 
was the last survivor of AVashington's life-guard, and 
who died a year later at I Ik- age of nincty-seveu. 
Major Burnet died Dec. 1, 1854. 








_^yru> e^^iCs^^-y^ a^^^#r-c<r^j^ 



COPVfilGHT, 1991. BY JAMrS T. WMITE A CO. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



273 




LINCOLN, Abraham, sixteenth president of 
the I'niteil Sliites. was luirn in Hardin county, Ky., 
Feb. 12, 1809. The earliest American ancestor of the 
family, was probably Samuel Lincoln, of Norwich, 
En{r.,"who settled in Hiniiham, Mass., about 1638. 
His son, Mordecai, first settled in Monmouth coun- 
ty, N. J., and afterward iu Berks county, Pa., and 
died in 173."); his sons, Abraham, Mordecai, Josiah 
and Thomas, were citizens of Rockingham county, 
Va., and one of them at least, Abraham, miirrated to 
Mercer county, Ky. (then a part of the original state 
of Virginia), in 1783. Abraham, 
the grandfather of the president, en- 
tered a tract of 400 acres of land on 
the south side of Licking creek, 
under a government laud-warrant, 
and built a log-cabin, near Fort Bear- 
grass, on the site now occujiied by 
the city of Louisville. In the sec- 
ond year of this settlement. Abra- 
ham Lincoln, while at work in his 
field, was slain by an Indian from an 
ambush. Thomas, the younger of 
the brothers, was seized by the sav- 
age, but was rescued by Mordecai, the 
elder brother, who shot and killed 
the Indian. Of Thomas the presi- 
dent subsequently said: " My father, 
at the time of the death of his father, 
was but six years old, and he grew up 
literally without education." Thomas 
Lincoln wa.s a tall and stalwart pioneer.and an exjiert 
liunter. While a lad, he hired himself to his uncle, 
Isaac Lincoln, living on Watauga creek, a branch of 
the Ilolson river. He married Xancy Hanks, a na- 
tive of Virginia, in 180(i. and settled on Larue creek, 
in what is now Larue county, Ky. Tliey had three 
children, Sarah. Aluahani and Thomas. Sarah mar- 
ried Aaron Grigsby and died iu middle life. Thomas, 
who was two years younger than Abraham, died in 
infancy. Abrjiham Lincoln's early education from 
books was fitf\d and scanty: schools were infreiiuent 
on the wild frontier. In 181G the Lincoln family re 




moved to Spencer county, Ind., where they built and 
lived in a log-cabin, where Mrs. Lincoln died Oct. 5, 
1818, at the age of thirty-five. In the autumn of the 
following year Thomas Lincoln married for his 
second wife Mrs. Sally .Johnston (lu't Bu.sh). The 
stepmother of Abraham Lincoln was a woman of 
some mental ability and great kindness of heart; her 
influence over the boy was great and beneficent. 
Aided by her, the lad secured the reading of the few 
books to be found in the settlement, and became 
noted as a hungry reader. As he grew older, lie took 
to making inijiromptu speeches among the neighbors 
on any topic that chanced to be under discussion. 
His first glimpse of the world was afforded in the 
spring of 1828, when, in comjiany with a son of one 
of the traders of Gentryville, Ind., he embarked on 
a tlatboat loaded with produce and floated down the 
creeks and rivers to New Orleans, 1,800 miles distant, 
where the cargo and craft were disposed of, and the 
young voyagers made their way homeward. He was 
now come to the years of manhood, was six feet fotir 
inches tall, an athlete, tough and wiry of fibre, and 
eminent as a worker and woodsman. The family 
moved once more, in 1830, this time to Illinois, where 
they built another log-cabin, near Decatur. Macon 
Co. After a.ssi,sting his father to build the caliin, 
split rails, and fence and plough fifteen acres of land, 
Abraham Lincoln struck out for himself, hiring him- 
self to any who needed manual labor. His father 
finally settled in Goose-Nest Prairie. Coles C'c, 111., 
where he died in 1851 at the age of seventy-three. 
His .son cared for him tenderly up to his latest yeans. 
In the spriiig of 1831 Abraham Lincoln, accompa- 
nied by his cou.sin, John Hanks, took a flalboat. pro- 
duce-laden, to New Orleans, for one Denton Offutt, 
a covmtry trader, and on his return was engaged by 
Offutt to take charge of a small trading store in New 
Salem, 111. At this (lost he continued until the fol- 
lowing spring, when the business was discontinued. 
He look an active interest in jiolitics, was noted as a 
graphic and humorous story-teller, and was regarded 
as one of the oracles of the neighborhoofl. His un- 
flinching honesty gained him the title of "Honest 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 




Abe Lincoln." Resolving to run for tlie leu;islature, 
he issued a circular dateti March 9, 1S32, appealing 
to his frien.is ami neighbors to vote for him. Hefore 
the election came on, Indian (listiirl)ances brolie out 
in the northern part of llie state, and HIack Hawk, 
the chief of the Sacs, headed a formidable war party. 
Lincoln joined a jiarly of volunteers and marched to 
the scene nf hoslilitics. The contliet wa.s .soon over, 
and Lincoln returned to New Salem, Sanganum Co., 
ten days before the election. He was defeated, but 
he received nearly every vote of his own town. lie 
W!i.sawhig in politics, and was an ardent adniirerof 
Henry Clay, then the great whig chief. Once more 
he made an essjiy in trading, and bought on credit, 
after the fashion of the time, a small i-oun try .store 
and contents. a.s.sociatiiig with himself, at sundry 
times, partners in business. The venlure was a los- 
ing one, and the juincipal occupation of Lincoln 
during this period was that of diligent .study and the 
reading of everything 
on which he could lay 
hands. new.si)apei-s and 
old political iiamphlels 
chielly. 1I<' studied 
law and surveying, and 
in l.S;i3 he beg.-ui work 
as a land-surve_vor, a 
vocation which in that 
region then gave one 
frequent em]iloyment. 
In that year, too, he 
was appointed postmaster of Xew Salem, an unim- 
portant oltice, wliich he valued only because it gave 
him an opportunity to read the newspai)ers of its 
patrons. He wivs again a candidate for the legislature 
in 1S34, was elected at the head of the poll, there 
being three other candidates in the field. He was 
now twenty-live years of age, m.auly. independent, 
well-poised and thoroughly informed in all public 
matters. He had formed his manner of speech on 
the few books whicli he read — the Bible, Shakes- 
peare, Hurus's poems and Bunyan's "Pilgrim's 
Progress." In the legislature his commanding 
height attracted attention, but he took very small 
pari in the active duties of legislation, contenting 
himself with observation and study of all that 
passed. Next year, when he was again returned to 
the legislature, he participated actively in the alfairs 
of the house, and distinguished himsi'lf by an un- 
availing protest against the "Black Laws" of the 
state, wliich forbade the entrance of free persons of 
color into Illinois, and by his support of the bill to 
remove the scat of government from Vandalia to 
Springtield. In 1837 Lincoln removed to S])ring- 
field, the new cai)ital of the state, and established 
himself very modestly in the business of a lawyer. 
In this practice he remainctd until his election to" the 
presidency in 18li0. His first (lartner in business was 
John T. Stuart, in 1837; this partnership was 
changed four years later, when he associated him- 
self with Stephen T. Logan. In 1843 the law part- 
nership of Abraham Lincoln and William H. Hern- 
don was formed; this tirm was not dissolved until 
the death of Linc'oln in 18(i."). Durini; the "Tipjie- 
canoe and Tyler too " camiiaign of 1840. when the 
country was deeply stirred by the iiresidenlial can- 
didacy of Gen. William Henry Harrison, Lincoln 
threw himself into the canvass with great ardcir. and 
was one of the electors on the whig ticket. He was 
liiglily elated by the triumph of Harrison and the 
wliig parly, and he disiinguished himself by his 
fearless upposilion lo the parly that had, u]) to' that 
time, bc^en ilominant and pri>scri|itive in Ihe country. 
About this lime he suffered a great disappointment 
in the death of a beauliful young lady. Ann Kul- 
ledge, to whom he was tenderly attached, and this 
grief made upon his temperament a lifelong impres- 



sion. In November, 1840, he was married to Slary 
Todd, daughter of Hol)ert Tcnid, of Kentucky. Mis3 
Todd was visiting relations in Springtield, when cir- 
cumstances brought her into intimate friendly inter- 
course with Lincoln, which ripened into marriage. 
He was now gradually acquiring a protitable law 
])raelice, and the days of grinding poverty, long en- 
dured wilhoul complainl. were pa.s.sing awav. In 
1.84(), after .several disappointmenis, he was given 
Ihe whig nominaliou to congress from the Sangamon 
dislrici, and was elecled over his democralic oppo- 
nent, Peter Carlwriglit, by a majority of 1,011, poll- 
ing an une.\|)ecledly large vote. During the lu'eced- 
ing winter Te.\as had been admilled to the Union, 
and the bitterness with whicli the wliigs opjiosed 
this .step, an<l the measures that grew oul of it. was 
shared by Lincoln, whom.-ide good use of arguments 
against these mailers on the canvass, and subse- 
(luenlly during his term in congress. Among Ihe 
members of tlie house of representatives with Lin- 
coln were John (^uincy Adams, Kobert C. Winthrop, 
Alexander II. Sle]ihens. Hobert Toombs and Andrew 
.Johnson. In Ibi' senate were Daniel Webster, Lewis 
Cass. .lolin C. Calhoun, ■lell'er.son Davis and Stephen 
A. Dougl.-is. Lincoln in congress op] losed the war 
with Mexico, but voted consislenlly for rewards to 
the soldiers who fought in it. He served only one 
term in congress, and did not leave any marked im- 
pres.sion in the annals of that body. He voted with 
the men who favored the formation of Ihe new ter- 
ritories of California and New ."Mexico without 
slavery, and he introduced a bill to abolish slavery 
in Ihe Dislrici of Columbia. lU'oviding for Iheiuiian- 
cipalion of slaves there by goveriimenlal purchase. 
He was not a candidale for re-cleclion, ami was suc- 
ceeded by his intimale friend. Edward 1). Haker. 
Gen. Zaciiary TayUu- having been elected jiresident 
of the United Slates, Lincoln applied for Ihe otlice 
of commissioner of the general land otlice. but was 
olfered, in lieu thereof. Ihe governorship of Ihe terri- 
tory of Oregon. This he declined, and relurned to 
his practice of law in S)iriiigtield. The eldest son 
of Abraham and .Mary Lincoln, Hubert Todd, was 
born Aug. 1, 1843; the second. Edward Baker, was 
born March 10, 1840, and died in infancy; the third, 
William Wallace, was 
born Dec. 21. 18.")0, and 
died during his father's 
first yi'ar in the presiden- 
tial othee; Thomas, ihe 
youngest son, was born 
Apr. 4, 18.53, and surviv- 
ed his father, dying at 
the age of nineleen years. 
As a lawyer. Lincoln was 
now euiraged in several 
celebrated cases. One of 
these was that of the ne- 
gro girl. Nancy, in which 
the (pieslion of the le- 
gality of .slavery in the 
North weslern ti'rritory.of 
which Illinois formed a part, was involved. Anolher. 
in which the seizure of a free negro from Illinois by 
the aulhoritii's of New Orleans was op]iosed. was 
also underlnken and conducled by him. In both 
these causes Lincoln succeeded. In 18.')0 there were 
many premonil ions of Ihe coming of I he storm which 
the long-conlinued agitation of the slavery question 
had induced. Lincoln was a close bill generally 
silent observer of Ihe sii;ns of the limes. In 18.")4 the 
viilual repeal of the Mis.souri Comiiromise measures, 
in which Sleiihen A. Douglas look a leading jiart, 
aroused the Northern and free slates to excited de- 
bate. The iiassage of Ihe Kansas-Nebraska bill, by 
which those two territories were organized, with the 
question of the legality of slavery left tipen to be set- 




OF AMERICAN BIOGKAPHY. 



275 




tied by a popular vote, was the signal for a great out- 
burst of feeling against the institution of HJavery in 
the Mon-slaveholdiuj; states. In October of tliiit year 
Lincohi ami Douglas met in (lel)ate at tlie great an- 
nual State Fair held in Springfield, 111., and Lincoln 
made his tirst famous speech on tlie question tliat 
thenceforward began to engross the minds of the 
people. Lincoln opposed the repeal of the ^lissouri 
Compromise, and Douglas defended it. A few days 
later the two men met again at Peoria, 111., and tlie 
debate was renewed, amidst great popular excite- 
ment. On both occasions Lincoln's speeches evoked 
much enthusiasm by tile closeness of their logic and 
their perspicacity. His jiublic speeches from this 
time fortli were regarded tliroughoiU the western 
States as the most remarkable of the time. In 1850 
the lirst republican na- 
tional convention was 
held in Pliiladclphia. 
John C. Fremont was 
nominated for president 
of the United States and 
William L. Dayton for 
vice - president. Abra- 
ham Lincoln received 
110 votes for the seconil 
place on the ticket. 
James Buchanan and 
John C. Breckcuridge 
were nominated by tlie 
democratic party. Lin- 
coln was a canilidate for presidential elector on the 
republican ticket of Illinois, and took an active part 
in the canvass, speaking from one end of the state to 
the other almost continually throughout the cam- 
paign. The democratic candidates were elected, Bu- 
chanan receiving 174 electoral votes against 114 cast 
forFremcmt. Maryland cast her eight electoral votes 
for Fillmore and Donelson, the whig candidates. 
In 1848, Douglas's term in the senate drawing to a 
close, Lincoln was put forward as a comjietitor for 
the place. The two men accordingly agreed on a 
joint canvass of the state, the inemliers of the Illinois 
legislature then to be elected being cliarged with the 
duty of choosing a senator. The contest between 
Lincoln and Douglas that year was meinoralile and 
significant. The debates .attracted the attention of 
the entire country. In their course the slavery ques- 
tion in all its bearings, but more especially with ref- 
erence to its introduction into territory liithcrto re- 
garded as free, wa.s debated with great force and 
minutene.ss on both sides. The total vote of the state 
■was in favor of Lincoln, but as some of the holding- 
over members of the legislature were friendly to 
Douglas, and the districting of the state was also 
In his favor, he was chosen senator by a small major- 
ity. At (he republican convention, held in Decatur, 
111., in May, tH.^O, Lincoln was declared to be the 
candidate of his state for the presidential nomination 
of 1860. This was the first iniblic demonstration in 
his favor as a n.ational candidate. At that conven- 
tion several rails from the Lincoln farm in Macon 
county wereexhibited astlie handiwork of Abraham 
Lincoln, and the title of " the rail-splitter " was given 
him. In the autumn of that year Lincoln made po- 
litical speeches in Ohio and Kentucky, arousing 
great enthusiasm wherever lie ajipeared. In Feliru- 
ary, 18(ifl. he accepted an invitation to .speak in New 
York, and, for the first time in his life, he vi.sited the 
Atlantic states. He spoke in the Cooper I'liion hall. 
New York, and his oration, which was a discussion 
of the great questiiai of the day. created a profound 
impression Ihrouglumt the coimtry. It gave him at 
once a national reputation as a political speaker. 
The democnitic national convention assembled in 
Charleston, S. C, Apr. 28, 18f)0. to nominate candi- 
dates for president and vice-president. The slavery 



Issue divided the body, so that the pro-slavery dele- 
gates finally withdrew, and organized a separate 
convention in Kiclimond, Va., where John C. Breck- 
inridge was nominated. The remaining delegates 
adjourned to Baltimore, where they nominated Ste- 
phen A. Douglas. Meanwhile the whigs and a few 
other conservatives met in Baltimore and nominated 
John Bell, of Tennessee, The republican nalional 
convention assembled in Chicago, 111.. June 17, 18t)0, 
and, amid un|iaralleled enlliusiasm, nominated Abra- 
ham Lincoln for president, Hannibal Hamlin, of 
jNIaiue. was nominated for vice-president. The elect- 
oral canvass that year was one of the most intense 
excitement. It was universally conceded that the 
qtiestion of the extension or the confinement of 
slaveiy to its jircsent limits was to be determined Ijy 
the result of this election. Douglas was the only one 
of the four presideiUial candidates who took the field 
to speak in his own behalf, Lincoln was elected, 
having received 180 electoral votes; Breckinridge 
had seventy-two votes; Douglas twelve, and Bell 
thirtv-nine. The popular vote was ilistribiUed as 
follows: Lincoln, l,8ri(i,4.")-': Breckinridge, 847,9,58; 
Douglas, 1,37.5,1.57; Bell. .590,631. As soon as there- 
suit "of the election was known, the memliers of 
President Buchanan's cabinet who were in favor of 
a secession of the slave states began to make prepara- 
tions for that event. The army, which nuistered only 
16,000 men, was scattered through the southern 
states, and the small navy was dispersed far and 
wide. United States arms had been already ordered 
to points in the Southern .states, and active steps had 
been taken by the more reliellicais of those states 
toward a formal severance of the ties that bound 
tliera to the L'nion. Their attitude was one of armed 
expectancy. The cabinet of President Buchanan 
was torn W the conflicting views of its members, 
some of them being in favor of resolutely confront- 
ing the danger of secession, and others opposing any 
action whatever. The Federal forts in Charleston har- 
bor. S. C, being threatened by the secessionists, 
Lewis Cass advised reinforcement : he resigned 
when his advice was disregarded at the instance of 
his a.ssociates. Jeremiah S. Black, attorney-general, 
gave an opinion that the states could not be coerced 
into remaining in the Union, and shortly a general 
disrujifion of the cabinet ensued. Southern senators 
and representatives now began to leave Washington 
for their homes, declaring that 
they could no longer remain in 
the councils of the nation. For- 
mal ordinances of secession 
were passed by the states in re- 
bellion. South Carolina .adopt- 
ed its ordinance of secession 
Nov. 16. 1860; Jlissis-sippi, .Jan. 
9, 1S61: Florida. Jan. 10th; Ala- 
bama. Jan. 11th; Georgia, .Ian. 
19, 1861; Louisiana, J.an. 3.5th, 
and Texas Feb. 1st. Repre- 
sentatives of the seceding states 
met at Montgomery, Feb. 4, 
1861, and organized a provis- 
ional government, generally resembling in formthiit 
of the United States; JetTerson Davis, of Mississippi, 
was chosen president, and Alexander II. Steiihens, 
of Georgia, vice-jiresident. Davis assumed an ag- , 
grc.ssive tone in his public speeches, and, while on 
his way to take the reins of government of the new 
Confeileraey, he .said: " We will cany the war where 
it is easy to advance, where food for the sword and 
the torch awaits our armies in the densely popu- 
lated cities," Lincoln remained at his home in 
Springfield, 111,, making no speeches, and silent, so 
far as any jiublic utterances were concerned. He 
broke this silence for the first time when, on Feb. 
11, 1861, he bade his friemls and neighbors fare- 




276 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



■well, as he took the railway train for Washing- 
ton. In that simple address he said, anions other 
things: "I go (o assvinu' a task more difficult than 
that whicli has devolved upon any other man since 
the days of Washington. He never would have suc- 
ceeded except for the aid of divine Providence, uixm 
which he at all times relied. I feel that I cannot suc- 
ceed without the .same divine blessing which sustain- 
ed him; and on the same Almighty IJeing I place my 
reliance for support." On the way to Washington 
the president-elect was received with great popular 
enthusiasm, and was frequently called from his rail- 
way carriage to speak to the people. Nearing \\'ash- 
ington, he learned of a plot to take his life while 
passing through Ualtimore, and, by the advice of 
trusty friends, the movements of "the party were 
changed, in order to di.sconcert the conspirators. 
Speaking at Independence Hall, Philadelphia. Feb. 
22d, during these trying hours, he referred to the 
fiuidamental principle propounded in the declara- 
tion of independence, and said: "If this country 
cannot be saved without giving up that principle, I 
was about to say I would rather be assassinated on 
the s])(>t than surrender it." Lincoln was inaugu- 
rated piesidenl of the United States at noon, March 








4, 1861. in front of the national capitol, Washington. 
His inaugural address was an earnest and iilaiiitivo 
appeal for peace and union. At the same time he 
took care to say that the union of the states is per- 
petual, and that to the best of his ability he woidd 
"take care that the laws of the Union be faithfully 
executed in all the states." He closed with these 
memorable words: "The mystic chords of memory, 
stretching from every lialtlc-tield and iiatriot grave 
to every living heart and b<'arthstone all over this 
broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, 
when touched again, as surely they will be, by the 
better angels of our nature." In the South, and in 
such communities of the North as .syniiiathized with 
the cause of icbelllon. these utterances were received 
with coldness, iuid in many instances with jeers 
and derLsion. Uneoln's cabinet, then announced, 
was as follows: Secretary of state. William II. Sew- 
are; .secretary of war. Simon Cameron: .secretary of 
the treasury. Salmon P. Chase; secretary of the navy, 
Gideon Welles; po.stmaster- general. Montgomery 
Blair; .secretary of the Ulterior. Caleb B. Sniilh: at- 
torney-general. Edw.ard Hates. Of this number, 
Seward, Chase. Bates and Cameron had been candi- 
dates for the nomination of president at the conven- 
tion at which Lincoln was nominated. Some of tlie 



new president's friends were troubled by the selec- 
tion of these prominent and ambitious men as his 
counselor. Subsequently it was found, when at- 
tempts were made to suborilinate him to his cabinet, 
that he was the sole interior spirit of his adminis- 
tration. Of these cabinet ministers only Secretaries 
Seward and Welles remained in office during the re- 
mainder of Lincoln's lifetime. Secretary Clia.se re- 
signed his place in lS(yi. and was succeeded by Wil- 
liam Pitt Fessenden, of Maine, who resigned after a 
short term, and was succeeded by Hugh MeCul- 
lough in March. 1(^65. Simon Cameron resigned at 
the close of l.siil, and was succeeded by Edwin M. 
Stanton. Secretary Smith resigned lus office to ac- 
ce])t a judicial post in 18(i2, and was succeeded by 
John P. Usher. Attorney-General Bates retired froin 
office in 18G4, and was succeeded by .lames Speed, of 
Kentucky, and Montgomery Blair about the same 
time resigned the office of postmaster-general, and 
was succeeded by Ex-Gov.AVilliani Deniiison.of Ohio. 
The Confederate congress, on March 11. isdl, pas.scd 
a bill providing for the organization of an army. No 
notice was taken of this in.surrectioniiry measure, 
which, it had been e.xjiected, W(uild be regarded as a 
easim belli by thf Federal authorities. Next, twocom- 
niissionei-s, Jlcssrs. Forsytbe and Crawford, were sent 
to Wa.shington to negotiate a treaty with the govern- 
ment of the United States, the assumption being that 
the new Confederacy was a foreign power. Mr. Lin- 
coln refused to receive the coiiimissionei"s, and sent 
them a cojiyof his inaugural address. Secretary Sew- 
ard served upon them, however, a formal notice that 
they could have no official recognition from the 
United States government. Meantime, the determi- 
nation of the jiresident to .send succor to the be- 
leaguered F'cdcral garrison in Charleston harbor, then 
collected in Fort Sumter, was made public. The 
people of South ('arolina, imiiatient for the war to 
begin, threatened to tire u])on Fort Sumter, and to 
attack any vessel that might bring succors. Every 
device to induce the |iiesident to commit " an overt 
act of war " was resorted to in vain. While he waited 
for the retiels to tire the first gun, there was much 
impatience manifested in tlie loyal Northern .states 
at what was considered the sluggi.shness of the ad- 
ministration. On Apr. 12, 1801, Gen. Beauregard, 
commanding the rebel forces at Charleston, sent a 
demand to Maj. Anderson, in couiniand of Fort 
Sumter, to suirender. He refused to surrender, but 
he suliseiiuently agreed to evacuate the fort Apr. 
l.ilh, unless he received instructions to the contrary, 
or iinivisions for .sustenance, before that date. After 
due warning, licaurcgard opened tire on the fort 
early in the morning of A|)r. 12tb, and. after feeble 
defence, the famishing garrison of sixty-five men was 
forced to surrender, and the United Slates tlag fell 
on the wallsof Sumter. The war had begun. Tlieef- 
fect of this overt act of the Confederates wasinstant and 
iutlammatory all through the North. I'atriotic nieet- 
iniis were held, men wi'i'e ready to voluiUeer for the 
w;ir. state authorities l)egan to arm and eipiip troops, 
and a general note of prciiaration now sounded 
thnaigh the loyal stales. The president called a 
sjiecial se.ssion of congress at the national capital for 
■Inly 4, 18fil. In a ))roclaniation dated Apr. 15, 
18(i"l. the president asked for To.OOO nien. This was 
responded to in the North with enthusiasm, and 
in tlie South with cries of derision. In the states bor- 
dering on the Confederacy, where the great battles 
of the war were afterward fought, this call was re- 
ceived with coldness. Patriotic excitement ran high 
all over the North, and for a time nothin.t!; was 
tluaight of but the war for the sake of theI"nion. 
One of the first regiments to march to the succor of 
the national capil:il. menaced on all sides anil dis- 
tracted with interior conspiracies, was the (Uh Massa- 
chusetts. It was fired upon in the streets of Balti- 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



277 




t.xy^^^ixC^;'^^ 



more. This act inflamed tlie loyal North still more, 
and the excitement became intense. The novernor 
of Maryland, alarmed by this colli-sion, im]iloieil the 
president to invoke the mediation of the British min- 
ister at Washinjiton to compose existing ditlicidties. 
Lincoln referred the governor to the secretary of 
state, who declared that "no domestic contention 
should be referred to any foreifin arljitramcnt. least 
of all to that of a European monarchy." Gen. B. F. 
Butler surprised the people of Baltimore by seizinu; 
Federal Hill, a fortitied position commanding the 
city, and troops thereafter marched unmolested 
throusih the city on their way to WashinLrton. On 
the llith of Aiiril the |)resident issued his proclama- 
tion declaring the ports of Texas, Louisiana, Jlis- 
sissippi, Alabama. Georgia, Florida and South Caro- 
lina in a state of blockade, and clo.scd to commerce. 
One week later, Xorth Caro- 
lina and Virginia. havingalso 
pas.sed ordinances of seces- 
sion, were added to this list. 
Another call for troojis was 
made, thirty-nine regiments 
of infantry and one of cav- 
alry beingasked for; and, by 
direction of the president, the 
maximum force of the reg- 
ular army was increased to 
22,714 men; and 18,000 vol- 
xmteer seamen were called 
for. An embassy from tlie 
state of Virginia having been 
sent to the president while 
the ordinance of secession 
■was under consideration, 
Lincoln, in reply to applica- 
tion for his intentions, again 
referred to his inaugural address, and added: "As I 
then and therein said, the power confided to me will be 
used to hold, occupy and possess property and places 
belonging to the goveriunent, and to collect duties and 
imposts; but beyond what is nece.ssary for these ob- 
jects, there will be no invasion, no using of force 
against or among the people anywhere." Further- 
more, he Intimated that it might be necessary to 
withdraw the United States mail service from the 
states in which disorder prevailed. He did not 
threaten to collect dniies and imposts by force, but 
he would employ force to retake the public proiierty 
of the government, wherever that had been seized. 
By a vote of eighty-eight to fifty-five the ordinance 
of secession was adopted in Virginia, and the capital 
of the state now liecame the .seat of the Ccmfederate 
government. Jleanwhile. tlie Confederates liad taken 
possession of Harper's Ferrj", Va., and the arsenal 
and munitions of war at that point, and of the 
navy-yard near Xorfolk, Va., with the stores and 
vessels there accumulated. These seizures gave 
them much additional war material. The hostile 
camps on the northern border of Virginia were 
drawing nearer to each other as both increased in 
numbers and etficiency. When congress as.sembled 
in July. Confederate dags on the Virginia heights 
oppo.siie Washington could be seen from the top 
of the Capitol. The first serious engagement was 
that on the line of Bull Hun creek, the cidmination 
of winch was on .luly 21. isijl. Tlie Confeilcrate 
forces. un<ler Gen. .li)sepli E. .lohnstcm. munbered 
about 18,0(10, and those under Gen. Irvin McDowell, 
the Union commander, were IT.OTO. 'l"he result was 
a defeat for the Uinon forces, and a patuc-stricken 
retreat upon Washington. The effect of this disas- 
ter uiion Ijincoln and njion (he country was depress- 
ing; but the people .soon rallied, and indignation look 
till! ]ilaec of mortifying regret. Volunteering was 
resumed with vigiir. Twd naval and military expe- 
ditious were successful, and Fort Ilalteras, >". C., 



and Port Royal. S. C, surrendered to the Union 
forces. Gen. McClcllan had also cleared the Confed- 
erates from that part of Virginia which liis west of 
the Blue Hidge. afterward erected into the state of 
West Virginia. Congress responded to the call of the 
]iresident for more men and moni'V by voting f.iOl),- 
000.000 for war purposes, and authorizing him to 
call for .')00,000 men. Great excitement was created 
throughout the country when .James M. Mason and 
John Slidell, Confederate emissaries to European 
courts, were taken, Nov. 7, 1861. fniin the British 
packet-ship Trent, at .sea. by Capt. Wilkes, command- 
ing the U. S. .steamer San .lacinto. The event was 
the cause of much congratulation with the people, 
and cabinet ministers and congress openly approved 
of the seizure. Lincoln was disturbed by this, and 
decided that the envoys should be given up to the 
demand of the British government, from whose 
tiag they had been taken. In the face of poimlar 
indignation, he remained firm, and the envoys were 
released. Eventually, the wisdom and the justice 
of this course were generally admitted. In July, 
1801, Gen. McClellan was assigned to the com- 
mand of the army of the Potomac, and Gen. Fre- 
mont to that of tiie department of the West, with 
headipiarters at St. Louis. Radical differences 
on the subject of slavery at once began to appear 
in the orders of these two generals. Lincoln was 
greatly embarrassed and disturbed when Fremont, 
Aug. 31.st, issued a proclamalion confiscating the 
property of Confederates within his lines, and eman- 
cipating their slaves. Congress had passed a bill 
to confiscate property used ftir insurrectionaiy mili- 
tary purposes, and slaves had been declared "con- 
traband of war." The president wrote privately 
to Fremont, advising him to modify his orders, as 
if by his own motion, as these were in confiict 
with the course of the administration, and did not 
conform to the action of congress. Fremont refused 
to make these modifications, and Lincoln, in an order 
dated Sept. 11, 1861, did so modify Fremont's proc- 
lamation. During May of the following year Gen. 
David Hunter, commanding the de]iartment of the 
South, with headquarters at Hilton Head. S. C, 
i.ssued an order resembling Fremont's: it was in- 
.stantly revoked by the president. Lincoln was stick- 
ing to his determination to save the Union, if possi- 
ble, without mediUing with the question of slavery; 
and while none doubled his hostility to slavery, it 
was difficult for many to under- 
stand why he did not strike it in 
its vulnerable parts whenever he 
had an opportunity. The con- 
troversy arising out of the disjio- 
sition of captured slaves by the 
army of the Ptitomac (which 
was usually a recognition of the 
rights of the .slaveholders), and 
out of the orders of Hunter and 
McClellan, was very bitter in the 
North, and many who had sup- 
ported Lincoln's administration 
complained that his policy was 
" pro-slavery." March 6. 1862. the president sent to 
congress a message in which he intimjited very dis- 
tinctly that if the war eniled then, or very .soon, sla- 
very would |Mdb.il)ly remain intact: but if it should 
continue, and if gradual and compensated emanci- 
pation were not accepted, then slavery would be 
destroy<'d by the operations of the war. Congress 
ado|)ted a resolution approving the policy outlined 
by the president: but the border state representa- 
tives, although invited by the president to a free 
conference with him (m the subject.kept ahxif from 
the matter. Congress had now passed a bill to abol- 
ish slaveryin the District of Columbi.n. It w.as.-iiL'ued 
by Lincoln, who, in 184!), had introduced a bill for 




278 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 




that piinwso. Duiinjr the summer of 1863 the prop- 
osition of anuir)}; tln' freed nejrroes was begun; it was 
oppcwdby many conservative people, but was warm- 
ly advocated by Lincoln, wlio said: " Why should 
they do anythinir for us if we do notliinjr for them? 
If tiiey stake their lives for us, theynuist be prompted 
by the strongest of motives, even the promise of frce- 
do7ii. And the promise, heiuj; made, must be kept." 
The law authori/ins^ the arminfr of the e.xslaves, ac- 
cordingly, contained a clause giving freedom to all 
slaves who served in the Union army, ami to their 
families as well. During 
the summer military opera- 
tions lagif<'il. and nuich com- 
plaint was made of the 
.sluggish movements of the 
army of tlie Potomac under 
Gen. MeClellau. This impatience found e.\|ire.s.sion 
in a letter to the president, written by Horace Gree- 
ley iind publislu'(i in the New York "Tribune." in 
whic^li the writer severely arraigned the president for 
his alleged inactivity and lack of vigor in dealing wit li 
the slavery ((ucstion. Lincoln wrote a letter in reply. 
in the course of which he said: "If I could save 
the L'nion without freeing any slave I woidd do it; 
if I coidd save it by freeing all the slaves. I would 
do it; and if I could do it by freeing some and leav- 
ing others alone. I would also do that. AVhat I do 
about slavery and the colored race. I do because I 
believe it helps to save this Union; and what I for- 
bear I forbear becau.se I do not believe that it would 
help to save the Union." This appeared to settle for 
a long time the position of Lincoln on the slavery 
que.stion. The Confederate army, under Gen. Rob- 
ert E. Lee, invaded Maryland, crossing the Polimiac 
in September, iHli2. At that time Lincoln had uiuler 
consideration a proclamation freeing all slaves within 
the jurisdiction of the United Stales government, or 
thereafter to be brought under it. In the imminence 
of the danger then apjiarent. he resolved that if suc- 
cess should crown the Union arms, he would issue 
that proclamation. The battle of South Jloiuitain 
was fought on Scjit. 1-tth, and that of Antietain on 
the ITtli; the C'oid'ederates were defeated on both 
fields, and retreated in great disorder. The procla- 
mation of eiuancipatiiin was issued Sejit. 22d. de- 
claring freedom to all slaves in bondage on Amer- 
ican soil. This proclamation electrified the nation 
and greatly e.\eited the people of otlier countries. 
Jan. 1, 186;!, the pre.sident issued a supplementary 
proclamation, in which the terms of the |irevious 
document were reartirmed, and the parts of states 
exem])tcd from the ojjcration of emancipation 
were named. These portions were in<-iiiisidera- 
ble, and the action of congress in abolisliiug slav- 
ery throughout the entire territory of the United 
States made an end of slavery in the Hepuljlic. 
Lincoln's general jilan for the conduct of the war, 
formidated after an.xious consultation with his most 
tru.stcd advisers, was as follows: To l>lockade the 
entire coastline of the Confeder.ate states: to ac<n'ire 
militaiy occupatimi of the burder states, so as to pro- 
tect Union men and repel invasion; to clear the Mis- 
sis.sippi of obstructions, thus dividing the Confed- 
eracy and relieving the West, which was deprived 
of its natural outlet to the sea: to destroy the Con- 
federate army between Hichmond and Washington, 
and to capture the Confederate capital. This vast 
plan had been formed in the mind of Ijincoln by the 
necessities of the situation. Gen. Scott, who held 
the highest command in the army of the United 
States, had a.sked to be relieved from active duty 
and placed on the retired list. His reipiest was 
granted, and Lincoln, accompanied by the members 
of his cabinet, visited the general at his mansion in 
AVashington and presented to him in jierson a mo.st 
affectionate and generous farewell adtlress. Gen. 



George B. McClellan was now in supreme com- 
mand. Lincoln's immediate anxiety was for the 
speedy opening of the Missis.sipi)i river. In pursu- 
ance of his programme. Gen. U. S. Grant, then rising 
in popidar esteem, attacked and destroyed Belmont, 
a njilitary depot of the Confederates iii Mi.ssis.sippi. 
Gen. Gtirliehi defeated Humphrey Miirshall at Mid- 
dle Creek, Ky.. and Gen. George H. Thomas de- 
feated Gens. Zollikotfer and Crittenden at Mill Spring. 
This was followed up by the caiiture of Fort Henry 
on the Tennessee, and Fort Donelson on the Cum- 
berland river. These streams, emptying into the 
Ohio river, were very necessary to promote military 
operations against the Confederates in the south- 
western states. On the 6th of Ajiril. 1862. was fought 
the great battle of Shiloli. or Pittsburg Landing.iu 
which the carnage on both sides was very great, and 
many brave and distinguished otiicers on both sides 
were killed. The defeated Confederates retreated to 
their fortified line at Corinth. Miss., where they 
were attacked by Gen. II. \\. Ilalleck. and again 
compelled to retreat, leaving behind them a large 
iiccumidation of military stores. By the end of Maj% 
186'2, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky and Teimessee 
were virtually free from Confederate domination. 
That part of the (jrogramme which required the 
blockade and occuiuifion of Atlantic ports of the 
seceded states was not overlooked. During much 
of March and April, 1S62, Knamike I.sland, N. ('., was 
captured. Xe.xt fell Newbern. X. C. anil Furt JIa 
con and Fort Pulaski on the .same coast. In the 
spring of 1862 an e.\pediticiti unilerGcn. B. F. Butler 
landed at Ship Island, in the Gulf of Mexico, about 
midway between New Orleans and Moliile. A fleet 
of armed vessels under Adm. Farragut soon after 
arriveil. and on the ITtb of A|iril Farragut appeared 
below tlu' forts that guarcU-d the ii|iproaches to the 
city of New Orleans. After some skirmishing, Far- 
ragut's fleet passed the forts, destroying the fleet 
above, and ascended the Mississippi and appeared 
before the city of New Orleans, to the ainazemiMit of 
its people. Baton Rouge, the capital of Louisiana, 
next fell, and the svirreiuler of Natchez, May 12, 
1802, opened the Mississippi as far north as Vicks- 




burg, which with its fortifications resisted the free 
navigation of the Jlississi|)pi river. JlcClellan mean- 
while remained inactive before Washington, and 
popular discontent was constantly making itself mani- 
fest in conse{|uence of bis alleged tardiness, many 
people insisting that the govenuneni had failed to 
sujiply his neces.s,-iry wants. Lincoln was in fre(|uent 
and anxious consultation with .McClellan and the 
other generals gathered at the ca])ital. During the 
latter part of .lamiary. 1862. Lincoln issued an order 
specially intended to ilirccf th<' movements of the 
army of the Potomac, in wliidi. among other things, 
the army w.as commanded to seize upon and occupy 
a point on the railroad southwest of .'Nlana.s.sas .luuc- 
tion. Details of this movement were to be left to- 
the judgment of the general comman<ling. To thi» 
McClelian demurred, and in a long letter to the 
.secretary of war detailed his olijeetions and sub- 
mitted a plan of his own. A council of war. to con- 
sist of twelve general otiicers, was finally called, and 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



279 




it was clecided by a vote of eiijlit to fom- that Mc- 
Clellan's plau should bo adopted, lid'nriualioii of 
these debates haviiif^ reached the Coiifedeiale jien- 
erals, their forces withdrew from .Manassas to the 
lower side of tlie Rappahannoel<, tliereby reiuleriu;; 
both plaus useless. B_y this time two weeks had 
elap.sed since the presideut's order directius;' a fieneral 
advance of all the armies had lieeii issued. After 
the enehiv abandoned his line at Manassas, McClellan 
moved forward for a day or two, but soon after re- 
turned to his intrenched position at Ali'xandria, on 
the Potomac near Washiug'tcm. On the 11th of 
March, 1863, Gen. McClellau was relieved from com- 
mand of other departments of military activity and 
was placed in sole and immediate command of the 
army of the Potomac. A new base of operations was 
now established at Fortress Monroe at the entrance 
of Chesapeake Bay; but meanwhile a tiglit belwcen 
the ironclad Mcrrimac and the Fi'dcral Monitor 
had taken place near Fortress Monroe, and the iron- 
elail had been beaten back to Norfolk, wliencc she 
did not afterward emerge. McClellan's immediate 
field of operations was on the peninsula formed by 
the York and James rivers. The enemy were be- 
hind a line of intrenchments that stretched across the 
peninsula, the key of the .situation being at Yorklown 
on this line. Again there w ere unaccountable delays, 
and on the 8d of April the president ordered the .sec- 
retary of war to direct that the army of the Polimiac 
should begin active operations ; but McC'lellan de- 
murred, and informed the president by letter on the 
5th of April that he was sure that the enemy in front 
of him anil behind formidalile works was in great 
force. He required more men. Lincoln was con- 
fident that ^McClellau exaggerated the strength of 
the force in front of him, and he besought Secivtary 
Stanton to hurry forward everything tlial McCleilan 
seemed to think needful to insure the safety of an 
«dvance. The line held by the Confederate forces 
was about thirteen miles long. Much of the force 
behind that line was scattered in the defence of poir^ts 
in the rear. In answer to ]\IcC'lcllan's call for more 
troops, the president yielded anil sent bini (ten. 
Franklin's division, which had been retained to de- 
fend the line between Richmond and Washington. 
On the 13th of April McClellan's army, according 
to official reports, had 130,3TS men, of which 113.393 
w'ereelfective. About this time McC'lellan called for 
Parrott guns, to tlie consternation of the president, 
who wrote him on the 1st of May: "Your call for 
Parrott guns from Washington alarms nic, chiefly 
because it argues indefinite jirocrastination. Is any- 
thing to be done'?" Xothing was done, and on the 
23th he (Lincoln) telegraphed McCleilan: "I think 
the time is near at hand when you must either attack 
Richmond or give up the job and come to the de- 
fence of Wa.shington. " Jteanwhile, the Confed- 
erates, disiHjncerted by the accumulation of Federal 
troops, abandoned their line across the Jieninsula 
and retreated up to their second line of works. On 
the 31st of June AlcClellan wrote to the jiresident 
asking permission to address him on the subject of 
"The |)reseut state of military alTairs thniugbmU- 
the whole country." The president replied. "If it 
would not divert your time and al tent ion from the 
army under your command, I should be glad to lii'nr 
your views on the present state of military alTairs 
throughout the whole country." The greater jiart of 
June, 18U3, was spent bythe army under McClell.an, 
iu fighting, advancing, retreating, and in various man- 
wuvres. At one time a portion of the troops was with in 
four miles of Richmond without meeling any consid- 
erable force of the enemy. On the 37th of June Mc- 
Cleilan announced his intention to retreat to the 
Jame.s river, and in a Idler to the secretary of war 
said " If I save this army, I tell you plainly I owe 
iiks, niir to niiv one at AVasliinirton. You 





have done your best to destroy this army." Lincoln 
was greatly disturbed bythe teinjierof this dispatch. 
The army, haras.sed by the {'(aifederale forces hang- 
ing on its rear, retreated to .Malvern Hill, and the 
campaign of the peninsula was over. By this time 
it was generally luiderslood that (Jen. McCleilan 
would be the presidential candidate al the next elec- 
tion of that portion of the ilemocralic party which 
was di.ssatistied with the conduct of the war and with 
the emancipation measures then under contempla- 
tion. In order to sec for liimseir I he cniidilion of 
the army, the jiresident visilt'il the headquarlers of 
Oen. McCleilan at Ilarri.son's Landing on the 7th of 
July. He examined the ro.steis of the troops and 
scrutinized the re])orts of ilie chiefs of divisions, and 
gave it as his judgment that the army should be re- 
called to Washington, and in this conclu.sion he v/as 
supported by the corps commanders; but to this Mc- 
Cleilan was opposed. He required Buru.side's army, 
tlien operating in North 
Carolina, and with this 
large reinforcement he 
thought he might achieve 
success. Lincoln found 
that McClellau had 160,- 
000 men, and on his re- 
turn to W^ashington he 
wrote to him reminding 
him of this fact and call- 
ing attention to the addi- 
tional fact that while he, 
Lincoln, was in the army 
with ilcClellan he found 
only 86,000 effective men 
on dutv. In reply, Mc- 
Cleilan' .said that 38,350 
men were " ab.sent by au- 
thority." Lincoln, feel- 
ing the necessity of a military adviser who should be 
near him in AVashington and always readily acces- 
sible, called to the capital (Jen. Henry W. Halleek, 
who on the 11th of .July was given the rank and title 
of general-in-chief. About this time Ci'ii. .lohn I'ope, 
who.se successes in the valley of the .Mi.ssi.ssippi had 
given him fame, was called to the com mand of a new 
military organization of three army corps, com- 
luanded by Gens. Fremont, Banks and McDowell. 
The.se were known as the army of Virginia. On 
the 38th of .lune, 1803, was assembled at Alloona, 
Pa., a conference of the governors of loyid states, 
seventeen iu number, to determine on the best means 
of supporting the president in carrying on the war. 
They issued an address, assuring the president of the 
readiness of the states to res])ond to calls for more 
troops and to support vigorous war measures. There- 
uiion the president i.ssued a call for 800,000 men. 
Pope's army, 38,000 stnaig, was employed todefend 
W.'ishington, against which point Lee was now ad- 
vancing with a large force. It was expected that 
McCleilan would make a bold attack on Richmond 
from his position on the James, Lee's attention being- 
directed toward Pope. This was not done, and the 
army of the Potomac was ordered to the line of the 
Potomac river to sujiport Po])e; but JlcClellan, re- 
peatedly ordered to make haste, del;iyed, and several 
weeks elajised belore he showed any indications of 
moving. Finally, on the 3:Sd of August, he -sailed 
from Fortress ilonroe, arriving at .VIexandria on the 
Potomac on the 37lh, nearly one month after receiv- 
ing his orders. Meanwhile, Po]h> was being driven 
toward Washinglon, assailed in turn by the Confeder- 
ate forces \miler Jackson, Longslreet and Lee. Pope 
was forced back upon Washinglon. Disasterand de- 
feat, divided councils in the cabinet, virulent and heat- 
ed iIeb:Ues in congress, agilaled the country. Lincoln 
alone remained patient and cimrageous. The army 
of the Potomac was reorganized, and McClell:iu soon 



280 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



had under him not only that force, but the remnants 
of Pope's army of Viririiiia and the men Vinuiiiht 
from Nortli Carolina by Gen. Burnside. To these 
■were added otlier reinforcements from new levies, 
making the force under McClellan the largest ihat 
had been massed together in <jne annv — more than 
200,000, all told. On the l.")th of September Har- 
per's Ferry was surrt^ndered to the Confederate 
forces. Lee, advancing into Maryland, brought on 
another battle, which was fought at Aniietara Sept. 
17th. The Confeilerales were defeated, and were 
obliged to retreat across the Potomac. McClellan 
failed to follow up his victorv. and Lincoln on the 
6th of October, lHti2, through Gen. Halleck, directed 
McClellan to "cross the Potomac and give battle 
to the enemj- or drive him south." McClellan de- 
clined to obe}'. On the 10th of October Gen. J. E. 
B. Stuart cros,sed the Potomac, going as far north as 
Chambersbiirg, Pa., made the entire circuit of Mc- 
Clellan's army, and recrossed into Virginia. Finally, 
on the 5th of November, 18G2, just one month after 
the order to cross had been i.ssned, the army did cross 
the Potomac, but it was too l.ate. Gen. ^IcClellan 
■was relieved from command of the army on the oth 
of November, and his military career was ended. 
He was succeeded l)y Gen. A. F. Burnside, a gradu- 
ate of the U. S. Military Academy, -kIui. imtil the 
breaking out of the war, had been engaged in civil 
pursuits. At the outset there was a 
disagreement between Burnside, Hal- 
leck and Lincoln as to the best line 
of attack upon the Confederate forces. 
The result of many consultations was, 
that the ronle through Fredericks- 
liurg, on the Rappahamiock, shoid<l 
be adojjted. Owing to delays, Lee was 
able to seize and fortify the heights 
above the city of Fredericksbvirg, and 
Burnside was speedily confronted by 
a concentrated army. An attack was 
made in the face of many difficulties 
on the l.'ith of December! 18G2. The 
assault faili'd with great disaster, and 
the year closeil in gh^om. In the 
I West, Buell hadlieen driven back in 

y^A^re.'^oM^ iS^hur^ Kentucky, and the Confederate forces 
had re-entered that stale and a jiro- 
visional Ccnifederate government had been organ- 
ized at Frankfort, the capital of the state. The 
cities of Louisville, Ky., and Cincinnati, O., were 
menaced, and it was found necessary to fortify them. 
At the end of Se])tember the combined Federal 
forces under Gens. Sherman and JlcClernand made 
a vigorous but unsvicccssful assault upon the de- 
fences of Vicksburg. Lincoln was now besieged on 
the one hand with demaials for the reinstatement of 
McClellan, and on the otlier with importunities for 
an armistice during which negotiations for a settle- 
ment might be carried on. He also was greatly dis- 
turbed by zealous friends who were eager "for a 
change of generals. The press of the North was 
often bitter in its criticisms of the administration. 
In the army there were mull criiigs of discontent, and 
many of the elder otiicers opeidy expressed tlieir be- 
lief that nothing but the reinstatement of McClellan 
could lead to victory. On the 2Gth of .Tanuary, 
1863, Gen. Josejih Hooker was placed in command 
of the army of the Potomac. The army was soon in 
good fighting condition, and the rosters." examined by 
the president during a visit to the armv headquarters 
in April, 18(a, showed '.>Ui,T18 men \n\ the rolls, of 
which 16,000 were on detached service; i;SI!. 720 were 
on active duty, 1,771 absent without autlioritv. 26,- 
000 sick, and "the actual effective force was 146, 0(H), 
which number could be increased at any time to 
169,000 by calling in the n\en from outlying stations. 
Early in May began Hooker's offensive movement 




against the Confederate forces lying south of the Rap- 
jiahanuock. Thebattleof Chancellorsville terminated 
that campaign, and on Jlay 6th the president received' 
a dispatch from Gen. Hooker's chief of staff, aimounc- 
ing that the army of the Potomac ha<I recrossed the 
Kappahannock and was camped on its old ground. 
This disaster deeply agitated the country, and the 
president immediately visited headquarters, accom- 
panied by Gen. Halleck. Soon after this, a law 
authorizing the conscription of citizens for tiglitiug 
was enacted, and under the provision of the constitu- 
tion permitting it. the president suspended the priv- 
ileges of the writ of Imbeds corpun. by which the cit- 
izen deprived of his liberty could appeal to the 
courts for an examination in his case. Under the 
sjime authority the presideiU |)roclaimed martial 
law. These acts, severely criticised at the time, 
were justified by the "war powers" of the presi- 
dent of the I'nited States under the constitution. 
Another important act was the avithorizing of the 
cidistment of negro troops. The arming of the ex- 
slaves was the cause of much popular discontent 
both Xorth and Snuth. From first to last, the mim- 
bcr of negro tr(ii>ps enlisted in the war was 178.!t75. 
Financial meas\nes also occuiiied the attention of 
congress, and the secretary of the treasury was au- 
thorized to borrow money to carry on the war. The 
total amoimt which he was given leave to raise on 
the obliL'atious of the government of the United 




States was $900,000,000. Bonds were issued to bear 
fixed rates of iiUerest, and. to meet the ]iressing ne- 
cessities of the times, he was authorized to issue 
!{; 100. 000, 000 in treasury notes. The finances of the 
couiUry were in a disordered condition. Gold and 
silver had disapjieared from circulation, and the 
small change needed in everyday transactions of 
the people was now in small paper notes. In the 
western states popular discontent had resulted ia 
the formation of secret societies for the propagation of 
sedil ions doctrines and the discouragement of the war. 
In July, 1863, fell Vicksburg. thus opening the Mis- 
sissippi river, the operations being conducted under 
command of Gen. Grant. In the early days of that 
month was fought the liattleof Getty.sburg, in which 
the troops under Gen. Lee, who had invaded the state 
of Peimsylvauia, were repulsed with great slaughter. 
The Federal troo])s were cominauded by (Jen. 
Jleade. The effective force luider Jleade in his 
three days' battle at Gettysburg was from 82.000 to 
84,000 nieu, with 300 iiieccs of artillery. Lee's effect- 
ive force was 80.000 men. with 2.')0 guns. The total 
of killed, wounded and mis.sing in this fight was 
about 4(i.ll0l) men. each side having suff'ered eipiallv. 
Twenty generals were lost by the Federal army, six 
being killed. The Confederates lost seventeen gen- 
erals, three being killed, thirteen wounded and one 
taken prisoner. On tluly 4, 18(i,'?. Lincoln issue<i an 
aimounceinent to the people of the Uiuteit States, 
giving the result of the battle of Gettysl)urg. and 
concluding with these words: "The President es- 



OF AMERICAN BIOGEAPIIY. 



281 



pecially desires that ou this day He whose will, not 
ours, should ever more be done, be everywhere re- 
membered aud reverenced with profouiidest grati- 
tude." There was great joy throughout the loyal 
states. The president was sereuatled at the White 
Hovise, aud appearing to the multitude said, among 
other things: "I do most sincerely thank God for 
the occasion of this call." On .July 15th the presi- 
dent issued his proclamation for a day of national 
thanksgiving, in which he invited all the peojile to 
assemble on Aug. 0th, to "render the homage due to 
the Divine Majesty for the wonderful things He has 
done in the nation's behalf, and invoke the inUuences 
of His holy spirit to subdue the anger which has 
produced aud so long sustained a needless and cruel 
rebellion." etc. On Oct. 3d he instituted a permanent 
national festival, setting apart the last Thursday in 
November to be ob.served as a day of national thanks- 
giving to God for all His mercies. On Nov. U), 
1863, the battle-field of Gettysburg was solemnly 
dedicated as a buryiug-place for the remains of those 
who had given their lives on that now historic 
ground. The principal oration was delivered by 
Edward Everett, of >Iassaehu»etts, but the brief ad- 
dre.ss of the presiilent on that occasion was the most. 
momentous utterance, and has now jjas.sed into the 
literature of the world as one of its great master- 
pieces. The year closed auspiciously. Grant being 
in command of a large force stationed in the military 
division of the Jlississippi, with headquarters at 
Louisville, Ky. Gen. George H. Thomas was in 
command of the de|iartmeuts of the Ohio aud Cum- 
l)erland. Hooker. Sheridan and Sherman were sub- 
ordiuate commanders tmder Grant. The battles of 
Mission Ridge, Lookout Mountain and Chatta 
nooga were Federal successes, and the Confederates 
were expelled from Tennessee. Burnside, besieged in 
Knoxville, was relieved by Slierman. and the Confed- 
erate army under Longstreet was driven back into 
Virginia. The session of congressduring the winter of 
18(53-64 was largely occu|iied by political measures. 
a presidential campaign now coming on. Some of 
the republican leaders were opposed to Lincoln's re- 
nomination, considering that he was not sutticiently 
radical in his measures. As a rule these persons fa- 
vored the nomination of Jlr. Chase, the secretary of 
the treasury, and others expressed a preference for 
Gen. Fremont, whose career in Missouri had excited 
their sympathies. Lincoln remained silent regard- 
ing his political desires. The only expression of his 
opinion in reference to the political situation was 
foimd in his famous saying, "I don't believe it is wise 
to swap horses while crossing a stream." One of the 
most important military events of that winter was the 
appi.'inlment of Gen. Grant to the post of lieutenant- 
genera! of the army, that rank having been created 
by act <if congress with the understanding that it 
was to be conferred upon him. On Fel). 22, 1864, 
the act was approved, anil Gen. Grant was nominated 
to tlie post. He was confirmed JIarch 3fl. Gen. 
Shermau was !i.ssigned to the command of the mili- 
tary divisio[i of the Mississippi, succeeding Grant, 
who. in an order dated March IT, 18(i4, look com- 
mand of all the .•irmies of the United Stales, with 
lieadiiuarters in the ticld. From this time all of the 
armies in the West and in the East acted in concert, 
and the eueiny was pressed on all sides. Lincoln 
sent to Grant in the tield these words: ""i'ou are 
vigilant and self-r<-liant. I wish not to obtrude any 
lestraints or constraints upon you. If there be any- 
thing in my power to give, do not fail lo let me 
' know, and now. with a brave army and a just cause, 
I may G(h1 sustain you." (Jen. Grant made his head- 
quarters with the army of the Potomac, on the banks 
of the Hapidan. and the campaign against tlie Confed- 
I erale capital at Uichmond opened in .May, Meade in 
eominaud of the army of the Potomac, reinforced by 




tlie ninth corps imder Burnside. The army moved at 
midnight on the 3d of the mouth. On the frtli and 
6th were fought the bloody battles of the Wilderness. 
Ou the 11th Grant telegraphed to Lincoln: "Our 
lo.s.ses have been heavy, as well as tho.sc of the 
euemy, and I propose to light it out on this line if it 
takc.s'all summer." On .luly 22, 1864, Atlanta fell 
into the hands of Shi'rman, and Hood, hoping to 
drive Sherman to the northward, moved against the 
Tennes.see country once more, pas.siug to the right of 
Atlanta. The Federal forces undei' Thomas and 
Scholield fell u|)ou Hood, who was ignominiously 
put to tlight, and after a two days' tight his army 
was virtually destroyed. Gen. 'B. F. Butler took 
I^ossession of City Point, on the James river, when; 
Grant established a base of supplies. Gen. Hunter 
was sent to clear the Valley of the Shenandoah, but 
was comjielled to retire, and the Confederate' forces 
under Early pressed on toward Washington from the 
valley, entered Maryland and menaced the national 
capital. A great panic |irevailed in that cily for 
several days, but two army corjis, di.si)atehed by 
Gen. Grant", saved the capital, and the invading force 
withdrew. Later in ilie year Gen. Sheridan cleared 
the Shenandoah Valley. and by the end 
of September that region was free once 
more from Confederate forces- The 
reiniblican national conven- 
tion was held in Baltimore, 
.June 8, 181)4. Lincoln was re- 
nominated for the presidency, 
and Andrew .Johnson was 
nominated for vice-president. 
lu Augu.st of that year the 
democratic national conven- 
tion assembled in Chicago, 
aud Gen. McCiellan was 
nomuiated for the presidency, 
and George H. Pendleton, 
of Ohio, for the vice-presidency. Meanwhile the 
radical re]iublicans held a convention at Cleveland, 
O., and nominated Gen. Fremont for the presidency, 
and John Cochrane, of New York, for vice-]iresi- 
dent. In the course of tin\e these latter nominations 
practically disappeared beneath the surface of Amer- 
ican politics, and ^\ere heard of no more. Rumors 
of negotiations on the jiart of the Confederates look- 
ing toward a return of peace now grew more fre- 
quent. Clement C. Clay, of Alabama, and Jacob 
Thompson, of 3lissis.sippi, appeared on the Canadian 
border and put themselves in coniinunieation with 
Horace Greeley, who wrote to Lincoln July T, 18G4, 
asking for a safe conduct for these emissaries in order 
that they might go to Washington and di.seu.ss terms 
of peace. To this Lincoln replied in writing: "If 
you can tind any jierson anywhere iirofessiug to have 
aiUhority from Jefferson Davi.s, in writing, embrac- 
ing the restoration of the Uidou and the abandon- 
ment of slavery, whatever else it embraces, say to 
him he may come to me with you." Some corre- 
spondence thereuiion ensued, siud Jlr. Greeley went 
to Xiagara Falls to hold an interview with the Con- 
federate emissaries. It soon became apiiarent Ih;it 
these agents had noauthorily lo lical for peace on the 
part of the Richmond government, and the ineiilent 
passed away. Tlielossesof war reipiired fresh levies of 
troops, anil a call was now Issued for .")(1(t.ll()l) men. If 
the reqidred number should not appear l)y Sept. 5, 
1864, Ihen.'i draft nnist be ordered. The]iresidential 
election came on in Xovember. 1864, resulting in an 
overwhelming majority for Lincoln. Every state 
that voted that year (leelared for Lincoln and his 
policy, excepting the stati's of Delaware. Kentucky 
aud New Jersey. The tot.-il number of voles cast in 
all the states was 4.01.5.902, of which Lincoln had a 
clear majority of 411.428. Lincoln had 212 of the 
233 electoral votes, aud McClellau had lweuty-0C8 



2S2 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 




electoral votes. Tliere was renewoil ta^k about 
peace aud compromise (luriii!; the winter of 180-1-05. 
Francis I'. Blair, Sr., a private citi/eii. was furnished 
witlia safe-conduct signed by tlie |)resident.!uid went 
to Kichmoiul, saw JelTerson Davis, and returned to 
AV'asliiuLClon with a Idler addressed to him by the 
president of llie ('(infederacy, the contents of whicli 
he was authorized lo communicate to Lincoln. In 
that document Davis expressed liis willinjrness "to 
enter into conference with a view to secure peace in 
the two countries." Lincoln replied to Jlr. Blair in 
a note in which lie state<l tliat he (Lincoln) was will- 
inirto treat on terms willi a view 
to .securing peace lo the peo]>lc 
of "our common country." 
This correspondence, allliougli 
it did not result in any official 
conference, did bring to Hamp- 
ton Koads. Va., Alexander 11. 
Stephens, R. JI. T. Hunter and 
Jolin A. Campbell, wlio were 
received on board a steamer 
anchored in llie roadstead of 
Fortress Jlonroc, by President 
Lincoln and Secretary Seward. 
The imrjiose of the Confederate 
agents was to secure an arm- 
istice, but Lincoln turned a deaf 
ear to all suggestions of tins 
sort, and while tlie matter was 
yet pending wrote to Gen. Grant, 
saying: "Let nolliing that is 
trans]5iring change, hinder or 
delay your military movements 
or jilans. " The president and 
secretary returned to AVashing- 
. ton, and it was seen that the 
Hamilton Roads conference 
resulted in nothing but defeat 
of the Confederate scheme 
to procure a ces.sation of hostilities. The .second 
inauguration of Lincoln took place March 4, 1864. 
In his inaugural address the president briefly re- 
viewed the political and military .situation of the 
country, and closed with these niemorable words: 
"With malice toward none, with charily for all, 
with firmness in the right as God gives us to .see 
right, let us fini.sh the work we are in, to bind up the 
nation's wounds, to care for him who .shall have 
borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphans, 
and to do all which may achieve and cherish a just 
and a lasting peace among ourselves and with all 
nations." The spring of ISfio opened with bright 
prospects for a speedy <Miding of the rebellion. Gen. 
Sherman's march to the Atlantic .sea-coa.st from At- 
lanta had rent the Confederacy in twain. His .sub- 
sequent movements in the Carolinas compelled the 
abanchmmeut of Charleston. The captme of Fort 
Fisher, N. C, by Gen. Terry, closed the last Atlantic 
port against possililc .supplies from abroad. The 
scattered remnants of the Confederate army now 
rallied aroiin<l (Jen. Lee for the defence of Rieli- 
mond, and on March '^Tlhaconfereiiee between Lin- 
coln, (!r:uit and Slierman was held on board a 
steamer lying on the James river, near Grant's head- 
quarters." At that conference final aud decisive 
measiu'cs of the campaign were decided upon. 
Closely followed by Grant, Sheridan now drew a line 
completely aroiuid the army of Viigini;i, luider Gen. 
Lee. The Confederate lines were everywhere draw u 
in, their forces operating lo the north of the .Tames 
being now joined with the main army. On Sunday 
morning, Apr. id, the bells of Kichinond sounded 
the knell of the rebellion, and Jen'er.son Davis, seeing 
that all was lost, fieil southward, but was .subse- 
cpiently captured and sent a prisoner to Fortress 
Jlonroe. On Jlonday morning, Apr. 3d, the Hag of 



SX. M&uCXarvi.' StiCuirf CKi-Ci^o 



the Union was hoisted over the building in Richmond 
which had been oecupietl by the Confederate con- 
gres-s. Lincoln was at City I'oint wailing for the 
final result of these movements. He entered the 
fallen capital of the Confederacy soon after its 
downfall. He was unattended, siive by a crew 
from a boat near at hantl. and he led his little boy 
by the hand. Here he was met by Gen. Grant, who 
announced that one more battle might be fought. 
The presideiU returned to Washington, and on Apr. 7, 
180."), Grant opened with Gen. Lee the correspondence 
which residted in the surrender of the army of 
northern V'irgini;i, -Vpr. Hth, in the village of Ajipo- 
matto-X Coiirt-House, Va. Great rejoicings took 
pltice all over tlie North, and on the night of Apr. 
lOlli the city of Washington and many other cities 
lliroughout the country were illuminated. On Apr. 
llth the cily was again illiimin:iled by the govern- 
ment, and a great official celebration took place. The 
war was over. At noon, Apr. 14, 186.5, tlie presi- 
dent's cabinet held a niecling. at which Gen. Grant 
was present. Thai evening the president, Mrs. Lin- 
coln, Clara Harris (a daughter of Senator Ira Harris 
of Xew York), and Maj. Rathbone, of llie V. S. 
army, occupied a box near the stage in Ford's 
theatre, Washington. .John Wilkes Booth, an actor, 
who had conspired with certain other iiersmis to take 
the president's life on the first convenient occasion, 
iipproached the box from the rear, and at h;ilf-past 
ten o'clock in the evening, while all persons were ab- 
.sorbcd in the business of the play, crept up in the 
rear of the jiresident, and, holding a pistol within a 
few inches of the base of the brain, fired. The ball 
entered the brain and Lincoln fell forward, insen.si- 
ble. Booth escaped from the theatre in tlie confusion 
which followed. The president was carried to a 
house on the opposite side of the street, where he 
lingered between life and de;ith through the hours 
of the night. .Vt twenty-two minutes past seven 
o'clock on the morning of Apr. 1.5, 1805, Lincoln 
died. Andrew .Johnson, the vice-president, now suc- 
ceeded to the presidency by virtue of his ofliee, aud 
was sworn in during the forenoon. On A\'cdnesday, 
Apr. lOtli, the funeral of the ])residpnt took placein 
the White House, in the midst of amo.st distinguished 
assemblage. Ilis body was borne to the cajiitol, 
where it lay in state in tlie rotunda for one <lay, 
guarded by a comiiany of high ollieers of the army 
and navy, and a detachment of .soWiers. The funeral 
train left Wasliinglou for Springfield, III., on Apr. 
31st, and traveled nearly tlu^ siuue route that had 
been passed over by the train that bore 
the president-elect from Springfield to 
Washington, five years liefore. This fu- 
neral cortege was unique and wonderful. 
Nearly 3, OOlt miles were traversed. The 
people lined the entire distance, almost 
without an interval, slaiiding with un- 
covered heads, mute with grief, often in 
rain-storms, as the .sombre jirocessiou 
swept by. Watch-fires blazed along the 
route in thedarkn<'ss of the night, and by 
day every device that could lend pictur- 
esqiiene.ss to the scene and express the 
woe of the people w;is employed, hin- 
coin's body was finally laid to resi in Oak 
Ridge Cemetery, near Springfield. III., where a 
noble monument was subsequently erected. Wash- 
ington excepted, no Americ:in bibliogra])hy ec|uals 
Liiu-obi's; thousands of volumes have been written, 
wliilc the magazine ;ind newspapc'r biographies num- 
ber hundreds of thousands. The most exhaustive 
history, and one which, in a measure, supersedes all 
others, is the " Life" prepared by his private secre- 
taries, .John G. Nicolay and .John Hay, together with 
a complete edition of his writings and .speeches, by 
the same authors. 




OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



283 




LINCOLN, Mary Todd, wife of Abraham Lin- 
coln, was lidin in Lexington, Ky., Dec 12. 1(^18. Her 
father, liot)ert S. Todd, belonged to a family of pi- 
oneer.s foremost in the development of the common- 
wealth of Kentucky. Her greatiinele. John Todd, 
took part in the captnre of Kaskaskia and Vincenne.?, 
under Gen. George R. Clark in 1778, and subse- 
quently organized the civil government of Illinois. 
He was killed at the battle of Blue Licks, in which 
his brother, Levi, Mary's grandfather, was a young 
lieutenant and one of the few survivors. Mary Todd 
was earefully educated, and |iasscd her early life 
in comparative luxury at the lionte of an aiuit. At 
the age of twenty-one, while on a 
visit to a married sister in Spring- 
field, she met Jlr. Lincoln, a rising 
lawyer, and after a short engage- 
ment thev were married on Nov. 4, 
1842. Sii.ss Todd had curiou.sly 
predicted in her girlhood that she 
shotild be the wife of a president, 
and after her marriage her ambition 
kept pace with her husband's prog- 
ress in public life. In I860 she 
awaited with feverish anxiety the 
result of the republican convention 
at Chicago, keeping in mind her 
girlish pro]ihecy. Her husband, 
not unmindful of her ambition, up- 
on receiving the telegram announc- 
ing Jiis nomination, remarked: 
"There is a little woman who 
has some interest in the matter," 
and walked home to tell her of it. On the 9th of 
March Mrs. Lincoln gave her first public reception, 
assisted by her sisters and nieces. Our portrait rep- 
resents her as she appeared at that period. She made 
a pleasant impression, and it was perhaps the proud- 
est moment of her existence. But it was also the 
inauguration of her deepest afflictions. She presided 
at the most gloomy period in the history of the cap- 
ital. Her husband was bowed flown" by national 
cares; suspense and micertainty was in every heart; 
her family was devoted to the cause of the South, 
while her hopes, with those of lier hu.sband and chil- 
dren, were with the North. Unable by temperament 
and education to cope with these critical issues. ^Mrs. 
Lincoln soon fovmd herself the target of malice, de- 
traction and falsehood. She gave weekly receptions 
at a time when the state of the coimtry made the 
gaiety that she preferred out of keeping with the po- 
sition she occupied, and the death of the second son, 
AVillie, slied a gloom over the private life of both 
parents. But. during the whole of her occupancy 
of the White House, she was miremitting in her care 
of the sick soldiers in the hospitals of Washington. 
The summer of 18f>4 was spent by Jlrs. Lincoln at 
the seaside. After the re-election of the president in 
the fall, the receptions of the season were renewed 
with a pronu'se of unusual gaiety, that of New Year's 
day opening wiih exceptional brilliancy. After the 
inauguration, ;Mrs. Lincoln fell that "brighter days 
wei-e in store, and when the surrender oi' Gen. Lee 
on the S)th of April was announced, she shared in 
the happy excitement that filled the White House 
and the city. The fatal night of the 14tli of April 
that ended the luesident's life also blighted her own. 
From its effects she never recovered, .\flera severe 
illness, she returned with her two bovs to Sprimr- 
field, where she was further aftiicled by the death of 
Thomas, the youngest lad. In 18(18," with a mind 
somewhat unbalanced and broken health, shesonirht 
rest in travel. Congress had already paid her the 
amount of the president's salary for one year, and in 
187(1 voted iK'r an annual jx-nsion of ,^3,0(10, after- 
ward inerea.sed to $r).(l(;(). Still later an additional 
pift of f 15,(X)0 was presented to her by congress to 



insure comfort in her old age. She pos.sessed, be- 
sides, a small estate left by her hu.sband. In 1880 
she returned from wanderings in vaiious countries, 
her mind still impaired, and .spent her last days 
with her sou Kobert in ('liicago. She died stricken 
with iiaralysis, July Ifi, 1882, and was laid to rest by 
the side of her husband and children in SpringfleW. 
LINCOLN, Sarah Bush, step-mother of Abra- 
ham Lincoln, was born in Kentucky about 1785. 
Little is known of her early life. Though entirely 
without education, she was a woman of strong char- 
acter, and intelligence. Shewasble.ssed with sterling 
good sense in an unconunon degree, and had a won- 
derful faculty of making the best and most of every- 
thing. Such qualities eminently fitted her to bring 
order and comfort into the disorderly and chcerle-ss 
home of Thomas Lincoln. She had known him 
when a young woman; had, indeed, refused his 
offer of marriage, and accepted his rival, .lohnstone. 
Thomas Lincoln married Nancy Hanks, and settled 
in southern Indiana, where she died a few years later 
(1818) of an obsciu-e epidemic which ravaged the 
cotnitry, leaving two children. Thomas had built 
his wigwam, and later his caljiu, on a sjiot which 
nature had endowed with uncommon beauty, in 
strong contrast to his miserable home. The rolling 
cotmtry afl'orded excellent pasture, with here anil 
there park-like regions covered with lofty maples, 
walnuts, beeches and oaks. Ntmierous salt sjirings 
were visited by deer in large numbers, and buffaloes 
were abundant. Though a carpenter, he had built 
but a wretched cabin, and had not troubled himself 
to either finish or furnish it. It possessed neither 
windows, door, nor fioor; while for furniture it con- 
tained a few three-legged stools, and a broad slab, 
supported by four rough legs, 
served for a table. Tlie bed- 
stead was of the most primi- 
tive construction, consisting of 
boards laid on sticks, which 
were fastened into the siiles of 
the cabin, and upright pieces of 
wood sujjported it on the inner 
side. Skins and the ca.st-off 
clolbing of the family .served as 
bedding. The cookery for this 
household was performed with 
a single pan and a Dutch oven. 
After thirteen months of widow- 
hood Thomas Lincoln sought 
out his early love, Sarah Bush 
Johnstone, who was still living 
in Kentucky — a widow, with 
three children, and for that time 
and region in very good circum- 
stances. He began the siege in this characteristic 
fashion: "Well, Mis' Johnstone, I have no wife, 
and you have no husband I came on purjiose to 
marry you. I knowed you from a gal. and you 
knowcd me from a boy. I have no time to lose, and 
if you arc willing, let it be done straight off." She 
replied that she had no objections lo marrying, but 
that she was in debt, and 'must first atten"d to that 
matter. It appears that this was not an affair of 
dilliculty, for on the following day they were mar- 
ried, and .started for his home in Indiana, with a 
four-horse wagon containing her property. This 
wedding-journey to his di.stant cabin occupied sev- 
eral days. Little .\be never forgot the surprising 
riches and delight the new mother brought to their 
wretched home. For her, also, there was a surprise 
in store, as her new home was not what herhu.sband's 
fancy liad painted it to her in his wooing. She was 
not a woman to lie lightly dismayed, and at once set 
to work to reform her" Inisband and civili/e the 
household. She persuaded her husband to replace 
the earthen floor with one of wood, and close in the 




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THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



bouse from the wintry blasts with windows and 
doors; and with the bedding she brought she made 
up comfortable beds for the little children. A table, 
a set of chairs, and a bureau which cost $40, knives 
and forks, and several cooking utensils, transformed 
tlie forlorn cabin into a comfortable home. She 
found little Abe and his sister not only luikenipt and 
unclean, but almost naked; and this good mother 
washed them, and fed tliem witli wliolcsome food, 
and clothed Ihemwith material wliich she took from 
her own wardrobe. What is more, these poor chil- 
dren knew nothing of gentle manners and kind words, 
and she treated them with motherlv tenderness, and 
made tliem feel that thev had an equal place in her 
heart with herown childrrn — andthisworld became 
a heavenly i>lace to the poor, half-starved creatures. 
She was an economical housekeeper, thorough and 
cleanly in her habits, and under her management the 
Lincoln affairs took on a very different color. The 
house was gradually made comfortable, and her 
husband, sliamed into greater industry, jirovided 
better for tlie wants of his family. Her lot was 
not an e.nsy one; the neare.st spring of good water 
was a mile away, and cleanliness, luider sucli condi- 
tions, was a virtue which must have ranked next to 
godliness. It was eliaraclerislie of her tliat. disap- 
pointetl as she was at the indolence of her husband, 
and the iioverty of her new abode, she set herself 
cheerfully to the task of making the best of things; 
and unseitishly devoted her entire strength of mind 
and body to making a liomc, in the best sense, and 
to training the children in habits of self-respecting 
conduct. At once a strong friciidsbip sprang up be- 
tween her and the little Abe. who was ignorant, but 
loving and sweet-tempered. Years only deepened their 
mutual atfeclion, and slie was wont to .say in old age, 
that she loved him better than her own son, John, 
though liotli were "good boys." As .soon as she suc- 
ceeded ill cldthiiig him coinforlably she sent him to 
school, a distance of over four miles from home, fler 
loving regard and care stirred him to the depths of 
his lieiiui. and be used to speak gratefully of her, as 
his "saintly mother," his "angel of a mother," and 
in after years he patheticalhi' said, "She was the 
woman who lirst made me feel like a human being." 
When her husband died she re.solutely took the 
whole care of the family; and when Mr. Lincoln 
visited her, just before his inauguration, he found 
her once upiiglil form bent witli hard work, aii<l lier 
handsome face dimmed with care and grief. At this, 
their last meeting, both were were depressed by a 
presentiment of coming sorrow. She outlived her 
illustrious stepson, of whom she spoke to his bi- 
ographer, Mr. Herndon, in these woiils: "Abe was 
a good bo}', and I can say. what scarcely one step- 
mother can .say in a thousand, Abe never gave me a 
cro.ss word or look, and never refused, in fact or ap- 
pearance, to do anything I requested him. His mind 
and mine, what little I liad. seemed to run together. 
I had a son, John, who was raised with Abe. Both 
were good boys: but I must .say. both now being 
dead, that Abe was the best boy I ever saw. I did 
not want Abe to run for president; did not want him 
elected; was afraid, somehow; and when lie came 
down to see me after he was elected president, 1 still 
felt that soiiielhiiig would befall Abe. and that I 
should see him no more." She died Ainil 1(1, 1S09. 
HAMLIN, Hannibal, vice-inesident, was born 
at Paris Hill, O.vford Co., Me.. Aug. 27, ISOSt, the 
son of Cyrus and Anna Hamlin who was a daugh- 
ter of Deacon Elijah I,ivermore, one of the orig- 
inal owners of the townsliip that now bears his 
name. His jiaternal ancestors were of English 
origin mid among the early settlers of Ma,s.sachu- 
setts. His grandfather, Elijah Hamlin, was a 
resident of Pembroke, Mass., and eonimanded a 
company of minutemen in which live of his sous 



were enrolled in the revolutionary -war. Young 
Hamlin's boyhood was pa.s.sed upon a farm and in 
attendance at the district schools in its vicinitj'. His 
parents were not in affluent circumstances, and the 
lad was early trained to habits of industry and econ- 
omy. He was prepared for college at the Hebron 
Academy, but his father dying suddenly when Han- 
nibal was about eighteen years old, the lad was 
obliged to relinquish his expectations of a collegiate 
education and assume the iiiaiiagement of the farm. 
Two years later, in connection with Horatio King, 
he purcha.sed the " Jeffcrsonian, " a weekly political 
paper published at Paris. Desiring to acquaint him- 
self with every detail of the business, he applied 
himself to learning the printing art, and soon became 
an expert eoinjiositor. At the end of six months he 
sold his interest in the paiier to his partner and re- 
sumed the study of law, which had been interrupted 
by his father's untimely death. In January, 1833, 
Mr. Hanilin was admitted to the bar at Paris, and 
the following May began the practice of his profes- 
sion in Ilamiiden, Jle. He at once took a foremost 
place as a lawyer, and acquired an enviable reputa- 
tion as a public speaker. In December. is;i8. Mr. 
Hanilin was married to Sarah .T., daughter of Judge 
Stephen Einety, one of the most prominent lawyers 
in ilaine. By a singular coinci- 
dence Judge J^inerv was the op- 
posing counsel ill the first lawca.se 
that Mr. Hamlin won. He early 
connected liiinself with the dem- 
ocratic party, and in l)s:5.5 was 
elected to represent his town in 
the state legislature, and re-elected 
for live successive terms, being 
speaker of the house in 1837, '39, 
'■ill, and in the latter year was 
nominated for congress by his 
]iarty. Mr. Hanilin introduced 
during this campaign the custom 
of joint debates between the candi- 
dates, which was the first time the 
practice had been acloiit(( I ill Maine. 
After a vigorous campaign he was 
defeated, in common with most of 
the democratic canilidati's in the 
exciting year of the campaign of " Tippecanoe and 
Tyler too," the election having been iiostjioued 
one year on account of a new apportioiuiieiit re- 
quired. After the census of 1840 Mr. Hanilin was 
again a candidate for congress and was elected, 
and reelected in 1845. Early in his political life 
he ideiilified himself with the anti-slavery move- 
ment, anil when Te.xas was annexed to the United 
States, be empliatieiilly announced to his ciaistitu- 
ents that further attempts to extend slavery would 
meet with his most strenuous opposition. The jiromi- 
neiit part he took in <omiection with the famous 
Wilmot proviso, and his pronounced aiili slavery 
views, made him many enemies in his own party. 
The Wilmot provi.so was an amendment to a bill, 
then pending, granting .'J;2. 000, 000 for the purpose of 
negotiating a peace with Mexico. It declared that 
it be an "express and fundamental eoiulilioii to the 
acquisition of any territory from Mexico, tliat neitliei 
slavi^ry nor involiiiitiiiy servitude shall exist therein." 
Mr. Wilmot being detained at the White Hou.se by 
President Polk on the day the amendment was ))re- 
seiited (intentionally as was subsequently thought), 
after waiting vainly for him to appear, Mr. Hanilin 
gained tlie floor at the last moment, and presented 
the ameiidineiit and secured ils ]iassage by a vote of 
11.") to 10(1, :ind took an active Jiart in the cxcitinij 
contest that followed. Though not ilieii an avowed 
abolitionist, he was uneonipromising in his anti- 
.slavery views. Speaking of this amendment in his 
"Twenty Years in Congress," Jlr. Blaine says: "It 





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COPYRIGHT, 169!, BY JAMES T. WHITE 1 CO. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



287 



occupied the attention of congress for a longer time 
than the Missouri i()nii>roniise; it Jinxluced a wider 
and deeper exeitenieut in tlie country, and it threat- 
ened a more serious danger to tlie peace and integ- 
rity of the Union. The consecratiim of the United 
States to freedom became from tliat a rallying cry 
for every shade of anti-slavery sentiment." In \HiH 
Mr. Hamlin was elected to the U. S. senate to till 
the unexpired term of Senator Fairfield. In 1851 he 
was re-elected for a full term, resigning in 1S,57 to 
become governor of Maine, having been elected to 
that posilion by the recently organi/ed republican 
party. He resigned the e.xeeutive chair on Feb. 20, 
l.SrjT". and was re-elected to the U. S. senate by the 
legislature for a fidl term from ^larch 4, 18.57. In 
January, 1861, he again resigned his .seat in the sen- 
ate, having been elected vice-president of the United 
States on the ticket with Abraham Lincoln, and in 
this position from March 4, 18(il, to March 8, 18().5, 
presided over the U. S. senate. Mr. Hamlin was iu 
the senate when Jlr. Lincoln was in the house, but 
they never met until after the election in November, 
1800. Jlr. Hamlin then called ou Jlr. Lincoln in 
Chicago, and each recalled having heard the oilier 
sijealiin congress. They were on the most cordial 
terms diuinu' the whole of Jlr. Lincoln's first term, 
and Mr. Haudin left behind him the record of hav- 
ing been one of the few vice-]iresidents who always 
maintained most friendly relations with the chief ex- 
ecutive, and Mr. Lincoln did not refrain from ex-' 
pressing his disappointment that the convention of 
1864 did not renondnate Jlr. llandiu for vice-presi- 
dent. Jlr. Hamlin was collector of the port of Bos- 
ton, 186.)-66, and from 1861-65 acted as regent of the 
Smithsonian In.stiliiliou, being reappointed in 1870, 
and for the subsequent twelve years continued re- 

fent, and also at one time became dean of the board, 
'rora 1869-81 Mr. Handin remained in the senate, 
and resigned in the latter year to accept an appoint- 
ment asininister to JIadrid. He remained iu Spain 
"but a short time, when he resigned antl retired from 
public life. His career is a part of the history of 
the nation; he was in office continuously for nearly 
flft_y years, and probably since the death of Abraham 
Liiicoln no man was more generally mourned. jMr. 
Hamlin, in a speech made in 1888, gave the follow- 
ing version of the lifstoiy of Lincoln's part in the 
emancipation proclamation; "The emancipation 
proclamation was the crowning gloiy of his life. 
That proclamation made 6,000,000 freemen. It was 
the act of Abraham Lincoln, not the act of his cab- 
inet. He was slow to move, nnich slower than it 
seemed to us he shoulti have been, much slower than 
I wanted him to be. But he was right. I urged 
him over and over again to act ; but the time had 
not come in his judgment. One day I called at the 
White House, and when I was about to leave, he 
said to me; ' Hamlin, when do you start for home'?' 
'To-day.' 'No, sir." 'Yes, sir.' "No, sir.' 'Well, 
Mr. President, if you have anj- connuands for 
me, of course I will stay,' 'I have a commaud 
for you ; I want j'ou to go to the Soldiers' Home with 
me to-night — I have .sometlung to show you.' We 
■went to the Soldiers' Home that night, and after tea 
he said: ' Hamlin, you have often urged me to i.ssue 
a proclamation of emancipation. I am about to do 
it. I have it here and you will be tlie tirst person 
to .see it.' Then he asked me to make suggestions 
and corrections as he went along — a most delicate 
thing to do, for every man loves his own child best. 
I suggested the cliange of a singe word, saying; 
'Now, Mr. President, isn't that your idea'?' and he 
said yes, and changed it at once. I made three sug- 
gestions, and he adopted two of them. Now, what I 
desire to show you is this — the ])roclamation of eman- 
cipation was the proclamation of Abraham Lincoln." 
Thus, not only during Mr. Lincoln's life did Mr. 




Hamlin show his esteem for him, but throughout his 
own life was ever jealous that the memory of his 
friend shoidd be held iu esteem, iuid that justice, 
which had been .somewhat tardy, woidd award him 
his place in histoiy. The span of his political life 
covered a jierioti fraught with great events, and 
scarred with many records that have not stood the 
test of time, but the historian will not detect a blem- 
i.sh in recounting the career of Hannibal Hamlin. 
His death ocetn-red at B;in<ror. Me., Jidv 4, 1891. 

SEWABD, William Henry, secretary of state 
and eleventh governor of New York, was liorn in 
Florida, Orang'e Co., N. Y., May 16, 1801. The fam- 
ily descended from the Welsh, an emigraiU fronv 
Wales having settled iu Connecticut, from whom 
came Dr. Samuel S. Seward, the father of William 
H. On his mother's side he came of Irish ancestry. 
At the age of nine years, the boy 
was fent to an acatieiuy in Goshen, 
N. Y., among whose pupils had 
been Noah Webster and Aaron 
Burr. He progressed rapidly in 
his studies and before he was fif- 
teen was prejiared to enter col- 
lege. In 1816 he was received 
into L'nion College, from which he 
was graduated in 1820. with hon- 
ors. In the meantime he had been 
out of the college and settled in 
the South, teaching for a year. 
]\Ir. Seward now went to "New 
York where he studied law with 
John Authon. afterward returned 
to Goshen, studied with Ogden 
Hoffman and John Duer, and 
was admitted to the bar iu 1822. 
The following j-ear he removed 
to Auburn, wheie he formed a partnershii) with 
Judge Elijah Miller, whose daughter he married iu 
1824. He at once began to gain a reputation in his 
profession for originality of thought, independence 
of action and industiious devotiouto his work. He 
secured a large and lucrative practice, but turned 
to the study of political cjuestions, and in 1824 
was selected by a political county convention to 
prepare the usual address. In several orations at 
this period of his life there is to be found the 
same fervent devotion to the cause of liberty which 
ever marked his puljlic career. He delivereil the 
aimual address at Auburn on July 4, 1825, and was 
one of the committee which welcomed Lafayette. 
In 1827 he appeared as the champion of the suffering 
Greeks and b_v his eloquence secured large contribu- 
tions to the fund raised iu this countiy for their de- 
fence. In 1828 Jlr, Seward presided over the con- 
vention at Utica, which favored the election of John 
Quincy Adams to the presidency and disjilaj-ed 
marked ability iu that jio-sition. The same year he 
was offered the nomination as member of congress, 
but declined. He joined the anti-Masonic party, 
expeiiencing then a repugnance against secret polit- 
ical action which never abated. In 1830 he was 
elected state senator, turning a large opjiosition ma- 
jority into a majority in his favor. At the Siime 
time he became ex officio a jmige in the highest court 
iu the state. The record of his career as a senator 
covers the period of the abolition of imprisonment 
for debt, the amelioration of prison discipline, re- 
forms in the militia system, opposition to corporate 
monopolies, the extension of po]jular franchises — 
and all these movements received a cordial and ef- 
fective support from Mr. Seward. In 1832 he de- 
fended the United States Bank in an elaborate speech 
in the state .senate, and two years later denounced 
the removal of the United States Bimk deposits in a 
speech which was brilliant and caustic. In the 
meantime he passed the summer of 1833 in Europe, 



288 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



— ft/J*i;»«V 



sending liome more tlinn eighty letters from different 
points, which were iniblislied in an Alliauy news- 
paper. In 1834 Jlr. Seward was nominated for 
governor, but was defeated by William L. Marcv. 
He now returned to the practice of law. but took an 
active part in the political struggles of the time, and 
in 1838 was again nominated for governor as a whig, 
and elected by a majority of more than 10,0011. The 
administration of Gov. Seward has been considered 
in many respects the most remarkable in the history 
of the Kmpire slate, and has been regarded by maiiy 
as having exerci>ied a most powerful influence in 
shaping ihe political issues which afterward grew 
up in the country. He confronted the anti-rent 
troubles, which weresel I led during hisadminisi ration, 
while the courts, the banking laws and the militia 
system were all made the subjects of important re- 
forms. He now began to show more prominently 
his pronoimced opposition to slavery, and procured 
the pa.ssagc of an act giving fugitive .slaves a trial 
by .jury and counsel to clefend them at the expense 
of the "slate. A controversy arose at this time be- 
tween Gov. Seward an<i the governors of Virginia 
and Georgia, in regartl to the return of fugitive slaves 
to those states, and more particu- 
larly in the instance of some col- 
oretl seamen who were charged 
with having abducted slaves and 
brouirlit them to Xew York. These 
abductors were arrested in the city 
of Xew York and requisition made 
on Gov. Seward to deliver them uji 
to the .slate where the offense had 
been committed. This, however, he 
refused to do, and was sustained 
by the legislature while it remained 
whig in politics, but on the acces- 
sion of the democrats to power, 
they denounced his action. In Jan- 
uary, 1843, at the expiration of his 
term, Mr. Seward returned to Au- 
burn and resumed the practice of 
the law, to which he continued to 
devote himself during the next six 
years. -It is related of bim that he 
devoted much time and I bought to 
ca.ses which were of 
no pecuniary benelit 
to him, and jiarlicular- 
ly in instances where 
tiie question of Ihe fu- 
gitive slave law came 
in. During the po- 
litical campaign of 
1844 Mr. Seward's 
speeches in favor of the tariff and against the an- 
nexation of Texas went far toward the defeat of 
Mr. Clay. In 1847 Mr. Seward delivered in New 
York city an oration on the life and character of 
Daniel O'Connell, which is considered one of his 
most lirilliant and able oratorical efforts. In April, 
1848, he ileliven-d l]efon- the legislature of New 
Y'ork a eulogy on Jolm (.Juincy Adams which also 
gained him renown as an orator. He supported Ihe 
nomination of Gen. Taylor in 1848 and was one of 
the leading speakers during the canvass. In a speech 
at Cleveland, ()., he outlined bis political platform, 
which, looked upon in the litrhl of history, amounted 
almost to prophecy. It concluded with the asser- 
tion: "Slavery must be abolished." In February, 
1847, Mr. Seward was elected I'niled Stales .senator 
and entered the .senate as the leading opponent of 
slavery in the whig i>arty. rnfortun.-itely the death 
of President Taylor led to the complete overthrow 
of the party which brought him into power. On 
the introduction of Ihe compromise measures of the 
thirty-first congress, Mr. Seward opposed them, as 





against the advocacy of Mr. Clay, Webster, Gen. 
Ca.ss and other leading statesmen. " He predicted, as 
the result of yielding to the claims of the conqjromise 
party, the very ills which were realized in Ihe Kan- 
sji.s-N'ebraska troubles. It was during the discus.sion 
of these celebrated nieasures that 5Ii-. Seward used 
the phra.se, "The higher law, " which has acquired 
so wide a fame. He" had, in 1847, in his argument 
in the case of Van Zandt, accu.scd of aiding fugitives 
from slavery, declared in the circuit court of the 
I'niled States that: " Congress has no power to in- 
hibit any duty commanded by God on Mount Sinai, 
or by his son on the Mount of Olives." In his " high- 
er law ' speech, Mr. Seward said: "I feel a.ssured 
that slavery m>ist give way and will give way to the 
salutary in.sl ructions of economy and to the rightful 
influences of humanity. That emancipation is inev- 
itable and is near; that it can neither be hastened nor 
hindered; that all measures which foitify slavery or 
extend it tend to the consununalion of violence-^all 
that check its exten.sion and abate its .sirength tend 
to its iieaeeful extirpation. Hul I will adopt none 
but lawfid, constitutional and peaceful means to se- 
cure even that end, and none such can I nor will I 
forego." This speech was delivered March 11, \H')0. 
The presidential election of 1852 resulted in an over- 
whelming defeat for the whig party. During the 
summer of 18.')3Mr. Seward delivered two important 
orations, one at Columbus, O., on "The Desiiny of 
America," and Ihe other before the American Insti- 
tute in the city of Xew York, entitled "The True 
Ba.sis of American Independence." In 18o4 Yale 
College gave him the degree of LL.D. after an ora- 
tion which he delivered before the literary s(K'iet)es 
of that institution on "The Physical. .Moral and In- 
tellectual Developnu'nt of the American People." 
Early in the .session of the thirty-third congress, Mr. 
Scwanl inlidduced a bill for the construction of a 
railroad to the Pacilic, and another for Ihe establish- 
ment of steamshii) mails between San Francisco, 
China, Japan and Ihe Sandwich Islands. The Kan- 
sas-Nebraska bill, introduced by Senator Douglas and 
which repealed the Jlissouri compromise of 1820, 
met with Ihe continued and powerful o])])osi|ion of 
Mr. Seward. In February. !>*■)'}. Mr. Seward was 
re-elecle<l to his seat in Ihe senate for another term 
of six years, and the news of his election was received 
with luiprecedented demonstrations of rejoicing 
throughout the free slates. In the autumn of 18.55 
he delivered speeches at Albany. Auburn and Huf- 
falo which m.-ide a profound impression. In 1856 
Jlr. Sewaril sup|iorled Col. Fremont, Ihe reiniblican 
caiidiilale for the presidency. In the senate jlr. Sew- 
ard had pronounced orations on the occa.sion of 
the deaths of Henry Clay, Daniel Webster and John 
M. Clayton. In the discussion of tariff questions, 
Jlr. Seward advocated such a discrimination in 
duties upon imports as would best protect the indus- 
tries of the country. He was especially oppo.sed to 
any relaxation of the tariff on railroad iron or other 
articles of that material. In a s|ieech on this sub- 
ject he .said: "Sir, we are nuiking iron roads across 
ihis continent, and what is now proposed is to bring 
the iron from England to make roads over the iron 
and coal beds oif the Alleghanies and of Missouri 
and our western territories. There must be an urg- 
ent necessity for this or the senate would not. imder 
such circuuislances, be pleased to listen to a proposi- 
tion so novel and extraordinary, so contrary to all 
o\ir .sellled juinciples of political economy." Xearly 
three months of the se.s.sion of the .senate of the thir- 
ty-fifth congress, in 1858, were taken up with the 
di.scussion of the Lecomplon constitution and the 
admission of Kansas inl<i the Union under that in- 
.strumenl. Mr. Seward opposed, with remarkable 
ability, the bill introduced to carry out this .scheme, 
speaking to a crowded house with every senator in 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



289 



his seat. While he was speaking, word \yas l)rougbt 
to the senate chamber that the olinoxious Itill 
had iiassed tlie house of representatives. This 
created a sensation, but !Mr. Seward continued in 
opposition to tlie measure, and it was .some time be- 
fore he even alhided to its passaire in tlie other 
house. When lie did .so, it was to sjiy that it pro- 
duced upon him no sense of discouragement. He 
said: "For freedom in Kansiis. I have no such 
concern as for where I shall sleep to-night. Kan- 
sas is the Cinderella of the Union, but she will 
live and survive the persecution." After the ad- 
journment of congress, 3Ir, Seward was en";agcd in 
the United States courls, and it was at this tmie that 
he made his celebrated argument in the Albany 
bridge case. In October, is.j8. he delivered the 
speech at Rochester. X. Y., in which he made \i.se 
of his celebrated expression, "The irrepressible 
conflict," alluding lo tin- struggle wliich he claimed 
must end in tlie United States becoming either a 
slaveholding or a frce-latior nation. Meanwhile, 
Mr. Seward made frequent journeys for rest and 
recreation. Such a one occurred in 18.i7, when he 
traveled through Canada and took a trip on board 
a tishing smack to Labrador, an account of which 
he published on his return. In 18.j9 he visited Eu- 
rope and went as far as Egpyt and Palestine. At 
the republican convention in ]8(i0 Mr. Seward re- 
ceived 173'., votes on the first ballot, while Abra- 
ham Liucolu. who was eventually nominated, re- 
ceived lOi. On the election of Mr. Lincoln, and his 
assumption of the office of president of the L'nited 
States, he appointed Mr. Seward secretary of state. 
At the beginning of the troubles in the South. Mr. 
Seward had the impression that they would be of 
brief duration, and he was in favor of the evacuation 
of Fort Sumter. In his negotiations with foreign 
powers, early in 1801, he detined the position of the 
United States as far as the rights of neutrals were 
concerned, and sought lo establish conventions with 
the European governments which should establish 
these rights. He surrendered the Confederate com- 
missioners who were seized by Capt. 'Wilkes on 
board the British steamer Trent, on tlie ground that 
this action would commit the British government to 
the American theory in opposition to the right of 
search. In all particulars Mr. Seward's foreign 
policy was shrewd and statesmanlike. When 
French troops invaded Jlexico he asserted the Jlon- 
roe doctrine, ami toward the close of the civil war 
his communications with the French government on 
this subject became so emphatic that the French 
troops were withdrawn. In the spring of 1865, 
■while Mr. Seward was driving, he was thrown from 
his eaniag(^ with the result of fracturing one arm 
and his jaw. He was in bed under treatment for 
these injuries ou the night of .\pr. 14tli, when the at- 
tempt was made to cany out the conspiracy which 
effected the a.ssa.ssination of President Lincoln. On 
that evening one of the conspirators managed to ob- 
tain access to the room in the secretary's residence 
where he was lying sick, and attempted to kill him 
by striking him upon the head and face with a 
knife. Fortunately for 'Sir. Seward his jaw was 
protected by a metallic ariangement while the frac- 
tured bone was setting, and this saveil his life, al- 
though he was liadly cut ami terribly shaken by the 
assault. His son. Frederick W. Sew.ird, who came 
to his a.ssistanee, w:is struck down by the as-sassin. 
Mr. Seward eventually regained bis health, but his 
face always showed the eiTect of the double disaster 
■which befell him. In 18(i7 Secretary Se%vard suc- 
ceeded in completing the treaty with Russia bv 
■which .\l.-iska was ceded to the United States for the 
sum of ;s:7,lHI0.()00. Jlr. Seward was on the side of 
President .Johnson in regard lo the reconstruction of 
the Southern states and was in opposition to the im- 



peachment proceedings. Of course this brought 
him into conflict with the more radical men of his 
own party an<i made him somewhat unpopular. At 
the election of 1868 he worked for Gen. Grant. 
Early in 1869 he made a trip acro.ss the continent, 
going as far as Alaska on the north and ^Icxico on 
tlie south, and was received everywhere with warm 
and respectful hospitality. In August, 1870, be be- 
gan a journey around the world, accompanied by 
some of his family, and traversed the more important 
Cfrtintries of Europe, Asia and Northern Africa. 
He was received everj'wliere by the most exalted 
jiersonagcs as a statesman of the highest rank. He 
remained abroad something over a year, when he re- 
turned to Auburn, where be settled and devoted 
himself to writing his " Travels Around the World." 
In 1873 Charles Francis Adams published his "Ad- 
dress on the Life, Character and SiM'vices of Seward. " 
Mr. Seward had himself written his autobiography as 
far as 1834, and this was continued by his son, Fred- 
erick W. Seward, up to 1846, and published in New 
York in 1877. An edition of Mr. Seward's works 
in three volumes was published in 1853. A fourth 
volume was added to it in 1862 and a fifth in 1884, 
and congress ordered published his official corres- 
pondence during the eight years he was secretary of 
slate. His "Travels around the World ' was pub- 
lished in 1873 in New York, being edited by his 
adopted daughter, Olive Risley Seward. Mr. Sew- 
ard had three sons, Augustus Henry, born Oct. 1, 
1826, died Sept. 11, 1876, who was a graduate from 
AVest Point and .served in the Jlexican war. During 
the ci\nl war he was a paymaster in the army. Fred- 
erick William (q. v.), the second son. was born July 
8, 1830. Jlr. Seward's third son, William Henry, 
was born in Auburn, N. Y., June 18, 1839. At the 
time of the beginning of the civil war he was in a 
bankmg house at Auburn. He was made lieutenant- 
colonel of the 138lh New York infantry, and after- 
ward colonel of the 9th New York Heavy Artillery. 
He fought through the battles of the Wilderness, 
and at the battle of Monocacy was badly wounded. 
He was made brigadier-general Sept. 13, 1864. He 
resigned June 1, 1865, and settled in the banking 
business at Auburn. W. H. Seward died in Auburn, 
N. Y., Oct. 10. 1872. 

CAMERON, Simon, secretary of war, was boru 
at Donegal, Pa., March 8, 1799. On his father's 
side he was of Scotch descent, ou his mother's of 
German, but the ancestors of both 
parents had been settled in Lan- 
caster county for two or three gen- 
erations. His mother's father was 
a soldier of the revolution, and in 
the traditions of the family, he is 
credited with some remarkable 
exploits in fighting the British 
and Hessians. His father, Charles 
Cameron, was a country tailor at 
a time when the coimtry people 
did their own making and mend- 
ing of garments, and he had a 
hard struggle to support his wife 
and children. Thinking to better 
his condition he removed to Sun- 
bury in Northumberland (A)., but 
there actual dis,aster overtook 
him, and bmke up his family. Si- 
num, who was then nine years old, 
was adopted by a jihysician who proposed to make 
him successor to his medical practice. He gave 
him opportunities lo read, wliicli the lad diligently 
iin|)roved. but while he liked the reading, he did 
not relish the prospect of jiracticing meilicine. So 
little did he like it that, before a year had pa.s.sed, he 
apprenticed himself to one .\ndrew Kennciiy, who 
[mblished a journal named the "Gazette," at North- 




i^ it^^h^' 



290 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



umberland. He foiincl setting type easy and agree- 
able, but the working of the ol<i-fasliionc(i lianil 
press, on wliicli the "Gazette" was i)riiite<l, was a 
severe strain iipim the nniseles of a hid of ten years. 
However, he persevered, being (l<'lerniined In master 
the tra<le. Wlieu lie was seventeen years old 
the failure of his employer freed him from his en- 
gagement, and, with a few dollars in his jiocket, he 
set out for llarrisburg to make a new start in the 
world. f)n the way In- fell iu with a stranger who 
so fired his imagination with glowing accounts of 
South America that he almost decided to .seek there 
for fame ami fortune: but this resolution died before 
it was fully formed, on his being otTered regular em- 
ployment in the ollice of the Harrisburg "Kcinib- 
lican." It was at Harrisburg that he was found by 




the tide which led him on to fortune. After a 
year or two he met there Sanuiel D. Ingham, 
who was then secretary of state for Peimsyhania, 
and subsecpiently secretary of the treasury undi'r 
President .lackson. Mr. Ingham owned the Doyles- 
town " Democrat," but he had made some iiolitical 
enemies who started a rival journal tliat threatened 
not only to ruin his newspai)er, but to destroy his 
political intUience in that locality. He was then 
looking about for some active, sagacious person to 
take charge of his Doylestown interests, and, a shrewd 
judge of men. he saw at once that young Cameron 
was the man for the emergency. The result ju.stitied 
his judgment. The young piinter soon conciliated 
the dissatisfied faction, restored his employer's news- 
paper to its former position, and biu-ied the rival 
sheet beyond the hope of resurrection. He contin- 
ned to manage Jlr. Ingham's home interests until 
he was twenty-one years of age, when, becoming 
enamored of iiolitical life, and having discovered iu 
himself a capacity for party management, he re- 
solved to study tlie "science of politics" where it 
had a nati(aial development, and accordingly he 
made his way to Washington. To sustain himself 
there he secured employment as a journeyman 
printer in the ollice of CJales & Seatou, iirinters of 
the "Congressional Record," at twenty cents a 
thou.sand ems. and the s:ime price iier hour for over 
time — rates that woidd now be refused by the veri- 
est tyro, but which were then current among print- 
ers. In this iio.sition he worked for many months, 
devoting, however, the larger part of his time to at- 
tendance on th(^ sessions of congress, and to acquir- 
ing the friendshi]) of the leading men in i>olilical 
life, not with a view to obtaining an ottice, but to 
learn from them the secrets of political managemi'Ut, 
and to make sure of their aid when it should become 
desirable iu the future career he had already marked 
out for himself. From the very outset he seems to 
have had no ambition for any otlice except the high 
est. He |ireferred to stand behind the scenes and 
direct the Jilay as it went on, rather than to appear 
•personally iu any subordinate character. Incredible 



as it may seem, this journeyman printer secured at 
this time the coutidence and friendship of such 
men as President .James .Monroe and .John C. Cal- 
houn, and, at a later period, Andrew Jackson. For 
Calhoun he conceived a strong admiration, and Cal- 
houn being then a protectionist. Cameron concluded 
that he was the right man for the Penusvlvania 
ilenu>crats to support for the presidency, 'i'his he 
wrote to the Doylestown paper, and the fact com- 
ing to the ears of Callioun so cemented his friend- 
ship for the young printer, that it continued un- 
broken even after the latters support of .lackson in 
]S;i',>. But his study of politics and work at the 
liriiUer's case so wore upon Cameron's health that at 
the clo.se of the year he returned to I'eiuisylvania, 
and took employment again upon the Harrisburg 
" Hepublican." The journal was then for sale. He 
soon found the means to buy it, and changing its 
name to the " Intelligeiurer," he .set to work to make 
it a political power. Other Pennsylvania democrats 
were at this time reaching out for i<leas, not know- 
ing exactly what was wanted either by their (larty 
or by the general public; but Cameron had ideas of 
his own, and at once struck out for a high 1,'irilV and 
John C. Calhoun. His boldness attracted attention, 
and lifted his paper speedily into a large circulation. 
It began to be proHtable, and Cameron's profits were 
soon increased by his securing the state |n'inting. 
This he held for five years, at the close of which 
time his political inlluence secured him a contract 
for the building of several sections of the Pennsyl- 
vania canal. This also was profitable, and by the 
end of 1831 he was in a financial position strong 
enough to a.ssurae a contract for the building of a 
canal between the Jlississippi river and I>ake I^ont- 
chartrain. near New Orleans. Prior to this time he 
had made the personal acquaintance of President 
Jackson, and "Old Hickory." who had heard of his 
ability as a political manipulator, had conceived for 
him the contiding friendship that was sustained by 
John t'. ("alhoun; and it is stated — on what seems to 
be good authority — that Cameron had no sooner be- 
gun work on the Pontchartrain canal, in the spring 
of lS;i2. than he received an tu'geut mes.sage from 
Jackson to reiiair at once to Washington, to help 
him out of a ditliculty. Jackson had been elected 
to the presidency in IS-J.S. with the im|)lied pledge 
that he would not accept of a second term, and Cal- 
Ikuui, who had served two terms as vice-iu-esident, 
was considered enlillcd to the nomination. But war 
ha<l broken out between Jackson and Calhoun: and 
Amos Kendall and Francis P. Blair. 8r.. who then 
comjiosed what was termed the "Kitchen cabinet," 
had deteriuined that Jackson should .serve another 
term, and be succeeded by JIartin Van Buren. The 
oidy ob.stacle to the success of their plan was the im- 
])lied pledge of Jackson that he would hold olhce 
for but four years. This might be overcom<' by a 
number of tlie states asking him to serve for another 
term. Pennsylvania was the " Keystone State" — "as 
sill' went, so went the Union " — and if her legislature 
ciaild be induced to address a memorial to Jackson 
asking him to continue in ollice until his warfare 
against the U. S. Bank should be accomiilished, the 
other states would follow the example, and hisi>olit- 
ical good faith would be vindicated. Cameron was 
known to be high in favor with the I'eiuisylvania 
legislature, and an adroit manipulator, and he was 
accordingly asked to secure such a memorial. Ho 
had to choose between two friends, fortlie .success of 
the scheme would be a death-blow to Calhoun's 
inesidenlial chances: but he did not hesitate. The 
Southern statesman was under a chnid from which 
he might never emerge, and Jack.son's phenomenal 
po))ularity might extend bis political intluence far 
bevoiid his jiersoiial administration. He went to 
Harrisburg, and by adroit management secured froiu 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



291 



the legislature the desired memorial, wliieh was soon 
followed by like petitions from other states, as had 
been aiitieipated, and .lacksou " reluetantly eon- 
sented " to stand for a reuomiiiation in coniplianee 
■with these earnest apjieals from the representatives 
of the people. But the presidency woulil lie a crown 
of thorns to Jackson with t'alhoiiu again in the viee- 
presiilency. He must be gotten rid of. In regard 
to this it is said that Jackson again consulted t.'am- 
eron, who advised a change in the system of select- 
ing candidates, and suggested a nominating eonvcn- 
tim:. The result was the assembling at Haltiiuore 
of the first national convention of any parly in this 
country. It came together in answer to a call sent 
out from the Peimsylvania democracy, again man- 
ipulated by Cameron. The convention nominated 
Jack.son for the presidency, and, .setting Calhoun 
aside, Martin Van Buren for the vice-presidency. 
For the latter olliee the Peunsylvauians liad 
selected a candidate in William 'Wilkins, tjii-n in 
the U. S. senate, but Jack.son desired Van Buren, 
and Cameron secured his nomination by adiditly 
dividing the Pennsylvania delegation at a ei'itieal 
moment in the proceedings. Thus Jackson was 
placed largely in debt to Cameron, and he was not 
insensible to the obligation. It was under Jackson's 
first administration that the "spoils system" had 
been inaugurated, and he now intrusted the entire 
patrouage^of Pennsylvania to the hands of Cameron, 




which made the latter the political autocrat of the 
state, a power he retained, with only few intermis- 
sions, for upwards of forty years. Mr. Cameron was 
also the remote cause of the elevation of James Bu- 
chanan to the presidency. President Jackson had 
appointed Buchanan minfster to Itussia, and the lat- 
ter, (mills return to this country in November, 1833, 
had retired to Ijaneaster, hopeless of again entering 
the political arena. He was in friendly relations 
■with Cameron, whose yoimger brother had but re- 
cently .studied law in his ottice, and meeting him 
some time in lS3-t he mentioned to him the loss of 
his political prosjiects, and his intention to take up 
the practice of law in Baltimore. Cameron strongly 
dissuaded him from leaving Pennsylvania, and pre- 
dicted a return of his political good fortune. The 
two went on to Washington together, and Cameron's 
prediction was sjieedily veritied. Very soon after 
their arrival, Senator Wilkins called niion Cameron, 
and after expressing regret that Cameron shoidd 
have caused his defeat for the vice-presidency, asked 
him to repair the damage by interceding with I're.si- 
dent Jackson to nominate him for the Hussian mis- 
sion. He was ]ioor, h<'said; he found it dilticult to 
live upon liis (lay as .senator; but if lie had the outfit 
and salary of a foreign minister he might lay by 
something for his old age. It was an o]iportiinity 
to conciliate the friends of Wilkins, and make a 
friend of Buchanan, and such opportunities Cam- 
eron never let slip. He laid the case before Presi- 
dent Jackson, wlio at once nominated Wilkins for 
the I{us.sian mission, and on Dec. C. 1834, the legis- 
lature of Pennsylvania elected Buchanan to succeed 



Wilkins in the U. S. senate. He was twice re-elect- 
ed to the U. S. senate, and then, after an interval as 
minister to England, he .stepped into the presidency. 
Selling out his'conlracl on llie Lake Pontcbartrain 
canid in 1S34, Jlr. Cameron engaged in the bu.siness 
of banking and railroad building, and for the suc- 
ceeding ten years he was engrossed in money-gettiug, 
giving but "little attention to iiolilical alfairs. His 
reputation as a great |)olilical manager was becom- 
ing a thing of tradition, when one day. early in 1H45, 
he met Mr. Buchanan, who told him" tliat Pre,>iident 
Polk had tendered him a iiosilion in his cabinet, 
and that he thought of resigning from tlie .senate. 
"Who," he asked him, "shall .succeed me'?" "I 
probably sliall," answered Cameron. The remark 
surprise'd Buchanan, who had no idea that Cameron 
had any aspiration for olfiee, and had already se- 
lected "as his successor George Woodward, who 
had been duly nominated by the democratic cau- 
cus. It is sai'd that, until be met Buclianan, Cam- 
eron had entertained no Ihouglit of the senatorship, 
but that then, realizing that power was slipping out 
of his bands into those of Buchanan, lie suddenly 
resolved to regain his former political ascendancy. 
In the legislature the democrats had a majority of 
one, but they -nere divided on the tariff (piestion. 
Camerim was a protectionist, and could control such 
of the legislators as were in favor of high duties. 
This rendered imiiossilile the election of Woodward; 
lie secui-ed his own by conciliating the whig and 
native-American opposition. I5ut his success cost 
him the enmitv of Secretary Buchanan, and through 
him of President Polk. The first intimation that he 
had of this was their failure to consult him upon the 
Penn.sylvania nominations before they were sent into 
the se"nate. But he was equal to ihe emergency. 
He simply threw himself upon the ccairtesy of his 
fellow-senators, who promptly rejected every one 
of Mr. Polk's Pennsylvania appointments. This 
soon brouffht Jlr. Buciianan to terms, and Jlr. Cam- 
eron was allowed to have his own way thereafter. 
He had been for some time swerving slo-v\'ly away 
from the democratic party, and when his senatorial 
term e.xpired in 1849 he became a leader in what 
was known as the people's party, and to secure the 
merdnrr of this jiartv into the republican, he con- 
sented. "on the nominati<in of Gen. Fremont to the 
presidency in 18!)6, to be aiiain a candidate for the>j;;;^,n 
U. S. senate. He was elected though Fremont was,--- ■ 
defeated, and durinsr the four years that he served 
in the .senate prior to the sece.s-sion of South Carolina, 
he did all in bis power to effect a compromise lie 
tween the northern and southern extremists, and si 
zealous was he in his elforts to aeeoniiilish this vv 
suit that he was accused bv many of tlie more r^nli 
cal in his party of not being at heart a republiean. 
In 1860 he wa"s a prominent canili<late before the 
Chicago convention for the repulilican nomination t^ 
for the presidency, and the selection of Air. Lincoln 
was largely due to his having thrown his intluence 
in his favor when liis own success was seen to lie 
impossible. He was one of the few public men 
who in the crisis then upon the country rightly read 
the .signs of the times. He was in friendly relations 
with the southern gentlemen who were his a.ssociates 
in the senate, and as eariy as 18r)i) Jefferson Davis 
had a.ssured him that the southern iieople would .se- 
cede from the Union unless their rights under the 
eon.stitution were better respected by the North; 
also, that if their going in peace should be resisted, 
thev would fliiht; and while they fought, their slaves 
woiild submissively till their fields and furnish them 
the means of .sub.sistonce— a prediction that was 
verified bv the result. All that Mr. Cameron saw 
and heard confirmed this statement of Mr. Davis, 
and to avert the caljimily of a war he made elforts 
at reconciliation so strenuous as to alienate from him 



M 






292 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



many of his party, and thereby lose his own nomi- 
nation to the presidency. The election of Jlr. Lin- 
coln convinced him that a war would be inevitable, 
and he foresaw that the struggle would be of gigan- 
tic proportions. The.se views he tried to impress 
upon Mr. Lincoln, and he strongly urged him to 
place a .strong man at the head of tlie war depart- 
ment. He himself ha<l no ambiiion for the jiositinn. 
Though he had twice held a .-ieat in the .senate, his 
preference had always been to be a silent director 
of events, rather than an actor in them; and now in 
possession of large wealth, and being past sixty years 
of age, his natural inclination was stronger upon 
him than when neither fame nor foilune had been 
acquired. He saw with surpri.se, that in making up 
his cabinet Jlr. Lincoln had named him as war min- 
ister, but the position being thus thrust upon him, 
he did not .shrink from the responsibility. He ac- 
cepted it with a determination to do his inmost, 
■whatever the cost to himself, to save the Union. 
Mr. Lincoln knew his views, and therefore was not 
surprised to hear Mr. Cameron urge upon the cabi- 
net — on its coming together directly after the attack 
upon Fort Sumter — the immediate calling out of 
500,000 men, and the giving of freedom to such 
slaves as should desert their masters and enlist to 
suppress the rebellion. But his arguments did not 
convince Mr. Lincoln and his associates. They 
looked for a s))eedy i^eace, and lience the call was 
for 7.">.000 three-months' men, and the war drifted 
slowly to its subsequent enormous magnitude. But 
Jlr. Cameron held to his opinions, and after making 
— with the a.s.sent of Jlr. Lincoln and bis colleagues — 
contracts for enormous supplies of war material, he 
attempted to lay his views before congress and the 
country in his report of Decemljer, 1861. When 
the original draft of this report was jiresented to the 
cabinet it caused a heated debate, anil he was obliged 
to e.xpunge from it all reference to increased enlist- 
ments of men and to 
,,,1;,: - the arming of fugitive 
'.,. [' T . « slaves. Seeing that his 
usefulness woidd be 
constantly crippled in 
a cabinet diflering so 
widely from him as to 
the exigencies of the 
situation, he proposed 
to Jlr. Lincoln liis own 
resignation, and the appointment of Edwin JL 
Stanton as his .successor. Jlr. Stanton was Jlr. 
Cameron's legal adviser, and he thoroughly knew 
his peculiar iitness for the arduous duties then de- 
volving upon the war minister. But Jfr. Lincoln 
was soiuewliat prejudiced .against Jlr. Stanton, 
and it was a full month before he could be brought 
to consent to his appointment and the resignation 
of Jlr. Cameron. Finally, on Jan. 11, 1803, he 
sent the two names to the senate, one as war 
secretary, the other as minister to Russia. Jlr. 
Cameron remained in Russia only long enough to 
secure to the Union the friendship of that powerful 
nation during the civil war; having done this, he 
resigned on Nov. 8, 1863, and, returning to this 
coimtry, retired to his home at Harrisburg. Early 
in 1863 a movement was set on foot by leading re- 
publicans, who were di-ssatistied with the tardy 
progress of the war, to supplant Jlr. Lincoln by 
another candidate in the nominating convention of 
18C4. This movement Jlr. Cameron did his best to 
check by repeating the dexterous manoeuvre by 
■which he had paved the way for President Jackson s 
second candidacy in 18;i3. He induced the Pennsyl- 
vania legislature to call upon J[r. Lincoln to accept 
of a second term, and this call being repeated by 
Other state legislatures, it effectually thwarted the 
r)lans of those opposed to his candidacy. In 





1867 Jlr. Cameron was again elected to the V. S. 
senate, and Avlien in 1873 Charles Sumner was re- 
moved from the chairmanship of the committee on 
foreign affairs, he was chosen to succeed him. 
Once more, and for the fourth time, he was elected 
to the U. S. senate in 1873; but, thougli elected as 
arepublican. he was not in sympathy with the 
administration of Jlr. Hayes, and he oppo.sed it 
wlicn it came into power in 1877. Having been 
educated in the political school of Andrew Jackson, 
and being a firm believer in the doctrine that "to 
the victor belongs the spoils," he had no f.aith 
in the proposed civil-service reform of Jlr. Hayes. 
He was then seventy-eight years of age, and fear- 
ing that the contlict which might arise between 
him and the executive would be too great for 
his waning powers, he re- 
signed in favor of his son a 
few days after the accession 
of Jlr. Hayes. Accordingly. 
John Donald Cameron was at 
once elected to succeed him. 
But he continued an inter- 
ested observer of events, and 
in the following Jlay emerged 
from his retirement in a letter 
stating that he had not been 
a party to any agreement to 
give advantages to soiUhern 
democrats if the_v would not 
contest the decision of the 
electoral commission. " If any 
such bargain was made," he 
.said, "it must have been ne- 
gotiated b}" that new school of politicians who 
indulge in modish .sentimeutalisra and cowardice 
calling them statesmanship, an<l go about sneer- 
ing at ol)solete courage and political conviction, 
calling them 'radicalism.'" He did what he could 
to secure to (Jen. Grant a nomination to a third 
term, but he acquiesced in the candidacy of (Jen. 
Garlield, and exerted the whole of his great influ- 
ence to promote his election. This accomplished, 
he announe<'d his intention to retire permanently 
from politics. In his later years \u; made .several 
remarkable joiu'neys to Europe and the West Indies, 
remarkable for one of his great age. he being \ip- 
ward of eighty-eight when, in the summer of 1887, 
he made his last voyage to Eurojie. He was a re- 
markable man. both "physically and mentally. Born 
in poverty and entirely self-educated, he ro.se by the 
force of circumstances, rather than by an}- will of 
his own, to several of the highest .stations in this re- 
public, and became a prime fact<ir in some of the 
most imjiortant events in American history. If oc- 
casionally he sought his ends by imlircct means, bis 
ends were always unseltish and patriotic, and the 
means .such only as were forced upon liim by the 
political system which dominated the country. He 
did not create this system; he simply employed it 
because it was the only one by which iioliiical re- 
sults could be accomplished in bis time. His own 
nature was simple, direct, straightforward, honest. 
In more than forty years of public life lie never con- 
nived at a fraud, never otTered or received a bribe, 
never betrayed a friend, or overreached aO oppo- 
nent, and never .soiled his hands with one dollar of 
the people's money. His large wealth w.as the re- 
sult of legitimate business operations; and his great 
power, by which he held, as it were, a populous 
state in the hollow of his h;ind, was due to his far- 
seeing sagacity, his incorruptible honesty, his un- 
swerving |)atriolism that sought only the good of his 
country. It was because of his pos.session of these 
qualities that Pennsylvania honored and trusted 
him. and for so many years committed her welfare 
to his keeping. He died June 'iH, 1889. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



293 




>'X 



§jUj)-iX- (\\v»Ajk; 



STANTON, Edwin McMasters, secretary of 
war, was borii at .Stculx'iivilk', ().. Dec. l!l, 1814. 
The history of Secix'tary Staulou is that of one of 
the most imi)osiug' figures of the nineteenth century. 
Tlie great "war secretary." as he was called, has 
been comiiarcil to none of the eminent stalesnien and 
publicists of the past S(j frequentl)' as he lias to C'ar- 
not, the French general and war minister, who, 
not only by his extraordinary abililies, but by his no 
less exlraordiuary force of character, succeeded iu 
writing his name on the history of the world as one 
of its greatest men. As Carnot succecdetl, in the 
face of marvelous difficulties connected with his 
service to France during (he revo- 
lution ,aiid the hist empire, in ex- 
tricating himself from all com- 
plications, political or otherwise, 
and causing his personality to 
be felt as almost the strongest 
of his time, so Stanton, surround- 
ed equally by political combi- 
nations and intrigues and the 
degrading comiielitiou of thou- 
sands of manufacturers, liUe birds 
of prey, eager to make their ali- 
ment out of the war, by tlie sheer 
force of his natural capacity and 
bis extraordinary gifts, impress- 
ed himself upon the period, al- 
though it was a time when such 
men as Ijincoln, Seward, Sumner, 
Grant, 3[cClellan and Tbaddeus 
Stevens were eminent. Around 
this part of the lives of Lincoln, Seward and Stanton 
lies a romance merging into tragedy, such as can 
only be remembered in history in connection with 
Henry IV. of France, and William of Orange; and 
in every part of this romance and every part of this 
tragedy, Edwin >I. .Stanton was present as a neces- 
sary factor. He was tlie son of a jjhysician. who died 
while he was a boy, and. curioush* enough, he came 
of Quaker ancestry, as, indeed, did Mr. Lincoln. 
His parents had removed to Ohio from Culiicper 
county, in the mountain district of Virginia, and 
he was afterward sent to Ivenyon College, Gam- 
bier, O. This was in 1831, and he remained in col- 
lege only until 1833, which was the period that 
comprised his scholastic education. It is assumed by 
his biograiihers that the I'eason for his leaving col- 
lege was the fact that the means for keeping him 
there failed. However this may have been, it is 
known that he became a bookseller's clerk at Colum- 
bus, evidently having a leaning toward employment 
the nature of which should enable him to continue 
some kind of mental training. .Vnd while a clerk it 
appears that he devoted his leisure to the study 
of law, and with such success that in 183() he was 
admitted to the bar. He began practice by opening 
an office at Cailiz, Harrison Co., O., and liis success 
was sucli, and his reimtation became so soon es- 
tablished, that in 1837 be was elected the county 
prosecuting attorney. The following year he re- 
moved to his native place. Steubenville. an<l during 
three years from 1839 he was reiiorter of the Ohio 
supreme court decisions, and prepared Vols. XL, 
XII. and XIII. of those reports. In 1848, although 
his business was increasing in the locality in which 
he lived. Jlr. Stanton removed again and settled in 
Pittsburg, Pa., where he remained until 18.')7, dur- 
ing this period bei-nming without (piestion the first 
lawyer at tli.at bar, and even beginning to be em- 
ployed in certain of the important ca.ses which were 
carried up to the United States supreme court. It 
was during this jieriod that he ailded greatlv to his 
reputationas a lawyer by his conduct of the Wheel- 
ing Uridge case; aiid j-et a .significant illustration of 
his personal motlcsty, and his carelessness in pre- 



serving records which might tend to his own fame, 
is found in the fact that he did not retain a copy of 
his important and notable argument iu this case. 
His business in the supreme court made it necessary 
for him to .settle in Washington in 1857, and in 
the following vear he was in California, where 
he couducteil im])ortaut land cases for the gov- 
ernment. During these years he also made hiin.self 
prominent by his handling of cases in the Erie Kail- 
way litigation, and the Manney and iMcCorinick reap- 
ercoutest. Ilealsoconducted a large business in jiatent 
case.s, which, though jieculiarly difficult by reason of 
their demands upon tbelenal mind, were exceedingly 
protilable; indeed, all of Jlr. Stanton's greatest work 
was in cases that involved the most subtle mental 
consideration, such as patent cases, land cases, and 
controversies between great transportation and other 
companies. Politically. Mr. Stanton was a demo- 
crat; and it was on account of his politics, perhaps, 
as well as his re|)uta(ioii, that Attorney-General 
Black selected him to reiui'sent the United States in its 
land claim cases in California. On the rctiienienl of 
Louis Ca.ss from the ]>osition of secretary of stale, iu 
President Buchanan's cabinet, and the fironiotion of 
Jeremiah S. Black to that office, Mr. Stanton was 
appointed by Buchanan attorney-general, Dec. 20, 
18(j0. As indicative of his jiolilical tendencies, it 
may be remarked that be favored the Wilniot ]iio- 
viso, excluding slavery from the territories, w hile he 
sympathized with the Van Buren free-soil move- 
ment of l.sls — all of which goes to show that, while 
he w;is naturally an auti-.'^lavcry man, he qualified 
his hostility to that in.stitution by his recognition of 
the obligations imposed by the federal constitution 
ujion all states alike. It is interesting to remember, 
in this connection, that the leaders of the secession 
movement originally rather counted ou Attoruey- 
Gcneral Stanton 
as neutral, even 
if he should not 
prove to be one 
of their allies. 
The result of the 
contest showed, 
however,tliathis 
stern, firm deter- 
mination would 
neither brook 
the vacillations 
of Mr. Buchan- 
an nor the bully- 
ing propensities of the men in his cabinet, who 
sought to ilragoou him into concessions that would 
ullimati'ly lead to the disruption of the Union. 
It can ea.sily be imagined what a firebrand he would 
be in a cabinet in which Howell Cobb was secre- 
tary of the treasury, and John B. Floyd secretary of 
war — both holding office under the traditions estab- 
lished by Jelferson Davis, who had been secretary of 
w.ar in the cabinet of Presiiliait Pierce. Asa m.alter 
of fact, when Floyd urged upon the president the 
withdraw.al of the I'nited States troops from the 
forts in Charh'slon harbor, Stanton declared, with 
marked indignation, that in his judgment the sur- 
rendc'r of Fort Sumter would be a crime equal to 
that attempted by Arnold, and that all those who 
might participate in it would deserve hanging. It 
was after the meeting at which Stanton gave expres- 
sion to this oiiinion iJiat Floyd sent in his resignation 
and was succeeded by Jo.seph Holt. Lincoln was 
elected and assumed the reins of office, and Simon 
Cameron was his secretary of war until Jan. 11, 
1802, when he was replaced by Mr. Stanton, the 
dateof the apimintnient of thelatter being Jan. 2flth. 
It is an interesting incident that Mr. Lincoln's first 
acquaintance with Stanton was made during the 
prosecution of a suit iu which they were on opposite 




294 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



sides, and when the plain, ordinary and somewhat 
ungainl}" appeaninee of Mr. Lincohi drew from Mr. 
Stanton one of his not unusual eausiic and uncom- 
plimentary remarks. Some one reiwated the speech 
to Mr. Lincoln, but upon his broad and sensible 
mind it made no impres.sion whatever; while the 
legal conflict which ensued between the two in the 
case in which they were both engaged showed Jlr. 
Stanton that he had totally misunderstood and un- 
derestimated his opponent. It is .said of Mr. Lin- 
coln that, on one occasion, soon after having made 
his appointment of Mr. Slanton. a remark was made 
to him in regard to the hitter's impulsiveness and 
severity of temper, when Lincoln replied with one 
of his queer stories: "Well," said he, "we may 
have to treat him ii-s they were sometimes obliged 





to treat a JFeth- 
odist minister I 
know of out 
West, who gets 
worked up so 
high in his pray- 
ers and exliorla- 
tions that they 
are obliged to put bricks in bis pockets to keeii 
him down. We may be obliged to serve Stanton 
the same way, but I guess we will let him jump 
a while first." The existence of the country was 
now bound up in the result of the war, and as a 
matter of coui-se the war department attracted 
Mr. Lincoln's .solicitude and attention to a greater 
degree than anything comierted with his own 
duties. It also" occurred naturally th.-it lie was 
more frequently and coiitidciiliiilly bmuglil into in- 
tercourse with' Secretary Slanton than willi the 
heads of any other departments of the government. 
Lincoln, who was, as is well known, a shrewd and 
wise judge of men, soon grew to know him familiar- 
ly; and the longer and closer that their intercourse 
existed the more he admired and honored him. 
Then, too, tlie entrance of ^Mr. Stanton into the 
cabinet marked the beginning of a vigorous military 
policy. It was just a week after his as.sumjition of 
the portfolio of secretary of war that the first of 
the president's orders was issued, insisting upon a 
general movement of the troops. This Wius caused 
by the impatience of the government with the ap- 
parent inaction of (Jen. McC'lellan. Eventually it 
came about that President Lincoln acknowledged 
that it was his habit ncer to take an important 
step without consulling Mr. StaiUou. It w;is well 
understood that Mr. Slanton was bru.sque, jieremp- 
tory and unceremonious, and at times savage and 
almost brutal in his association with the outside 
world. Holding, as he did. in his hands the keys 
and the wires which controlled, as one might .say, 
the destinies of the country, his mind was engrossed 
and his heart was full. Tin' vast responsibililles im- 
posed upon him eonlrolled him beyond all conven- 
tionalities of ordinary social life. Engros,sed in the 
contemplation of the interests which he in a measure 
conducted — since, as a ride, his vi<'ws were invariably 
adopteil by the i)resident — Mr. Stanton had neither 
time nor inclination to waste words upon the hun- 
dreds and thou.siuids who sought liiiu for objects, 
little or great. On one occasion it is said of him 
iiryof the interior. >Ir. Usher, asked 
ppoint a young friend paymaster in the 



army "How old is he '!" asked Stanton in his curt 
manner. "About twenty-one, I believe, " sjiid Mr. 
Usher. " He is of good family and excellent charac- 
ter. " ' ' Usher, " exclaimed Stanton in peremptory re- 
ply, "I would not appoint the Angel Gabriel a pay- 
master if he was only twenty-one! " It is statetl that 
on the night of March 3, 18()0, when the last bills of 
the session were being examined by the president pre- 
paratory to his signature, and all were anticijiating 
the inauguration of the morrow, a despatch arrived 
from Grant, suggesting that he be permitted to 
nnike terms with Lee, who had asked for an inter- 
view to negotiate peace. Mr. Lincoln was greatly 
inclined to permit his general-in-chief to effect this 
negotiation, and at length intimated such an in- 
tention. Stanton, who was present, and who had 
ke|)t .silence while the discussion was going on, at 
length spoke out sternly; "Mr. President, to-mor- 
row is inauguration day. If you are not to be the 
president of an obedient and united people, you had 
better not be inaugurated. Your work is already 
done, if any other authority than yours is for one 
moment to be recognized, or any terms made that 
do not si{;nify that you are the supreme head of the 
nation. If generals in the field are to negotiate 
peace, or any other chief magistrate is to be ac- 
knowledged on this continent, then you are not 
needed, and you had better not take the oath of of- 
fice." " Stanton, you are right, "sjiid the president, 
his whole tone changing; "let me have a i)eu." 
And Jlr. Lincoln at once wrote as follows to Geu. 
Grant for the .secretary of war to sign; "The 
jiresident directs me to .say to you that he wishes 
you to have no conference with Gen. Lee, unless it 
be for the capitulation of Lee's army or some minor 
or purely military matter. He instructs me to say 
that you are not to decide, discuss or confer upon 
any political question. Such questions the president 
holds in his own hands, and will submit them to no- 
military conference or convention. In the mean- 
time you are to press to the utmo.st your military 
advantages." The president, having read over what 






ti'hal thesecretar 
I ''Uini to appoint 



^^im^ 




he had wriiten, instructed Mr. Stanton to date and 
siirn the paper, and send it to Gen. Grant. On an- 
other occasion an otlicer at headquartei-s. in Wash- 
inirlon, who had a question subniilled to him for 
his decision, of the utmost importance, and which 
demanded the .sanction of the president, finding it 
impossible to reach Air. Lincoln, went in .search 
of Mr. Stanton; the occasion was imiierative, and 
the time liiuiteii. Unfortunately he was also unable 
to see the secretary. With grave interests rest- 
ing upon the decision thus thrust into his charge, 
the olticer decided for himself, and despatched the 
neces.sary orders accordingly. As soon as it was 
pos.sible for him to communicate with Mr. Stanton, 
he did so, and told him wliat he had done. The 
secretary stood for a moment in deep thought; then 
he said. " I think you have done right, but I should 
h.irdiv have dared to take the res|ion.siliility." It 
was only then thai the full force of his act came to 
the mind of the ollicer. and he nearly Ijroke down 
under Ihi- terrible responsibility. By" the advice of 
Mr. Stanton, he sought, at the" earliest possible mo- 



\'rtj 



'X-A^;. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



295 



meut ou the next day, ami with ronsideiahle dif- 
ficulty obtaiiK'd an iutervifw with Mr. Liucohi, to 
whoiu he ivlatwl wlial he liad done. Tlie president 
asked liini if had first eonsulled with the .secretary 
of war. The olticer rejilied, giving tlie reasons 
wliicli chanced to malie this iniiio.s.>-ihle, but at tlie 
same lime repcirliiig what Mr. iStanton liad .said ia 
regard to the matter. Tlicreiipon the president, ri.s- 
ing from his chair, grasped tlie olficer by the lian<l 
and said, " You have done right. Any act which 
receives the sanction of Mr. iStanton will receive 
mine, a.s there is no one whom I so frequently con- 
sult, or upon whose judgment I so thorongldy rely. " 
The discriniinatiou and judgment of Secretary Stan- 
ton, in the gravest and most important questions of 
the war, were remarkabh'. Xotwilhsianding the 
intrigues that were carried on in the West again.st 
Gen. Grant, and although the powerful influence 
of Major-Gen. Halleck was brought to bear against 
him, yet in the autumn of lSti3 it was he who placed 
Grant in supreme commruid of the three armies 
which operated in the Southwest, at the .same time in- 
structing him to relieve Hosecrans, and thus doubt- 
less .saved the situation at Ch.nttauoo.ira, It was en- 
tirely with the acceptance of Stanton that Graut was 
eventually made commander-in- 
chief, ami was thus enabled to en- 
ter upon the distriliutiou of the ar- 
mies and materials of war of the 
Union, which resulted in the sur- 
render at Appomattox. When 
Gen. Sherman's terms, accept- 
ing the surrender of Gen. Jos- 
eph E. Johnston, were under dis- 
cus.sion by the president and cabi- 
net. Gen. Grant being present, 
it was the influence of Secretary 
Stanton mainly which dictated 
the course taken by the adminis- 
tration. annulling those terms, and 
onee again establishing the fact 
th.at peace arrangements coidd 
not be made with the enemy by 
a general in the field. The orders 
sent to Sherman, if they were not 
written liy Stanton, were at least 
in accordance with his judgment 
and recommendation. A ju.st 
commentary on >Ir. Stanton's 
administration of the war depart- 
ment by an able authority .states 
that " it was maiked by a course 
of integrity, comprehen.sive judg- 
ment, determination and force. 



which won for him the admiration of his countrymen. 
He was in advance of the president in humanitarian 
leanings with regard to the negro, the severity of 
his nature being curiously softened in this con- 
nection. Mr. Lincoln viewed the entire political 
system in his grasp of affairs, rather than any one 
element thereof; and it was not until after another 
effort \ipon the part of Mr. Stanton that he was in- 
duced to specially entertain the negro question on 
its own merits, and to take that dehiiite course which 
resulted in the Emancipation act. Only a few days 
before the death of the president Mr. Stanton ten- 
dered his resittnalion of tlic portfolio of the war de- 
partment, on the ground that the work for the .sake 
of which he had undertaken it was now comjileted. 
This act was at a meeting of the cabinet; and it is 
said that Mr. Linc<iln was deeply moved by it, and 
that he tore in pieces the paper containing the 
resignation, and said to the secretary, " Stanton, you 
have been a good friend and faithfid public servant, 
and it is not for you to say wlicri you will no longer be 
needed here." Jlr. Stanton was, in his personal nature, 
essentially an autocrat. In his control of the warofiice 
he was unquestionably arbitrary, callous to the ordi- 
nary feelings of humanity, except in instances like the 





1I^r^.VlllJll'' 







296 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



case of slavery, often arrofrant, harsh and cniel. The 
dissection of a nature like Stanton's would assume, if 
properly conducted, the form of a ]ihiloso|)hical in- 
quiry, with which, of course, the present writing 
has no relation. As an instance, however, exhibit- 
ing a certain predominant (juality which should 
have weight in the final judirnienl in regard to him, 
there is to be brietiy taken into eousideralion his 
action with regard to the conviction, sentence iind 
execution of Mrs. Surratt for her alleged coniplic-ity 
in the a.s.sa.ssination of President Lincoln. 'I'hus, 
brietiy, it is conceded that this execution was mainly 
the result of the determination and action of Secre- 
tary Stanton. The immediately precedent assump- 
tion by Andrew .Johnson of the presidency of tlic 
United States. a.ssociated as it was with incidents 
peculiar to that occasion, gives good grounds for 
the suiipositioii that not the president but Secretary 
Stanton was responsible for this tragedy. Hei- 
erence is made to this matter only for the reason 
tliat long after, and continuing to the time of Mr. 
Stanton's death, it was believed that he icgretled 
his connection with this event. His death was 
very .svulden, and a statement was prevalent at the 
time that it was by suicide. This was. however, 
denied by those nearest to hijn at the end. What- 
ever may have been the facts of the case, it is cer- 
tain that there has been no figure concerned with 
the history of the United States more prominent, or 
whose acts have possessed a more direct intlucnce 
over the country, than has been the case with re- 
gard to Edwin jVL Stanton. Seeretarv Stanton died 
in Wa^iliin-ton, I). C, Dec. 24, 1869. " 

CHASE, Salmon P., secretary of the treasury. 
(See Index. ) 

■WELLES, Gideon, secretary of the navy, was 
born in Glastonl)ury. t'onn.. Jul}' 1. 1802. He was 
a descendant of Thomas Welles, who was treasurer 
of the colony of Comiecticut from 1039 to Uiol; 
connnissioner of the United Col- 
onics in 1(149 and l(i.")4. and gov- 
ernor of Connecticut in lOor) and 
Ki.'i.S. Thus it may be seen that 
till' subject of this sketch came 
from good pre-revolulionary stock. 
Gideon W'elles was fortunate in 
having received a good education 
during his early life, and being 
ambitious and industrious, it was 
not long before he showed tlic 
effect of the culture which he ha<l 
received. While still a young man 
he was active in political life, and 
having a tendency toward journal- 
ism, although he had .studied law 
and had received instruction at 
Norwich University, Vermont, 
though without being graduated, he 
drifted into the newspaper business, 
and when a few years beyond his 
majority became one of the editors and a part owner 
of the Hartford "Times," with which he continued 
to be connected for about thirty years. In the early 
part of the period of his relation both to polities and 
journalism, Mr. Welles was a [inaninent democrat 
and had much to do with the organization of the 
democratic party in Connecticut, and when tJen. 
Jack.son was a candidate for the presidency, the 
Hartford "Times" was the tirst paiier in New Eng- 
hind which gave Gen. .Jackson its .sup|iort, and after 
Jackson's election Mr. Welles was his contidcnii.al 
adviser upon apjiointmcnts and other matters rel.al- 
ing to Connecliciit. During' llie adininislnuion of 
Franklin Pierce. Mr. Welles maintained the JclTi'r- 
sonian doctrine that slavery could not rightfully be 
extended into the tei'ritories by the general govei'u- 
ment. In the meantime, as early as 1837, he had been 




4iUi(c^ /W^ti/ 



a member of the Connecticut legislature. In that 
body lie laborefl for years to secure the abolition of 
imprisonment for debt, and opposed special and pri- 
vate legislation. In 183.T he was comptroller of the 
state of Connecticut, and again in 1842 and 1843. be- 
ing aKso, in the intervening yeai-s, jiostniaster of Hart- 
ford. From 1840 to 1849 he was chief of the bureau 
of provisions and clothing in the navy department at 
AVa.sliington, so he did have some early exiierience 
in regard to the conduct of the department before the 
situation of affairs called him to l)e its head. INIr. 
Welles had always op|)oscd the extension of slavery, 
and when the republican party was formed in 18.").5, 
he became its candidate for governor of Comiecticut. 
He was appointed by the convention in Pliiladeliihia 
in Is.'iO, a member of the reiniblican national com- 
mittee. In 1800 he was chairman of the Connecti- 
cut delegation to the convention of Chicago which 
nominated ^Ir. Lincoln fiu' the inesidency. In ad- 
dition to all these services to the newly created re- 
publican party. Mr. Welles was a frequent contribu- 
tor to the edifoiial columns of the Hartford " Even- 
ing Press," the tirst republican pajier in Connect- 
icut. It is said of Mr. Lincoln, that upon the night 
of his election, lie blocked out .snbstaiilially llienicm- 
bershipof his ealiinet; changes were made allcruaid, 
but one of the tirst names upon which he dclermined 
and to which he adhered until the last, was that of 
Gideon Welles for secretary of the navy. Mr. Lin- 
coln had only met Mr. Welles the year befoiv, but 
their free inierchange of opinion on subjects con- 
nected with the condition of the republic n'sulted in 
inducing the ]iresident to ajuioint ^Ir. Welles to the 
]iositioii wliicii during the civil warwasof such vast 
iniiiortance to the country. When Mr. Toueey 
handed over the navy department to Mr. Welles, it 
was in a demoralized condition — Southi'rn ollii-ers 
were resigning right and left. No commander could 
be sure who would be faithful to the Hag. and the 
secretary of the navy could not be certain of any 
.Soulhciii oflicers beini: true to the government. It 
was a serious condition for the new secretary lo eon- 
tem|ilate. but any consideration of the year 1801-63 
will show that the operations and achievements of 
the navy were such that great credit was rellected 
upon the administrative ability of Secretary Welles. 
When the w;ir began, the greater part of the .small 
navy of the United States was in distant watei-s. off 
the "coast of Africa, in the Mediterranean, on the Asi- 
atic station, and for some of the shi|>s to receive the 
news and return, many months were reiiuired. Only 
twelve vessels were at home, four in Northern and 
eight in Southern ports. The navy, like the army, 
lost many Southern oflicers by resignation or dismis- 
sal. Crippled therefore, as it was. the government 
bought up all soils of merclianl craft, mounting guns 
on sonic, and tilting u|) others as transports, and had 
gunboats built on ninety-day contracts. These im- 
))rovi.sed vessels of war were used to blockade the 
Southern ports. The fact that such a navy was cre- 
ated at all cannot be considered without great re- 
sjiect for the navy department, which, in such an un- 
expected emergency, was able to provide soclticient a 
working naval force. Indeed it was not long lut'ore 
large expeditions were sent out by the navy depart- 
ment, as that department had adverlised as early as 
the beginning of IStil for the construction of iron- 
clad steam vessels of war, for sea or river service, 
and every shipyard and foundry in the c(ainlry was 
busv in conslrucling these vessels. Thctiisl of such 
additions to thi' existing navy, that is to say. of 
imporlant size and ]iower. was the celebrated Moni- 
tor, after which came the Iron Sides of Pliiladeliihia, 
and the Galena, contracted for by liushiicll & 
Co., of New Haven, Conn. When it is remember- 
ed that the coast to be guarded was over 3.000 
miles in extent, the tremendous responsibility of 



OF AMERICAN BIOGltAPIIY. 



297 



the work imposed upon the navy department will 
be seen. The old navy, all told, consisted of but 
sevent_y-six vessels, carrying 1,7^3 guns; besides the 
twelve ships which chanced at this time to be on 
home duty, fifteen vessels returned during the year 
1861, and as rapidly as possible were ordered on 
duty. At the very beginning of the war our naval 
force was divided into two squadrons, tlie Atlantic, 
extending south to Cape Florida, and the gulf por- 
tion, reaching from that point to Grand Gulf. There 
was also the Potomac flotilla, necessary to keep 
open the water communication with Washington, 
while it became at once essential to open the Missis- 
sippi river, and a flotilla was at once ordered to be 
built on our Western waters. Meanwhile, whatever 
vessels could be bought and transformed into men- 
of-war were obtained to the mnnber of VMi during 
the first year, fifty-two Ijeing built during the same 
period, whicli, added to the old navy, made the new 
one consist of 264 vessels in all, carrying 3,i)57 guns 
with an aggregate of 218,000 tons iuid" 22,000 sea- 
men. All of this vast increase to the Federal naval 
force was largely due to the energy of Secretary 
Welles. In the first report which he made to con- 
gress he recommended .seein-ing tlie best ironclads, 
and it was tmdcr his administration that this class 
of vessels was first used in war. Imleed, the power 
and foresight of Mr. Welles as executive ofiicer, quite 
to the surprise of all those wholuid known him sim- 
ply as a journalist, were marvelously shown in the 
creation, almost as if by magic, of a powerful uaval 
force; in the construction of an iron-clad navy of 
novel design, the essential features of which have 
since been adopted by the leading maritime powers of 
the world and in the adoption of the use of heavy ord- 
nance. To Secretaiy Welles, also, was due in large 
measure the utilizing of fugitive slaves or " contra- 
bands," for service in behalf of the Union. In his 
position as a member of the cabinet, Mr. Welles was 
personally opposed to all arbitraiy measures, even 
objecting at the outset to the declaration of a block- 
ade of the Southern ports, on the ground that such 
an aL't would be practically acknowledging belliger- 
ent rights. He thought a better plan woiUd have 
been to close our ports to foreign commerce by proc- 
lamation, but he was overruled in the cabinet by 
the general leaning toward the views of Secretary 
Seward. It was not questioned, however, either 
within or without the administration, that, in secur- 
im; Mr. Welles for secretary of the navy, there had 
been obtained for the control and direction of the 
responsible and arduous duties attached to that post 
a man possessing exceptional ability, fine natural 
judgment, and remarkable courage. The adminis- 
tration of the department was conducted with an 
ability which commanded the respect of all those 
who had dealings with it, as well as that of the coun- 
try at large, and under the able administration of 
Secretary Welles it soon became a matter of record, 
that every olficial in the departmeiU, from the high- 
est to the lowest, took his cue from the chief, and, 
with a clear comprehension of the situation in all its 
details, performed his own work with fidelity, intel- 
ligence and integrity. Secretary Welles continued 
to hold this position until 1869. the close of Presi- 
dent Johnson's administration. How great the work 
was whicli he supervised, may be judged from the 
following figures : During the war 208 vessels were 
commenced and nearly all of thera completed; 418 
vessels were purcha.se<i; the ninnl)er of men in the 
service was increased from 7,000 to 51,500; the num- 
ber of arti.sans and laborers in various navy-yards 
was increa.sed from 8,844 to 16.880, not to ntention 
almost as many more engaged in jirivate shipyards 
and establishments under contracts. The total sum 
expended by the navy department during the war 
was $314,170,960.08, or an annual average expendi- 



ture of 172,500.900.93. After President Grant's 
inauguration on March 4. 18(i9, Secretary Welles 
went into retirement, and devoted himself to writ- 
ing occasional articles for the magazines, and other 
works of a controversial nature, wliich involved him 
in disputes with many of the commanders in the 
civil war. He drifted away from the rei>ublicans 
in liis political views, in 1872 supporting the party 
which had nominated Horace Greeley for the prcsi- 



' NEW VoUrt 




dency, and in 1876 sustaining the election of Samuel 
J. Tilden. In 1873 he published a work entitled 
" Lincoln and Seward." Secretary Welles died in 
Hartfoni.Conn., Feb. 11, 1878. 

CLARK, Daniel, senator and jurist, was bom 
in Stratham, \. H., Oct. '24, 1809. His father served 
in the revolutionary army at the battle of Saratoga 
and the surrender of Burgoyne when he was but sev- 
enteen 3'ears of age. Daniel attended the district 
schools from his farm home, and, preferring books 
to active labor, was sent to the academy at Hamp- 
ton, N. H. At the age of twenty he entered Dart- 
mouth, taking high rank as a scholar, and was grad- 
uated with the highest honors of his class in 1834. 
He stuiiied law, was admitted to the bar in 1837, and 
began practice at Epping. Removing, two years later, 
to Manchester, he soon became known as one of the 
leading ]U'aclitioners of the state. He served in the 
state legislature as a whig in 1842-43-46, and again 
In 1854-55. As an uncompromising ojiponent of 
slavery, he took an active part in the camiiaign of 
18.54-55, appearing " on the stump " in every part of 
the state in the heated discussions of the Kansas-Ne- 
braska bill, and largely influencing the change in 
the political sentiment of his state. In 1856 he was 
a member of the republican convention at Philadel- 
phia, and in the same year, as one of the jiresidential 
electors, he cast his vote for John C. Fremont. In 
1857 he was elected to the U. S. senate to fill the un- 
expired term of James Bell, deceased. He was re- 
elected in 1860 for the term ending in 1867, .serving 
as president pTO U'injiore in I8(!4-(!5, and also as chair- 
man of thecoiumittees on claims, the judiciary and In- 
dian alTairs. Asa member of the senate, at the most 
critical period of the coimtry's existence, Jlr. Clark 
steadfastlj' supported the goveriunent in all national 
mea.sures, look an active part in the debates relating 
to those measures, op])osed Northern .symiiathizers 
of the South, and visited and eared for the soldiers 
in the tield. Ujion the withdrawal of the Southern 
senators fnmi their seats, he olTered on July 11, 18G1, 
a resolution, that was immediately adopted, for their 
exiiulsion from that body. He resigned his seat in 
the .senate in July, 1866, when he was ajipointed by 
President Johnson judge of the I'. S. district court 
for New Hampshire. After his appointment. Judge 
Clark gave his attention luainly to the diuies of his 
ollice. at the same time holding many positions of 
trust in Manchester, and contributing to its welfare 
and improvement. 



298 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOP.EDIA 







BLAIR, Montgomery, postmastcr-ironrial. was 
born in P^aiikliii county. Ky.. May UK If^Ki. Ilio 
eldest son of Francis P. Blair, founder of tlie W'iLsli- 
ington " Globe," the official orpiii of the democratic 
party. His younger brother was (Jen. Francis P. 
Blair, Jr. He realize<i his ambition to become a sol- 
dier by beiniisent to West Point, where he was i;rad- 
uated in 188.), but he resifrned his comniis-ion the 
foKowinj; year, after a service of a few months in 
the Seminole war under Gen. Scott. He then jire- 
pared for the bar, to which he was admitted in 1S39. 
and bei;an practice in St. Louis, 
Mo., where his marked ability as 
a lawyer placed him among the 
leadinc; men of his profession. 
He was immediately appointed 
U. S. district attorney for Missou- 
ri, ami in 1842 was elected mayor 
of St. Louis for one year. From 
1843 until 1849 he was a judge of 
the court of common plea.s. After 
his reim)val to Maryland in 18,')2 
he was engaged chiefly in impor- 
tant cases in the U. S. sujireme 
court, one of these being th(' cele- 
brated Dred-Scott case, in which 
he was coimsel for the plaintilT. 
In IS.W he was appointed b_v 
President Pierce U. S. .solicitor 
in the court of claims, but was 
removed from that office by Pres- 
ident Buchanan in resentment 
for his change from the dem- 
ocratic to the republican party, on the repeal of the 
Mis.souri compromise. Judge Blair was president of 
the Maryland reiiulilican convenlion of 1800, and 
was ajipointed to a seat in the cabinet as postmaster- 
general by President Lincoln in 18()1, the cl.-iims of 
Henry Winter Davi.s, then a young whig of rising 
fame, being strongly urged for the post. The nam- 
ing of Blair made the fouilh democrat in the cabinet, 
wdiich brought out the reply of the president, wheu 
reminded of the fact, that he himself was an old-line 
whig and should be there to make the parties even. 
In the momentous question, whether Fort Sumter 
should be evacuated or reiid'orced, that occupied the 
cabinet during the tirst three weeks of the adminis- 
tration, Blair was the only advocate for retaining 
the fort, urging that evacuation would convince the 
South of the weakness of the admiuislr.itinn, but, 
if reinforced, Sumter woidd become invulnerable 
and <leraoralize the rebellion. In this view he was 
sustained by the president, and finally by Secretary 
Chase. Blair'sadmiuistrationof the postal service was 
able and successftd. He instituted several salutary 
changes and reforms, embracing tho,se of free deliv- 
ery in cities, money- orders, and the assorting and di.s- 
tributiou of mail matter on postal railroad cars. His 
order excluding disloyal papers from the U. S. mails 
was the cause of great excitement, especially among 
southern sympatiuzers, but his action was sustained 
by congress. Judge Blair's |iolitical views now be- 
coming too conservative brought about another turn- 
ing point in his political career. Not being able to 
meet the demands of the repid)lican jiarty, accord 
with the cabinet was out of the ([uestion, ;md he len- 
tered his resignation Sejit. 3;i, 18(14. He returned to 
the democratic party, becoming jirominent iu all 
party measures, but "holding no publico office. He 
was an able supporter of Mr. Tiid<'n for president, 
and when the result of the election jilaced Mr. Hayes 
in the office, he boldly attacked his title. In .sup- 
port of Blair's view of the eleclion machinery. Mr. 
Bryce in his book, " The American t'ommonwealth," 
gives it as his opiiuon that it is generally conceded 
in this cotmtry "that on the 4tli of March succeed- 
ing the Tilden-Hayes campaign, the man who was 



inatigurated President was not the man who was 

elected President "(•■ Sim " editorial, Apr. 7, 1893). 
Judge Blair subsequently made great exertion to 
have the decision of the electoral comnussion re- 
viewed by the supreme court of the United Slates. 
Judge Blair was .simple in his tastes and haliits. and 
unpreteutious in manner. He had accumulated a 
large property, and spent much time in beautifying 
his place at Silver Sjirings that he ha<l inherited from 
his father. He dieil on the estate July 37. 18s:{. 

SMITH, Caleb Blood, secretary of the interior, 
was born iu Boston, Mass., .\pr. 16, 1§08. His parents 
emigrated to Ohio in 1814, and gave him the advan- 
tages of an excellent education at Cincinnati College 
and Jliami University. After taking a legal course, 
he was admitted to the bar in 1838, when he was but 
twenty years of age. He began practice in Conners- 
ville. Ind., where, in 18:i3, he established and edili'd 
the Indiana " Sentinel," a whig journal, which, with 
his law practice, brought into prominence his emi- 
nent talents as a writer and s[)eaker, and foreshad- 
owed his political fame. In 18;}3hc wasa memherof 
the state legislature, was re-el''cted for s<,'veral terms, 
and chosen speaker of the house in 188(i. In the 
stirring canvass for Gen. Harrison in 1840, he was 
presidential elector, and as one of the leaders of the 
whig party, and an orator of great power, wielded a 
large influence in the nomination 
of the candidates. In 1843 he was 
elected to congress from Indiana 
as a whig, serving until 184!), and 
also served as a member of the 
board of fund commissioneis iu 
1847 and 1848. Upon the close 
of his term in congress, he was 
appointed by President Taylor a 
member of the board for investi- 
gating the claims of American 
citizens against Mexico. He re- 
sumed practice iu Cincinnati in 
1850, and removed to Indianap- 
olis in 1858. He was largely in- 
duenlial in securing the nomina- 
tion of Abraham Lincoln for the 
presidency at the Chicago repub- 
lican convention in 1800. On 
March 5, 1801, the day after the 
inauguration. President Lincoln 
jippointed him secretary of the interior, notwith- 
sbinding the fact that so jiopular a candidate as 
Schuyler Colfax had been urged for the office. Dur- 
ing his term of .service in Mr. Lincoln's cabinet he 
was appointed by the Indiana legislature one of the 
delegates to the peace congress at Washington, Feb. 
4, 1801, in which, with his associates, he opposed all 
compromi.se with, or concessions to, lln^ South. He 
resigned his seat in the cabinet December, 1803, to 
become U. S. circuit judge for Indiana, serving in 
that capacity up to the time of his death, which oc- 
curred at Indianapolis Jan. 7, 1804. 

USHEK, John Palmer, secretary of the inte- 
rior, was born in Brooktirld, N. \., Jan. i), 1810. 
His descent is traced from Hezekiah Usher, who 
.settled in Cambridge. Ma.ss.. about l()3it, ami pur- 
cha.seil iu England IIk' ])ress and type for printing 
Eliot's Bible. His great-great-gramlfatlier was John 
Usher, lieutenant-governor of New Hampshire under 
Gov. Andros. Mr. Usher was admitted to the su- 
preme court of the .state of New York, and as solic- 
itor in the court of chancery iu the .same .slate Jan. 
18, 1839. In 184(1 he reiiioved to Terre Haule, 
Ind., and was admitted to practice in the .supreme 
court of the United States in 18.')9. In the mean- 
time he served in the state legislature, and was 
for a short time attorney-general of the state under 
Gov. Morton. He was a])pointed first a.ssistant secre- 
tary of the interior by President Lincoln Mai'ch 30, 




OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



299 




1862, aud on the resignation of Calob B. Smith, suc- 
ceeded liim as secretary Jan. 8, 1863, resigning his 
post May 15, 1865, one month after the inaugura- 
tion of President Johnson. He then returned to tlie 
practice of his profession, and became, subsequently, 
consulting attorney for the eastern division of the 
Union Pacitic railroad company. He died in Phila- 
delphia April 13. 1889. 

BATES, Edward, attorney-general, was born in 
Belmont, Goochland Co., Va., Sept. 4, 1793. His 
faniil}' was of plain Quaker stoeU, "which for cen- 
turies had dwelt in the low countries between the 
York and James rivers. Origin- 
ally they came from the wes1 of 
England to the Jamestown settle- 
ment in 1625, and remained in 
that region until the breaking out 
of the war of the revolution; then 
some of the younger members of 
the family took up arms against 
the king, thus forfeiting tlieir po- 
sition in the society of Friends. 
Among these latter were Thomas 
Fleming Bates, the father of Ed- 
ward, and several of his uncles. 
This Thomas Fleming Bates, hav- 
ing taken up a plantation on the 
James River, found that the war 
had depreciated the value of his 
property aud left him with liis 
only fortune in the depreciated 
Continental currency. He was 
a ]iatriot, however, and he joined 
the army, and fought under Lafayette as a vol- 
unteer soldier. He died in 1805, leaving no 
property, and a widow, live daughters, and seven 
sons. Young Edward was taken in charge by an 
elder brother, living in Northumberland, Va., who 
sent the boy to Charlotte Hall Academy, Md., 
where he received a good education. He imfortu- 
nately met w ith an accident, which put an end to his 
schooling, and he was obliged to tinish with a private 
tutor. Ih 1812 young Bates received a midshipman's 
warrant, but was deterred from entering the navy by 
his mother's earnest request. He, however, saw 
some service during the first si.K months of the war, 
doing militia duty at Norfolk. In the spring of 1814 
Mr. Bates went to St. Louis, at that time a town of 
about 2,000 inhabitants. Here he began to study 
law in the office of Kufus Eaton, the best-read 
lawyer at the bar. With him Mr. Bates continued 
for two years, when he took out a license and began 
to practice. During the next few years he practiced 
law, while holding also several local offices of trust. 
He was a member of the convention that formed the 
state constitution in 1820, and successively prosecut- 
ing attorney, attorney-general imder the U. S. gov- 
ernment, aiiddistrictaUorney for Missouri. In 1823 
Mr. Bates was elected to the state legislature, and in 
1837 member of congress. In Jlay, 1839, he mar- 
ried Julia D. Coulter, daughter of David Coulter, 
formerly of Cohunbia, S. C, by whom he had fifteen 
children. During tlie ne.xt twenty-five years Jlr. 
Bates devoted himself to his profcssiDU, though he 
was in the legislature of Missouri in ls;iO, and again 
in 1834. In 1847 he was a delegate to the internal 
improvement convention, and made a marked im- 
pres-siou upon those present, and through them upcm 
the country. Efforts were now made to draw Jlr. 
Bates from his seclusion, and he was even olTered by 
President Fillmore the position of secretary of war, 
but he refused it. This was in 1850. and three years 
later Mr. Bales was apiiointccl judge of the St. t.ouis 
laud court. In 1S5I) lie presided over the whig ccm- 
vention at Baltimore, an<l then began to identify 
himself with the free-.soil jiarty. In 1859 Jlr. Bates's 
name was mentioned as a candidate for the presi- 



W)Si4iii[i^ ■' 



dencv, but the movement never read 
any serious consideration, though in the! 
convention of 1860 he received forty- 
eight votes on the first ballot. In 1861. 
when President Lincoln was making uji 
his cabinet, he appointed Mr. Bates at- 
torney-general, and the a|ii)ointmeiit was accepted. 
In 1864, however, he resigned his office, and returned 
to St. Louis, where he continued to reside and prac- 
tice his profession until his death. While not a man 
of remarkable gifts, Mr. Bates was the possessor of 
certain statesman-like qualities. He not only be- 
lieveil in the emancipation of the .slaves, but he prac- 
ically demonstrated his lielicf by freeing his own 
slaves. He died in St. Louis March 35, 1869. 

SPEED, James, attorney-general, was born in 
JefEersou county, Ky., March 11, 1813. His ances- 
tors were early pioneers of Kentucky, and prom- 
inent promoters of all measures that helped to 
build up the material interests of the new territory. 
He was graduated from St. Joseph's College, 
Bardstown, Ky., in 1838, and was for a time clerk 
in tlie circuit and county courts. He studied law 
at Transylvania University, was admitted to the bar 
and began practice at Louisville in 1833, becom- 
ing one of the most distinguished jurists in Ken- 
tucky, occupying for a time the position of professor 
of law in the Louisville University. His well-known 
opposition to slavery prevented 
him from having any strong polit- 
ical induence in pro-slaveiy days, 
but his consistent and upright 
course brought him a great meas- 
ure of public esteem and confi- 
dence. In 1841 he was elected to 
the state legislature, but in 1849 
he suffered a defeat in the state 
constitutional convention as the 
"emancipation " candidate again.st 
James Guthrie, candidate for the 
pro-slavery party. In the discus- 
sions that ensued in Kentucky 
upon the question of secession, 
sir. Speed threw the weight of 
his influence on the I'nion side, 
and to his earnest efforts is large- 
ly ascribed the decision of the 
state convention against seces.sion. 
On the breaking out of the war. 
President Lincoln, who had been the life-long friend 
of Mr. Speed's family, called upon him to assist in 
organizing the national troops in his native state, 
making him mustering officer of volunteers for 
the first call for 75,000 men in 1861. This .service 
called for great wisdom and prudence, as the state 
of public feeling in Kentucky was at fever heat, and 
the danger of personal or party collision imminent. 
To win the state in spirit as well as in name to the 
I'nion cause was of the uppermo.sl importance, and 
this he so well accomplished that in the same 
year Mr. Speed was elected to the stale senate, 
in which he served until .Inly, 18f)3, when he was 
selected by President Lincoln as the successor of 
Edward Bates as U. S. attorney-general, which (losi- 
li<in he resigned after the death of Mr. Lincoln, not 
being in accord with President Johnson's adminis- 
tration. He was president of the loyalLsts" con- 
vention held in Philadi'lphia in 1866. and was a dele- 
gate to the reiinblicari conventions of 1872 and 1876. 
ilis last appearance in public was upon the occasion 
of delivering an address on Lincoln before the Loyal 
League of Cincinnati. May 4, 1887, his death occur- 
ring at his home in Kentucky, June 25, 1887. 




300 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 




^P 5^, 



FESSENDEN, William Pitt, sccretarj- of the 
treasurv, was born at Hoscawen, Merrimack Co., 
N. H.,"Oct. 16, ISOti, tlio son of Samuel Fesseuden. 
Graduating from Howdoiu College in 1823, he read 
law. began its practice at Hriilgetou. Me., in 1827, 
and in 1829 settled at Portland, where he rapidly 
took high rank at the bar, and identified himself 
with wliig politics. Sent to the legislature in 1832, 
he won repute in debate, though the youngest mem- 
ber of that body. In 1840 he was again in the legis- 
lature, and a delegate to the national 
convention of liis |iarty. After twice 
declining nominations tocongress, he 
entered the house in 1843, and dur- 
ing his single term made his mark 
as a debater and au opponent of 
slavery. He was the whig candidate 
for U." S. .senator in 1843, served in 
tlie legi.slalure in 184.j-46aud 1853. 
tirged Welister's claims for the pres- 
idency ill tlie national convention of 
1848, "and in (hat of 1852 gave his 
voice and vote for Gen. Scott. By 
this time he was one of the foremost 
Uiwyers in the land, and liad much 
practice in the U. S. supreme court. 
The free - soil sentiment growing 
aiiace in his .section, he was elected 
to the senate in 18.53 by a democrat- 
ic Icgi.slature. On March 3, 1854, 
soon after taking his .seat, he made a brilliant and 
effective .speech again.st the Nebraska bill. The 
position thus taken was steadily maintained, and 
from the organization of the repiiblicau party, of 
wliich he was a founder, lie was recognized as one 
of ils most feark'ss and consistent leaders. Some of 
his nio.st notable speeches dealt with the Clayton- 
Bulwer treaty in IS5('>, the Dred Scott decision in 
1857, and the proposed Lecomplou constitution for 
Kan.sas in 1858 In is.5!) lie was re-elected by ac- 
clamation, and in 1801 became chairman of the com- 
mittee on finance, of which he liad long been a mem- 
ber. In this position lie was alile to propo.se or con- 
trol the financial legislation ofthat critical period, and 
to render esseiiljal service in .■liding Secretary Chase 
and maintaining the national credit. Wiien Chase 
witlidrew from the ealiinel. June 30, 1864, Fe.ssenden 
at first declined to succeed him. but soon yielded to 
importunity and to the necessity of the case. So 
great was his reputation that the restoration of pub- 
lic confidence was marked by the speedy fall of gold 
from 380 to 225. His chief feat was the floating of 
a new loan in bonds of if;.50. bearing 7.30 per cent, 
interest. This was largely taken, and obviated the 
need of further legal-tender issues, to which he had 
always been opposed. Having relieved the .strin- 
gency, he resigned in March, 1865, to aceejit a third 
election to the senate. Here he resumed his place 
at tlic head of the finance committee, and became 
chairman of that on reconstruction, writing its mcm- 
or.'ible report. His lofty iiidep<'ndeni'e was displayed 
in his opposition to the impeaclinient of President 
Johnson in May, ISIjS, amid the execrations of his 
paity. When the pas.sions of the hour gave way to 
wiser counsels, it was seen that the few republicans 
who dared to take this course had averted a national 
calamity. i\Ir. Fesseuden was for a time one of the 
regents of "the Smillisoniaii liislilulion. Tlie degree 
of LL.D. was conferred by Bowdoin in 1858 and by 
Harvard in 1864. Asa speaker he had few superiors 
in congress; as a financier his .services were of the 
highest value; in |iublic and jirivate life alike his 
character was .solid and lilameless. Two of his 
brothers rose to eminence at the bar, and his iliree 
sons served with distinction in the army during 
the civil war. He died at Portland, ^le., Sept. 8, 
186'J. 




/y^^^-^V-^----/^ 



DOUGLAS, Stephen Arnold, statesman, was 
born at Brandon, Kulland Co.. Vt., Apr. 23, 1813. 
His fatlier was a native of New York and a prom- 
inent physician, who died .suddenly of apoplexy, 
when his .son, Stephen, was an infant. The widow, 
who survived to witness the greatness of her boy, 
took her infant and her daughter, some eighteen 
months older, to a farm not far from Brandon, 
which she had inherited conjointly with an unmar- 
ried brotlier. Here Stephen obtained the customary 
common - school education of the 
period, but being ambitious, his 
liopes turned toward a university 
course. For this, however, his fam- 
ily were unable to afford the neces- 
sary expendilnre. and the boy 
worked on the farm in summer, 
going to school three mouths in 
winter until he was fifteen years 
old, when he apiirenticed himself 
toa cabinet-makerof the neighbor- 
hood with whom he worked for 
eighteen months. This enabled 
him to save enough money to enter 
the academy at Brandon, where he 
studied for a year, when, his mother 
and sister having mariied a father 
and son of the name of Granger, 
living in Ontario county, N. Y., 
Stepiieu went with them to Canan- 
daigua. and entered the academy 
at that place; and here until 1833, he studied law in 
the olHce of a local practitioner. In the latter year, 
Jlr. Douglas went west as far as Clevelanfl. where 
he was detained by illness for some months, and 
after his recovery visited Cincinnati, Louisville, St. 
Louis and other towns in hopes of obtaining a posi- 
tion which would enable him to learn the jirofession 
of law. At "Wincliester, III., he was without money 
and in dire straits, wlien a chance came to him to 
earn a few dollars by acting as clerk, whereupon 
he opened a school and soon obtained forty schol- 
ars, whom he taught for three months at f 3 each. 
Ill the nieanlime he devoted his nights to .studying 
law, with tlu' result that in March. 1834, he" ob- 
tained a lieen.se from the judges of the supreme 
court, opened an otliee in .Jacksonville and com- 
menced practice. His progress was something re- 
markable, as within a year after his admission to 
inaetice and while not yet twenty-two years old, the 
legislature elected him attorney-general of the state 
In December. 1S3.5, he was elected to the legislature 
by the democrats of Jlorgan county, and resigned 
the office of attorney-general. His re]iutation had 
by this time become wide-spread and his influence 
w'ithin the democratic party constantly extending 
and .strengthening. In 1837 President Van Bureu 
appointed him registrar of the land ollice at Spring- 
field, III., and he held the position until 1839. It 
was while ill the legislature that he obtained the 
title of the " Little Giant." given to him because of 
the admitted fact that within his .slight form 
he held the greatest powers, as within his brain un- 
usual intellectual ability. As an orator, he had 
already made some impression as early as 1834. by 
delivering a powerful address in behalf of the ad- 
ministration of Gen. Jackson, so that it is doubtful 
if there is any other case in the history of the I'nited 
States, excepting that of Alexander Hamilton, of 
the existence of a man only twenty-five years of 
aire, so thoroughly equipped and with so wide-spread 
a reputation as Stephen A. Douglas. In 1838 Mr. 
Douglas, who had been nominated on the demo- 
cratic ticket for congress in the November previous, 
and who attained the requisite age prior to the date 
of election, was unsuccessful on account of fifty 
votes cast for him being rejected by the canvass- 





COF>V«IGHT, I89I, BY JAMES T. WHITI 1 CO. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



303 



ers because his name was misspelled ; and, although 
over 36,000 votes were cast, the whij; eaudiilnte 
was declared elected liy a majority of five. After 
this defeat Mr, Douglas devoted himself ciilirely to 
his jirolitalile law practice until 1840, when lie en- 
tered upon the presidential cnnlest in favnr of Van 
Buren with tlie greatest warnilli. traversing tlie stale 
for seven nuuiths and addressing more than 200 
political gatheriug.s. It was believed tliat to his 
great exertions was due the fact that Illinois gave 
her full vote for Van Buren. In December of that 
year Jlr. Douglas was appointed .secretary of slate 
lor Illinois, and in the February following was 
elected by the legislature a .judge of the supreme 
court. In 1S43, hnwever, he resigned his seal on 
the bench against his own wish, to run for congress, 
being the oidy democrat who could possibly be 
elected. He was elected, re-elected in 1S44 and 
again in 184(5, but did not take his seat under the 
last eleclii)U, having been in the nieanlime elevated 
to the United Slates .senate for si.\ vears from 
March -1, 1847,inwhich position he remained for four- 
teen year.s. In the house of representatives, Mr. 
Doughis was prominent in his opposition to tlie de- 
mands of Great Britain in the Oregon controversy. 
He was an advocate of the annexation of Texa.s, and 
he sustained Mr. Polk's administration in its war 
measures against jMe.xico. jMeanwhile, he opposed 
the Ciayton-Bulwer treaty, and was adverse to Eng- 
land on general principles in nearly all questions 
that came up with regard to her. He was in favor 
of the acquisition of Cuba whenever that could be 
accomplislied in a manner consistent with the laws 
of nations and the honor of the United States. One 
of the most active men in congress, Mr. Douglas's 
voice was heard on all grave ]iublic questions. His 
energy and the force and determination of his char- 
acter, combined with his natural rugged eloquence, 
gave him peculiar advantages in debate, and he was 
always listened to with interest and respect. In the 
exciting period of 1850, 
when the passage of the 
compromise measures and 
particularly of the fugitive 
slave law aroused a condi- 
tion of feelini;' in Illinois, 
especially in Chicago, which 
was prepared to burst into 
the form of absolute rebel- 
lion, the iiower and vigor 
which Mr. Douglas could 
thniw inio his oratory came 
inlii use: standing before a 
tremendous concourse of 
people utterly op]iosed to 
the execution of I he laws 
wliich he had been so prom- 
inent in causing to he passed, lie spoke to the ques- 
tion witli such eloquence that the meeting resolved 
unanimously to carry into elTect the provisions iif 
the laws of congress, ami the eonfusii)n and out- 
break were at an end. In 1s.'^i4 Mr. Douglas intro- 
duced into the senate the Kansas and Xclnaska bill. 
which aroused another whirlwind of antagonism 
throughout (he Xorth. in the course of which he was 
fiercely and savagely denounced liy all abolitionists 
for advocating the principle that (he people of the ter- 
ritories might have slavery if (hey want<'d it. and 
should not be conqielled tii if Ihi'y did nol want it. 
He was burned and hanged in etiigy in every town, 
villageand lian\lel in the Uni(e(i Slates where an alio- 
litionLst couhl be found. "lie could ride from Biis- 
toi) to Chicago by the light of his bl.-izing eliigy in 
the night and in sight of his hanging eliigy by day 
upon every tree that he passed. " Arriveii in Chi- 
cago, to give an account of his legislation, Douglas 
found himself confronted b3- a howling mob, whom 





he addressed for four hours with rea.son, appeal and 
invective, without I lie least effect, and he finally, 
with a characteristic comment upon the nature <)f 
the gathering, retired unheard. Later, however, lie 
succeeded in bringing the ])eople to their .senses and 
obtaining from them the eonsidcj-.-ilion of the ques- 
tions at i.ssue from tlu' sl.andpoinl cif cciminon .sense, 
insteail of that of jiopular emolidnal excilemcnt. 
Episodes in Mr. Douglas's political life while can- 
vasses were going on in the state of Illinois were 
his remarkable oratnrieal combats with Abra- 
ham Lincoln, on the slump throughout the 
principal towns and cilies of the stale. These 
battles of intelleclual giants attracted the at- ^ 
tenlion of (he entire country whenever they 
occurred. His last election to the United Stales 
senate was preceded by such a joint debate, ex- 
temling through the most important districts 
of the state, and in which it was difficult to say 
at any one time wliich of the great orators was 
successful. The fact that the question was de- 
cided in the legislature gave Mr. D(niglas the 
election, although there was a republican pop- 
ular majority of 4,000 votes for Jlr. 
Lincoln. The outbreak of the war of 
the rebellion brought Mr. Douglas into 
the thick of the dilhculty. He traveled 
through the Southern "states in 18()0, 
denying the right of .secession and assert- 
ing that the government was a national 
one which could not be dissolved by the 
action of one or more of the states. In the 
senate he sustained Mr. Lincoln with all 
his force, and during his la.st illness, he 
dictated the most urgent requests for his 
constituents and the citizens of Illinois to hold fast 
to the Union. He was married in 1847 to ilartlia 
Martin, daughter of Col. Robert Martin, of Rocking- 
ham countyT N. C. His wife died .Jan. 19, 18.53, 
and he married again in Novemlier, 18.')(), Adile, 
daughter of .Tames JIadi.son Cutts, of Wasliington, 
D. ('., wlio after his death became the wife of Gen. 
Robert Williams, U. S. A. Jtr. Douglas died in 
Chicago, 111., .June 3, 1861. The life of ."Mr. Doug- 
las was written by James W. Sbeehan, and pub- 
lished in New York, 1860, and by Henry >!. Flint, 
Philadelphia, 1869. His remains rest benealh a 
sjilendid monument on the banks of Lake Michigan. 
GRO'W, Galusha Aaron, speaker of the house 
of representatives, was Ijoru at A.sliford, AVindham 
Co., Conn., Aug. 31, 1823. After gradutUing from 
Amherst in 1844, lie read law at 
!Mou(rose. Pa., and in 1847 .settled 
in Towanda, Pa., and formed a 
partnership with David Wilmot, 
author of the famous proviso. 
In 18r)0 he was elected to congress 
by a fusion of free-soil and pro- 
slavery democrats, and had the 
honor of being the youngest mem- 
ber of lli.at body. 'TiKiugh chosen 
as a compromise candidate, he soon 
became as .strong an opp<!nent of 
slavery as Mr. Wilmot, whom hi' 
had succeeded, an<l after keepitig 
his seat for three terms as a demo- 
crat, held it for three more as a re- 
publican. He was a zealous advo- 
cate of the Homestead bill, and 
ciirricd it in 18(;2, after ten years' 
iiriiency. He did much work on 
conimiitees, and was chairinan of that on the terri- 
tories 18.')7-61. During his last term, 1861-63, he 
was speaker of the house, whose thanks he received 
on reliriiiL''. He attended the national conventions 
of his party in 18(>4 and 18(i8, and was chairman of 
the slate committee during the campaign which rc- 




C5^/'T57^ 



304 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 




suited iu Gen. Grant's first election to the presidency. 
From 1871 to 1875 he lived at Houston, Te.\., and 
wa.s pri'siileiit of a railway in those parts. In 1870, 
after making maiij- campaign .speeches, he declined 
the mission to Hu.ssia. His later years have heen 
spent in his adopted state. He is now (1893) living 
at Glenwood, Susquehanna Co., Pa. 

FOOT, Solomon, senator, was born in Corn- 
wall, Addison Co., Vt.. Xov. l!l, 1S()2. He was 
graduated from -Middlcbury College in 1826, became 
principal of the Castleton Seminary the following 
year, a tutor in the University of Vermont iu 1827, 
and for three years from 1828 was jirofcssor of nat- 
ural ))hil()snphy in the Vermont 
Academy at Castleton. In the 
meantime he .studied law , was 
adniilted to the bar in 18l!l, and 
settled in practice at Rutland, 
Vt. Ajiart from his profession 
he was a conspicuous leader in 
the political atlairs of his town, 
which he represented in the leg 
islatures of 1833, 1836-38, and 
1K47, serving as speaker of the 
bou.sc during the last two terms. 
In 1836 he was a delegate to the 
state constitutional convention, 
and was in the .same year ap- 
pointed state attorney for Rut- 
land, holding the ofhce for si.\ 
years. He was sent to congress 
in 18-13 as a whig, and held his 
.seat until 1847, when he resumed 
his profession. In 184!* he was elected U. S. senator, 
taking his seat iu ISol. and .serving uiuil his death. 
He was chairman of important comnultees, and pres- 
ident pro teiiijMre of tlie .senate during a jiart of the 
thirty-sixth congress in Buchanan's administration, 
and tlie whole of the thirty-seventh imdcr Lincoln. 
In 18.')4 Senator F'oot inincil the republican ranks and 
took a prominent part in the ilcbales of the mo.st e.\ 
citing period of our national history. He was es- 
pecially active in the discussions on tlie admission of 
Kan.sas in 1858. When the Brunswick and Florida 
railroad company was organized, about 1854, he was 
chosen juesident and went to England to negotiate 
tlie bonds (if the company. Senator Foot died in 
Washiii^lon March 2S, 1866. 

DAVIS, Garrett, senator, was born in Mount 
Sterling. Ky., Si-pt. 10, 1801. He received a clas- 
sical cdiiciitioii, and afterward supported him.self by 
writing in the county and circuit courts of his dis- 
trict. His ambition turning toward a profession, he 
lu-eiiared for the bar, was admitted in 1823, and es- 
talilislicd a successful practice. His enthirsiastic 
tem|iciament and talent as a public speaker .soon 
made liiiii iiromincnt in politics, and in 1.833 he was 
elected to the state legislature by whig constituents, 
and twice re-elected. In 1831) he took a prominent 
part in the state couslitiitional convention, was then 
elected to congress from Kentucky, serving until 
1847. Declining a re-election, Mr. Davis relurned 
home, and wliile resuming bis practice, devoted a 
large share of his time to the .seienlitic cultivation of 
a large estate with so great success as to la'conie 
high authority on agriculture. As a Unionist he 
made a strong appeal to his state in favor of the 
national government and succeeded in influencing 
the majority against the act of secession. In 1861 
he was sent to the U. S. senate and re-elected for 
the term ending in 1873, serving, during his first 
term, on the committees on foreign relations, terri 
t<iries. claims and iiensions, Mr. Davis had ac- 
quired a reputation for learning, and in 1864 was 
made a regent for I lie Smith.sonian Institution. In the 
senate he was a prominent debater on all the issues 



that grew out of the troubled state of the country, 
his speeches sometimes holding the house for hours 
by their impassidued earnestness, learning and sar- 
ca.sm. Though in favor of pro.secuting the war for 
niainlaining the Union, he opposed all measures by 
congress for dealing with the negro bj- emancipation 
or otherwise, as.serted that properly, considering the 
negro as such, was a matter of state or domestic in- 
stitution, and .stigmatized the conti.scation act as a 
measure as gigantic as the war it.self, involving .si.v 
millions of people and jiropertv of nearly ^.5,000,- 
000.000. He died in Paris, Ky.l Sept. 2'.>,"l872. 

BAKER, Edward Dickenson, .senat<ir and sol- 
dier, was born in London Fel). "24, 1811. His falherset- 
lled in Philadelpliia among the tjuakcisabout 1815, 
but. dying a few years later, left Kdward and a young- 
er brother alone and without provision. The elder lad 
found a means of support for both in a weaving fac- 
tory, and in his leisure nioments supjilied the needs 
of Ills eager nund for knowledge by extensive read- 
ing. At the age of nineteen, with liis brother and a 
few dollars, he started for the new West, and selected 
Springfleld. III., ashishome. Amid his struggles with 
Iioverly and the lack of an early education, he com- 
pleted the study of law. and eslablLshed a jiracticein 
Greene county, in which he became noted among 
the leading advocates in the state. A talent for ora- 
tory and an intense interest in jniblic affairs soon at- 
tracted him into the broader tield of iiolitics, and 
in 1837 he was sent to the legislature by the whig 
jiarty, and then to the slate senate, serving from 
1840" until 1844. In the hitler year he was elected to 
congress, where he became one of 
the leaders of his party, hut left 
his seat in 1846 to nii.se a com- 
pany of Illinois volunteers for the 
Mexican war. Taking comniand 
as colonel, he left his company on 
the Rio Grande long enough to 
return to congress and give his 
influence an<l vote for the ]iros- 
eculion of the war. Resuming 
his command on the march to 
Vera Cruz, he served as one of 
the most brilliant officers of the 
array in all the actions on the 
route to Mexico. At Cerro Gordo 
he succeeded to the command 
of Gen. Sliields's brigade, which 
he led until the close of the w:ir. 
Upon his return to Illinois he 
was again elected to congress, 
serving from 1849 until 1851. 
Declining a re-elect ion. he removed to San Francisco, 
where Ik; became distinguished as the head of the 
bar, and as one of the most eloquent speakers in the 
state. In 1860 he removeil to Oregon, and was sent 
to the U. S. .senate by tin- united votes of the repub- 
licans and Douglas democrats. In all measures re- 
lating to the apiu-oacbing crisis he proved himself a 
firm sujiporter of the national government, and the 
most effective orator of the senate. In the extra ses- 
sion of coiigre.s.s, called .luly 4. 1861, Mr. Baker ap- 
proved, as the iiersonal and jiolitical friend of tlie 
president, of every measure of bis adniiiiistialiou 
pertaining to the existing troubles of the country, 
and adds, in a debate on the resolution to aiiprove 
the acts of the president, "I |U'opose to lend the 
whole power of the country, arms. men. money, and 
place them in his hands with authority almost un- 
limited until the end of the struggle." When the 
opening blow was struck al Fori Sumter, at a great 
massnieetirig in Union Square. New York. Apr. 
20tli. he made a thrilling appeal for the preservation 
of the Union, and loyally devoted the rest of his life 
to his country's eau.se. Raising the "California" 
regiment in N'ew York and Philadelphia, he entered 




cWL/^ 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



305 




iM-J^c^^^ 



the war. At the fatal hattle of Ball's Bluff he led 
his briiiade with umlauntoii courage under a galliug 
fire from the cneiii}-, and fell pierced with several 
wounds Oct. 31, 1801. 

SlilDELL, John, senator and Confederate com- 
missioner to Frani'C, was born in New York aliout 
1793. lie was graduated from Columbia in 1810, 
was for a time in business, turned to the law, and 
from 1819 practiced with much success al New Or- 
leans. He was often in the legislature, U. S. district 
attorney for his adopted state 1829-30, a defeated 
candidate for congress in 1828. and for the senate in 
1834 and 1849. His views were of the e.xtremest 
Southern type, and they caused his election to con- 
gress in 1843. On the e.xpii-alion 
of his term he was accredited as 
minister to Mexico by President 
Polk in November, 184.5, to settle 
the difficulties about Te.xas; but 
that rc|uiblic would not receive 
him. In 1853 President Pierce 
olfered him a mission to Central 
America; a few months later his 
amiiilion was gratified liy an elec- 
tion to the senate. Here he was 
active on committces.though little 
known as a speaker, and came t(j 
be regarded as one of the leaders 
of southern oiiinion. He was re- 
elected in 1859, and withdrew 
Feb. 4, 1861, after the secession 
of his state. Early in the fall 
he and .Tames ^iurray Mason, 
of Mrginia, were sent abroad to 
jirocure tlie recognition of the 
Confederacy by France and England. At Havana 
they took passage on the British nniil steamer 
Trent. Their ves.sel was stopjied in the Bahama 
channel, Nov. 8th, by Capt. Cliarles Wilkes (q. v.) 
of tlie U. S. frigate San .Jacinto, who took the com- 
nii.ssioners, despite their protests, to Boston, where 
they were confined in Fort Warren. This rash act 
placed the government in a position of great diffi- 
culty. Warmly supjiorted by public clamor at 
home, it was deeply resented by Great Britain, and 
known to be contrary to the law of nations, as inter- 
preted and insisted on by the United States in for- 
mer years. The adroitness of Secretary Seward foimd 
a way to vield, and thus avoid a foreign war with- 
out sacrificing tlic national dignity or affronting the 
general patriotic feeling. .Jan. 1,1802, the prisoners 
were released. Slidell soon reached Paris, where 
he failed to effect liis main purpo.se, but managed to 
negotiate a large Confederate loan. He also tried to 
obtain vessels for the use of his government, but 
without success. On tins head see .1. Biiielow's 
"France and the Confederate Navy" (1888). He 
never returned to America, but lived in England 
until his death at London .Inly 29, 1871. 

MASON, James Murray, senator and Con 
federate conunissioner, was liorn on Mason'.s Isl- 
and, Fairfa.x Co., W. Va., Nov. 3, 1798. He was 
a grandson of George JIason, a celebrated Virginia 
patriot of the American revolution, .and a close 
friend of George Washington, .lames M. Mason 
was graduated from the I'niversity of Pennsylvania 
in 1818, and sul)se(|uentlv studied law at VVilliam 
and Mary College, Virginia, and after bcimi ad- 
mitted to the l)ar itraeticed law at Winchester, Va 
In 1820 he was elected to the stale legislature, and 
continuously reelected until 1832. He was a mem 
ber of the Virginia ccaistitntional convention in 1S29, 
and in 1S33 .served as a president i.-d elector on the 
Jackson ticket, and was elected to congre.s.s as a 
Jackson ilemocrat in that year, and declined re-elec- 
tion at the end of his term, preferring to return to 
his law practice. The Virginia leirislature elected 




him to fill an miexpired term in the U, S. senate in 
1847, and he was re-elected twice. His term would 
have expired in 1803, but he resigned his .seat in 
1861 to cast his fortunes with the Confederacy. The 
fourteen years of his career as a senator were not 
records of brilliant speeches and measures, but 
were rather .stamped with an ability for hard work. 
He served as chairman of tlie committee on foreign 
relations for ten years. He was a thorough demo- 
crat, and a strict constrnctioni.st of the state's rights 
school, was the author of tlic fugitive slave law in 
1850, and throughout his career as a senator strongly 
opposed anti-slaveij agitation. As soon as he resign- 
ed his seat in the I . S. .senate he was elected to the 
Confederate congress, and a])- 
))ointed with John Slidell com- 
missioner from the Confederate 
States to England and France. 
He sailed from Charleston, S. C., 
for Cuba, Oct. 12, 1861, and reach- 
ed Havana safely, -nhere he and 
Maj. Slidell were received with 
due form by the ca])tain-general. 
The two coniniissioners engaged 
pas.sageou the British mail steam- 
er Trent, and were ca))lured by 
Capt. Charles Wilkes, of the U. t?. 
navy, as the vessel was passing 
through the Bahama Channel. 
They were brought to Boston, 
and incarcerated in Fort War- 
ren, Boston harbor, but after- 
ward, (jn demand of the British 
government, thej' were released, 
iJan. 2, 1862. and immediately 
proceeded on their mission to Europe, where, until the 
close of the civil war, they actively pushed the claims 
of the Confederacy for recognition. Senator Mason 
spent several yeais in Canada after the cessation of 
hostilities, but in isos ri'turned to his home in Vir- 
ginia, where his eventful life was peacefully brought 
to a close. Hedied at Alexandria, Va., Apr. 28, iy71. 
KING, Preston, .senator, was born in Ogdcn.s- 
burg, N. Y., Oct. 14, 1806. Hewas graduated from 
Union College with honors in 1827, was admitted to 
the bar a few years later, and achieved a lariic jirac- 
tice in St. Lawrence county. Histaslecarly inclined 
him to political life, aud in 1830 he estalilisheil and 
edited the "St. Lawrence Heiniblican," in which he 
strongly supported the administration of Andrew 
Jacksoii. 'I'he following year he was apiiointcd 
postmaster of Ogdensburg, but resigned in 1K34 to 
take his .seat in the as.sembly, and served Ihnaigh 
four terms. From 1843 until 1847 he was a member 
of congress, and served also fi-om 1849 initil 18.53. 
Though he was a zealous democrat, aial had almost 
reached the leadership of his parly, he left it in 18.54 
and joined the republicans, who nominated him for 
secretary of state the next year. He supported Fre- 
mont in"l850, and in 1857 was elected to the U. S. 
senate, .serving until 1803, and doing important work 
as chairman of the conunitlee on revolulionary pen- 
sions, also as ehairnian i>f tlie national republican 
committee. In the di'bati' on the naval appropria- 
tion bill in 1861 he stronsily advocated the adojition 
of measures to |irovide for thedefencc of the country 
by war, if necessary, and upheld President Lincoln 
ill ali the acts of his administration. Senator King 
removed to New York city, in 18(i3. and resumed his 
practice. In 18(!4hc wasa])residcntial elector, .and the 
same year a delegati' to tlw Baltimore convention, 
where he exerted a powerful infiucnee in favor of 
Andrew Johnson as vice-president. When Mr. John- 
son became president he made Mr. King collectorof 
the port of New York He assumed his duties in the 
summer of 180.5, but the responsibilities of the ottiec 
and some financial difficulties unbalanced his mind, 



306 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



and he deliberately committed suicide by jumping 
from a ferrj'-boat in the Hudson river, Xt>v. 12, 1865. 
Mr. King was highly esteemed by the public for his 
integrity, the conscientious discharge of pul>iic<lutie.s, 
and aliove all for his purity of character. 

COWAN, Edgar, senator, was born in Sewicb- 
ley, Westmoreland Co., Pa., Se])!. 19, 1815. AVilh 
but little education, he supported himself in early 
life as clerk, boat-builder and .school-teacher, l)ut 
found means that en^d)led him to enter Franklin 
College, Ohio, and was graduated in 1889. Making 
Greensburg, Pa., his lioinc. he relinquished tlie 
study of medicine for that of law, and being adntit- 
ted to the bar in 1842, was a successful juactitloner 
in his section during the next tweiUy years. Hav- 
ing strong party convictions which hee.xiiressed with 
fearlessness and great readiness in (U'bate. ."Mr. 
Cowan was naturally drawn into ])olilical life, and 
in 18fiO was cho.sen a presidential elector. In IsCl 
be was sent to the U. S. senate by the people's party, 
serving until 1867, and showing irreat ability on 
qiiestions brought up for debate, lie was chosen 
chairman of committees on patents, linance, and 
agriculture, and a meinber of the judiciary com- 
mittee. In the e.xtra session of 18(il, he opposed the 
confiscation act, nuiinlainiiig that it was in direct 
conllict with the constitution of the United States, 
anil in the debate on the eleeloral vote of Louisiana, 
.said that any action inteiuled to ]M'event that state 
from voting woidd be a breach of faith on the part 
of the national government. lie was a delegate 
to the Philadelphia national union convention of 
1866, and in 1867 was appointed by President John- 
son minister to Austria, but was not confirmed. 
From the senate he returned to his jirofession at 
Greensbtirg, where he died Aug. 39, 1885. 

WADE, Benjamin Franklin, senator, was 
born near Springfield, ilass,, Oct. 27, 181)0. Heciime 
of English descent, an ancestor, Jonathan Wade, 
having emigrated from Norfolk, Eug.. and settled 
in ^la.ssachusetts in 1(>:!2. James 
Wade, the father of Benjaiuin F., 
was a .soldier in the revolution, 
who removed to Ohio about 182(1, 
His wife was a woman of remark- 
able iiUelligence and ambition, 
and slie directed the largest part 
of the education of young Ben- 
jamin. Tliere were no schools 
of any accoiuit on the frontier, 
besides which he was as a boy 
obliged to work hard on the farm, 
and even drove cattle as far as 
Pliiladelpliia fora market. In 1823 
he was able to go to Albany, N. Y., 
where he lived two years, support- 
ing himself l)y whatever work he 
could obtain, and studying medi- 
cine with some idea of entering 
that profession. At one time he 
•worked as a da_v laborer on the Eric canal, but 
after a time he was able to make some money by 
teaching, and so, in one way and another, he picked 
up the English branches of education, and on return- 
ing to Ohio began to study law. He followed this 
assiduously for two years, when he was admitted to 
the bar. begimiing to practice in 1S'J7 at JelVerson, 
O. In 18:il he entered into partnership with .loshua 
R. Giddings, an association which thus brought to- 
gether two of the most original and able political 
leaders of their time. In 1885 Mr. Wade ran for 
prosecuting attorney of .Vshtabida county and was 
elected, holding the oflice for two years. Kong be- 
fore this he had begun to interest himself in politics 
as a whig, and in 1S37 was chosen by that p.-irty a 
membi-r of the .state senate. He was noted for his 
streiuious opposition to divorce, imd he succci'ded in 




t^-^^iH^-Ji,,, 



obtaining the passage of a bill by which the legis- 
lature was deprived of the power of granting divorces, 
which it had hitherto held. In 1839, when commis- 
sioners from the southern states were going about 
trying to influence legislatures of the free states to 
jiass strong fugitive slave laws, the ipiestion came 
up in the legislature of Ohio and such a law was 
passed, but Mr. Wade's determined fight against it re- 
sidted in making it practically ineffective. In 1841 
Mr. Wade was re-elected to th(,' state senate, where 
he continued to do good work and to gain strength 
with experience. In 1847 tlie legislature made him 
presiding judge of the third judicial dl,strict of Ohio, 
and lie was still serving in this capacity when, on 
March 15, 1851, he was elected a mendierof the U. S. 
.senate. He had for his colleague Salmon P. Chase, 
afterward chief justice of the V. S. supreme court, 
but of his stripe in ])olitics the number was very 
few. Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine, Charles Sumner, 
of Ma.ss;iclnisetls, John P. Hale, of New Hampshire, 
AVilliam H. Seward, of New '^'ork. and a few others 
formed thesmall anti-slavery minority, among whom 
Ben Wade soon became known as a leader. Jlean- 
while, on the Southern side, or "on the fence," there 
were such men as Jere Clemens, of Alabaiua; 
"Duke"Gwin, of California: Stephen A. Douglas, 
of Illinois; Henry Clay, of Kentucky; Lewis Ca.s,s, 
of Jlichigan; David U, Atchison, of Missouri; Jaiues 
A. Bayard, of Delaware; Stephen B. >Iallory, of 
Florida; R. Barnwell Rlielt, of South Carolina"; and 
Robert M. T. Hunter and Jaiues yi. Mason, ot Vir- 
ginia, with Samuel Houston and Thomas J. Husk, 
of Texas, to comjilete the list. By these .senators, 
all men of acknowledged ability, position and exjie- 
rience. it was soon discovered that a power had <'oine 
upon the floor of the senate. Ben Wade fought the 
Kansas-Nebraska bill in 18.54, and the Lecomptou 
coustilulion of 18.58. He wasan advocate of the re- 
peal of the fugitive slave Jaw, and when Preston S. 
Brooks made his dastardly attack on Charles Sum- 
ner, and Senator Toombs announced his approval of 
the act, Ben Wade at once made a powerful speech, 
in which he dared the Southern .senators to |iersonal 
combat, if such were their will, anil later. Simon 
Cameron, Zachariah Chandler and Benjamin F. 
Wade made a solemn compact to challenge any 
Southerner who insulted them either personally or 
by in.sulting the North. When the civil war began, 
Mr. Wade was earnest in his recommendation of its 
vigorous prosecution on the part of the North, He 
was chairman of the joint conimiltee on the conduct 
of the war in 1861-62, and it chanced that he was. 
present at the di.sgraceful tiiglit of rnion soldiei"S 
after the fii'st battle of Bull Run. Witha number of 
other congressmen, he viewed the hurrying fugitives, 
and it is said that at his suggestion .seven of them, 
with revolvers, for some time withstood the stream 
of fugitives at a point near Fairfax Court-House. In 
1862. Mr. Wade being chairman of the coinniilteeoii 
territories, he reported a bill for the abolition of 
.slavery therein, .Air, Wade was a constant and faith- 
ful friend to the adiuinistration, altlioiigh in some 
instances he critici.scd or even opposed its acts. Iii 
1867 Mr. Wade was president ;);'o/('w. of the senate, 
and acting vice-president of the L'nited States. His 
advice to I'resiilent Johnson was to try a few of the 
Confederate leaders for treason and pardon tlie rest. 
Ileditferi'd with .lohnson on a plan of reconst ruction, 
ami in the inipeachmeiit trial of the latter 3Ir. 
Wade voted for conviction. He left the senate in 
1869 to give place to Allen G. Thurman. and settled 
at his home in Jefferson, (). When President (irant 
sent out his St. Domingo expeililiim in 1871, Mr. 
AVade was one of the meinliers, Atlerward he was 
appointed attorney for the Northern Pacific railroad. 
He was devoted in his advocacy of Kutherford B. 
Hayes as a candidale for the presidency, but was 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



307 



deadly opposed to him as to his administration in 
rcirard to tho Southern states. Mr. Wade was re- 
niaikable for his massive ruggedne.ss of cliaracter as 
well as physique; a man of stcru, uncompromising 
lioiiesty, pure and patriotic purpose ; his personal 
courage was imquestioned, as a great many of the 
Soullieni tire-eaters iu congress were ])erl'eclly wil- 
ling to admit. As an orator he was unpolished, but 
forcible and ellective. Throughout the country, the 
name of "old Ben Wade" was held in respect and 
even alTection liy those who knew his tine traits of 
character and his great ability as a pul)lic man. Mr. 
Wailedie<l iu .letlerson, C, iMarch 2, 1S7.S. 

FOSTER, La Fayette Sabine, senator, was 
born at Franklin, Conn., Nov. 22, 1806. His father 
was a revolutionary officer, who was a dcscendjuit, 
on his mother's side, of Capt. Miles Standish, of the 
Plymouth (New England) colony. The father serv- 
ed with distinction at the battles of White Plains, 
Stillwater, and Saratoga. Having 
acquired the means to pay for his 
college education by teaching, the 
son was gradiuited from Brown Uni- 
versity, R. I., in 1828. with the high- 
est honors. He studied law, and was 
admitted to the bar at Centervillc, 
Md., where he was teaching, in 1830. 
Having returned to Connecticut, he 
completed his legal studies iu the 
office of Calvin Goddard, at Nor- 
wich, Coim., and was admitted to 
the bar in that state, iu 1831. He 
began his legal practice in the town 
of Hampton. Conn., but, in 1834, set- 
tled at Norwich, which continued to 
be his place of residence. In 1835 he 
edited a whig paper, the Nonvich 
' ' Republican. " He was a member of 
the Connecticut general as,sembl_y in 
1839-40-46-47-48, and in 1854; and 
speaker of the Connecticut house, in 1847-48. and 1854. 
Brown University gave him LL.D. in 1851. The 
same year, and in 1852, he was mayor of the city of 
Norwich. ]May 19, 1854. he was elected U. S. .senator 
from Connecticut, by the votes of whigs and f ree-soil- 
ers, for the term commencing in 1855 and ending in 
1861. He serveil as a member of the standing com- 
mittees on public lands, pensions, and the judiciary. 
Mr. Foster delivered a strong speech in the senate, 
June 25, 1856. against the repeal of the Missouri 
Compromise, and. in 1858. opposed the admission of 
Kansas into the Union with her Lecompton consti- 
tution. He identified himself with the national re- 
publican party at its organization in 1856, and, in 
ISiiO, was re-elected U. S. sen.-itor, his term expiring 
in l.S(i7. During the thirty-seventh and thirty-eighth 
congres.scs, he was chairman of the standing com- 
mittee on pensions, and a mendier of the standing 
committees on revolutionary claims, jirivatc land 
claims, Indian alTairs, and foreign relations. At the 
e.xtni session of the senate, in 1865, he was made 
president pro tern, of that body, and the death of 
President Abraham Lincoln, with the elevation of 
Vice President .lohnson to the presidency as 5Ir. 
Lincoln's successor, made him acting vice-president 
of the United States. As a member of a senatorial 
special committee, he traveled on the western United 
Stales plains, investigating the condition of <-ertain 
Indian tribes, during the subsecpieiit congressional 
recess. He withdrew his name from the canvass in 
C<innecticut for nominees to the U. S. .senate, in 
18(i6, his conservative political course during his 
second sen.-itorial term having been displeasing to a 
majority of the republicans in the state legislat- 
ure. In l.'<69 he was elected profes.sor in the law 
department of Yale College, but declined the chair. 
He did, however, iu 1876, deliver a coui-se of lec- 




tures in connection with that department, upon 
" Parliamentary Law, and Methods of Legislation." 
In 1870 he was a member of the Connecticut legis- 
lature from Norwich, and speaker of its hou.se, 
but resigned the jiosilion in .Tune of that year, hav- 
ing been elected by the a.s.sembly to a seat on the 
bench of the supreme' court of the state. In 1872 
he joined the liberal republicans, and supported 
Horace (Jreeley for U. S. president. He ran as 
a democratic candidate for the U. S. congr&ss, in 
1874, but was defeated. He reached the seventieth 
year of his age in 1876. was then retired from his 
judgeship by state constitutional provision, and re- 
sumed his law i)ractice at Norwich. By his will he 
endowed a professorshij) of English law at Yale Col- 
lege. He gave liis library to the town of Norwich, 
and his house for the use of the Norwich Free Acad- 
emy. He died at home Sept. 19, 1880. 

TEN EYCK, John Conover, senator, was born 
in Freehold, N. J., March 12. 1814. After a careful 
education by private tutors he -studied law, was ad- 
mitted to the bar iu 1835, and established an exten- 
sive practice at Mount Holly. Becoming noted for 
his judicial opinions he was made prosecuting attor- 
ney for Burlington county, holding otlice for ten 
years. In 1844 he served as a delegate to the state 
constitutional convention. Having repudiated his 
whig convictions in 1856, he was elected by republi- 
can constituents to the United States senate in 1859, 
doing notable work in the committees on the judicij^ry 
and commerce, anfl closing his term of service in 
1865. Mr. Ten Eyck was an able debater, and took 
a prominent part iu tho debate on the electoral vote 
of Loui.siana. In 1866 he was a delegate to the Phil- 
adelphia lovalists' convention. He died at his home 
in Mount Holly, N. J., Aug. 24, 1879. 

FERRY, Orris Sanford, senator, was born in 
Bethel, Faiifield Co., Conn., Aug. 15, 1823. His 
father was a hat manufacturer, and when a boy, 
young Ferry was apprenti('ed to that business. He 
soim displayed such aversion to the trade that his 
father released him finm his bonds, and allowed 
him such educational advantages as enalded him to 
enter Yale College, where he was graduated in 1844. 
He pursued the study of the law under eminent 
members of the profession in his 
native coimty, and in 1846 was ad- 
mitted to practice. Mr. Ferry took 
high rank as a counsel and advo- 
cate, and at an early age was viewed 
as being in the front rank of his 
profession. Ho had a marked 
power in analysis, while his mag- 
netism and oratory gave him great 
strength vvith the ('ourt and jury, 
and as a platform speaker he was 
believed to have no superior and 
few (Mpials in the state. In 1S47 • ' 
he was apjiointed lieutenant-colonel f 
of the Coimecticut state militia. 
and in 1849 was made judge of 
probate, a position which he heUl 
until 185(>. He was at that lime 
an ardent partisan, and was elect- 
ed to the state senate in 1855 and 
ag.-iin in 1856, as a member of the 
party then known as American, which was at that 
time" in the ascendant. His talents gave him a con- 
spicuous po.sition among its leaders, since as a tacti- 
cian he was remarkable, and as a debater had all 
the wcajions of logic at his command, and wielded 
them with great power. He rose to f.'inie as a legis- 
lator, and in 1S57 was candidate of the republican 
part}' for congress, but was defeated. In 18.59 he 
was again nominated and elecleil a member of the 
3lith congress, in which he took a prominent |)lace, 
and upon the breaking out of the civil war, was ap- 




308 



THE NATIONAL OYCLOPiEDIA 



pointed one of the celebrated committee of thirty- 
three, organized to consider the condition and rela- 
tion of the seceded states, but he was enthusiastic 
and very patriotic, and entered the Union array as col- 
onel of the 5th regiment of Couuecticut volunteers. 
On JIarch 17, 1862, President Lincoln coiumissioned 
him a brigadier-general, and he served in that capac- 
ity in the army until near the close of the war. In 
1866 Mr. Ferry was elected to the senate of the 
United States, and was re-elected in 1872. In that 
body he held the highest honors. When he spoke 
he spoke as a statesman and not as a politician, nor 
was he in any sense an office-seeker. His speeches 
in the senate were marked with great clearness of 
expression and force of argument, and always de- 
manded attention. His eloquence was that which 
springs from his own strong opinions and hiscouvic- 
tions\)f duty. During his entire public service, 
such was his stern integrity tliat lie was placed be- 
yond the reach even of temptation. At home among 
his fellow-citizens he had great influence liotli as a 
public man and socially, and in the church of which 
he was a devoted member he taught a Bible class, 
and delivered lectures in behalf of Cliristiauity. In- 
deed, in the later years of his life, Mr. Ferry was 
the subject of strong religious convictions. _ As a 
lawyer he possessed a remarliably discTiiuinating 
legal mind and a thorough understanding of the 
principles of the common law. For six years he 
served on the committee on private land claims in 
the senate, and reports were made liy him covering 
important cases and comprehending questions of law 
and fact of a complicated nature where lapse of 
time and fraud Iiad combined to obscure truth and 
justice, in wliich his wonderful intellectual skill and 
his absolute honcstv of purpose dissolved all doubt, 
and arrayed the merits of the case in clear and order- 
ly precision, forcing conviction. He was re-elected 
to the senate in 1872, through a coalition of indepen- 
dent republicans and <lemocrats, but he himself op- 
posed the liberal republican candidates at the presi- 
dential election of that year led by Horace Greeley. 
In the senate Mr, Ferry was chairman of the com- 
mittee on patents and ,a member of other imijortant 
committees. Dnriiu;- tlie reconstructicni period he 
opposed President .Johnson, and voted against him 
at his impeachment trial. Senator Ferry died in 
Korwalk, Conn.. Nov. 21, 1875. 

HARRIS, Ira, senator, was born May SI, l8U-i, 
at Charieston, Jlontgoraery Co., N. Y. He was the 
oldest of a family of ten children of Frederick 
Waterman and Lucy (Hamilton) 
Harris, In 181)8 the family re- 
moved to Cortland county and 
settled ujion a farm of some 400 
acres. The father and mother 
were lioth natives of the stiite, 
being of English ancestry on 
the fatlier's side and on the 
mother's, Scotch. Ira attended 
the district scliools of the neigli- 
borhood until 1815, when he 
entered the academy in the vil- 
l;ige of Homer, five miles dis- 
tant, where he prejiared for col- 
lege;, and in September, 1822, 
entered Union College, Sche- 
nectady, from which lie was 
graduated with the (iist honors 
in 1824. He had started to 
pursue the profession of law, 
and accordingly took tlie op- 
portunity to enter the oflice of 
Augustus Donnelly at Honier, where he remain- 
ed for one year. He tlicn removed to Albany and 
entered the office of Chief .Tiistice Ambrose Spencer, 
remaining thereuntil 1827, when he was admitted to 



the bar and began his professional career in the cap- 
ital Soon after, he engaged in a partnership with 
a fellow-student in coUesje, Salem Dutcher, which 
continued until 1842, when, on Mr. Dutchers remoy- 
inii- to New York, Mr. Harris formed a partnership 
with Julius Khoades. In 1844 Mr. Harris was elet^ted 
to represent Albany county in the assembly, and m 

., ,, ._.._ *. , «,. ..l««f„,l Hii liccinie i^roni- 




//z^LH.'^UC^ 



the following year was re-elected. He became prom- 
inent in debate and an influential member of the 
house. In 1846 he was chosen to a seat in the con- 
vention of that year, appointed to revise the consti- 
tution of the state. In the autumn of the same year, 
he was elected to the state senate, where he only re- 
mained one ses.sion, having been elected in the spring 
of 1847 justice of the supreme ciuirt of the state with 
a four years' term. Such rapid advancement is un- 
usual and shows the hiirh position that Mr, Harris 
had already reached in the oijiniou of his fellow-cit- 
izens. In "1S.-)1 he was re-elected judge for the entire 
term of eight years. On the bench he exhibited 
profound and accurate knowledge of the law, great 
-judicial capacity, strict integrity and severe impar- 
tiality. The published oiiinious of Judge Harns 
durino-the twelve years he sat upon the bench are 
contimiallv referred to for their lucid explanation of 
principles'and law. His charges to jurors were mod- 
els of excellence in the clearness and impartiality 
with which they pivsented the proven facts andtlje 
law bearing upon them. Retiring from the bench, 
Judge Harris went to Europe, where he remained ab- 
sent a year in foreign travel. Returning lionie in 
1861, he was elected to the senate ot the I nited 
States, succeeding William H. Seward, and in com- 
petition for the election with William :\I. Evarts and 
Horace Greeley. In the senate chainljer, his splen- 
did personal appearance, dignified manner and his 
recognized abilities, made him a prominent figure. 
He was placed uiion tlie committees on foreign rela- 
tions and the judiciary and the select joint commit- 
tee on the .southern states. During the period ol the 
war of the rebellion, he « -rled great influence, be- 
ing the intimate and truste friend of Piesident Lin- 
coTii He raised a regiment of cavalry which was 
called after liis name. " In 1867 the term of Senator 
Harris expired, and he was elected to the state con- 
stitutional convention of that year, being the second 
time that he had received this honor. Upon the ad- 
journment of the convention. :Mr. Harris, who had 
been in public office for twenty-three years, gained 
for the first time release. Having been connected 
with the Albany Law School from its organization in 
IS.jO, he IK iw accepted the a)ipointraent of jirofessor of 
equitv jurisprudence and practice, and settled down 
on hi's farm at Loudenville. near Albany, devoting 
himself wholly to his lectures in the school iqi to the 
time of his decease. His lectures were eminently 
successful and popular, and. if anything, enhanced 
his reputation. Senator Harris was for many years 
president of the board of trustees of Union College. 
He was also president of the Albany Medical Col- 
lege and a member of the board of trustees of \ as- 
sar College, and was one of the founders of Roches- 
ter Unive'i-sity and its first and only chancellor. For a 
long time he'held the olficc of deacon in the Eminan- 
uerchurch in Albany and was also president of the 
American Baptist Missionary Union. Mr. Hams 
h-ft a widow, two sous and four daughters. Col. 
William Hamilton Harris, the eldest son, served 
thirteen years in the U. S. army, and was honcu-ably 
discliarged at his own request. He settled in Cleve- 
land, O?, where he has since lieeu engaged in vanoiis 
railroading, minins. manufacturing and commercial 
enterprises. Caiitl Ira Harris, another son. served 
ten years in the U, S, navy, rcsiunicd his coinniissi()n 
and enn-aged in the iron manufacturing business in 
Kansas" City. JIo. There ai'c also four daughters. 
Mr. Harris died in Albany, N. Y., Dec. 2, 18(5. 





, 1892. By JAMES T. WM.TE A CO 



OF AMERICAN BIOORAPHY. 



311 




FAKRAGUT, David Glasgow, admiral of the 
U.S. navy, was luirn al Kimliall Slalioii. near Ivnox- 
tIIIp, Tfiin.. July -■>. ISlll. His latliri- was in the 
cavaliT siTvice (if tho rnited States and an intinialo 
friend" of Geu. Jaclison. The hoy's early life wa.s 
spent on the frontier where he had 
considerable e.\|ierienee witii In- 
dians. At the age of nine years he 
entered the naval service as a niid- 
shipman, his tirst service liein.n- on 
hoard the Es.sex under Com. David 
Porter with whom he also made 
an expedition round Cape Horn 
in ISlll He was in the enga.iie- 
mcnt which resulted in the cap- 
ture of the British ship Alert and 
was also in the fight in the hav of 
Valparaiso, :Marcli 28, 1S14. when 
the Kssex .surrendered to the 
Chernli and PIkcIic. After this 
action Jlidshiimian Farra.gut was 
highly commended in Com. Por- 
ter's report to the governmenl v.ith 
the regret that he was too young 
to be eligible for jiromotion. 
At the close of the war with England Farra- 
gut made a cndse to the itediterranean on the 
lnde|>en(lence. In 1821 he was ordered to the West 
Indies but. thougli having passed his examination 
and been reconunended for promotion, it was 1825 
before he receiwd bis commis.sion as lieutenant. 
In the meantime, under Com. Porter, lie was en- 
ga.ired in cruising for |)irates in the Carribean sea 
and was in the attack on their rendezvous on the 
southeast const of Cuba in lS2o. a tight which lasted 
twelve hours and resulted in the defeat of llie pirates 
and the destruction of their boats and buildings. 
In 1S'.2S Farragut was ordered to the .sloop Vandalia 
and .joined the squadron on the coa.st of Brazil but 
returned after two years to Norfolk and was ordered 
to the sloop of war Xatehez. From 18;i4 to 18r)l he 
was variously employed on the AVest India .station, 
at the Norfolk navy yanl or with the home 
squadron. From 18r)l to IS.")):! he was assistant in- 
spector of ordnance aiul afterwards was ordered to 
Mare's Island, near San Franei.sco, where a new 
navy yard was being established. In 18.55 he re- 
ceived his commission as captain in the United 
States navy and tliree years later took command of 
the steam sloop Brooklyn. At the time of the out- 
break of the war of the rebellion Farragut was.sixty 
years of age and had been forty one years in the 
service. He was at this time residing at Norfolk, 
Va., and on being informed that his slate had .se- 
ceded he started at once with his family on a 
steamer bonn<l North. He rcjiorted at Washington 
but for nine months remaineil in comjiarative in- 
activity. His tirst orders for active duty apjMiinted 
him commander of an expedition for the c:ipture of 
New (Orleans and the o]iening of the Missi.ssi|)pi 
river. This was in lNtl2 and he sailed for the t!ulf 
of Mexico on liis thi.gslnp the Hartlbrd. Here he 
arranged the blockade of the whole coast and en- 
tered the Mis.sissippi with the most formi(hd)le 
portion of his fleet. For six days they bomlianled 
the forts a short distance above the mom lis of the 
river but without result of imiiorlance and Farragut 
accordingly decadcd to fca-ce his way uj) the river, 
and, delivering broadsides of grape shot as he 
passed, rari by the forts imder such a tire as was 
proliably never before seen. After passing the 
forts he met and destroyed a tleet of twenty armed 
steamers, four ironclad rams and a lar.ua' miniber of 
fire rafts. He lost thirty-seven men killed 
audalunn'red and forty-seven woundeil. aial one 
of his vessels, the Varuna, was sunk. He how- 
ever had the Crescent city within range of his 



guns two days after he started on this eventful 
pas.sage. He next proceed('d to Vicksburg, taking 
(irand Gulf in passing and conununieated with tlie 
.s(pnidri>n liiiiugbt down fi'oni the upper .Mississippi. 
But his expedition t'.'uled lo accomplish its object iu 
consequence of not being snpi«)rled by land forces. 
Till' following autumn Farragut's .sipiadron cap- 
tured Corpus Cliri.sti, Sabine Pass and (ialve.ston. 
In .March. 18();J, he advanced against Vicksburg, 
but in jiassing Port Hudson all the vessels of his 
.sipiadron were severely damaged by the terrible 
tire from that point, wliili' the tine frigate Mississippi 
was destroyed. He, however, estal)lished com- 
municalions with the upper Jlississippi fleet and 
whh Geu. Grant's army, obtained control of tho 
river between Port Hudson and Vicksburg. About 
the last of May he returned and eng-a.^'ed the 
batteries at Port lludson, and from that time until 
July !), when the garrison surrendeicd, aided the 
army in its investment of the iilaee. 'I'lie followin.g 
summer his squadron took Moliile, defeated IbeCon- 
federat.e tleet with its two ironclads, and gained a vic- 
tory almost as important as that of New Orleans. 
It was iu this tight and after the sinking of the 
ironclad Tecumseh that Farragut laslied himself 
to the rigging of the Hartford, broke from liis place 
in the line and hurried to put his vessel in I lie van 
of the tleet. Tlie coolness and determination of 
thismanieuverexecuted in a scathing lire in the face 
of the greatest danger, inspireil the whole fleet with 
confidence and .saved the day. Congress recognized 
his distinguished .service in this action by creating 
for him the grade of vice-admiral, in which rank he 
was conflrmed on Dec. 21, 18C4. On July 25, 
IStid. congress again cn'ated a higher olflce, that 
of admiral, and conferred that upon liim. In 18l!8, 
Admiral Farragut sailed from Brooklyn iu the 
frigate Franklin and commanded the Knropean 
squadron for about a year. During this period he 
visited many of the countries of Europe, and 
touched at several stations in Asia ami Africa, 
being received with distinguished honor by rulers 
and people wherever he landed. After his return 
from his foreign tour, he suffered from illnes.s, and 
while on a journey undertaken for the benefit 
of his health he died, at Portsmouth, N. II.. Aug. 
14, 1870, having just pa.ssed his sixty-ninth year. 

His remains were followed to Woodlawn cemetery, 
where the interment took 

place, by di.stin,<:uished naval 

and military olticers as well 

as by a vast confluence of 

people from all ranks of 

society. A monument by 

St. Gaudens lo his honor 

was erected and stands in 

IMadison squai-e. New York, 

and a mural commemorative 

tablet was placed for him 

in the church of the Incar- 
nation in that city. Admiral 

Farragut's wife, Mrs. Vir- 
ginia Loyall Farragut, was 

born in Virginia, her father 

being William Loyall, a 

weallhv planter. Thev w-ere 

married Dec. 20, 1848, she 

being the second wife of 

the great naval hero. Iu 

18(i(), the citizens of New 

admiral with a handsome 

East Thirty-sixth .street, and the family, which 

liad been " residing at Hastings-on-the-Hudson, 

removed to the city, where Mrs. Farragut resided 

until her death, which occurred Oct. 81, 1884. 

She left one son, Loyall Farragut, a prominent 

citizen of New York. 




York ]iresented 
residence. No. 



the 
113 



312 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 





(^^Pt^Z 



PORTER, David Dixon, admiral U. S. nnvv, 
%vas boiii at Clit'^lir. Pa., .luiic s, IslH. He was a 
son of Com. David Portci', and licloiiiu'd to a family 
which, tliroiijjli live general ions, have served the 
country on the oeeaii. Bc-fon' the n-volntion Ale.v- 
andcr Porter w.a.s in eomniand of a merchant ship 
sailing from Bu.ston, and durius: that war his son, 
David, wa.s captain succes- 
sively of the privateers De- 
lijrlit and Aurora, and at its 
close was commissioned a 
i«^ .,i«m .sailing-ma.ster in the U. S. 

fS^ ''i*3 navy. His two sons. ,Iolin 

and David, were both olli- 
cers in the navy. John 
reached the rank of com- 
mander and David was the 
renowned ermimodore who 
achieved siieli distinction in 
our war with Tripoli, and 
later with Great Hrilain. In 
tlie war of ISli he was the 
terror of IJritisli conunerce. 
On the ship Ksse.\ he made 
even greater havoc of their 
merchant marine than Ka- 
phael Senunes did with ours during the civil 
^var. His career in his fanu)iis ship Esse.x made 
him a pop<ilar hero. After the war he cruised 
against the pirates who infested the West Indies, 
but having |)nnislieil with some .severity the author- 
itie.s of one of the islands that had insulted his flag, 
he was ordered home and tried by a court-martial 
which convicted him of having transcended his 
authority, and .sentenced him to a suspension of si.v 
months." Indignant and disgusted with this im- 
merited ])unishm<-nt, he threw- up his commission, 
and joined the navy of Mexico which country 
was tlien lighting "with Spain for her indepen- 
dence. He .servetrin the Mexican navy until IsiS), 
when he resigned and returned to this country. 
Com. David Porter had four .sons, all of whom 
were olHcers in either the l'. S. navy or army. The 
oldest of these .sons. Henry Ogden, was executive 
officer of the Hattenis, when she was .sunk by 
the Confederate crui.ser Alabama, and he died 
soon afterwards from wounds received in that en- 
gagement; the second .son, Theodoric, was killed 
iulhe Mexican war while serving as a lieutenant 
in the 4th l'. S. artillery, the thud was William 
David ((J. v.). 

The fourth son was David Dixon, who served 
sixty two years in the U. S. navy and attained a 
liighcr rank in it than any other officer, excepting 
only David G. Farragiit." True to hereditary tra- 
ditions he took to the water at a very early age, 
serving with his father when but eleven years old in 
the latter's cruise against the West India pirates. 
Two years later, when Com. Porter joined the 
Mexicim navy, he secured .a midshipman's cunnnis- 
siou for his son David, and the hul servcil thmugh- 
out the Spanisli war with distinguished credit, 
under his near kinsman, Capt. David II. Porter, 
who had also joined the Jlc.xic.an navy. His career 
in this service, however, lasted but a little more than 
a year. It came to an end when Capt. Porter in 
the ariued brig Guerrero attacked olf the coast of 
Cuba, two Spanish warships which were eonvnying 
a fleet of merchant ves.sels. Th<' smoke and din of 
the conflict brought to the aid of the Spaniarils a 
sixtv-four gun frigate and after a desperate light in 
which Capt. Porier anil eighty of his men were 
killed the Guerrero was forced to strike her colors. 
The fourteen-year-old midshipman was taken jiris- 
oner and confined in the guardship at Havana but 
he wa.s soon released and permitted to return to this 
country where on Feb. 2, 1S2U he was commis- 



sioned a midshipman in the V. S. navy. Then 
began his .service of sixty-two years %vhich for effec- 
tive and brilliant achievement it is hard to [larallel 
in naval aimals. His first twelve years of service 
were not, however, noteworthy. They were jiassed 
in the Mediterranean and on the government coast 
survey, w here he had no opportunity to distinguish 
himself, and it was Feb, 27. 11S41. before he hail won 
a lieutenancy. Then he served for a time in the 
frigate Congress in the Brazilian waters, made a 
tour of duty in connection witli the naval observa- 
tory, and went on a confidential errand to Havti. 
The Mexican war gave him a better opjjortimity for 
tlie display of energetic action. He was engaged in 
every contlict on the coast and everywhere lie fought 
with dash and determination. As captain of the 
Spitfire he took part in the actions at Vera Cruz and 
Tuspan. and he lielil command of the naval rendez- 
vous at New Orleans. The Mexican war over, he 
applied for and obtained a furlough, during which 
for four years he commanded the mail .steamers 
Panama and Georgia which plied between New 
York and the i.slhmus of Darien, Among his ex- 
ploits at this period wiis that of running the steamer 
Crescent City into the harbor of Havana during the 
excitement in relation to the ship Hlack Warrior. 
The Spanish government had refu.sed to permit any 
U. S. vessel to enter that port, but running directry 
under the shotted guns of ^loro Castle. Porter 
when ordered to halt replied that he c.arried the 
I'. S. flag and the L'. S. mail and by the Kternal lie 
should enter the harbor of Havana. This he was 
jiermitted to do becau.se the Spaniards thonglit it 
not prudent to tire upon him. I'p to this period 
Porter's life liad been active and full of exciting ad- 
venture, but it WHS not until the civil war that there 
came to him the opportunities for which he was 
fitted by his life-long training. No m;ui. whatever 
his natural endnwments, could have aceoinplished 
what either Porter or Farragut did, unless prepared 
for the task by a special training ; and it is a .singu- 
lar fact that both these distinguished seamen received 
their education from the old hero who was the 
father of one of them. He adopted Farragut when he 
was an orphan buy of but nine years, gave him the 
same treatment he gave his own sons, .secured for 
hiu! the commission of midshipman and had him 
under his personal command during the entire .second 
war with England. In effect both Admirals Far- 
ragut and Poller were reproductions of Com, Porter, 
but they were the old commodore multii)lied by 
two and aided by all the appliances of modern war- 
fare. At the outset of the civil war David D. 
Porter lulil the rank of lieutenant and conunand of 
the steamer Powhatan, in which vessel he was sent 
to blockade the Southwest Pass directly after the 
attack on Fort Sumter. While on this duty he was 
promoted to the rank of 
commander, and on his re- 
turn to W.ashington he was 
ciinsultcil by the secretary of 
the navy, tJideon Welles, as 
to whether David G. Farra- 
gut, a Tennessean, would be 
a suitable person to com- 
mand the naval forces in an 
expedition then projected 
against New Orleans. His 
answer is seen in the result. 
Farragut was given the com- 
mand and Porter reported 
to him with a fleet of twenty- 
one schooners, each carrying 

a l:!-inch mortar, and the whole convoyed by five 
war steamers. Gen, 15. F. Uutler was given command 
of the co-operating land forces. With this mortar 
fleet Com. Porter in the spring of 1863 made his 




OF AMERICAN lUOGRAPIlY. 



313 




Porter, early iii 
Sherman in the 
sileneini: the tire 



memorable attack on Forts Jackson and St. Fliilip. 
the river defenses of New Orleans. For .six daj's 
and nijihts he lumiliarded the fort.s, diseharginj; at 
tliein no less than 111. Slid shells. Then oeeiirred the 
famous river tight and running; of the forts by Far- 
rairiit, when he sailed np to New Orleans and 
caplnred it. lie pa.s.sed the forts on April 24th, and 
four days later thev surrendered to Porter and his 
mortar tJotilla. The next conspicuous service of 
Com, Porter was in the operations upon the 

Mississip]ii be- 
tween New Or- 
leansand Vicks- 
burj;. His bom- 
bardment of the 
Vieksbiu'ii forts 
enabled Ifarra- 
gut to pass 
them, and lie 
says in his re- 
port of June 
30, 186'3: "The 
mortar flotilla 
have never done 
better .service 
than at Vicks- 
burg'." In Sep- 
tember, 1862, 
Porter received 
command of tlie ^Mississippi sq'iadron as acting 
rear-admiral, the fleet being iucreasetl from twelve 
vessels to many times that number by furnish- 
ing the ordinary river .steamers with guns and 
protective armor. With eight of these ves.sels 
~' ' 1S(!8, co-oiierated with Gen. 

I eduction of Arkansas Post, 
of the fort and pounding the 
bomb proofs into fragments. On the niglit of April 
16th, in the same year, he ran the VicUsburg bat- 
teries with his fleet, and although every one of his 
ships were .struck by shot from the forts none of them 
were materially damaged. Being then soutli of 
Vicksburg he attacked, in coniunetion with Gen, 
Grant, the enemy's works at Grand Gulf, bringing 
to bear against them eighty-one pieces of artillery 
and silencing their liatteries. When Vicksburg had 
finally surrendered he received for these services 
the thanks of congress and also a commission as 
rear-admiral. But Admiral Porter was to perform 
another great achievement before the clo.se of the 
war. Late in isii4, being then in command of the 
North Atlantic blockading .squadron, he was 
ordered to co-oiii-rate with Gen. Butler in the reduc- 
tion of Fort Fisher and the other defenses of Wil- 
mington, N. C. On the night of Dec. 24, 1864, 
he began a tremendous bombardment of the fort 
with a fleet of thirty-five vessels, five of which were 
ironclads, and in about an hour its guns were 
silenced. However, Gen. Butler concluded, after a 
reconnoissance, that the works were not materially 
injured and couM not be carried by assault. He, 
therefore, returned to Hampton Koacls: but Admiral 
Porter, who was of a different opinion, asked per 
mission of the government to renew the attack. It 
was given, and on Jan. Xh. 186."), with forty-four 
vc.s.sels in a curved line, and fourteen more held in 
reserve, lie opened a terrible bomb.-irdment of the 
fort, driving the enemy into tlu'ir bomb-proofs, 
silencing their i:uns and dismounting so many of 
tlu'in lliat by the time the co ojierating land force 
under t!en Terry was ready for the ;i.ssault the fort 
was so weak that it surrendered after a few hours' 
fighting. For this .service Admiral Porter again 
received the thanks of congress. When the grades 
of general and lieutenant general were awarded to 
Grant and Sherman after the war those of admiral 
and vice admiral were bestowed on Farragiit ami 



Porter, and on Farragnt's death in 1870 Porter suc- 
ceeded him as admiral, it being provided that the 
grade should lap.se wlien he should cease to hold it. 
The twenty-one years during which he held these 
high po.sitions have been ye.nrs of peace, that have 
made no special demands upon his amazing activity 
and remarkable executive ability, siill he has de- 
voted clo.se attention to the administration of the 
navy, and done great service in uplmilding the naval 
academy at Annapolis. His leisure he has given to 
literature, writing among other works, a life of his 
father. Com. David Porter, and a history of the 
navy during the civil war. Four of these works, 
each of noteworthy ability', he |n'oduecd between his 
seventy-first and seventy-fourth j'ear. He has be- 
sides many valuable reports, and his e-ssays and 
testimony before various committees of congress 
have shown a vigorous and progressive interest iu 
the problems of national defense and naval con- 
struction. He died suddenly at his home in the 
city of Washington, Feb. 13, ISttl. His funeral was 
observed with all the honors due to his rank and his 
great services, and in announcing his death to con- 
gress President Harrison used the following lan- 
guage: "The admiral of the navy, David Dixon 
Porter, died at his residence in the city of Washing- 
ton this morning at 8:15 o'clock, in the seventy- 
eighth year of his age. He entered the naval service 
as a midshipman Feb. 2, 182y, and had been since 
continuously in service, having been made admiral 
Aug, 15, 1870, He was the son of Com. Daviil Por- 
ter, one of the greatest of our naval commantlers. 
His service during the civil war was conspicuously 
brilliant and successful, and his death ends a very 
high and honorable career. His countrymen will 
sincerely mourn his loss, while they cherish with 
grateful pride the memory of his deeds. To officers 
of the navy his life will continue to yield inspiration 
and encouragement," 

RCWAN," Stephen Clegg, vice-admiral U, S. 
navy, was born near Dublin, Ireland, Dec. 25, 1808. 
His parents cjime to the United States when he was 
a child and .settled in Ohio from which state he was 
apjiointed a midshipman in the navy in 1826. His 
initial cruise was made on the Vincennes which 
between 1827 and 1830 under Com. Balton was the 
first U. S. man-of-war to circumnavigate the globe. 
From 1830 until 1832 he was on duty iu New York 
city. In 1832 he was [jromoted to be "pa.ssed-midship- 
mau and during the following four years served in 
the West Indies and in the naval operations of the 
Seminole Indian war. In 1837 he was commissioned 
lieutenant, and iu 1838 assigned to 
the coast survey. From 1843 till 
1846 he was an officer of the 
frigate Delaware, cruising in Bra- 
zilian waters and of the Ontario, 
and from 1846 until 1848 execu- 
tive officer of the sloop Cyane of 
the Pacific squadron. He partic- 
ipated actively in the naval opera- 
tions of the Mexican war. He 
aided in the capture of Monterey 
and San Diego: served under 
Stockton at the battle of the Mesa 
where he was wounded: led a 
night attack on the outpo.sts of 
Mazallan; was present atthebom- 
b.-irdinent of (Juaymas and cap- 
tured twenty blockade runners and destroyedanum- 
brTof gunboats in thcGulf of California. From 1S.50 
until 18.53 he was on duty as inspector of ordnance 
and organizedthat de|>arlraent in the Brooklyn navy 
yard. On Sept. 14, 18.5.5, he was proinoled to be 
commander and for some time commanded the 
,si()re-.ship Relief. From 18.58 until 1861 he was 
again on ordnance duty in New York city. In Jan- 




314 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



■uary, 18G1, he was placed in cnnimiind of the 
stea"mshi|) Pawnee; t(»ik her from I'hiladilpliia to 
■Washington in tlie followin,;; nionlb, and wlieu the 
civil war ojiencd. allhoiiLdi a resident of jS'orlolk, 
Ya., and wedded to a southern laily, al once declared 
himself a supporter of the Federal cause. For a 
tinte the Pawnee was tlie principal naval protection 
at ■\Vashinirton, aixl hy order of Gen. Winlield 
Scott covered the landing of Col. Ellsworth's com- 
niaud at Alexandria, Va. On May 2'>, IHIM, Ui)wan 

as commander ot the 



■ JITK 




Pawnee attacked ll 
Confederate forces 
who were erecting 
batteries at Ac(|uia 
creek, but hauled olT 
after being struck 
nine times. This was 
the first naval action 
of the civil war. He 
accompanied the e.\- 
peilitiou under Com. 
Strinsrhaiji ., hii h raptured the forts and garrisons at 
llalleras inlet and later destroyed the forliticatious 
at ( )craeokc inlet. He was I hen" successively assigned 
to (he command of the Brooklyn and Uic Delaware. 
On Feb. 7, IStW, tinder (4oldsli'orough lu' led a naval 
flotilla to the. sounds of Xorlh Carolina, and on the 
following day took a leading jiait in tlie capture of 
Koanoke island. On Feb.'siUi he was ordered to 
pursue fleeing Confederates into .Mbemarle sound, 
and on Feb. lOlh by a bold and skillfully e.\eculed 
attack destroyed the enemy's works and caiitured 
their entire fleet. He also passed up the Pasijuatouk 
river, took possession of Elizabeth city and Eden- 
ton and effectively obstructed the Chesapeake and 
Albemarle canal. "He conducted several other expe- 
ditions for the subjugation of the North Carolina 
coast, and when Goldsborough returneil to Hamp- 
ton Hoads succeeded him in command of the fleet. 
On Feb. 10, 18U3, Comr. Kowau eo-oi)crated with 
Gen. A. E. Burnside in the capture of Winston: on 
March 12lh in the capture of Xewbern, and on April 
2.")th in the caiUure of Beaufort. 'I'his complcled 
the reduction of the North Carolina c<iast. Comr. 
Rowan received the thanks of congress for his 
signal scrviees and on.luly 10, 18(52, wa.s commis- 
sioned as captain and as a reward for distinguished 
pallantrv iirouiotcd to be commodore to take rank 
from tlie same date. When Dahlgren assumed 
conunand of the South Atlantic blockading .squad- 
ron Com. Powan was assigned to the New Ironsides 
and took a conspicuous part in the munerous engage- 
ments extending over many months, with Forts 
"Wa'rncr, Gregg and Moidtric. His \ essel was under 
fire fourteen times in Charleston harbor and in three 
actions was struck V.V.i times. During the early 
portion of ISfU Com. Howan in the ab.sence of Ad- 
miral Dahlgrcn was in command of the Soulli 
American squadron. The New Ironsides having 
been ilisabled by a torpedo he was placed in com- 
mand of the Na'dawosco, and on July 2'>. lS(i(i. was 
promoted by selection to be rear-admiral. In IHIUi 
and IsiiT he' was commandant of the Norfolk navy 
yard, and from IHliS till 1870 was commander-in- 
chief of the Asiatic squadron. His .sea service 
covered a period of over twcnty-f:v(' years. He 
was rai.sed lo the raidv of vice-jidiniral in 1870; was 
conunandani of the New York navy yard from 1872 
tmlil 1870; jiresiih'nl of the board of nav.al exam- 
iners from 1S70 until 1881; governor of the naval 
asylum at Philadcl|iliia in 1881, and supcrinteiahait 
of" the naval observatory in 1882. His last ollicial 
services were iierformcd" as chairman of the light- 
house boanl. to.which posilion he was appointed in 
Jaimary. 18H;5. Admiral Howan was an able and 
skillful oflicer. He rose equal lo the gravest emer- 



cency and was always calm, collected and resource- 
ful in the face of" danger while his energy and 
incessant activity rendered his .services of the great- 
est value lo Ins" adopted country. His place is in 
the front rank of the great seamen who fought and 
won immortal honor during the civil war. Admiral 
Hiiwaii died in Washinglot'i, D. ('.. March 81, 185)0. 
STRINGHAM, Silas Horton, rear-admiral 
U. S. navy, was linrii in Middlelown. Orange Co., 
N. Y.. in i7'.ts, ami entered the U. S. naval service as 
a inid.shiiiman, under an appointment dated .lune 19, 
ISIO. His lir.st .service was with Com. liodgcr.s. oil 
board the frigate President from 1811 to 181.5. Oa 
Dec.!), 1814, Slringliam was commissioned as lieu- 
tenant, and the following year was I ninsferred to 
the briu' Spark. Capt. Gainl"ile, which formed a part 
of Decatur's .squadron in the Algcrine waters and 
which helped to capture an Algcrine frigate. In 
ISKi, while the Spark was lying at Gibraltar, 
Lieut. Slrintjliam performed a "very br.ave act in 
saving' ihrceof the crew of a French brig wliicli 
had capsi/ed. Three yeare later Stringham was. 
on board the Cvane, on the African coa.st on the 
lookout for slavers. He succeeded in caiituring 
four, of which he was made prizemaster and sent 
home wilh his prizes. In 1821 he was promoted to 
a first lieulcnancy ami ordered to the llornel. on the 
West India station, where he captured a noted 
pirate and slaver. In 1825 he was stalioned at the 
Brooklyn navy yard, where he remained five 
years, at the end o"f which time he was oi-dered to 
"the Peacock and sent out in .search of the Hornet, 
which was supposed to have been lost. While this 
.search was being prosecuted, he was ordered on 
board the Fahnoiith and sent to Carthagena. From 
1H30 to 1M:>I) Lieut. Stringham was on shore duty 
and with the Mediterranean s(iuadrou, being com- 
missioned commander March ;i, 1831. In 1837 he 
was in command at the Brooklyn navy yartl. and 
in 1841 was commissioned captain. In 1S42 Capt. 
Strinsham commanded the frigate Independence of 
the home squadron, but the lU'Xt year returned to 
the navy yard, at Brooklyn, where lu' remained 
until 184"G, "when he commandeil the sliiii-of-ihe- 
line Ohio of Ihe Paeirtc s(|Uadron. During the 
Jlexicau war L-:s ship took part in the bombardment 
of Ycra Cruz. Afterwards for a time Capt. String- 
ham commanded the Brazilian squadron: but in 
18.51 took charsre of the Gosport navy yard. During 
the three foirowing years he commanded the 
Jledilerraiiean s(iuadron, his 
flauslii|> iK'ing the ill-fated 
Cumherlaiid. which was sunk 
by the Confederate ironclad 
>ierrimac, in Hampton Roads, 
on March 8, 18(i2. On the 
breaking out of the war of the 
rebellion, Cai>l. Slringliam was 
appointed flag ollicer of the 
North Atlantic blockading 
.sipiadron. In August of that 
year he commanded the naval 
"forces in the attack and capture 
of Forts Clark and Hattcras, 
in co-operation with the land 
forces under command of 
Maj.-Gen. Butler. The garri- 
son of Fort llalleras was un- 
der command of Com. Barron, _ ,. 
who had lieen for nearly tiftj i' 

years an ollicer in the I'. S. 
"navy, and al one time in command of the ^^ a- 
bash, which was now allacking him. In the 
end he surrendered \vith all his ofHcers, 715 men, 
1,00(1 stand of arms. 75 kegs of iiowder. five stand 
of colors, 31 cannon, and jirovisioiis, .stores and cot- 
ton This victory, the first after the Federal defeat 




c/^'^/k^A^ 



OK AMERICAN BIOGKAPHY. 



315 



at Bull Run, was hailed with enthusiasm tlirouijh- 
out the Noftb, Striughaiu's lleet returned ti) Fort- 
ress Mouroe, aud he was generally lionized; but 
this was followed by a reaetion, when he was made 
the subject of abuse for not having taken his fleet 
into the sounil and continued bis victorious career; 
but it was afterward learned that he liad simply 
obeyed orders, which were to rettnu inuuediately 
after the destruction of the forts to ^^>rlress Moil- 
roc; besides wliicb it would have been impossible 
for him to have taken bis sipiadrou into th(^ sound, 
as his vessels drew too miu-li water to go over the 
bar. In the following month Flag-Otbcer String- 
ham at his own request was relieved of the com- 
mand of the squadron, and it was generally believed 
that the request was made on account of the unjust 
blame which had been showered upon him. On 
July 16, l^itB, Stringham was commissioned rear- 
admiral. For the next two years be was on special 
duty. From 1864 to 1867" he commanded the 
Brooklyn navy-yard, and in 1871 became port ad- 
miral of Xew York. He continued to reside in 
Brooklyn until his death, which occurred in Brook- 
lyn, X." Y., Feb. 7, 1876. 

DAHIiGBEN, John Adolph, rearadmiral 
U. S. iiavv, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., Nov. 
13, 1809. "After the death of his father (Swedish 
and Norwegian Cousid at Philadelphia) be received 
an apiioiutinent as midshipman in the U. S. navy, 
in 1826, and went to sea, where, together with coast 
survey duty, under the celebrated Hassler, he saw 
fourteen years' service. In 1847 he was ordered on 
ordnance" duty at the AVashington navy-yard. He 
did not allow this duty to be 
merely a perfunctory one, but 
began that career, which (after a 
long and severe struggle) resulted 
in the introduction of his sy.stem 
of ordnance, with all its ])erfect 
appliances and boat howitzers 
and carriages into the navy, and 
■which performed a noble part in 
the sujipressiou of the greatest 
civil war in the annals of history, 
and which has made his name 
known and honored. As the old 
system had been productive of 
accident and loss of life, so this 
one was equally safe, not one of 
£^ ^r^ >/> 1^'* many guns in active u.se ever 

^'VZ-<2 U. Z/ayA^>i£.'^r^^ having exploded and killed one 
of its own iieople. With two of his 
eleven-inch guns the Jlonitor beat back the Slerii- 
mac (its larger antagonist) and on that occasion 
saved the Union. With live shots from two of them 
the Alabama was sunk in one hour, aud in other 
battles by land and .sea the Dablgren shell-gun up- 
held the honor of the flag. He himself, in command 
of the ironclad squadron, .saw nnich hard service in 
front of Charleston— a service frauglit with danger 
and where he nearly lost his life by a torpedo — but 
his blue flag was ever at the front. He saw the 
coming of rifled ordn.ance and solved many of the 
earlier problems of that arm. When the new rank 
of admiral was created for distinguished service, he 
was one of the flfteen thus made, and to this was 
adfied a vote of thanks by congress. He was 
chief of the Unreau of Ordnance, commanded the 
South Pacific squadron and finally the Washington 
na\'y-yard, where he remained in charge imtil 
his death. Thus he lived to see the reward of long 
years of spotless devotion to his country, saving 
millions of money for it in addition to the i"i.scfulness 
of bis guns, and in the dark and trying hours at the 
outbreak of tlic rebellion standing at his post and 
so saving the Washington navy-yard from capture 
and the iiatiou from foreign reciignition of the Cou- 





rii/^. 



federaey. This service he considered as tlie great- 
est of all that he i^ver rendered his government. He 
was a true i)atriot, a Chiistiau gentleman, courtly 
and kind, of unsullieil integrity and lini.shed edu- 
cation, and faithful in every relationshi|) of life. 
He died .Inly 12, 1870. His remains lie in the fam- 
ily burying-groimd <at Laurel Hill, Philadelphia, 
beside that of his first wife and six of their seven 
children. 

DAHLGBEN, XJlric, soldier, second .son of 
Rear-.Vdmiral .Ino. A. Dahlgren, was born near 
Philadelphia, in 1843. He received his education in 
Washington and at the earliest age showed that 
steadiness and earnestness of character, which shone 
out .so prominently in after years, 
At the breaking out of hostilities 
he was reading law in Philadelphia 
with an uncle, but at once left his 
desk to uphold the flag. He was 
apiiointed a captain by President 
Lincoln and reported to Gen. Sigel 
at Harper's Ferry, where he placed 
some of his father's guns in bat- 
tery in a very dillicult position. 
He then dashed into Fredericks- 
burg with one company of the 3d 
Indiana cavalry and surpri-sed a 
large force of the enemy's cavalry. 
This daring feat has been painted 
by Felix O. C. Darley, and with 
its reproductions in oil and photog- 
raphy serves as oliject lessons to 
the youth of our land. It would 
be impossible in this condensed 
sketch to recount all of the en- 
gagements and battles he participated in; it suffices 
to say that in every action be was in the van. He was 
among the first to cross the i-iver at the fatal Fred- 
ericksburg. At Chancellors\ille he stayed the Con- 
federate advance by a desperate charge. At Second 
Bull Run his battery contested "Stonewall's" ad- 
vance, ste]) by step, and enabled the disorganized 
Union forces to throw upintrenchmeuts, from which 
they coidd not be driven. At Gettysburg he rendered 
signal service to the cause; with a small force he 
wrought ha\(ic with Lee's trains, destroj'ing 179 wag- 
ons, and on their retfeat he harried them so, that they 
turned at bay. Here he lost his leg in a dash on their 
front, and had to retire for some montli.s. The 
struggle for life was long and intense, but he passed 
the trying ordeal of three am|nitatioiis, and was 
liromoted over the grade of major and lieutenant- 
colonel, to a colonelcy for gallant and meritorious 
service, the commission being brought by Secretary 
Stanton's own hand to the sujferer, a most unusual 
departure from the ordinary course of procedure, 
but intended to give greater iiuporlance to the 
honor conferred. As soon as lie could move, 
and after a visit to his father at Charleston, he 
was again found at the head of his men, and lost 
his life in a noble and daring attempt to liberate 
our prisoners in Richmond. A blundering guide 
misled him, still, with a handful of men he carried 
their first line of infantry, only to be hurled back 
from their second and strongly reinforced one. In 
trying to lead his few survivors out he was am- 
bushed and instantly killed at the head of liis men. 
He was a tvpical young American otlicer, earnest, 
ellicient. brave and' lovaT. He died March 4, 18(i4. 

PORTER, 'William David, naval olbcer, was 
born in New Orleans. La., March 10, 1809. He was 
educated in Pennsylvaiua and was appointed a mid- 
shipman in the navy from JIassachtisetts in 18'33. He 
was promoted to be lietitcnant in 18;!;i; crui.sed for 
ten years in foreign waters, ami in 184;{ was trans- 
ferred to the home sqtiadron. When the civil war 
opened in 1801 he held the rank of commtinder and 



316 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



was attached to the Pacific siiiiadnm. He was at 
once oriiered home ami seut to serve uiuler Com. A. 
H. Foote wlio was i)ie|)ariu5; a Ueet for the opening 
of the Mississippi river. In three weelis he con- 
verted a ferryboat into a powerful ironclad which 
he named the Kssex in honor of his father's ship 




and commanded her in the attack on Fort Henry, 
Feb. 0, 1862, where he was badly scalded by the 
explosion of a boiler. His injuries were at first 
thoujilit to be mortal, but he soon recovered, over- 
hauled and repaired his vessel and participated in 
the capture of Fort Donelson on Feb. 14, 1863. 
Early in .July of the same year he fought his way 
past the Mississi|)pi batteries and joined the Federal 
fleet at Vickshurg where his brother David tlieu 
commanded the mortar lleet. On .July 1."), 1863 near 
Baton Houge he encountered and .so .seriou.sly crip- 
pled the Confederate ram ArUan.sas that she soon 
after exjiloded. This action took place within range 
of the ("cmfederate batteries while the Arkansas 
carried fourteen guns and the Essex only seven. He 
was promoted to be commodore on ,Iuly 16, 1863, 
and on Sept. 3, 1862, bombarded Natchez. Later 
he attacked the batt<'ries below Vieksliurg and at 
Port Hudson and then made his way to New Orleans 
where, owing to rapidly failing health, he asked to 
be relieved from his command. His request was 
granted and he went to New York for medical 
advice. Here he continued to grow worse, and 
after a long and painful strugsrle with disease died 
in St. Luke's hos|:iilal Mayl.'lSIU. His death cut 
short a career tliat promised to e(|\ial in usefulness 
and brilliancy that of his brother David and his 
foster brother Farragut. Two of Com. Porter's sons 
served in the Confederate navv. 

■WINSLOW, John Ancrum, rear admiral U. S. 
navy, was born in Wilmhigton, N. C, Nov. 19, 1811. 
On his mother's side he came from the well-known 
Wiett family of Charleston, 
and on his father's from the 
best Massachusetts stock, 
being the seventh generation 
from John Winslow, brother 
of Gov. P3dward Winslow, 
governor of Plymouth col- 
ony. His father was sent 
from Bo.ston in ISO? to estab- 
lish the eoinmiTcial house of 
John Winslow it Co., at Wil- 
mington, N. C, and at the 
age of fourteen the boy, with 
his elder brother, was sent to 
Dedham, Mass., and placed 
in charge of a minister to be 
educated in jireparation for 

'^^^:^^Cw-5S^f""f?P' •"■''''■•' "'<• '■'''•■'■ 

brother sul)se(|uently entered; 

but John showed such an 
inclination for the navy that at the age of sixteen 
he was appointed midshipman imder date Feb. 1, 
1827. AVin.slow was commissioned as lieutenant 
Dec. 9, 1839, and seut to Brazil on board the Enter- 




prise. In 1843 he was ordered to the steam-frigate 
Missouri, which was sent to convev Mr. Cushing, 
minister to China, to his i)ost. This unfortunate 
vessel caught lire in the harbor of Gibraltar and 
was destroyed. Winslow was now sent back by 
Cushing with dispatches to the government an 
nouncing the catastrophe, whereupon the navy 
department ordered him to return and destroy 
the wreck, which was done by blowing it up with 
gunpowder. Winslow was employed on home duty 
until December, 1S4."), when he was ordered on bcmrd 
the Cumberland .and sailed for the Mexican coast. 
He took part in the attack on Tobascoandiu various 
skirmishes fidm the Kio Grande down the eoa.st. 
For gallantry at Tobasco Lieut. Winslow was 
given the elioice of all the %-essels Ciiptured liy 
Com. Perry. He .selected a double topsail, Haiti- 
more built schooner, afterwards entered in the 
L'nited States service as the Morris, being named 
after a son of Com. Morris, who was killed in 
action. Winslow was on the expedition which 
captured Tampico, where he rcmaineil for six 
weeks guarding the arsenal, when he returned and 
rejoined the fleet at Vera Cruz. By an extraor- 
dinary coincidence, he found occupying his room 
on board his vessel Raphael Semmes, whose ship, 
the Somers, had been capsized in the stiuall, and all 
but thirty of her crew lost. In connection with 
the history of the after relation of the two men 
this incident is not without a jieculiar interest. In 
February, 1S4T, Winslow was ordered on board the 
Mis.sis.si]ipi. Com. Perry's flagship, and soon after 
returned lionie. In 1848 Winslow sailed as first 
lieutenant in the sloop Saratoga to the coast of 
Mexico; in the following year he was home again, 
and until 18.55 divided his time between the Boston 
navy-yard and service on the frigate St. Lawrence 
of the Pacific squadron. Sept. 14, 1855, Winslow 
was commissioned commander. He was in charge 
of the naval rendezvous in Boston for the next 
three years, and then lighthouse in.speetor for two 
years when, the war breaking out, he applied for 
active service and was ordered to join Foote's Mis- 
sissippi river flotilla, which, in company with half- 
a-dozen other ottieer.s, Comr. Winslow jiractieally 
constructed, at the same time drilling western boat- 
men for naval service. The flotilla having been 
completed, Winslow took the first division of it 
down the river to Cairo where he turned it over to 
Gen. Grant, and afterwards brought the second 
division down. During this last trip he met will. <t 
terrible accident, the broken link of a parted chain 
striking his left arm and makiuij a frightful wound, 
completely crippling him. lie was sent home to 
recover, but rejoined Foote and his flotilla just as 
they were leaving to invest Fort Pillow. He con- 
tinued in .service on the ."\Iississippi and Whitf 
rivers imtil July 16, 18(52, when he was eommis 
sioned as cajitain and ordered to take coniman<l ol 
the Kearsarge. H<? joined the vessel early in 1863, 
and under in.struetions proceeded to the coast of 
Europe to w.-iteli the Confederate cruisers, jiarticu, 
larly the Florida, which bad been last heard of oil 
the coast of South Americ;i. He now cruised in the 
channels off the cosist of England and France, 
where the French and Engli.sh governments made 
all the trouble for him the}' could. French ]iilots 
being ordered not to serve him, an unimportant 
nuitter, as AVin.slow knew the waters of that coast 
as well as they did. He found the Florida at last 
in Brest, about to sail, and he blockaded the ])ort, 
although it was midwinter, so that she did not dare 
to leave. Running short of ]irovisions he was 
obliged to sail for Cadiz to obtain supplies, where- 
\ipon the Florida slip|)ed out of port and put to sea. 
Winslow next blockaded the port of Calais where 
the steamer Rappahannock was, and s\icceeded in 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



317 



preventing her from going to sea. The Kearsarge 
now went to Flushing to make some repairs, liaving 
been run asliore near Ostemi by a pilot believed to 
have been in the enijiloy ot the Confederates. 
Tliese repairs had hardly been eonijileled when 
Wiiislow received a telegram staling that the 
Alabama had arrived in the harbor of Cherbourg. 
Raphael Semraes was commander of the Alabama, 
and when two days later the Kearsarge arrived otl 
the port of Cherbourg, he sent Wiuslow the follow- 
hig challenge: 

Confederate Steamer Alabama, [ 
CnEHBOUKG, June 14. istu. j 

Sir: I hear that you were informed by the U. S. 
consul that the Kearsarge was to eome to this port 
Bolely for the prisoners landed by me, and that she 
■was to depart in twenty-four hours. I desire you to 
say to the U. S. consul that my intention is to fight 
the Kearsarge as soon as I can make the necessary 
arrangements. I hope these will not detain me 
more tlian till to-morrow evening, or ne.\t morning 
at the farthest. I beg she will not depart before I 
am ready to go out. 

I Ijave the honor to be, very respectfidly, your 
obedient servant, R. Semmes, Captain. 

Winslow of course determined at oiiee to accept 
the challenge, and on June 19, lS(i4, this famous 
naval duel took place. So eontident were the 
officers of the Alabama of their a|iproaehing victory 
that great preparations were made and invitations 
extended to French officers for a recejition on 
sliore on the night after the return to Cherbourg. 
Before leaving port a maintopsail was sjiread in the 
hohl on which were placed 200 pairs of irons for 
prisoners. It was said that special trains bnnight 
from Paris 40,000 persons to witness the Ijattle from 
the Cherbourg breakwater. At 10:20 A. m. on 
the da)' mentioned above, which was Sunday, the 
Kearsarge, lying in the olHug, discovered the 
Alabama standing out, accomijanied by the English 
yacht Deerhound. Capt. Winslow 's ship was at 
once cleared for action, and when the Alabama had 
reached about seven miles from shore and was less 
than a thousand yards from the Kearsarge the tight 
began. AVinslow's first offensive movement was to 
steer straight for his enemy, apjiarently with the 
intention of running her down, liut really with the 
purpose of running under the Alabama's stern and 
raking her. Semmes now slowed his engines and 
sheered off, presenting his starboard battery to the 
Kearsarge. The Alabama finally opened tire at the 
distance of one mile, and lioth vessels circled around 
a common center, gradually nearing each other 
until they were at one time within six hiuidred 
yards. At first Winslow refrained from tiring, 
keeping steadily on under full speed, but at length, 
at the distance of half a mile, he fired his first 
broad.side with terrible effect. Wheeling the Kear- 
sarge about, Win.slow again steered on under full 
head of steam, and presently poured in another 
broadside, wliile the shot and shell from the 
Alaljama llew over the Kear.sarge, doing no seriotis 
damage. The spankergaff of the Alabama with 
her ensign now came down on a run, but were 
speedily replaced. The tiring when within a cpiar- 
ter of a mile of each other was rapid and teiTible, 
two of the guns of the Kearsarge, carrying 11-inch 
shells, doing fearful damage, making great gaps in 
the hull of the enemy. But the Alabama had a 
100-pound Blakely rilled gun, and a shell fnim this 
at length passed through the bulwarks of the Kear- 
sarge and burst with a terrific exjilosion. wounding 
three of the crew. There was a marked dilfcrence 
between the firing of the two vessels, the Alabama 
firing rapidly, almost two guns to the Kear.sarge's 
one but very wild; Winslow. on the contrary, 
fought his ship coollj- and with special admonition 



against too rapid firing and careless aim. One of 
the Kearsarge's shots disabled a gun on board the 
Alabama and killed and wounded eighteen men. 
Another exploded in the coal-bunkers and com- 
pletely blocked uji the enginei-ooni. At the seventh 
round the Alaliama set her forelry.sail and two jibs 
and turned her head towards the shore, but she was 
closely followed by the Kearsarge, Jjoiu'lng into her 
shot and shell with destructive force, and in a few 
moments her flag came down and a white Hag was 
run up. Yet after this the Alabama renewed her 
firing, whereupon Winslow also opened fire; but 
after a few moments the boats of tlu' Alabama 
rowed along.side the Kear.sarge and anmiuiiced that 
the ship had surrendered an(i was sinking. Indeed, 
in less than twenty ndnutes after the siuT<>nder the 
Alabama ttimg her bows high out of the water and 
then, with a heavy lurch, went to the bottom. The 
boats of the Kearsarge jiicked up a go<.)d many of 
the crew of the Alabama, but the yaclit Deerhoimd 
picked up Semmes and thirty-nine of the crew, and 
immediately steamed away for the English coast. 
The battery of the Kearsarge consisted of seven guns: 




two 11-inch Dahlgrens, oncSO-poumler rifie and four 
light JziS-pounders. That of the Al.-ibama consisted 
of eight guns: one G8-pounder of 9,000 pounds 
weight, the 100-pound Blakely rifie and .six heavy 
33-pounders. The number of men comiirising the 
crew of the Alabama and the total niunber of her 
killed and wounded were never known. Five of the 
crew of the Kearsarge were wounded ; two slightly 
and three died. The engagement lasted an hour 
and twenty minutes, and it is stated that out of 376 
projectiles fired by the Alabama only twenty-eight 
struck the Kearsarge, while of the 173 fired b^' the 
Kearsarge few missed their mark. 

This was, in fact, the only sea-fight of importance 
during the war, and for his gallant action Capt. 
Winslow was promoted to the grade of commodore, 
his commission being dated on the day of the 
engagement. In iy6(i Com. Winslow was ordered 
to the command of the Gulf si|uailron; March 3, 
1870, he was promoted to rear-admiral and for two 
years was in command of the I'acific squadron, 
and after his return from this, his last cruise, he 
remained fen- a while at San Francisco, from 'which 
city he removed to Bo.ston, Mass., wlierc he con- 
timied to reside until his death, which occurred on 
Sept. 3<>. 1S73. 

BELL, Henry Haywood, rear-admiral U. S. 
navy, was born in North Carolina in ISOS. He entered 
the navy as midshipman Aug. 4, 1823; served on 
the Grampus in the campaign against the Cuban 
pirates, and subseipiently for a long period was 
attached to the East Indian .sipiadron. In Novem- 
ber, 18")(!, while commander of tlie San .lacinto with 
Capt. (later Admiral) Foote he attacked and 



318 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



destroyed tlie bariier forts on tlie Canton river in 
China. When the civil war opened he held the 
rank of caiilaiii. Although of southern birth and 
married to a southern woman he espoused the Fed- 
eral eause, and in IHUS was appointed Meet captain of 
the West Gulf squadron under Admiral I). G. Far- 
ragut. Under heavy tire he cut the cable that 
blocked the way to New Orleans and in the jxissage 
of the forts, and the tiual caiiture of the city led one 
of the divisions of the fleet, capturiiii; one vessel 
and destroying two others. When the United States 
flag, w'hich had Ijecn raised on the New Orleans cus- 
tom hou.sc by order of Farragiit, was pulled down by 
a Confederate, ('apt. Bell entered the city with a 
small body of marines, and in the face of a mob that 
threatened him with death restored the tiag to its 
place. Subsequently he participated in the capture 
of New Orleans and Port Hudson; was made com- 
modore in Ibtia, and until 1804 commanded the 




Western Gulf blockading squadron, a position 
in which his services were of the first importance. 
In 18(i5his health having become .seriously shattered 
he was placed in command of the Urooklyn navy 
yard. On July 25, 1800, he was appointed rear- 
admiral and commander-in-chief of the Asiatic 
squadron. In ISO? he was Rt his own reipiest retired 
from the service, but while waiting to be relieved 
from his command was drowned at the mouth of 
the Osaka river. .Ian. 11, 1808. 

BELL, Charles H., rear-admiral U. S. navy, was 
born in New York, Aug. l.'j, 17!)8. lie was ap- 
pointed midshipman iu 1812, and served under 
Decatur and Cliauncey during the second war with 
England. In 181o he was attachi'd to the Mace- 
donian and took part in the war with Algiers. He 
was promoted to be lieutenant in March, 1830, and in 
1824, while coiuinauder of the Ferret, was capsized 
in the West Indies, but after remaining twenty-one 
hours on the wreck was rescued with a portion of 
liis crew. In 1821), while an ollieer of the Krie, 
cruising in the West Indies, he aided in taking the 
pirate .schooner Federal from tmder the guns of the 
forts at Gmideloupe. After performing varied 
duties at sea and on shore he was, in ls:^i), assigned 
to the command of the Dolphin, and made two 
cruises to the coa.st of Africa. He was promoted to 
be connnaiKler Sejil. 20, 1810, and in 1844 as com- 
mander of tlie Yorktown was again dispjilched to 
the African coa.st, where he remained two years, 
capturing three slavers and fre<'ing many hundreds 
of slaves. He was connnissioiied as captain in 18.")4, 
and at the opening of the civil war was in command 
of the Mediterranean sqmxdron. fie was at once 
ordereil home, and after the capture of the Trent 
was .sent to I'anama to take eonunand of the Pacitic 
squadron, which position he retained for nearly three 
years. In 1804 and I8(i.") lie was stationed in the 
James river. In 1805 he became commander of 
the Brooklyn navy yard and served in that capacity 
until JMay, 1808, when after fifty-six years of service. 



forty-four of which were passed at sea, he was 
placed on the retired list. He was raised to the 
rank of commodore July 10, 1802, and to that of 
rear admiral July 25, 1800. His last years were 
spent in New Brunswick, N. J., where he died Feb. 
1!», 18T5. 

ALDEIf, James, rear admiral U. S. navy, was 
born in Portland. Me.. .March :il. 1810. He entered 
tlie navy as a midslii))niaM in 1828. ami after being 
attached for two years to the naval station at Hostou 
cruised in the Mediterranean on the sloop-of-war 
Concord until IS'S'S. He wa.s promoted to be passed- 
nwdshipman on June 14, 1834 and lieutenant Feb. 
35, 1841. From 18;J8 until 1842 he was a member 
of the Wilkes exploring expedition which made a 
tour of the world. AVliile at the Fiji islands he was 
in charge of a surveying party wliieli was ambushed 
by a party of natives who killed two of his com- 
mand. He succeeded, however, in defeating tho 
natives and securing the bodies of his dead compan- 
ions. He was on duty at the Hostou naval station 
in 1848, and between 1844 and 1840 made a second 
tour of the world on the Constitution. In 1S45 he 
led a boat cxjiedition which cut out several war 
junks from under the guns of the fort at Zuron bay, 
Coeliin-Cliiiia. In 1840 and 1847 as an otbcer of tho 
home sqiiadrou he took |mrt in the capture of Vera 
Crnz. Turspan and Tobasco. From 1848 until 1800 
he was attached to the coast survey. He was pro- 
moted to be commander Sept. 14, 1855, and in the 
winter of that year participate<l actively in the 
Indian war in Puget sound. When the civil war 
opened in INOl he was in comniand of the steamer 
South Carolina. He reinforced Fort Pickens and 
blockaded Galveston, capturing thirteen .schooners 
with their cargoes and engaging the batteries in the 
rear of Galveston. He was in command of the 
l{i( hmond at the passage of Forts Jackson and St. 
Philip. I lie cajiture of New Orleans, the jias.sage of 
the Vicksliurg batteries and the operations at I'ort 
Hudson in 1803 and ls(i:), and was repeatedly com- 
nieiided in the ollicial re|>orls. Hi' was coniniis- 
sioiied captain Jan. 3. lNO:i, and placed in command 
of the Brooklyn. He led the fleet of Farragiil in 
the battle of jlobile bay, August, 1804, and took a 
conspicuous part in the two attacks on Fort Fisher. 
At the close of the war no ofiicer of his rank had 
seen more hard and ciTective tigliting than had 
Capt. Allien. He was raised to the rank of commo- 
dore July 25, 18()(i; was on special duty during the 
two following years, and in isiis and 1809 was com- 
mandant of the Mare island navy yard. In l.stilt he 
was made chief of the bureau of navigation and 
detail. In 1871 he was appointed rear-ailmiral and 
placed in command of the Kurojiean .squadron 
wliii'h latter iiositihn he held until his final retire- 
ment from the service on account of age. His last 
veais were spent in San Francisco, Cal., where ho 

died Feb. (i, 1877. 

CARTER, Samuel P., rear-admiral U. S. navy, 
was bnrn in Carter enuiity, Tenn., and was ap- 
pointed midshipman from that state in 1840. 
He was the only man in the United Stateswho ever 
held the highest grades in both the army and navy. 
He held tlie eominis.sion of lieuteiiant-comniander 
in the navy and that of a brevet major-general in 
the volunteer army at the close of the civil wiir, but 
drew salary of only one of these offlees. When the 
war broke out he was serving in the Brazilian 
.squadron, and believing that the navy would have 
but little active .service asked to join the land forces. 
He was .assigned to special duty by the war dep.-irt- 
meiit. Prior to that time he had seen considerable 
service both in foreign si at ions and in the Mexican 
war, being present at the battle of Vera Cruz. He 
organized a brigade in Tennessee of which he was 
given command, with the commission of brigadier- 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



319 



general. About that time he won tlio soubriquet of 
"horse marine " because of liis dual capacity. He 
served with distinction in the engagement at Wild 
Cat, Ky., in October, IHfil, whenGcu. Zollicotfer was 
repulsed. In tlie .same year he commanded in south- 
ern Kentucky, and in tlie operations against Cumber- 
laud Gap and in llie Kanawha valley, from whence 
the Confederates were ilriven out. He commanded 
the cavaUy expedition into East Tennessee and de- 
feated the Confederates at Holston, Carter's Station 
and Jonesville. The success of the raid had great 
significance and for it lie received the thanks of the 
general-ill-chief of the army in general orders, also 
of the commander of the department of the Ohio 
and the comniander of the district of Kentucky 
with a recommendation for his promotion as major- 
general. He was then assigned to the command of 
the divi.siou of Central Kentucky in 1863 and was at 
the battle of Button's Hill. He defeated Pegram's 
forces at Mouticello and Beaver Dam and Jlorgan's 
troops at West's. In -luly, 18153, he commanded the 
cavalry division of the 23d army corps and took the 
advance when Gen. Burnside occuiiicd East Ten- 
nessee. He defeated Morgan's and Smith's troops 
and took jiart in the siege and battle of Kno.wille in 
Novemlier and December, 1803. He was provost 
niarslial of East Tennessee untiljanuary, 18G.5, when 
at Ills own request he was assigned to the command 
of the district of Newberne. He commanded the 
left wing at the battle of Kingston where Bragg was 
defeated, and occupied Goldsboro, driving out the 
Confederate garrison with his command. He was bre- 
veted major-general March 13, 1865, and remained 
in command of the 33d army corps until honorably 
mustered out of the army in 1866. He was pro- 
moted to be lieutenant-commander in the navy on 
June 33, 1SG'>, and .soon after lie was mustered out 
of tlie army he was given commaml of the gunboat 
Monocacy on tlie Asiatic station, where he remained 
three years. During tlie following three years he 
was commandant of the Naval Academy at Anna- 
polis receiving his promotion as captain Oct. 38, 
1870. From 1873 to 187.5 he commanded the frigate 
Alaska on the European station and was then made 
a member of the lighthouse board at Washington. 
He was promoted to be cor.im.ander on Kov. 30, 
1878, au(l to rear-admiral on :May 16, 1883, having 
been put on the retired list on Aug. 6th preceding. 
He died in Washington May 36, l.S'Jl. 

■WILKES, Charles, rear-admiral, was born in 
New York city, April 3, 17i.'8. After receiving 
a common school education, in 1818 he entered the 
navy as a midshipman, and 
served several years in the 
Mediterranean sea and Pa- 
cific ocean. On April 38, 
1836, he was comini.s.sioned 
as lieutenant, and in 1830 
was appointed to the charge 
of the United Slates de- 
partment of charts and in- 
struments. It is said of 
him that he was the first 
man in the country to set 
up fi.\ed astronomical in- 
struments and take obser- 
vations with them. He 
plaee<l the observatory in 
his own garden, but <m at- 
tempting to build a firm 
structure about the stone 
foundations which held 
the instruments, he is said 
to have been notified by 
the navy department that this would not be 
allowed as a national observatoi-y was uncon- 
stitutional. Lieut. Wilkes bad ali'eady been em- 




^^--^^^-^'^^^dlT' 



ployed when not on other duty, in 1839, in con- 
nection with the United States exploring expeditions 
and he was again in this service in 1833, but it was 
in 183!) that he entered upon the expedition which 
has ever since borne his name and which was fruit- 
ful of the most important results in connection with 
the geography and chartography of the Scaith Pacific. 
On Aug. 18, 1838, he sailed from Norfolk under 
orders from the United States government to explore 
the islands of the Pacific soiith of the equator, the 
waters about Cape Horn and the Antarctic ocean. 

Wilkes pulilished in five octavo volumes an ac- 
count of his explorations, and to these were after- 
wards added eleven other volumes and atla.ses of 
which he himself was the author of one on meteor- 
ology. In 1843 Wilkes was on coast survey duty, 
being commissioned commander July 13, 1843, 
captain Sept. 14, 18.55 and jilaccd in command of 
the sloop-of-war San Jacinto in 1861 on the out- 
break of the war of the rebellion. His first duty 
was the pursuit of the Confederate war-vessel 
Sumter. On Nov, 8th. the San Jacinto en- 
countered the English mail-steamer Trent, wliich 
was on its way from Havana to St. Thomas, West 
Indies, having on board the Confederate commis- 
sioners to France and Great Britain, John Slidell, of 
Louisiana, and James M. JIason, of Virginia, with 
their secretaries. On overtaking the Trent, AVilkes 
ordered Lieut. Fairfax to man two boats and 
board her. The steamer hoisted English colors 
while Wilkes ran up the United States flag and 
fired a shot acro.ss her bows to heave to. As no 
attention was paid to this summons he fired a 
shell across the bow of the Trent and the English 
commander hove to. Lieut. Fairfax drew up 
alongside with his boats and on reaching the deck, 
and .seeing the captain, asked permission to examine 
the passenger list. This request was refused and 
the lieutenant perceiving the four gentlemen for 
whom he was seeking, informed them that the 
object of his visit was to take them on board the 
United States ves.sel. and then with the assistance 
of his men, Mr. Mason. Mr. Slidell, Jlr. Eustis 
and Mr. McFarlane were taken from tlie Trent into 
the boats and on board the San Jacinto. The 
families of these gentlemen remained on boaril the 
steamer, which continued her course to England. 
Wilkes brought his prisoners into Bostiai harbor 
where they were incarcerated in Fort ^^'arl•en. The 
act created a deal of excitement throughout the 
country and Capl. Wilkes was for a timea lion in 
eveiy city where he stopped. Meanwhile the secre- 
tary of the navy indorsed the act by a letter of 
thanks to Capt. 'ft'ilkes and he received a vole of 
thanks from congress, while baiiquetsand receptions 
were given to him in Boston. New ^"ork and A\'ash- 
ington. But on the arrival of the Trent in Eng- 
land a feeling was roused among the English peoi)le 
which very soon changed the situation A per- 
emptory demand was made liy the British govern- 
ment upon the iroveiiimenl of the United Stales for 
the restoration of the jirisoiiers, accompanied liy 
the assertion that the act of Capt. Wilkes was 
both an insult lo the British flag and a violation of 
international law. The coiielu.sion of the matter 
was that Secrelarv vSeward ordered that the prison- 
ers .should be surrendered ; the ground for this 
action being that C,-i|il. Wilkes erred in not carry- 
ing the Trent into a neutral port to have the case 
adjudicated ujion by a prize court. In acting as the 
judge himself, and practically executing his own 
decree, Cajit. Wilkes had technically committed a 
violation of international law for wliich the only re- 
dress was the restoration of the slaluii giio. Wilkes 
was commissioned commodore Julj- 16, 1863, and 
was placed in command of the fiolilla which shelled 
City Point, and later of a special squadron sent to 



320 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 







the West Indies to protect our commerce in those 
waters. He was commissioned rear-admiral on the 
retired hst July 25, 1866. The services of Wilkes 
as an explorer, were recognized by the Koyal Geo- 
graphical Societj' bj- the presentation of a gold medal, 
a fact which shows that the English people did 
not bear malice a^raiust him <m account of his action 
in the Trent affair. Admiral Wilkes published in 
Philadelphia in 1849 a work entitled "Western 
America, Including California and Oregon," and in 
New York, 18.56. his " Theory of the Winds." He 
died in W.'isliiiiirtnn, Feb. 8, 1877. 

BAILEY, Theodorus, rear-admiral, U. S. navy, 
was born at Chateaiigay, N. Y., April 13, 1805. 
His uncle Theodorus Bailey (17.")8-1828) was a con- 
gressman and U. S. senator, and 
from 1804 until 1828 postmaster 
of Xew York city. The younger 
Theodorus was educated at 
Plattsburg (N. Y.) Academy, 
and entered the navy as a mid- 
shipman in 1818. His first serv- 
ice was on the coast of Africa 
and later he spent five years in the 
Pacific and West Indian waters. 
He was promoted to be lieuten- 
ant March 3. 1827 and between 
1833 and 1846 as an officer of 
the Vincennes and Constellation 
twice circunmavigated the globe. 
In 1847 he was appointed com- 
mander of tlie storeship Lex- 
ington and in that capacity 
carried an artillery company 
to California; fitted out and led numerous suc- 
ce.ssful expeditions against the Mexicans; cap- 
tured San Bias and aided greatly in the con 
quest of California. As a reward for his services 
he was commissioned commander Jlarch 6, 1849 
and a little later went on a long cruise in the Pacific 
as commander of the St. Marys. During thiscruise 
he was in.strumental in securing full protection of 
the rights of American citizens in the various island 
grou|is. He was raised to the rank of captain on 
Dec. 15, 18.55 and was engaged in the protection of 
American interests at Panama after the massacre of 
April, 1856, a task in which his firmness and discre- 
tion proved of the greatest value. In 1861 he was 
ordered to the command of the steamer Colorado, 
blockading Pensacola. where he rendered great as- 
sistance to Gen. Harvey Brown, and after a night 
reconnaissance cut out and liurned the Confederate 
privateer .ludah. Early in 1862 he joined the tieet 
of Admiral D. C. Farragut and was appointed sec- 
ond in command of the expedition against Xew 
Orleans. He commanded the right column of the 
fleet in the passage of Forts .Jackson and St. Philip 
and it was at his suggestion that the attack on New 
Orleans and its batteries was made at night. On 
April 24, 1862, he led tliis attack in the Cayuga, 
receiving the fire of five forts and repelling oV de- 
stroying numerous Confederate vessels and niins. 
The following day Bailey was commissioned by 
Farragut to demand the surrender of the city. Ac- 
comiianied only by Lieut. G. H. Perkins he landed, 
made his way through an angry mcib to the city 
hall and successfully performed his mission. He 
was warmly commended by Admiral Farragut for 
his bravery and splendid service and sent to Wash- 
inirton as the bearer of dispatches amiouncing the 
victory. On .July 16, 1862, he was raised to the rank 
of commodore, and in the following ()( tober though 
in feeble health was at his own solicitation appointed 
the successor of Pear-a<lmiral Lardner as com- 
mander of the Eastern Gulf blockading squadron, 
in which position he captured 1.50 blockade-runners, 
and promptly and elleclually suppres.sed blockade- 



running on the Florida coast. On July 25, 1866, he 
was commissioned rear-admiral and in October, 1866, 
was placed on the retired list. His la.st service was 
I)erformed as commandant of the Portsmouth navy 
yard. The remainder of his life was passed in 
Washington. Admiral Bailey was wise and far- 
seeing in the planning, and fearless and untiring in 
the performance of duty, and he ranked among the 
ablest of the naval commanders of the civil war. 
He died in Washington. 1). C, Feb. 10. 1877. 

BOGGS, Charles Stuart, rear-admiral, U.S.navy, 
was born at JSew Brunswick, X. J., Jan. 28, 1811. 
His mother was the sister of Capt. James Lawrence, 
specially notable for his expression : " Don't give up 
the ship," when mortally woinided in the engage- 
ment between the British frigate Shannon and the 
Chesaiieake, of which he was in command, in 
Boston harbor. June 1, 1813. It is said of the sub- 
ject of this sketch, that the impression made u|)on 
Ins mother and afterwards upon himself by the 
brave career of Capt. Lawrence, had much to do 
with his choosing the navy as a profession. When 
quite young, he was sent to Capt. Partridge's cele- 
brated military academy at Middletown, Conn., and 
on Nov. 1, 1826. received his appointment as mid- 
shipman from the state of New Jersey, and in July 
following was ordered to the sloop-of-war War- 
ren, attached to the Jlediterraneau squadron. At 
this time, the eastern portion of the Jlediterranean 
was swarming with Greek pirates, and the duty of 
the American squadron in those waters was to aid 
in suppressing this species of warfare and to pro- 
tect American commerce. Here young Boggs pa.ssed 
three years of his life, part of the time on the 
Warren and part on the shijj-of-the-line Delaware. 
In 1830, he was ordered on board the schooner 
Porpoise, which joined the West India squadron 
where he remained for the next two years. On April 
28, 1832, having been appointed pa.ssed-midshipman, 
lie was sent on board a receiving-ship at New- 
York, and excepting a year on board the sloop 
Falmouth in the West Indies he continued dur- 
ing four years on land service. In 1836 he joined 
in the capacity of master the ship-of-tlie-line North 
Carolina, which had been ordered to the Pacific 
coast, but on arriving at Callao. he received an 
appointment as acting lieutenant and was ordered 
as executive officer to the schooner Enteriirise, 
and for nearly two years saw much active service. 
On Sept. 6, 1837, yoimg Boggs was promoted lieuten- 
ant. In 1839 he returned 
home in the North Caro- 
lina, which was now made 
a school-ship and served 
on board of her in New 
York harbor as lieuten- 
ant in charge of the ap- 
prentices. In this import- 
ant position Lieut. Boggs 
displayed his fine capa- 
city for command, com- 
bining mildness and cour- 
tesy of manner with ab- 
solute stri<-tness in the 
eid'orcenu'iit of discipline. 
In 1842-43 Lieut. Boggs 
was on board the sloop 
Saratoga on the coast of 
Africa and took an active 
part in the bombardment 
and deslructiim of ceilain 
slave ports. In l.S4ti-47 

he was on the steamer Princeton of the home 
sqtiadron and took part in the great bombardment 
of the ca.stle of San Juan de I'lloa and Tampico. 
He also commanded a boat expedition from 
the Princeton, which destroyeil tl;e U. S. brig 




«a. 



OF AMERICAX BIOGRAPHY. 



321 



Truxton after her surrender to the Jlexicans, a most 
daunxTous mission as it turned out. and in wliicli 
only the tact and courafre of Lieiit, Bogjjs ])reveuted 
the" cajitiue of hi.s jiarty. The Princeton was soon 
after ordered to the Mediterranean, the first pro- 
peller ever seen in those waters, and attracted irreat 
attention from the Greeks in the Piraeus. Lieut. 
Boggs was the executive officer of tlie frigate St. 
LawTence. ordered by the United States goveriuneiit 
to carry the American contrilnitions to the World's 
Fair of 18.51 in London. On his return he was ap- 
pointed tir.st lieutenaut. ordered to the Xew York 
navy-yard and made inspector of clothing and jiro- 
visions at that post. He contiuued to hold this 
position from 18.51 until 18.54. On Sept. 14. 18.5.5, 
he was commissioned commander, and for the next 
three years was in command of the V. S. mail 
steamer Illiuois, in the service of the California 
Steamship Co. In 1860 Ctunr. Boggs was inspector 
of lights on the California coast and in command of 
the steamer Shuhrick, employed for this purpose. 
On the oiUbreak of the war of the rebellion he wrote 
to Washington, asking to be placed lai active ser- 
vice, and being ordered home was jiul in command 
of the U. 8. steamer Varuna. which was ordered to 
join Farragut's fleet below New Orleans and was 
the flrst ship to force its way past the batteries, do- 
ing terrible damage to the Confederate gunboats, 
but being at last demolished by the Stonewall Jack- 
son, an ironclad which ran into her, slaving her 
side, whereupon the Varima was run ashore, tiring 
all the time until her gims were under water. For 
his gallantry in this \mparalleled naval combat, his 
native town and state each voted Coiur. Boggs a 
sword. On July l(i, 1802. he was commissioned as 
captain and placed in command of the Sacramento, 
of the blockading squadron olT Cape Fear river. 
Here constant exposure and fatigue broke down his 
health, and he was obliged to resign his command 
and return home to recruit. In 1804-6.5 Capt. Boggs 
was on shore duly at New York, engaged in super- 
intending the building and fitting out of the fleet of 
steam i>icket-boats planned by himself. One of 
the.se was the torpedo-boat with which the gallant 
Lieut. Cushing attacked the Confederate ram Albe- 
marle and .sent her to the bottom. In 1866 Capt. 
Boggs commanded the L'. S. steamer Connecticut, 
■which cruised in the West Indies. There he over- 
took the ironclad Stonewall in the harbor of Havana 
and demanded her surrender to the United States, 
but she was given up to the Spanish government. 
In 1867-68 Boggs commanded the schooner De Soto 
of the North Atlantic .squadron. On July, 1, 1870, 
he was jiromoted to the rank of rear-admiral and 
■was appointed lighthouse inspector of the third dis- 
trict. In 1S73 he was placed on the retired list. He 
died Apr. 2i. 1888. 

GREENE, Samuel Dana, naval otticer, was 
boni at Cumberland, Md., Feb. 11, 1840, the second 
son of George Sears Greene. He was graduated from 
the United States Naval Academy in l.s.59. and 
served as midshipman on the Hartford, of the China 
squadron. In 1M61 he volunteered for .service on 
the ironclad Monitor, then building in New York 
city, which afterward left New York, March 6, 
1863, for Hampton Koads. Va. Reaching that place 
March !), 1863. slie at once proceeded to attack the 
>Ierrimac, and Lieut. Worden, her commander, 
directed the movements of the ves.sel from the pilot- 
house, while Lieut. Greene had charge of the guns 
in the turret, personally tiring every shot imtil near 
tlie close of the action. In the delay incident to a 
change of command from Lieut. Wiirden to Lieut. 
Greene, the former having been woiuidcd, the ves- 
sels drifted apart. Lieut. Greene forthwith turned 
the Monitor again toward the Jlerrimac, but that 
was alreadj' in retreat toward Norfolk. After 



tiring a few shots after her, Lieut. Greene returned 
to the vessels which had been .saved by the arrival 
of his own craft. He was afterward "engaged in 
the attack on Fort Darling and in other naval ac- 
tions on the James river. After the loss of the 
Monitor, which foundered off Cape Hatteras, Dec. 
3U. 1S63. he served as executive ollicer of the Florida 
on blockade duly, ISdIi, of the Iroquois in search of 
the .\labama, 18li4-li5. and on vari(uis other ves- 
sels from 18t)5 until 1869. He was promoted to be 
lieutenant-commander in 1866, and to comiiiander 
in 1S73. and conunanded the Juniata in 1.S7.5. the 
Jlonongaliela in 1876-77, and the Despatch in 1SH3- 
84. He was assistant professor of mathematics 
1866-68, at the United States Naval Academy, 
of astronomy 1871-75, and was a.s.sistaut to the 
snperintendeiit of the institution 1878-83. He 
received a vole of thanks from the legislature of 
Rhode Island for his services in the action lietween 
the Jlonitor and the Merrimac. He died at Ports- 
mouth. N. H.. U. S. navv-vard, Dec. 11, 1SS4, 

GOLDSBOROUGH, "Louis Malesherbes, rear 
admiral U. S. N.. was born in Washinuton. D. C., 
Feb. 18, 1805. His father, Charles Washington 
(1779-1843), was fen- many years chief clerk of the navy 
department. Louis was appointed a midshipman at 
seven years of age in 1813, but did not enlcr the .ser- 
vice until 1816. Heserved flrst under Bainbridge, and 
from 1817 until 1834 cruised in the 
Mediterranean and Pacific, mainly 
under Stewart. He was nnide lieu- 
tenant in \X'Z'i, and until 1837 stud- 
ied in Paris. In 1837, while cruis- 
ing in the Rus,sian archipelago on 
the Porpoise, he led at night a boat 
expedition of vohmteers, and re- 
captured the British brig Comet, 
which had fallen into the hands of 
Greek pirates. In the conflict nine- 
ty of the pirates were killed. In 
1833 he married the daughter of 
William Wirt, and for .some time 
resided on a tract of land which 
his father-in-law had jiurchased in 
Florida. During the Seminole war 

he '(\as commander of a company /? a /2^ y fi 

of volimteer cavalry, and later of '::::>c£AJr^c.U ^t r^^i ^ 
an armed steamer. Shortly after- 
■ward he retiu-ned to the naval service, and in 1841 
"n'as made conunaiuler. In 1849 he served as a 
member of the commission that explored Cali- 
fornia and Oregon; was promoted to be captain in 
18.55, and from 1853 until 1857 was superintendent 
of the Naval Academy. In Augu.st. 1861, he was 
appointed flag-otticer, and in the following month 
was assigned to the command of the North At- 
lantic squadron. In January, 1863. he sailed from 
Hampton Roads for the sounds of North Caro- 
lina, and on Feb. 8, 1863, co-operated with Gen. 
A. E. Burnside in the captme of Roanoke Island. 
For his sen'ices on this occasion he received a 
vote of thanks from congress. Subsequently, by 
various expeditions into the bays and rivers, he 
completed the coiupiest of the North Carolina 
coast. He then returned to Hamilton Road.s, and 
dining the peninstdar campaign co-operated with 
JlcClellan in the York and James rivers. In July, 
1863, he was rai.sed to the rank of rear-admiral, and 
in September, 1863, wjis, at his own request, relievctl 
from the command of the North Atlantic squadron. 
Thereafter and tmtil the close of the war he was en- 
gaged in preparing a cikIc of regulations for the naval 
service, and a revision of the naval book of allow- 
ances. From 1865 until 1867 he was commander of 
the European squadron, and in 1873 was retired. At 
his death he was. length of service considered, the 
oldest officer in the navy. He died Feb. 30, 1877. 




322 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOP.EniA 




VEST, George Graham, sonatur anil Coiifcil- 
eriite cougiessmau. was born at Frankfort, Ky., 
Dec. 6, 1830. His parents were of Viriiinia 
family and Presbyterians, liis fallier beinir Julin 
Jay Vest and liis mother Harriet Graham, of 
Scotch-Irish descent. He was ediicaled at the 
high school of that eminent educator. B. B. Sayre, 
and entering the junior chiss of the Presbyterian 
Center CoUege at Oanville. Ky., 
■was graduated in 1848. He read 
law under.Iames Harlan, attorney- 
general of Kentucky, and father 
of the justice of the I'. 8. snpreuie 
court, and was graduated in '[K)'2 
from the Transylvania Law School 
in Lexington, Ky, He settled in 
Georgetown, Petti.s Co., Mo., and 
began a successful law practice in 
that and the adjoining coimties, 
until 18.")(i, when he removed to 
Booneville, Mo. In 18G0 lie was 
cho.scn democratic elector and 
state representative in the general 
assembly. In the war he espoiLs- 
. ^ X ed the cause of the South and 

M tl [rc4//~ served during the summer of 18()1 

/-J. w. L*q . .^ jj^^ army of Gen. Price, being 

made judge-advocate general of 
a general court martial, convened at Lexington 
just after the capture of that place by the Confeder- 
ates. He was elected by the Missouri legislature, 
■which assembled at Neosho in the fall of 18G1, a 
member of the provisionid congress of the Confed- 
erate states for two years, and was afterward aji- 
poiuted by Gov. Re.yuolds of Missouri Confederate 
states senator, serving for one year. After the war 
he returned to Mis,souri and resumed his law ju-actice 
at Sedalia. Pettis Co., Jlo., in |)artnership with ('ol. 
John F. Philips, afterward judge U. S. district court, 
western district of Missouri. He was elected V. S. 
.senator in 1878, and re-elected without ojiposition in 
the party in 1884 and 1890. Senator Vest is one of 
the ablest and most eloquent .statesmen in the -n-liole 
couiUry, and an uunuestioned leader in the national 
councils. To the highest legal ability and most 
posverful gras]) of constitutional principles and 
questions he adds a broad, bold, and yet conserv- 
ative statesmanship. His first residence in George- 
town. Mo., w!is caused by a tragic incident that 
eviuceil his courageous conscinitiousness and inllu- 
enced the cour.se of his whole life. He was on his 
way to California, when an aecideiU to the stage 
stopped him at Georgetown, and July 4, 18.'>3, a 
man named France employe<l him to defend his ne- 
gro boy, accused of murdering a white woman and 
her two children. He cleared the boy before the 
examining court, but the moh seized the negro, held 
the eotuily two weeks uiwh^r a vigilance committee, 
and burned his client publicly liefore 1,.500 negroes 
assemliled to witness the execution. Threats were 
made against him because he defended the negro, 
and in con.sequence he determined to remain and 
face the results, and he thus became a citizen of 
Missouri. Senator Vest is one of the national ora- 
tors, and can not only make a<ldresses on vast 
themes and large occasions, but is a ready and pow- 
erful hand-to-hand debater, quick, intense and re- 
sourceful and an aggressive antagonist, well- 
equipped, dealing ponderous blows, and holding his 
own with th(^ other giants of the senate. He has 
performed valuable committee work and made 
strong anil exhaustive speeches upon all the great 
national questions that have agitated the country in 
the fourteen years in which he h.'is .so brilliantly 
served in the most august deliberative body in the 
world. He is chairman of the select committee on 
transportation and sale of meat products, and a mem- 




TW'^AxJte;:^;^ 



ber of the important committees on the judiciary, 
commerce, public buildings and grounds, transporta- 
tion routes on tlie seaboard, and the quadro-centen- 
nial. In 18.")4 he married l^allie E. Snced, of Dan- 
ville, Ky., an<l the}- have three children. 

OLMSTED, Frederick Law, landscape arclif- 
tect, was born in Hartford, Conn., Apr. 26, 1823. 
His father had a more than usual liking for natural 
scenery, and a more than common interest in matters 
of rural life, and his son was his companion in 
many journeys by private conveyance, in which he 
■was largely educated fi>r his profession by what he 
saw. In 1840 he sliipped as a seaman for the East 
Indiesand Cliina. securing an ex|ierience comparable 
to that recorded by Dan.a in his "Two Years Before 
the Ma.st." In 184.")-4G he .studied agricultural 
.science and engineering at Yale College, after which 
he becamea practical farmer.and was such forseveral 
years. In l.H.")0 he made a pedes- 
trian tour throughout Great Brit- 
ain and parts of the continent of 
Europe, followed in 1 8.")2-.53 by a 
horseback trip through the south- 
ern and southwestern United 
States. The fruit of these trav- 
els w,is, very largely, the books, 
"Walks ami Talks of an Ameri- 
can Farmer in England " (Jsew 
York, ls.-)2): ••Journey in Sea- 
board Slave States " (Xew York. 
18.")6) ; ' ' Journey Through Texas " 
(New York, 18.")?), and ".Journey 
in the Back Countrv " (New York, 
1800). The three "last-named vol- 
umes had great intluencc in deter- 
mining the estimate of American 
slavery, not only in this country but 
in Europe, ■nhere they were print- 
ed in two volumes, with the title, •'The Cotton King- 
dom" (London, 1801 ). Several years later Mr. Olmsted 
journeyed again through France. Italy and Germany, 
giving special attention to the study of ])arks and 
rural arts. In IX'M. in connection with Calvert 
Vaux, he prepared the accepted plans and estimates 
for the conslnu^tion of the New York Central Park, 
and for the next four years w;is engaged in superin- 
tending their execution. Din'iiig the first three 
years of the civil war, 1801-0.5. lie administered the 
working details of the L'nited States Sanitary Com- 
mission, of wliich he was the general manager. In 
the year l.sO;i he was cnncerned, with others, in the 
formation of the I'liion League Club of New York 
city. In 18()4-00. as chairman of the Vosemite 
(California) commission, he directed the topographi- 
cal .survey of the Yosemite big tree reservations, and 
took charge of them for the .state. In 1800 he was 
also engaged with Mr. Vaux in laying out and sujier- 
intending the construclion of Prospect park, Brook- 
Ivn, N. V. This was followed bv similar work at 
the South park. Chicago. 111.; "Bulfalo, N. Y., 
parks, and Seaside park at Bridgeiiort. Cotui. Other 
works which he has designed and whose construction 
lie has supervised, are: i\[ount Hoyal])ark, Montreal; 
the Capitol grounds at Washington, I). C. ; two pub- 
lic parks at Kochester. N. Y.; one at Trenton, N. J., 
and another nl Wilmington. Del. Laying out the 
grounds about the Leland Stanford rniversity in 
California, and the \'anderbilt estate at Biltmore, 
N. C are among the more recent of his labors. Ho 
was also concerned in organizing and eipiipping the 
liark and parkway systems at Boston, Mass. His 
firm, made up of F. L. and J. C. Olmsted (his son) 
and Henry Sargent ('(iilman, was a|ipoinled land- 
scape architects to Ihi' AVorld's Fair, at Chicaiio, III. 
As an author Mr. Olmsted has high repute for the 
practical value of his matter, which shows him to be a. 





T-^^hxx^ty^ 




^ 



COPYRIGHT, 1892, BY JAMES T. WHITE 4 CO. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



325 




C^J>ltol 



JOHNSON, Andrew, the seventeenth president 
of the Unite<l States, was burn in I?aleii;h. N. C, 
Dec. 3it, 1808. His parents were jxjor biit respect- 
able, anil when lie was only five j-ears of age he 
had the misfortune to lose his father while the lat- 
ter was attempting to save another from tlrowning. 
When the boy was only ten years of age. his moth- 
er was obliged to apprentice iiim to a tailor, ou ac- 
count of her extreme necessity. He learned to read 
while he was learning his trade, but it is a fact that he 
offers the exception of an American boy who never 
went to school a single day in his life. He completed 
his apprenticeship in 1824, and then went to Laurens 
Court House, South Carolina, 
where he workeil as a journey- 
man tailor until May, 182(), when 
he removed to Greenville, Tenn. 
At this time Jlr. .Johnson had the 
good forttme to obtain for a wife 
Eliza McCardle, a woman wliose 
capacity and whose devotion to 
him exercised a marke<l influence 
on his future life. Under her tu- 
ition, he progressed rapidly in the 
attainment of useful knowledge, 
and soon among his townspeojjlc 
lie began to be recognized, through 
his self-reliance and persisteiit en- 
ergy, as a biOTi leader. He iden- 
tified himself with the laboring 
classes, a fact which they recog- 
nized by giving him tlieir votes 
when he was a candidate for alder- 
man in 1S2S, insuring his eleelion 
to that position, which he held 
iinlil 1830, wh<ii he was elected mayor. In 1834 he 
interested himself in the adoption of a new constitu- 
tion for the state of Tennessee, guaranteeing impor- 
tant rights to the i)eo])le, and this action resulted in 
fairly starting him in public life. In polities he was 
a democrat of the .lackson school, and as sni-h he 
was elected in 183.) and again in 1831) to the legislat- 
ure of the state. In 1840 he was one of the presiden- 
tial electors on the Van Huren ticket and slumped 
the slate for his candidate, proving himself verj' ef- 
fective as a speaker. In 1841 he was elected to 
the state senate, where he became a useful and act- 
ive member as he had previously been in the house. 










f-.tf'^- 



His services and abilities were by this time fully ap- 
preciated, and in 1843 he was "elected to congress 
from his district. There he remained, constantly re- 
elected until 18.')3, when he was chosen governor of 
Tennessee, being re-elected to that position two years 
later. In 18.57 Mr. .Johnson was elected to the Unit- 
ed States senate, where he remained until 1862, when 
he was appointed the military governor of Tennessee. 
Andrew .Johnson was recognized by this time as " a 
representative of the people." He never permitted 
any sneers at his calling, nor any attemiitcd dispar- 
agement of the laboring classes to pass unrebuked. 
Once, when Jefferson Davis .superciliously asked him, 
"What do you mean by the laboring cla.sses?" 
Johnson replied " Those who earn tli^ir bread by the 
sweat of their face and not by fatiguing their inge- 
nuity." While in congress, hiiving been born and 
reared in a slave state he accepted slavery where it 
existed, Init was no advocate of its extension. He 
denounced the John Brown raid in December, 18.')9, 
but he re.adily acquiesced in the election in 1860 of 
Aliraham Lincoln to the presidency. He bitterly op- 
po.sed and denied the right of any state to withdraw 
from the L'nion. For himself he was one of the 
strongest of Union men and on July 26, 1861, intro- 
duced a resolution into the senate, which was passed, 
to the effect that the war had been forced upon the 
country liy the disunionists of the southern states, 
that it was not jiro.secuted on the part of the Union in 
any sjiirit of oi>prcssion, but to defend and maintain 
the supremacy of the constitution and laws, and to 
preserve the Uiu'on with all its dignity and ciiuality 
and the rightsof the southern stales unim))aircil, and 
that as .soon as those objects were accomplished, the 
war ought to cease. .Johnson's course in congress 
had brought down upon him the wrath of leading 
secessionists, and he was burned in efligy at Mem- 
phis, threatened with lynching on his return to Ten- 
nessee, a price lieing .set upon liis head and jiersonal 
violence threatened if be remained within the .state. 
His home was a.s.saiilted, his slaves confiscated, his 
sick wife and her child driven into ihestrei't and his 
house turned into a hosjiital barracks by the Confed- 
erates. This was in 1861. In the early part of 1862 
Gen. Grant entered Tennes.see and the sece.s.sionists 
left it. President Lincoln appointed Mr. Johnson 
military governor of the stale, with the rank of lirig- 
adiei-general of voluulecrs. His course as military 



326 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 







governor was fearless, but cool and judicious. He 
did much to hold Tennessee within tlio Union, as he 
aliened that it had never been out of that condition. 
<)u June 0, 18()4, Andrew .Johnson w^as unanimously 
nominated by the national republican convention at 
Baltimore as tlie candidate for tlie viee-iuesidency, 
and soon after a mass-meelinirw-as held at Nasliville 
to ratify the nomination and to conjrratulate Mr. 
.Tohn.son. In speaking to this meeting, .Mr. Jolmson 
said: "Slavery is dead, and you must pardon nu> if 
I do not mourn over its dead body. You can bury 
it out of sight. Now, as regards emancipation, I 
want to say to the blacks that liberty means liberty 
to work and enjoy the fruits of your 
labor. Idleness is not freedom." On 
JIarcli 4, 18(io, Vicc-l'residciit .John- 
son was dul}' qiialitied and assumed 
his po.silion.' (In tlic ir)tli of April 
Abraham Lincoln fell by the hands of 
an assassin, and Mr. .Johnson took the 
oath of ollice as president of the United 
Slates in his private aparlmentsat the 
Kirkwood House, in the presence of 
Mr. Lincoln's cabinet olticers and oth- 
ers. After subscribing to the oath. President .Johnson 
spoke as follows: "Gentlemen: I mu.st be per- 
mitted to say tliat I have been almost overwhelmed 
by the announcement of the sad event that has .so re- 
cently occurred. I feel incompetent to perform du- 
ties so important and responsible as those which have 
been souucxpecteilly llirown upon me. As to an indi- 
cation of any policy whicli may be pursued by me in 
the admini.stration of the government, I have to say 
that that must be left for development as the admin- 
istration progresses. Tlie message or declaration 
must be made by the acts as they transpire. The 
only assurance I can give of the future, is by refer- 
ence to the past. ... I must be permitted to say, if 
I understand the feelings of my own heart, I have 
long labored to ameliorate and elevate the condition 
of the American peo|ile. Toil and an honest advo- 
cacy of the great |)rinci|iles of the govenunent have 
been my lot. The duties have beeu mine — the con- 
sequences are God's. This has been the foundation 
of my political creed. I feel that in the end tlie gov- 
ernment will Iriumpli and that these great princi- 
ples will be permanently estaliHshed." It was dur- 
ing the administratiiin of President .Johnson that the 
territories of the United States assumed their final 
form. Dakota was taken from the northern part of 
Nebraska, Arizona from the western part of New 
Mexico; Idaho was organized as an independent ter- 
ritory, and afterward the territory of Montana was 
cut oil from Idaho, and the territory of Wyoming 
from portions of Idaho, Dakota and Utah. On 
March 1, 1807, the territory of Nebraska was ad- 
mitted into the Union as a state, and on the JiOtli of 
thai month, the United States received from Hussia, 
for the sum of .f 7,200, 000, the cession of the territory 
of Alaska. Soon after his accession to the presiden- 
cy a serious di.sagreemcnt took place between Mr. 
.Johnson .and congress, the principal (juestion at i.ssue 
relating to the reorganization of the southern states 
and the relation which tliose states sustained to the 
Union during the civil war. President .lohnson main- 
tained that ilie .sei-eded states had never been out of 
the Union and that their ordinances of sece.s.sion were 
null and void. On the other liand, congress main- 
tained that, wliih^ the acts of secession were uncon- 
.stitutional, yet, by those acts, seceded states had ac- 
tually been oulof th(^ Union and that they co\ild not, 
be restored to tlieir former status without legislation. 
President .Johnson cut this gordian knot by i.ssuing 
proclamations establishing provisional governments 
over the seceded states. Congress answered this by 
passing the civil rights bill admitting the freedmen 
of the South to all the rights of citizenship, over his 



veto. In August, 180G, President Johnson, accom- 
panied by his cabinet in jiart, and by Gen. Grant, 
Adm. Farragut and other prominent persons, 
made the tour of the northern states, which after- 
ward became known as " Swinging Kound the Cir- 
cle." During this tour the president sjioke freely 
in denunciation of congress and in favor of his own 
policy, the result being that the journey was the 
cau.se of intense e.xciti'ineiit and partis.anship. At 
the .second .se.s.sion of congress in 18(17. the pcilicy of 
the president was severely condemned, and the allairs 
of the adininisl ration grew more critical. Congress 
passed several acts over the president's veto, and 
eventu.ally the work of the reconstruction was con- 
tinued under the congressional plan. In the months 
of .June and .luiy, 18I')S. Arkansas. Alabama. Flori- 
da, Geiirgia. North and Snuth C;ii-olina. anil Louisi- 
ana, weie admitted into the Union, but in every case 
.such readinission was effected over the veto of the 
president. On Feb. 21.st President .Johnson dis- 
missed Edwin M. Stanton, the secretary of war, 
from ollice. Congress held that this act was a usur- 
Jiation of ]iciwer and .a violation of the temire-of-of- 
tice law. Therefore, in aeeordanee with the con- 
stitutional provision to that end. on March 'A. 1808, 
articles of impeachment were agreed to by the house 
of representatives again.st the president ami ri'inand- 
cd to the senate for trial. The trial, which was pre- 
sided over by Chief .Justice Clia.se, was conducted, on 
the Jiart of the house of representatives, by Henja- 
miu F. Butler. It commenced March 'ii(\, and con- 
tinued until !May 2Cth. resulting in the jnesident's ac- 
(piittal. Upon leaving the jiresidential chair. Mr. 
.Johnson retired to his old home at tJreenville. Tenn., 
where he lived a somewhat secluded life until 1S7."), 
when the legislature of Tennessee chose him Uniltd 
States senator, and President Grant ha\ing called a 
special session of the senate, 5Ir. Johnson took his 
seat in that body. JIarch .'). 187.5. Later, while on 
a visit to his daughter, Mr. Johnson was stricken 
with jiaralysis. lie lingered some days in an uucon- 
.scious stale and died on the last dav of Jnlv. 1875. 

JOHNSON. Eliza McCardle, was" born in 
Leeshurg, Washington Co., Tenn., Oct. 4, 1810, and 
on May 27, 1830, she married Andrew Johnson. 
During his term in the legi.slature she remained at 
their home in Greenville, but while 
he was in the .senate in 1801. she 
passed some months in Washing- 
ton. She .soon returned to Green- 
ville, however, on account of her 
health, and there received an order, 
dated Ajir. 24, 1802, which required 
her to jiass beyond the Confederate 
lines by the way of Nashville, with 
in thirty-six hours. But this was 
impossible, as she was too ill to 
travel, so .she remained all sum- 
mer in Greenville, where rumors 
reached her of the murder of Jlr. 
.Johnson in Kentucky, and at Nash- 
ville. In the early autumn she ob- 
tained ]iermis.sion to cross the line, 
and siarted for Nashville, accom- 
panied by her children and 5Ir. 
.Stover, her siai-in-law. She was 
detained at Murfrccslioro by Gen. 
Forrest until permission could be obtained from the 
authorities at Richmond for them to go on. when 
she rejoined her husband at Nashville. While a 
resident of the While House Mrs. Johnson .seldom 
;ip|iearcd in society, on account of her health. She 
was last seen at a party given to her grandchildren, 
and was then too much of an invalid to rise from 
her chair, and gladly returned to their home in 
Gn'envillc at the cml of her husband's term. In 
their earlier yeai's she was his counselor and guide, 



I 







OF AMERICAN BIOGUAPIIY. 



327 



studying with him at night after the day's work was 
over, living quietly and economically at Greenville 
while he was in Washington. Always quiet and 
gentle, she lived for others, and was hajipiest when 
surrounded by her family. In youth she is said to 
have been a great beauty. Mrs. Johnson survived 
her husband six montlis, d3'ing at tlie home of her 
eldest daughter, in Green county, Teun., Jan. 15, 
1876. Their daughter Martha was born in Green- 
ville, Tenn., Oct. 3."), 1828, was educated at George- 
town, I). C'., and while yet a schoolgirl frequently 
vi.sited the White House as a gue-st during President 
Polk's adminislration. In 1851 she returned to 
Tennessee, and on Uee. 13, 1857, married Judge 
David T. Patterson. During her father's adminis- 
tration she presided at the White House, Mrs. John- 
son being an invalid, and she and her sister, Mrs. 
Stover, assisted at the first reception held by Presi- 
dent Johnson, Jan. 1, 1806. In the spring of 1866 
an apindpriation of ii;;jO,000 was made b_y congress, 
for the purpo.se of refurnishing the White tunise, 
and Mrs. Patterson undertook to superintend the 
■work her.self, finding that unless she did so the 
funds would not go far toward accomplishing the 
desired object. Mrs. Patterson was a woman of 
great good sense, excellent judgment, remarkable 
executive ability, and tilled her position at the White 
House with dignity. She, like her mother, had not 
fondness for display, and eared little for social gayety, 
preferring the qiuet pleasures of home. She said: 
" We are plain people from the mountains of Ten- 
nessee, called here for a short time by a national 
calamity. I trust too much will not be expected of 
us." Mary, another dauiihter, was born in Green- 
ville, Tenn., May 8, 1833, and in April, 1853, 
married Daniel Stover, of Carter county. East Ten- 
nessee. He died in 1863, leaving her witli three chil- 
dren, and in 1869 she married William H. liacon, of 
Greenville, Tenn. Slie lived at the White House 
during nearly all of her father's term, but entered 
very little into the gay society of the Capital, owing 
to extreme difiidence and a taste for sira])ler, more 
quiet pleasures. ]Mrs. Johnson died in Bluff City, 
Tenn., Apr. 19, 1SS3. 

McCULLOUGH, Hugh. (See Index.) 
HARLAN, James, secretary of the interior, was 
born in Clarke county. 111., Aug. 36, 1830. He was 
the son of Silas Harlan, a native of Pennsylvania, 
and his mother, JIary Conley, was born in JIaryland. 
These two families emigrateii to W^arren county, O., 
■where the children, who were quite young, were 
brought up in the same neighborhood, and when 
they reached their majority were married, and im- 
mediately emigrated to Clarke county. 111., wliere 
they settled on a farm. Here they had four chil- 
dren, of whom James was the second. When he 
■was four years of age the family migrated to In- 
diana, which was at that time an Indian country, and 
there formed a home in the midst of a dense forest. 
The ninnl)erof children increased meanwhile to ten, 
four sons and six daughters, and James, who had 
become an excellent farm hand, was his father's 
chief assistant in clearing and making the new home. 
In Maj', 1841, young Harlan was granted his freedom, 
■with a gift of "$l()l) from his father, and started out 
to make his way in the world. Up to this time he 
had received instruction in the di.strict schools, 
and had studied diligently, evening and mornings, 
thus becoming what is calle<l a good .scholar for the 
period. He now went to Greencastle, Ind., and en- 
tered Indiana Asbury University, from which insti- 
tution he was graduated in 1845, with the highest 
honors. During his college course he siqiported 
himself by working on a farm, teaching the common 
school, and meanwhile boarding himself. Soon after 
leaving college he was married, at Greencastle, 
by Rev. Dr. Simpson, president of the college, after- 



ward Bishop Simpson, to Aim Eliza Peck. The fol- 
lowing spring he took his wife to Iowa City, having 
been appointed principid of the Iowa City College, 
which was s\ibsequently succeeded by the State 
University. In 1H47 Jlr. Harlan was elected super- 
intendent of public inslruetion on the whig ticket. 
A year later he was re-elected to the same position, 
but was coimted out by members of tlie returning 
board in favor of Thoi'nas II. Benton, Jr., nephew 
of the celebrated "Old Bullion." Mr. Harlan now 
began to study law, was admitted to the bar, began 
to practice, and was i)rogressing satisfactorily when 
he was offered and accepted tlie presidency of the 
Iowa Wesleyau University. During the presidential 
eanva.ssof 1848 he made a nuniberof stump speeches 
in favor of Gen. Taylor. In 1849 he declined an 
offer of caiulidacy for state senator, and in 1850 
declined the whig nomination f(n- governor of Iowa. 
He continued to practice his profession until the 
summer of 1853, when he entered on the duties of 
president of the Iowa Wesleyan University, and pro- 
fessor of mental and moral sciences, in which posi- 
tion he remained until he was elected U. S. senator 
in 1855. Mr. Harlan was re-elected to the senate in 
1861, and resigned on May 13, 1865, to take the office 
of secretary of the interior, to which 
he had been appointed by Presi- 
dent Lincoln about a mouth beloie 
the hitter's assassination. Mr. H.ir 
Ian had been prepared and ecpiip 
l)ed for his new position by ser\ ice 
on the senate committees, on pub- 
lic lands, Indian affairs, agricultu- 
ral bureau and Pacitic railroad 
In 1866 .Mr. Harlan was elected to 
the senate for the third term and 
resigned from the interior depait- 
meut. taking a seat in the senate 
March 4, 1867, and .serving until 
the end of his term. Mr. Hailan 
was highly esteemed throughout 
his senatorial career for his prac- 
tical wisdom as a statesman, his 
influence and power in debate, 
and his captivating oratory. It 
is said of him, that whenever he spoke on the ex- 
isting i.ssues of the time, he always called out the 
ablest democratic members in rejily — such senators 
as Stephen Douglas, Louis Cass and Mr. Benjamin. 
The governor of Illinois said of him, "Mr. Harlan 
makes the best campaign speeches of anyone in the 
state." Senator John P. Hale called him "the 
most successful pas.ser of liills. " Charles Sumner 
esteemed him .so highly that he recpiested the senate 
who placed him on the committee on foreign rela- 
tions to make Mr. Harlan chairman. Koscoe Con- 
klin said of Mr. Harlan, "He is the strongest, most 
convincing debater I have ever listened Vo, one of 
the really great men who have served in the senate." 
His speech on the St. Domingo question, in rejily to 
those of Sumner and Carl Scliurz, was considered 
the greatest forensic triumph in the senate .since the 
reply of Webster to Hay lie in 1833. Altogether 
Mr. Harlan was considereil the most powerful polit- 
ical speaker Iowa introduced to the country. And 
this description was equally accurate down so late 
as 1890. when, at what was" known as the "Speaker 
Keed " meeting at Burlington, la., he made an ad- 
dress which Speaker Thonias H. Keed ]n-onouiiced 
the best half-hour tariff speech he had ever heard. 
From 1.SS3 until 1885 Mr. Harlan was presiding 
judge of the court of commissioners of Alat)ama 
claims. Since then he has lived at Mount Pleasant, la. 

BRO'WNING, Orville Hickman, secretary of 
the interior, was born in Harrison county. Ivy., in 1810. 
He was educated at Augusta Collcire, Bracken conn- 




^^^^^4^ J^i'^uJcc 



328 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 




(^/-/^-r^**?*^ 



ty. Ivy., aud wliilp tliere cniploj-ed bis leisure hours in 
worliiiij: in tlii' oltice of thv county clerk, studied law, 
was aduiiltcd to the bar, practiced his |)rofession in 
Quincy, 111., served in the Hlack Hawk war in 1S32, 
■was a member of the state .senate in l,s;!(i. serving; 
four years, aud wa.s elected to the lower branch of 
the lesrislature. wliere he served three years. A mem 
ber ot'the BlouminL'toti convention, he assisted Abra- 
ham Lincoln to form the republican 
parly of Illinois, and was a delegate 
to tiie ('hicajro convention in IISGO 
that nominated Lincoln for presi- 
dent. In 18U1 Gov. Vatcs appointed 
him r. S. senator, to till Stephen A. 
Douiilas's seat, and he served in this 
lH)sition for two years, In the early 
part of his term as senator he de- 
clared himself in the senate to be in 
favor of the abolition of slavery, 
should the South force the issue, aud 
on Feb. 2'). ISIi'J, in a debate on the 
conliscatioii bill. heeai'Mestly opi)o,sed 
it. Duriniihis residence in Washin;;;- 
ton be lu'acticed law with .Jeremiah 
Black and Thomas G. Ewiiig. In 
18()() he wa.s an active member of the 
Union executive committee, was ap- 
pointed secretaiy of the interior by 
President .Johnson in the same jear, and served un- 
til the end of the administration. He acted as attor- 
ney-general in ]S(i,x, and was a member of the state 
constitutional convention in 1869. After his term 
as secretary of the interior expired he returned to 
Quincv, 111., where he practiced his profession uutil 
his death Aug. 10, is.sl. 

RANDAiiL, Alexander Williams, postmas- 
ter-general and eighth governor of Wisconsin, was 
born in Ames, .Monfgomeiy Co., N. Y., Oct. 31, 1819, 
the son of I'liineas liandall, a native of Massachusetts, 
and resident of Montgomery county, N. Y., and sub- 
sequeiUly of AVaukesha, Wis. Alexander pa.ssed 
through college, studied law, and began the i)rac- 
ticc of bis profession in 1840, in Waukesha. He wa.s 
appointed postmaster at Waukesha, and in 1847 was 
elected a member of the couveiUion that framed the 
constitution. In is.").") be was a member of the state 
assembly, an misucccssful comiictitor for the attor- 
ney-generalship, aud was cho.scn judge, to till au un- 
expired term of the Milwaukee cir- 
cuit cotnt. In 1857 he was elected 
governor of Wisconsin, re-electetl 
in 18.")9, occupying the gubernator- 
ial chair at the outbreak of the war. 
(Juick of apprcheusiou and ready 
in opinion and action, he was ml- 
ndrably suited to the needs of the 
hour. He declared at once the loy- 
alty of Wisconsin to the Union, and 
tlie purpo.se of her people to fight 
for its integrity in such a way as 
to draw national attention, and his 
l>roniptand ellicicnt nicasvu'cs.'.vell 
seconded by all, augmented the 
u.scful service of the slate, and gave 
lier charaeter aud standing. Ho 
assembled the legislature in extra 
session, l)ut before it coidd act, he 
organized the 3d regiment, using 
for this pinpose the jiublic fmids 
iipproiiriation had been m.'ide; but 
when the legislature convened it upheld him in what 
lie had done. When his term as governor expired 
in 18()1 he contemplated entering the army, but wa.s 
prevailed uiKm by President Lincoln to accept the 
post of minister io Italy, where he remained for a 
vear, and returning liome l)eeame first assistant to 
l^ostmaster-Gen. I)emiison;in 180G President Johnson 




aiipoiuted him postmaster-general, and he served in 
that capacity to the end of that administration. He 
died .hdy 2"). 1872, in Elmira, N. Y. 

STANBEKY, Henry, attorney -general, was 
born in New York city Feb. 20, 1803, the son of Jo- 
nas Staid)erj", a doctor, who removed from New 
York toZanesville, ().. in 1814. Henry entered Wash- 
ington College, in Pennsylvania, and was graduated 
in 1819, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 
1824. He practiced his profession with Thomas 
Ewing, in I^ancaster county, O., where he remained 
for many years, and became the first attorney-gen- 
eral of Ohio, the ofiice being created in 1840 by the 
general assembly. On accepting this post he removed 
to Co'.iunbus, O., and made his home there for sev- 
eral years, where he established an extensive and 
important practice in the U. S. courts that were held 
there at that time, and also in the supreme court of 
Ohio. He was a member of the convention that met 
in 18.j0 and framed the present state constitution, re- 
moved to Cincinnati in 1853, aud was appointed 
attorney-general of the United States by l-'re.sident 
Johnson in 18t)(>. It was his devotion to his coimtry 
and bis desire to use his powers for ber welfare at a 
trying ])eriod that caused him to acce])t this othce, 
wliicii he resigned, at the request of the president, 
in order to become one of his counsel at the time 
of the impeachment trial. Mr. Stanbery was in such 
delicate health that he was obliged to have bis argu- 
ment read in court. At the conclusion of the trial 
the president nominated him as juslice of the U. S. 
sui)reine court, but the senate declined to confirm the 
nomination. Mr. .Stanbeiy then returned to his home 
in Cincimiati, where he became president of the J^aw 
Association. Mr. Stanbery died June 26, 1881. 

DAVIS, Henry Winter, member of congress, 
was born Aug. 16, 1817, at Annapolis, .Md., where 
his fatlier, Kcv. H. Jj. Davis, was then president of 
St. Johns College His boyhood from the ageof ten 
was spein on a plaination in Amie .\rundel county, 
JJd., where, from familiar contact with the negroes, 
he learned to hate slavery. Graduating from Iveuyon 
College, Gambler, O., in 1837, and coming into his 
l)ropert_v on his father's death, he supported himself 
by teaching rather than allow his slaves to be .sold. 
Ilaving studied law at the University of Virginia, 
he practiced for some years at Alexandria. Va.. and 
from 1850 at ISaltimore. where he became prominent 
at the bar and in politics. Always an anti-democrat, 
he was first a whig, then an "American," and as 
such was in congress 1855-61. His adhesion to the 
republican jiarty in 1859 entailed much obloquy, 
which he bore with defiant firmness. He declined 
the second place of the national ticket in 1861). and 
the next year offered himself as a Union candidate 
for congress and was defeated. He was again in the 
hou.se 1863-65. and as a radical of higli character 
and great ability from a southern state, exercised 
nnu-h influence Here he steadily favored the most 
active measures for the support of the war, includ- 
ing the emancipation and enli-stmeut of the slaves. 
For his relations with the administration, which were 
not always cordial, see Nicolay and Hay's "Life of 
Lincoln, "and the '■ Century Magazine" Fearless, in 
dependent, and high-minded, a statesman rather than 
a politician, he was in jmblic life somewhat haughty, 
uncompromi.singand autocratic, if not impracticable; 
as a scholar, lui orator, and a man of innate force 
and deep convictions, he was respected in propor- 
tion as he was known. In 1865 he made a s]ieecli in 
Chicago favoring negro snft'rage, which lie claimed 
was the only way to insure his possession of bis newly 
ac(iuired freedom. He published a single book 
"The War of Orniuzd and Ahriman in the Nine- 
teenth Century," 1852; l)ut his speeches were collected 
in 1867. He died in J^altimore Dec. 30, 1865. 
EVARTS, •William M. (See Index.) 




^^<^dc^- 



'.^o^ZZ 



COfYRlQHT, 1893, BY JAMF8 T. WHITE A CO. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



331 







-.4'm-; 

:4^ 



clX. tUa ^«Xi<.evj 



GRANT, Ulysses S. (christeiipd Hiram Ulys- 
ses), t'ighteentli president of the United States, was 
born af Point Pleasant, Clermont Co., O., Apr. 27, 
1822. His ancestors were Puritans, and the first of 
his family in this country came oyer from Plymouth, 
Eng., in 1(530, and settled in Dorchester, Mass., and 
Windsor, Coim. Two others were soldiers in the 
French and Indian war and were killed in battle 
near Crown Point. His grandfather bore arms in 
the battle of Le.xington, served through the revolu- 
tionary war, and settled in western Pennsylvania, 
where he caught the fever for emigration, and pene- 
trated the wilderness of Ohio. He settled in Colum- 
biana county, but afterward removed to Portage, 
where he boimd his son Jesse, Gen. Grant's father, 
to a tanner to learn his trade. After serving his 
time, Jesse Grant removed to Point Pleasant, a new 
town on the banks of the Ohio, 
where he in turn became a tanner, 
and the father of a son whom he 
named Hiram Ulysses. The boy 
learned reading and writing in the 
winter, and tanning and logging 
in the summer, but the smell of 
the vats and hides disagreed with 
him, and his father, possibly dis- 
cerning in him something which 
indicated higher capabilities, de- 
termined to send him to West 
Point. Here he went at the age 
of seventeen to become a cadet. 
Four years later he was graduat- 
ed, and began his army life as bre- 
vet second lieutenant in the 4th in- 
fantry. Just as he left West Point 
and entered the army, the jMexi- 
can war began. He was ordered 
to the " Army of Occupation " and with it took part 
in the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, 
and in the bloody engagement of Monterey. He 
was also with Scott at the siege of Vera C'ruz, and 
from there fought with the rest of the small army 
through the heart of a hostile country to the walls of 
the city of Mexico. Excepting Buena Vista, he was 
present at every battle of the Mexican Avar. He 
was lionorably mentioned at ^[onterey, was brevetted 
first lieutenant at Molina del Key, and captain for 
bravery at the storming of Chapultepec. This brevet 
was confirmed by act of congress in January, 1850. 
From that period tuilil the outbreak of the war of 
the rebellion, Gniiit sank into ob.seurity. Fora lime 
he was at Jefferson barracks, then at Detroit, at 
Sackett's Harbor, and on the Pacific coast. He had 
a fierce struggle against dilliculties of temperament 




^^Y^^-7-^^^^^ 



and these he bore as well as he could imtil eventually 
thev overcame him and he resigned from the army. 
On" Aug. 22, 1848, he had married Julia B. Dent 
of St. Louis, sister of one of his classmates, by 
whom he had four children, Frederick Dent, Ulys- 
ses S., Jr., Jesse, and Nellie. On Grant's leaving 
the army absolutely penniless and without any trade 
or profession, his father-in-law gave to his wife three 
negroes and sixty acres of land near St. Louis. 
There was a house on the farm but it was too large 
for Grant to manage, and he put up a log cabin with 
his own hands. On this farm he raised wheat and 
potatoes, hauling firewood to St Louis and selling it 
at $4 a cord, but it proved a poor business. His debts 
increased, and his whole life was at this time shabby 
and povertj'-stricken. Finally he started business as 
a real estate agent while his wife kept the farm, 
which he had suitably named " Hardscrabble. " The 
farm was ten miles from St. Louis where he spent 
his work days, and he used to walk the distance 
every Sattirday in order to spend Sunday at his 
home. The real estate business was unsuccessful, 
and he tried to obtain the position of county engineer 
at St. Louis, but failed in this on account of jioliti- 
cal reasons. Then he secured a post in the custom 
house, but soon lost it, and in the winter of 1859 he 
was actually wandering about the streets of St. 
Louis, seeking work and even offering to become a 
teamster to accompany quartermaster's stores to New 
Mexico. Finally his' brothers got him a place in a 
leather store in Galena. 111., wliere he was to receive 
166 a month. Then all at once the scene changed. 
There came the inelinu'nary political struggle, then 
suddenly a single state seceded from the I'niou, and 
then, one after^another, the seven sotithern common- 
wealths fell away from their sister stales. One week 
after Sumter had fallen. Grant was drilling volun- 
teers at Galena. But still he was unknown. The 
company of volunteers which he had raised and 
drilled he took to Springfield. 111., whereupon Gov. 
Yates gave him employment in the adjutant-general's 
office, afterward appointing him nuistering officer. 
Grant now offered hisservici^s to the national govern- 
ment in a letter written May 24. 1801, but to this he 
received no re])ly. On June 17th he was ajipointed 
by Gov. Yates colonel of the 31.st Illinois regiment 
of infantry, and on July 3d he went with it to Pal- 
myra, JIo., and from there to guard the Haimibal 
and St. Joseph railroad. Next he was sent to the 
town of Mexico, Mo., imder the command of Gen. 
Pojie. On July 31st he was assigned to the com- 
mand of a sub(Ii.strict under this general, his troops 
comprising three regiments of infantry and a section 
of artillerj'. On Aug. 7tli he was appointed briga- 



332 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



dier-general of volunteers, and ou the IStli of the 
same mouth he was diieetcd to report at St. Louis, 
where he found that he had been placed in command 
of the district of southeastern Jlissouri, embracing 
all the territory in Missouri south of Si. Louis, and 
all eastern Illinois, with permanent headquarters at 
Cairo. His first act wjis to occupy Paducah, Ky., 
and this prompt action prevented the Confederates 
from obtaining a foothold there, and did much 
toward keeping Kentucky in llie Union. In Novem- 
ber Grant moved down the river and took a Confed- 




erate camp which was established at Belmont. Here 
lie had his bor.se shot under him. He routed the 
enemy whose cami) becaptured, but Confederate re- 
inforcements coming up from Columbus, he fell back 
and re-embarked. Tliis was his first military suc- 
ce.s.s, and the country began to recognize him. In 
Hallcck, wlio had suc-ceeded him in connnand. Grant 
however, had as dillicult an opponent to tight against 
as tlie enemy. He was all for attack, Hallcck for 
holding ba<'k and paltering. Grant's next move was 
against Furls Henry and Donelson. The lirst snr- 
rendercil on Feb. (>," lxt\2. It took longer to capture 
Fort Donelson, the siege beginning on Feb. 12th and 
contiiuung until the Kith,"" when Gens. Floyd and 
Pillow, having escaped in the night on a steamboat 
■with over three tliousand infantry and a large num- 
ber of cavalry, Bnckncr, who remained in command, 
propo.sed a cdnunission to arrange for terms (if sur- 
render. It was at this point that Grant made use of 
his afterward popidar expression " Unconditional 
surrender." His resjionse to Huckner's jiropo-sition 
was east in the following language: "No terms 
other than unconditional and inunediate surrender 
can be accepted; I propose to move immediately 
upon your works." The residt was tlie sinnnderof 
14.623 men, (i.T cannon, and 17,000 small arms. The 
news of this capture crealed intense excitement 
throughout the covmtry. Tlie army of the Potomac 
saluteil it with a hun'dred guns. In the house of 
representatives members rose to their feet and 
cheered loudly and continuously. While all this 
wss going on. Gen. Ilalleck, who never seemed to 
estiniale Grant's work at its value, was writing to the 
war department tliat after liis victory Grant had not 
communicated with bim. The result of this com- 
plaint was lliat Grant was susjiended from his com- 
mand until Gen. Halleck was soothed, when it was 
restored to him. The same unforiunate criticism 
reached Grant after the battle of Sbiloh. when he 
was again uniler a cloud. Gen. Hallcck came up to 
Pittsburi: Landing and took command, with the re- 
sult that when he reached Corinth, where he expected 
to find a larirc Confederate array, lie discovered 
nothing lait deserted field works and Quaker guns. 
During the two days while be had been watching, 
behind breastworks", the Confederates had been slip- 



ping away. The full command of the operating 
arnij' was now given to Grant and ou Oct. 2oth he 
was placed over the department of the Tennessee. 
Meanwhile he had fought the battle of luka, and 
then strengthened his jiositiou at Corinth where he 
repulsed the enemy in a battle on Oct. 3d and 4th. 
Grant next invested Vick.sburg, an almost impene- 
trable stronghold; and having fought the battles of 
Port Hudson, Kaymond, Jackson, Champion Hill, 
and the Uig Black, he .s;it down before Vicksburg 
with his armies in .May, determined as he said: "I 
mean to stay here till I take it, if it takes me thirty 
years." The place fell ou the morning of July 4, 
1S03, that capture and the victory at Getty.sburg be- 
ing presented to the United States as an Independ- 
ence Day gift at almost the same hour. Grant was 
now ai>pointed major-general in the regular army, 
and given command of Ihe military division of the 
Jlississi]ipi; and, on March 12, lSli4, he was assigned 
to the command of all the armies of the United 
States, and establislied his headquarters with the 
army of the Potomac at Culpcper. Va., on the 2(ith. 
He now determined to concentrate all the national 
forces into several distinct armies with the oliject of 
moving them simultaneously against tlie opposing 
Confederates, and by vigorous and continuous opera- 
tion ending the war, as it were, at one blow. In 
conformity with this scheme, Sherman was to move 
toward Atlanta; Banks was to operate against 
Mobile ; Sigel was to move down the valley of 
Virginia against Breckinridge ; Butler to ascend 
the James river and threaten Richmond: while the 
army of tlie Pntomac was to cover Wa.sliington and 
assume Ihe otTcnsive against the army of northern 
Virginia under the command of Gen. Robert E. Lee. 
Tlie great movement was made on Jlay 4th and 5th 
when Grant crossed the Rapidanand fouglil the bat- 
tle of the Wilderness. Tlien followed a terrible cam- 
paign lasting about a montb, during wbicli Grant 
lost 40,000 men. Meanwhile Slierman made his 
successful attack on Gen. Johnston, cai>tiiring 
Atlanta and ]iniceeding on his ■" March to the Sea." 
Butler occupied Bermuda Hundred below Rich- 
mond. At the close of the year Thomas bad routed 
Hood; Early had been driven up the Shenandoah 
Valley by Sheridan; Sherman had reached Savannah. 
The Confederacy was cut in two. Lee was shut up 
in Richmond, "in the late winter and early spring 




Charleston surrendered, Wilmington fell, and Sher- 
man came rapidly northward. Early in April 
Petersliurg anil Kicbmond were taken. an<l on the 
9th of that iiKinth Lee surrenileied at Apjiomattox, 
and the civil war was ended. Gnint's success wasa 
triumiih of military skill. lie had commanded the 
largest armies known in modern times, planned the 
greatest campaigns, won the most desperately fought 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



333 



battles and crushed the most stupendous rebellion in 
history. He had met and defeated every great gen- 
eral of the Confederacy tlien living. He had been 
harshly treated, abused, slandered. His weaknesses 
had been transformed into vices, his vices into 
crimes. In the face of powerful adverse influence, 
however, he had fought his way to success, and at- 
tained tlie promotion upon which the American j^eo- 
ple insisted. He began his militaiy cancer as a vol- 
unteer captain, drilling raw recruits in a small town 
in Illinois; lie ended it the general commanding all 
the armies of the Union: for him Ins country felt it 
could not possibly do enough. In June, July, and 
August, 186.5, he made a tour throughout tlie uortli- 
ern states and Canada, being welcomed everywhere 
by the most enthusiastic demonstrations, banquets, 
and receptions. In the meantime he liad a serious 
difference with President .lohn.son, the latter's policy 
being in conflict with that which he had in a measure 
pronii.sed as military commander at the surrender at 
Apponiatto.x. President Johnson tried to get him 
out of the country by ordering him on a special mis- 
sion to Mexico. This Grant refu.sed, upan the plea 
that as a citizen he might jiroperly decline a civil 
appointment which had nothing to do willi liis mili- 
tary duty. Afterward Grant obtained through con- 
gress the entire control of affairs relating to the re- 
construction of the southern states, and in August, 
1867, was appointed by President Johnson, secretary 
of war ad interim, wliile Secretary Stanton was under 
suspension. Continued dissension and a disagree- 
able correspondence between President Johnson and 
Gen. Grant ensued on this question, and Grant was 
finally compelled to execute the laws of congress at 
the risk of appearing insubordinate to tlie president. 
His course, however, made liim more pojiular with 
the people, and at the republican convention in 
Chicago, May 20, 1868, he was unanimouslv nomi- 
nated for the presidency on the first ballot. In his 
letter of acceptance lie used the famous expression, 
" Let us have peace," in view of the necessity and 
desirability of quelling all sectional feeling that ex- 
isted after the close of the war. On March 4, 1869, 
he was inaugurated president of the United States. 
He had had no political experience. In his early life 
his politics had been democratic, and his only presi- 
dential vote had been cast in 18.i6 for James Bu- 
clianan. In his presidential career, he was indebted 
to his shrewd common sense for the excellence of 
much of his administration: while to his ignorance 
of human nature, outside of military life, should be 
charged his failures. In regard to his friends. 
Grant did not so much select them as, in a number 
of unfortunate instances, they either forced them- 
selver, or were forced, upon him. In the hands of 
cunning and unscrupulous politicians he was power- 
less to defend himself, and such men used their 
influence most unfortunately for his rejiutation and 
for the country. During his first term of office oc- 
curred the Credit Mobilier scandal, and tlie dis- 
graceful back-pay affair, but in all these unfortunate 
events no stain rested upon Grant. His personal in- 
tegrity remained unquestioned, while his tenacity of 
friendship, which held him bound, as in a vise, to 
friends who disgraced him, was recognized as a 
venial sin, if a sin at all. The presidential contest 
of 1872 found Grant confronting innumerable i>olit- 
ical enemies, but these in such disorganized condition 
that there were no fewer than seven canilidates for 
the election. \Vhen the election took place lie car- 
ried thirty-one states, with the largest popular vote 
that had ever been given for any president : while 
Horace Greelev carried six states, but died before 
the sixtv-six electoral votes which he would have 
received were cast. In reference to the load of per- 
sonal abuse of which Grant had been the victim 
during the exciting campaign which preceded this 



election, in his inaugural address on March 4, 1873, 
he said: " To-day I feel that I can disregard it, in 
view of your verdict, which I gratefully accept as 
my vindication." Grant's second admini.stration was 
mainly inqiortant for the passage of the Hesumption 
act, in January, 187.5, and the detection and pun- 
ishment of the ringleaders in the nolorious Whiskey 
King, of which many were men of great personal 
influence, and with friends near to the ju'esident 
himself. Grant retired from the presidency ou 
JIareli 4, 1877, and in Jlay .sailed from Philadelphia 
for Liverpool on a tour around the world. He trav- 
eled through Europe and Asia, being received in 
every country with demonstrations of respect such 
as had never before been ott'ereil to any but the high- 
est potentates, and to such but sehloni. He reached 
San Francisco from Yokohama on his return, Sept. 
20, 1879, and his journey across the continent was a 
complete ovjitiim. Meanwhile, a popular move- 
ment, looking toward his rcnominallon for the 
presidency, had been made, but Grant himself de- 
clined to take any part in it, and would not even 
state whether or not he would accept the nomina- 
tion if offered him. The republican convention in 
Chicago, in June, 1880. struggled long over the 
third term question, and 306 votes were his up to the 
last, but eventually a compromise was eflccled be- 
tween the opposing candidates, and James A. 




Garfield was nominated. In August, 1881, Grant 
bought a house in New York, where lie afterward 
passed his winters, living in a cottage at Long Branch 
during the summers. In 1883, on Christmas eve, 
he fell upon the icy sidewalk in front of his house, 
injuring his hip so severely that he always afterward 
walked with the aid of a crutch. His income was 
small, and he had endeavored to increase it suf- 
ficientlv to siipport his family properly by interesting 
himself in the Mexican Central Uailway, and other 
enterprises; and at last, at the earnest solicii;ition of 
his family, in the banking house of Grant it Ward, 
in which he invested all his av.-ulable capital, but 
taking no part wliiUever in the management. In 
Jlay, 1884, the firm suspended, and it was discover- 
ed that two of the jiarlners had practiced a system of 
fraud which had resulted in robbing the general of 
all he posses.sed. About this lime he was attacked 
by a disease which proved lo be a cancer at the root 
of the tongue, and eventually caused his death. To 
the last, however, he devoted himself with unre- 
mitting assiduity to the composition of his autobio- 
graphical memoirs, which he designed lo leave 
behind him for the support of his family. This 
courageous undertaking, carried out as it was to 
conipiete success, has never been equaled in the 
history of literature, except, perliaps, in the instance 



334 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



of Sir Walter Scott. On March 4, 1885, congress 
passed aljill rcstoriiifr him to his former rank in the 
army, and ereating him a ireneral on tlic nMireil list. 
On .June Ifilh of that jear lie was removed to the 
Dre.vel eottage on Mount McGregor, near Saratoga, 
where he lived but tive weeks. On Jul}' 23, 1885, 
at eight o'clock in th(^ morning, he passed away, 
surrouniled by his family. His remains were taken 
to New York, escorted by a detachment of L'niled 
States troops and a body of veterans of the war. ()u 
Aug 8th, in that city, his funeral pageant occurred, 
certainly the nio.st magniticent and impressive spec- 
tacle ever known in the history of the country. His 
remains were |)laeed where they still lie. in a tempo- 
rary tomb in Uivcr.side Park, overlooking the Hud- 
son Kiver; and there it is intended to erect a suitable 
monument to his memory. The returns of the .sales 
of Grant's book to his widow have been the largest 
ever received by any author for the sale of any sin- 
gle work. 

GRANT, Julia Dent, wife of President U. S. 
Grant, was liorii in St. Louis, Mo., .Ian. 30, 183(i, the 
daughter of Frederick and Ellen (Wrcnshall) Dent, 
and granddaughter of Capt. George Dent. Through 
her mother .she is descended from ,Iohn Wrcnshall, 
who emigrated from England to America to escape 
religious persecution, and settled in Philadelphia, 
Pa. Miss Deut was educated at a Ijoardiiig-scliool, 
and soon after completing lier ed- 
ucation met Lieut. Grant, who was 
then stationed in St. Louis. After 
an engagement of five years, they 
were married on Aug. 23, 1848. 
Jlrs. Grant accompanied her bus- 
l)and to Detroit, >Iicli..and to Sack- 
ett's Harbor, N.Y., and during the 
civil war was with him whenever 
it was ])racticable. During the 
eight years that Jlrs. Grant passed 
in the White House, she presided 
with grace and dignity. The build- 
ing was refurnished with great 
elegance, and idl entertainments 
were conducted on a scale of mag- 
niticcnee. When President Grant 
-1- ivr-nr ^ left the WhiteHou.se,5Irs.Grantac- 

' jf y ' "-V/J^ '^\/~ companied him on his trip around 
it-itZl^ ay ■^-'-^'-''^-f the world, and shared in the at- 
tentions bestowed ujion him. She 
always expressed great faitli in her husband's ability 
to fill any position to which he might be called, even 
at a time when his future looked very dark. Airs. 
Grant has been a devoted wife and mother, finding 
her truest hapiiiness in her home. After Gen. Grant's 
death congress pa.ssed a bill giving his widow a pen- 
sion of $.5, 000 a year. 

COLFAX, Schxiyler, vice-president of the Ignit- 
ed Slates, was born in the city of New York March 
33, IH'2;!, being a ]>osthumous child. He was the 
grandson of (Sen. William Colfax, who was born in 
Connecticut in 1700 and was captain commandant 
of Washington's guards. At the close of the war 
Capt. (Colfax married Hester/ Schuyler, a daughter 
of Gen. Philip Schuyler, and their third son was 
named Schiiylcr. He held the position of teller in 
the ^Mechanics' Bank of New York city, but died 
while he was still a young man. leaving his name 
and little else to his son, the subject of the present 
sketch. Tlie boy received his education in the pub- 
lic .schools of Nc^w York, but before h(' was eleven 
years of age obtained service as a clerk in a store. 
His mother married again and with lier family, in- 
cluding Schuyler, went West, .settling in New Car- 
lisle, Iiid. Y''oung Schuyler's stepfather, Mr. Mat- 
thews, being elected county auditor of St. .Joseph 
county. aiii"iirited his stepson bis deputv and look 
him to South Bend, which, from that time forward. 




became the home of Mr. Colfax. Here, besides his 
regular duliis. he took an interest in journalism and 
during two winters was in Indianapolis as senate re- 
porter for the "State .Journal." In 1845 >Ir. Colfax 
became editor and proprietor of the St. .loseph 
"Valley Kegi.ster, " and the new paper soon became 
considered one of the very best in the state, while it 
achieved a wide circulation. Its politics was at lirst 
whig, Mr. Colfax being a very ardent admirer of 
Henry Clay. He was a mendjcr and one of the sec- 
retaries of the national convention of 1848, which 
nominated Gen. Taylor lor the luesidency. In 1851 
Mr. Colfax was nominated liy the whigsof his dis- 
trict as their canilidate for congress, and was nearly 
elected, although the district was strongly demo- 
cratic. In 18.53 he was a delegate to the national 
convention which nominated Gen. Scott for the 
presidency. Gen. Scott was. however, defeated, 
and the beginning of the last days of the old whig 
party had come. In 1854 -Mr. Colfax was nominated 
for congress by the jicople's convention, called in 
oppo.sitiou to the principles of the Kansas-Nebraska 
bill, and was elected by a very large majority. He 
entered the memorable thirty-founli congress on the 
first Monday of Decend)er, i855, and wa.s jirominent 
in the exciting struggle which resulted in the election 
of N. P. Baidis of Massachusetts as speaker, upon 
the 134th ballot. Jlr. Colfax soon became promi- 
nent in congress where he was con- 
sidered one of the most effective 
orators in the new republican party. 
He continued in congress by suc- 
ces.sive re-eleclions mitil 1869. Mr. 
Colfax had by tliis time become 
]iri>minently known through the 
couiUry for his .strcjug anti-.slav- 
ery sentiments and his temiierance 
principles and practice. He was 
one of the acknowledged leaders 
of the oppo.sitioii to the Lecompton 
constitution, and generally to the 
admi.ssion of Kansas as a slave 
state. When the great political 
conflict broke out, Mr. Colfax was 
in the thick of it. ' ' He held that 
success was a duty, due not only 
to republican principles, but to the 
age and the country, and that any 
concession, short of priuciide, nec- 
essary to insure that success, was not only wise and 
expedient, butalso patriotic and obligatory." In the 
thirty-sixth congress Mr. Colfax was made chairman 
of the committee on the post office and iiost roads, and 
to him is given the credit for the establishment by 
congress of the daily overland mail from the west- 
ern boundary of Missouri to San Francisco. After 
Mr. Lincoln's election great lu-cssure was brought to 
bear iijion him for the appointment of Mr. Colfax 
to a jilace in his caliinet as postmaster-general, but 
the president appointed ^Montgonu'ry Blair to that 
office. During the war Mr. Colfax contimied. in his 
seat in congress, to sustain by voice and vote the 
princijiles which he had always held. On the or- 
ganization of the thirty-eighth congress he was elect- 
ed .speaker upon the first ballot, being the first editor 
ever elected to the speaker's cliair. In this position 
Mr. Colfax made a most favorable inijiression upon 
both |)arties by his courtesy and by bis understand- 
ing of parliamentary law. A notable incident of liis 
career as speaker occurred in April, 1864. Mr. 
Long, of Ohio, made a speech fnmi his jilace in the 
house of representatives, which practically aban- 
doiHMl thi! I'nion to its fate, declared the rebellion 
to be in the right, and the war organized liy the 
North unjust and wrong. Under the excitement 
produced by Ibis speech. Mr. Colfax left the speak- 
er's chair, calling for another member of the house 







OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



335 



to preside, and Tvcnt upon the floor of the lioiise to 
move the expulsion of Mr. Lonj;, und sui)porled the 
motion with a speech. He ufterwaril, however, 
modified lii.s resolution of expulsion by chiUisjing it 
to one of censure, iu which fcirni it was iiasscd by a 
large majority. On May 7, 1804, Mr. Colfax was 
presented by citizens of his own slate with a set of 
silver of beautifiU desin'u and ai'lisiic execution, as a 
testimonial of their regard lor his pubhc services. 
Mr. Colfax was twice re-elected as speaker, each 
time by an iucrea.sed majority. On Ai)r. 14, 18()5, 
congress having adjourned, as he was about to start 
on an overland jouruey to California and Oregon, 
he went to the AN'hite House in the early evening 
and bade President Lincoln gf)od-l)ye. The presi- 
dent invited him to accept a seat in his box at Ford's 
Theatre, for that evening, but the invitation was de- 
clined on account of Mr. Colfax's prior engage- 
ments. On that night Mr. Lincoln was shot by the 
assassin, J. Wilkes Booth, After his return from 
Washington to South Bend, Mr. Colfax delivered 
one of tiie most eloquent of all the eulogies on the 
martvi-ed jiresident, and repreated it liy request 
on Apr. 30th, in Chicago. In May, 1868, Mr. Col- 
fax was nominated by the republican convention at 
Chicago for vice-president on the ticket with Gen. 
Grant and assumed the position of president of the 
senate March 4, 1869. In 1871 Gen. Grant offered 
him the position of secretary of state in his cabinet, 
but the otler was declined. In 1872, although his 
name was nienlioucd for renomination for vice- 
president, he was defeated. In December of that 
year, also, he declined the position of editor-in-chief 
of the New York "Tribune." In 1873 and 1873 the 
character of j\[r. Colfax, as was the case with sev- 
eral other of the most prominent men in congress 
and oiU of it, was attacked on account of the Credit 
Mobilier scandal. It was charged against persons 
thus accused that they had accepted certifieates of 
stock or money from the officials of the Union Pa- 
cific Railway Company, as compensation for their 
influence in congress in behalf of the company's 
schemes. An investigation by the judiciary com- 
mittee of the house resulted in a report, which, while 
It technically acquitted Mr. Ct)lfax of having com- 
mitted any offense after he became vice-president, 
nevertheless did not entirely relieve him from public 
suspicion on this point. As a consequence ilr. Col- 
fax suffered during the remainder of his life from 
what he and his friends asserted were unjust and 
imrcasonable charges. Mr. Colfax spent the latter 
part of his life at his home in South Bend, Ind., fre- 
quently delivering public lectures in his own and 
other states. He died in Mankato, Minn., Jan. 13, 
188r>. 

■WILSON, Henry, vice-president of the United 
Stales (1873), was bom in Farmington, N. H., Feb. 
13, 1813. His father was a farm laborer by the name 
of Wilson Colbath. and he was not only a poor man 
himself, but was the descendant of poor men, with 
all his ideas of life associated with conditions of ex- 
treme poverty. Henry Wilson's father, grandfather 
and great-grandfather had been men without educa- 
tion and without experience more than that which 
was obtained by mere living iu a new country. Even 
so late as 1.S13 Farmington was still a new countrj', 
having been incorporated into a town only fourteen 
years before the birth of the subject of this sketch. 
It was composed of oidy aboiu a dozen houses, and 
the nearest approach to a town in llie vicinity was 
Hochesler, eight miles distant, while the nearest mar- 
ket was Dover, eighteen miles away; to which jioint 
everj-thing raised in the w;iy of products, and for 
sale, had to be h:iuled over" rough roads. On his 
father's side AVilson's ancestors were Scotch-Irish, 
who came to America from the north of Ireland 
carlj' iu the eighteenth century and settled in Ports- 



month, N. H. His great-grandfather, James Col- 
bath, was the grandson of the first settler of that; 
name, and died at an advanced age in the year 1800, 
leaving eight children. On the mother's side there 
was the .same show of constant poverty: but with 
both families there was never any taint of crime or 
wrong-doing, while his mother seems to have been a 
woman of great sen.se and di.scretion, and with more 
ambition than was exhibitcil by any other member 
of the family. Henry Wilson was christened .lere- 
miah Jones Colbath, a name which was afterward 
changed by act of legislature to that by which he ob- 
tained fame — Henry Wilson. He was the eldest of 
a family of eight boj's, and during his earliest boy- 
hood succeeded in oljtainiug a knowledge of read- 
ing, but little else; and it is related of him that when 
he was only seven or eight years old a sister of Levi 
Woodbury, governor of New Hampshire and after- 
ward secretary of the treasurj^, gave him permission 
to make use of her library, or rather that of her hus- 
band, who was a Lawyer of the neighborhood. At 
the age of ten the boy was bound out to service with 
a farmer, and from that time forward he was self- 
supporting. His aiiprenticeship lasted eleven years, 
during which period he received no schooling, or, 
at least, only that which the farmer, his employer, 
was bound to allow him — one month in each year — 
amounting to eleven months iu the entire appren- 
ticeship ; but his devotion to 
books and to work was so de- 
termined that he is remarkable 
in biography for the amount of 
knowledge he accumulated un- 
der these unsatisfactory condi- 
tions. In the meantime he was 
active, industrious, and full of 
pluck and determination. As he 
grew to young-manhood he read 
new.spapers, and even "Niles's 
Register." He also found in the 
library to which he h.ad access 
Plutarch's "Lives" and a me- 
moir of Napoleon, and, at last, 
the biography of one Henry Wil- 
son. This latter seems to have 
made a deep impression upon the 
bo}', for he resolved to be called 
by the same name, and carried 
out this resolution legally on ob- 
taining his majority. At the age of fifteen the boy 
heard of Marsliall's "Life of 'Washington," and be- 
came so much interested in what he learned of the 
book that, discovering the existence of a copy at 
Rochester, seven miles from the farm where he 
worked, he traveled that distance until he had bor- 
rowed, read the book and returned it. At the age 
of twenty he could give the location of every battle 
in the revolution and the war of 1813. the dale, the 
numbers engaged, and the killed, wounded and 
l)risoiiers on each side. After completing his ap- 
])renticeship he engaged work on another farm and 
earned $9 per month, while receiving for hi.s 
eleven years' sei-vices a yoke of oxen, six .sheep and 
the knowledge of farming which he had gained 
by experience; but he had read nearly a thousand 
books, and. having a remarkable memory, had a 
great store of facts treasured up in his head which 
nuist be of use to him sometime. In 1833 young 
Wilson heard that the trade of shoeinaking coidd be 
learned at Natick. Mass., with the lu-osjicct of estab- 
lishing one's self in that business after learning it. 
He accordingly traveled to that town on foot, and 
made a contract to serve a shoemaker for five monllis 
or until he had learned the craft. He did learn 
it thoroughly, and then workeil for himself, earning 
his board and twenty dollars per month ; and when 
he had saved up sufficient capital to permit of it ho 




336 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOP-iEDIA 



■n-ent to Stratford Academy, New Hampshire, and 
studied tliere and at Wolfsborough and Concord 
academies for several terms, teacliing district schools 
during the winter. Unfortunately he loaned his 
earnings to a friend, who failed to reimburse him, 
and he was obliged not only to abandon his intention 
of continuing his studies, but was compelled to return 
to Nalick and go to work again at the shoe business. 
For the next hve years he continued to make shoes 
on his own account, at the same time began to inter- 
est himself in politics, and by 1840 began to be 
known as a public speaker and debater; in fact, 
through his efforts many in his neighborhood were 
iniluced to abandon democracy and vote for Gen. 
Harrison for president, and, on the election of the 
latter, Henry Wilson was himself elected, in No- 
vember, 1840, as a member of the house of repre- 
sentatives of Massachusetts for the town of Natick. 
A few months ])rior to this election he was mar- 
ried to Harriet M. Howe, of Natick, who died in 
1870. Their onlv child, Lieut. Hamilton Wilson, of 
the U. S. army,'died in Texas in 1870. 3Ir. Wil- 
son's shoe business prospered, his manufacture 
in 1840 amounting to from 1,000 to 2,500 pairs 
per week, and, curiously enough, chiefly adapted 
to the Soulliern trade, and this although Mr. Wil- 
son was an avowed abolitionist; in fact, one of Mr. 
Wil.son's Southern customers, who failed, offered to 
compromise his debt by the payment of money 
which would be the result of the sale of some of his 
slaves, whereupon Wilson gave him the full dis- 
charge of the debt, declaring that he would receive 
no money obtaiueil by the traffic in human beings. 
In the Jlas-sachusetts legislature, during the first ses- 
sion of which he was a member, Mr. Wilson devoted 
his time to becoming acquainted with routine busi- 
ness and made little mark, but he was re-elected fur 
the se.s.sion of 1842, and then took a stand asa protec- 
tionist, the tariff question being then prominent. In 
1843 and 1844 he was elected "to tlie Massachusetts 
senate, and declined re-election in 184.5. It was in 
184.J tiiat Jlr. Wilson lir.-it began to appear publicly 
in oppo.sition to the slave trade and slaven,-, espec- 
ially on the question of the admission of Texas into 
the Union. In 1848 he bought a newspaper in Bos- 
ton, called the " Hepublican." which he edited for 
two years, making it the leading paper of the free- 
soil party. In 1850 !Mr. WiNon was again elected 
to the state senate, and made president of that body. 
In 1852 he was chainuan of the free-soil national 
convention, held at Pittsburg, and afterward of the 
national committee of that party. He was alsonom- 
inatetl for congress in that year, but he vas not 
elected, and in the following year he was defeated 
as the free-soil candidate for governor. Finallv, in 
1855, the free-soil party combined with the Ameri- 
can party in Ma.ssachusetts, and was successful in 
, having him chosen to succeed Edwaril Everett in the 
U. S. senate, and he took his seat in that body in 
February, 1855. It sli<iuld be said of Mr. Wilson 
that, if he had chosen to desert his principles and at 
the same time take part against a friend wliora he 
respected, lie could have been U. S. .senator at the 
time when Charles Sumner was elected on the 20ih 
ballot in the legislature and by a change of a single 
vote. W'ilson elected Sumner, and the latter ac- 
knowledged it l)v writing liim a letter of thanks. Jlr. 
W^ilson's first important s]ieech in the U. S. .senate 
■was made on Feb. 23, 1855. and was in respon.se to 
an att.aek from Stephen A. Dougla.s — no mean an- 
tagonist — referring sharply to the way in which the 
North had been misrepresented in congress by their 
own representatives. Dtiriiigthe celebrated Kansas- 
Nebra-skaipiestion Mr. Wilson was consistent in the 
tenacity with which he held to his ])Osition as a free- 
soil republican. When C'luirles Sumner was brutally 
assaulted by Preston S. Brooks, of South Carolina, 



Mr. "Wilson assisted in conveying his colleague to 
his lodgings, and on the following day brought the 
matter before the senate, denouncing the act as " a 
brutal, murderous, and cowariUy assault." Brooks 
sent a challenge to Wilson, which he declined, 
while he repeated the objectionable words and ex- 

Eressed his firm belief in the right of self-defence, 
ater, in the senate chamber, in reply to Mason, of 
Virginia, Wilson said : "This is not a place for 
assumed social superiority, as though certain sena- 
tors held the kej's of cultivated society. Sir, they 
do not hold the keys, and they shall not hold over 
me the plantation whip." But not only in regard to 
the slavery question and its side is.sues, but in con- 
nection with every important matter before the .sen- 
ate, Mr. AVilson was frequently heard, anil always 
listened to with respect, both for his opinions and for 
his acknowledged acquaintance with facts. On the 
outbreak of the war of the rebellion Senator Wilson 
was made chairman of the committee on militarj- af- 
fairs, and remained at the head of that committee 
during the entire war. In 18G1 he raised a regiment 
in Massachusetts and accompanied it to the front as 
its colonel, where he served on the staff of Gen. 
George B. McClellan. Mr. Wilson's oratory was 
powerful and effective, if not polished, and he was 
one of the most industrious and usefid members of 
the senate. He was very active after the war in the 
legislation on the recon.struction of the .-itate govern- 
ments in the South, being liberal to the .southern 
whites while demanding the full rights tothe blacks 
to which they were entitled. At the clo.se of the 
term ending in March, 1871, he was reelected to the 
senate for six years longer, but in .Tunc, 1872, was 
nominated for vice-president of the United States on 
the ticket with Gen. Grant, and was elected in the 
following November, when he received 280 out of 
3.54 electoral votes. He re.signeil his position as sen- 
ator on ilarch 3, 1873, and took his place as vice- 
president, Init during that year his health failed 
and he suffered from a stroke of paralysis, from 
which he never recovered. JIany of Jlr. Wilson's 
speeches and public addresses were published, and 
he nearly completed the "History of the Rise and 
Fall of ihe Slave Power in America," which was 
published in Boston in tlirce volumes (1873-75). He 
died Nov. 22, 1875. 

WASHBUBNE, Elihu Benjamin, secretary 
of state, was born in Livermore, Me., Sept. 23, 1816. 
He was the brother of Israel 
Washburne, governor of !Maine, 
and his grandfather, Israel, was 
an otlicer during the revolution- 
ary war. The entire family in 
this country descended from 
John Washburn, who settled in 
Duxbuiy, JIa.ss.,in 1G31. Elihu 
divided his lime during his boy- 
hood between the paternal farm 
and the country schools until he 
was seventeen years of age, when 
he went to Gardiner, Me. , to learn 
the printing business. He work- 
ed (m a local ])aper for about a 
year, and then began to teach 
.school. This he continued until 
183.5, when he went to Augusta 
and obtained a situation in the 
office of the Keimebcc ".Jour- 
nal." He rose to an editorial 
position, and then, having made up his mind to be- 
come a lawyer, he attended a law school from 1836 
to 18:^8, and from there weiU into the office of .lohn 
Otis at Hallowell, where he remained tmtil 1839, 
when he went to the Harvard Law School. He was 
admitted in 1840 to practice at the bar. Foreseeing 
tlie opportunities which were to arise in the West, 




OB AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



337 



Mr. Wasliburne went to Illinois, and after looking 
about, decided to settle at Galena, where he went into 
business witli Charles S. Hempstead. Here Mr. 
Wasliburne first made the acquaintuuce of Ulysses 
S. Gnint. who.se firm friend lie was ever after. He 
was sent to congress as a wliijr in 1853, having been 
a delegate to the whig national convention of 1844, 
and also having run for congress in 1848, but with- 
out success. Having once become a congressman, 
however, ilr. Washburne held his seat si.\teeu j-ears, 
turning easily from the whig to the republican party 
•when that was organized in 185.5. For ten years 
Mr. Wasliburne was chairman of the important com- 
mittee on commerce, and his reputation as a legis- 
lator constantly grew, while his remarliable sense of 
the importance of economy in the management of 
public affairs gave him the name of the " watch dog 
of tlie treasury." He wasagain.st all grantsof public 
lands and all subsidies to railroad companies, and 
especially fought the act of congress giving the 
Pacilic Kailroad its unusual and peculiar advantages. 
Altogether he was opposed to all jiarty measures 
which involved unnecessary or lavisli expenditure, 
such as tlie river and harbor bills, and appropriations 
in general. During the war Mr. Washburne watched 
especially the career of Grant, and it was lie wlio in- 
troiluced the bills to which Grant owed his liighest 
promotion. One bill introduced by Mr. Wasliburne, 
which gave him great popularity, was the one which 
created our national cemeteries. Mr. Washburne 
was made a member of President Grant's first cabi- 
net, being appointed secretary of state, and confirmed 
by the senate March 5, 1869, but on account of ill 
health he re-signed the ottice in less than a week.and 
■was succeeded by Hamilton Fish on JIarch 11th. 
Mr. Washburne was, however, immediately sent 
abroad, being apjioiiited to the important position of 
minister to France. During the Franco-Prussian 
war Jlr. AV'ashburne was in Paris, where it was in 
his power to be of the greatest possible service, not 
only to his own countrymen, but to Germans espe- 
cially, and to people of other nationalities. In par- 
ticular, such confidence was felt in Mr. Washburne, 
both as a statesman and as a man, on the part of the 
leading personages in Paris during the wars with 
Prus.sia and the commune, that he was permitted to 
take charge of the Prussian archives in Paris, and 
also to extend the protection of the American flag to 
the Germans who were unfortunate enough to be 
left in Paris. On Sept. 4, 1870, two days after the 
surrender of Napoleon at Sedan, with liis army of 
90,000 men, Paris was in rebellion, the senate dis- 
solved, the princess regent a fugitive on her way to 
England, and France proclaimed a republic. In the 
face of this exciting situation, Miui-ster Wa.shburne 
retained liis presence of mind, altliough surrounded 
by conditions and difficulties which miglit well have 
appalled a far more experienced diplomatist. Grasp- 
ing at once the full importance of the occasion he 
■was the first foreign minister to recognize the new 
republic of France. During the sanguinary scenes 
of tlie siege of Paris and the after horrors of the 
commune, with the pulilic buildings in flames, the 
streets running IjIoimI and tlie people starving. Min- 
ister Washburne accomplislied wonders in mitigating 
the painful and terrible conditions which surrounded 
him. It is doubtful if any other person occupying 
Mr. Wasliburiic's place could have so steadily and 
permanently retained the re.spect and admiration of 
botli tlie Frencli and the Germans. As to the latter 
it should be recorded that after the war, thcemiieror, 
William I., Prince Bismarck, President Tliiers and 
Gambetta, all sent him their portraits as testimonials 
of their regard and admiration for liim. Mr. Wash- 
burne resigned his office in 1877 and returned to the 
United States, establishing himself permanently in 
Chicago. In 1880 his name was prominent among 



those suggested as candidates for the presidency, but 
he absolutely refused to go before the convention. 
In 1884 he was elected president of tlie Chicago His- 
torical Society, and he pas.sed the latter part of his 
life in reading and studying, and lecturing before 
literary institutions. A collection of articles which 
he contributed to "Scribner's Magazine" was pub- 
lished in book form in New York in 1887, under the 
title, "Recollections of a Minister to France, 1869- 
1877." He also published in Chicago, in 1882, 
"History of the English Settlement in Edwards 
County, III.," and in 1884 "The Edwifrds Papers." 
Mr. Washburne collected during his lifetime a very 
large number of important, interesting and valuable 
paintings, books, manuscripts and autograiihs, which 
at the time of his death he desired should be presented 
to the city of Chicago for free exhibition to tlie pub- 
lic. Mr. Washburne died in Chicago Oct. 23, 1887. 
FISH, Hamilton, secretary of state and gov- 
ernor of New York (1849-51), was born in New 
York city Aug. 3, 1808. He was the sou of Nich- 
olas Fisli (q. v.). He married Jliss Stuyvesant, a de- 
scendant of the Dutch colonial governor of New 
Amsterdam. Their son Hamilton was graduated 
from Columbia College in 
1837, studied law, and was 
admitted to the bar in 1830. 
From the beginning of his 
law studies the young man 
interested himself greatly in 
the affairs of his native state, 
being a whig in politics. For 
several years he was a com- 
missioner of deeds. In 1834 
he was a candidate for the 
assembly on the whig ticket, 
but was defeated, and mails 
no further attempt to enter 
polhical life until 1842, when 
he ran for congress against 
John McKeon for the sixth 
district of New Y'ork city. He 
was elected and served one 
term. In 1846 he was nominat- 
ed for lieutenant-governor by 
the whig state convention, but 
a party, known as "anti-rent- 
ers," supported .lolm Young, 
who had been nominated for 
governor by the whig party, and Addison Gardiner 
who had been nominated for lieutenant-governor 
by the democrats, and as the anti-renters then con- 
trolled man}' thousand votes, they succeeded in elect- 
ing Young as governor and Gardiner as lieutenant- 
governor, defeating Silas Wright, the democratic 
candidate for governor, and Fish, the whig candi- 
date for lieutenant-governor. In 1847 the lieutenant- 
governor (Gardiner) being made a judge of the court 
of appeals, !Mr. Fish was again placed in nomination, 
and was elected by 30,000 majority. In 184.S, the 
opposing candidates being .lohn A. Dix and Reuben 
H. Walworth, Hamilton Fish was elected governor 
of the state of New York. In 1S51 Mr. Fish was 
elected U. S. .senator in (ilace of Daniel S. Dickin- 
son, and served his full term, retiring in 18.57. In 
the senate he opposed the repeal of the Missouri 
compromise, and from the formation of the repub- 
lican jiarty in 18.56 he acted with that party, though 
not especially prominent in it. On the expiration of 
his senatorial term Mr. Fish went to Europe with 
his faniil)-, and remained there a year or more. On 
his return he again became active in polities, using 
his ability and influence in the campaign which re- 
sulted inthe election of Jlr. Lincoln. On the out- 
break of the rebellion, in 1861, Mr. Fish was one of 
those eminent litizeiis toward whom all turned in 
the first chaos of the political revolution for aid in 




e — "f i^**>.S^it,>>^_JliiC 



338 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



maintaining government and law, and sustaining 
the priucipk'S of order against those of disorder and 
anarchy. At the great public meeting held in Union 
Square" in the interest of the government and the 
Union Mr. Fish was one of the committee appointed 
to represent New York in directing and controlling 
the forces whii-h hud been let loose by the tiring on 
Sumter. In that body his energy, wisdom and pa- 
triotism were conspicuous, while liis experience as a 
public man was of the greatest value and use to his 
companions in that .service. In January, 1862, in 
conjunction with Hisliop Ames, Mr. Fish was ap- 
pointed by Secretary Stanton a commissioner to visit 
the U. S. soldiers held in imprisonment by the Con- 
federate government to " iclievc their necessities and 
provide for their comfort." The Confederate gov- 
ernment declined to admit the commissioners within 
their lines for the purpose of executing this mission, 
but intimateil a readiness to negotiate for a general 
e.xchange of prisoners, and this intimation, the result 
of the appointment of the two commissioners, was 
the beginning of a system of general e.xchange, 
which" continued to be carried out subsequently 
until the cud of the war. Througliout the war 
Mr. Fi.sh was one of the few eminent private 
citizens of the repuljlic upon whom President 
Lincoln depended for advice. He was frequetit- 
ly employed in delicate and confidential mis- 
sions requirimr the highest integrity and strength 
of character, iind was 'moreover exceedingly active 




and of most valuable use in creating and directing 
a loyal public opinion in support of the Union. 
At the close of the war Jlr. Fish retired from pub- 
lic view, still acting, however, with the republican 
party, of which he was considered a moderate, 
conservative member. In 1868 Mr. Fish bad ceased 
to be a factor in American politics. He was then 
assumed to be a respectable, retired, middle-aged 
gentleman of higli character, and with memories 
clustering uljout' him of eminent political services 
in tlie remote past. His highest public function at 
this time was that of a trustee of the Astor Li- 
brary, chairman of the trustees of Columbia Col- 
lege," and president of the New York Historical So- 
ciety. It was, therefore, a matter of public surprise 
and" of general interest, when he was suddenly 
withdrawn from his privacy and again became rec- 
ognized as a prominent figure not oidy in politics 
but in statecraft. During one of Oen. Grant's visits 
to New York he had been entertained liy Gov. Fish, 
and bad formed, almost at their first meeting, a high 
and entirely accurate appreciation of tlie hitter's char- 
acter. The friendship at tliat time formed was 
one of equal strengtii on both sides, and when Gen. 
Grant was nominated for tlie presidency in 1868, 
Hamilton Fish became one of his mo.st earnest and 
faithful supporters. An interesting episode in polit- 
ical history now occurred. On the electicm of Gen. 
Grant, Eliliu B. Washburne, to whom Grant owed 
much of his own advancement, desired the mission 
to France, but wished to have the credit and honor 



of having been secretary of state, if even for a brief 
period, and so earnest wius he in this desire that 
President Grant nominated him, ami he became a 
member of the cabinet in that office. The embar- 
ra,ssmeut of this situation was soon obvious, and 
the necessity for a change became manifest. The 
President fiist offered the secretaryshi)) to Mr. 'Wil- 
son of Iowa, wlio declined it. The President next 
sent to Hamilton Fish, requesting him to take the 
position. Jlr. Fish was not ambitious, and at first 
declined the office, but on its being intimated to 
him that his acceptance would be of efficient ser- 
vice to the administration, he consented. From 
that period until the close of Gen. Grant's term 
in the presidency, Hamilton Fisli was his intimate, 
absolute, personal friend and closest confitlant and 
adviser. As to this. Gen. Grant said himself on 
one (KX'asiou: " I have been probably credited with 
having had a variety of friends who are suijposed 
to have infiuenced me more or less during uiy 
political career. The three, or I may say four, 
friends on whose judgment I relied with the utmost 
confidence, were, first and above all. Hamilton Fish, 
Senator Edm\mds of Vermont, Mr. BoutwcU of 
Jlassachusetts, and Admiral Ammeu of the navy. 
I had multitudes of other friends, of course, of 
whose friendship I was proud and rejoice, but 
when people speak of those whose counsels I sought 
and accepted, they were those four men whom I 
have mentioned, and, above all, Hamilton Fish." 
Mr. Fish .served as secretary of .state from JIarch 
11, 1869, to March 12, 1877. " During this period his 
services were of vital inqiortauce to the country,and 
entirel)' removed him from the position of a retired 
statesman to which he had been relegated prior to 
this new entrance into office. He introduced into 
the state department a system of examinations of ap- 
plicants for consulates," to test their knowledge of 
subjects connected with their duties, which may be 
said to have been the precursor of the active aiiplica- 
tion of the civil service reform in this direction. On 
Feb. 9,1871. the president appointed Secretary Fish as 
one of the conHni.s.sioners on the part of the United 
States to negotiate the treaty of Wa.shington. which 
was signed on May 8th of tliat year. It was he w lio 
.succeeded in effecting a .settleiiient with Great Brit- 
ain of tlie long-standing and troublesome dispute 
about the northwestern limmdary, giving the island 
of San Juan to the United States through arbitra- 
tion, and he successfully resisted an effort by Great 
I5ritain to change the te"rms of the extradition treaty 
by mimiciiial legislation. In the settlement of the 
Alabama (luestion Secretary Fish procured the ac- 
ceptance liv the Geneva tribimal of the doctrine se- 
curing the'United States against claims for indirect 
dam.'iges arising out of Fenian raids or Cuban filibus- 
tering expeditions. In November, 1873, he negoti- 
ated with Adm. Polo, Spanish minister at Wash- 
ington, the settlement of the Virginius question, 
which had become serious, and hail for some time 
threatened the relations between the United States 
and the Spanish government, even to the extent 
of po.ssilile war. At the end of President Grant's 
term he was very anxious that the nominee of the 
republican partv for |)resident should be his own 
secretary of state, Hamilton Fish. Gen. Grant had 
a weakness for the trailitions of the presidency, 
which had made Secretary of State Jefferson succeed 
Ailams, Secretary of State Jladison succeed JefTer- 
son, Secretary ofState Monroe succeed Madison, Sec- 
retar.\' of Slate Adams succeed Monroe, and Secre- 
tary of State Van Buren succeed Jackson. He also 
bel'ieved that in Mr. Fish he had a man who should 
be regarded as the greatest statesman the govern- 
ment^had known, except William L. JIarcy, since 
the time of Jefferson. But the Chicago convention 
thought differently. A group of comparatively 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



339 



young politicians liad sprung into notoriety and po- 
htiMl popularity, mchuiiug such meu as Conklinc^ 
Blaiuc, Bristow. and Jlortoa of Indiana. Into tins 
of"p'?.i'Vl 7'S''"**'iWes wf thrown the candidature 
ot Piesideut Grant himself with the result of all the 
pohtica disturbance and pojuilar excitement, to 
which the mere idea of a ■' third term" was as a red 
rag to a bu 1 The famous cohort of the subse 
quen ly medaled 3(16 stood by- Grant to the last 
but the rank and hie of tlie republican couveutiou 
were against a "third term." and a new era of com- 
promise presidents was inaugurated in the nomina- 
tion and subsequent election of Hulherfc.rd B Haves 
It IS a tact in the political history of this time that 
Pre.si(l(-nt Urant wrote a letter addressed to a distin- 
guished ineiuber of the convention, in which he e.\- 
pressx-d his renewed desire for the nominalion of 
J>lr. 1-ish basing it upon reasons of the hiirhest pub- 
lic e.xpediency. more particularlv iu reaard to the 
foreign relations of the United States "This letter 
was given to the geutleman to whom it was address- 
ed, with mstructious that, when such a time arose in 
the convention debates that it became apijarent that 
neither of the candidates before the convention 
cou d conunaud a majorily, it should be read and 
made the basis of a movement for the nomination of 
Mr Fish. The tact of such a letter having been 
wri ten was kept a profound secret, and was known 
to Gov. Jish only after Gen. Grants retirement 
f 0111 the presidency. But the convention was in 
the liands „t men trained in political wavs, anion" 
whom nunc were personally interested in" this sutS 
gestion and before the time could arrive when the 
pos.s,b,htyof Gov. Fish's nomination was apmrent 
the Ohi,, politicians had succeeded iu securin"- the 
nommat.ou of Gov. Hayes. Mr. Fish broudit to 
tlic work ot his departmeut an amount of iudustrv 
and patient etfort. and a facility for constant toil 
even t:ir mto the late hours of the night, which no 
such otbcial had perhaps i'ver before e.xhibited In 
his manner .Secretary Fish was an ideal dipl,)mat a 
th.. rough gentleman of the old school. Cultivated 
and highly educated, he was most agreeable and pop- 
ular m his associations with all classes of people 
He was for some years president of the New York 
His orical Society and, like his father, wa.s presi- 
dent-general of the Society of tlie Cincinnati. Mr 
I<ish, besules his elegant dwelling in New York has 
a charming summer residence, Glen-Clyffe, where 
he sjieuds about si.\ mouths of the year " 




KICHARDSON, William Adams, secretary 
01 the treasury, was born at Tvngsborough. Mass 

A?' '\l-,- "/'' "^'^""'^ *'"" of Daniel and Mary 
Adams Hichaidsou and si.xth in descent from Eze- 
k.el Hicb.-irdsou, the tirst of the name to settle iu 
iNew hnglaud, who was one of the pioneers and 
subsequently a selectman of Woburn, Mass where 

hJf 1 ''■'"'■,■ ^''"'" ""*^ ^^'-'-^'^'^ Riciiardson 
has descended a hue of distinguished .soldiers iur- 
ists and slalesmen. The subiect of this .sketch was 
graduated troni Harvard and afterward studied law 
with bis brother an,l .Tobii A. Andrew, sub,s,.quently 
takuig a course ,„ ,i,e Harvard Law School, being 
in 1S4 , award,.,! the degrei's of \.^l. ..,,,,1 LL B 
On . uly s. is+s, he was admitted lo the Boston bar 
ami began the practice, if his profe.s.sj,)n in Lowell 
^law.. 11, c,„me,tiou with his elder brother. Daniel 
b. Hich.-mlson. Mr. Ki<-liardson so,.ii acquire,! an 
exlen,l,-,l ivputation from his ass,iciation wilh.Jud.'e 
Joel Park<-r lr,.m I.s.j(l-.5I. i,i the revision of the 
general statutes of Massachusetts which in I860 
went int,. operation. He also h,-ld various ofli,-ial 
positions an.l took a prominent i,art in ll„. iMuni,ipal 
government of Lowell. I„ i,s.-,(i Mr. Hi,-har,lson 
was appoint,.,! judge of probate for .Mi,l,!l,.sex 
couutj, .Mass., retaining the otUce until 1858, when 



a judgeship of probate and insolvency was estab- 
Irshed initsstead, to which he was the li4 appo^tee 
This ,,thce lie lield until 1873, and on March 1? 
ft~,V ^'^ Richards,m was appointed secretary of 
the reasury in Gen. Grants cabinet, succeeding Mr 
Boutwel , to whom he liad been assi.stant secremry 
,1, w ,"'■■;■ ""■^"'■•••'f «ct of Secretary Hidiardson's ad- 
ministration was the transfer of the Geneva award 
money $1.5,O„u,(i0O, from London to Wash ngt^a 

connti \ . 1 hi- skill and dqihimacy e.vhibited in this 
trans er without ,listurbing the monetary "bilance'' 
in the exchange markets of the 
work! was hardly of less import- 
ance than the settlement of the 
award itself. From the begin- 
ning the transaction wasattended 
with difficulties. The words of 
the treaty required jjayment in 
gold coin in Washingtim. Nor 
could the secretary of state, not 
the president even," alter, modify 
or waive this obligation. These 
grave questions confronted both 
governments, but at the sugges- 
sion of Secretary Richardson the 
secretary of state, Hamilton Fish, 
was .satistied to accejit the receipt 
of the secretary of the treasury 
for the gold and by the principle 
of offset, so familiar in clearing 
houses, the solution was found. 
Secretary Richardson resigned 
from the treasury in .June, 1874, 
to become judge of the court of claims, and in 1885 
"■fA"?'^?""'*^ chief justice of the same court In 
1860 Judge Richardson was engaged in iuodifyin<' 
and reorganizing the probate .sysfem in Massa"chu"'- 
■setts. He f,)rmed the plan of enlarging the iurisdic- 
tion of the jtrobate courts, and urg?d the le<'nslature 
thnmgh its committee to confer upon the°prol]ate 
court concurrent jurisdiction with that of the su- 
preme court in the construction of notes and the ad- 
iniuislrati,)u of trusts as tinally carried out by leo-is- 
lative enactment. To such extent has le-nslatTou 
enlarged the authority and jurisdiction of "the pro- 
bate courts that they have become courts of exclu- 
sive original jurisdiction in many matters. From 
1863-75 he was one ,if the overseers of Harvard, la 
1871 he was stationed in London with a staff of treas- 
ury clerks as tinancial agent of the government to ne- 
^'otiate for the sale of the funded loan of the United 
States, and made the first contract in Euroiie f,)r 
the disposal of these bonds. He has been a law lec- 
turer at Georgetown College, D. C, and Columbia 
Lniversity for a number of years, and has been 
awariled the degree of D.D. by Dartmouth and Co- 
lumbia, .ludge l{icliardsou's work in the revision 
and editing of .statutes both of Massachusetts and 
of the United States lias been of the utmost impor- 
tance and iisefulne.ss. His latest work of this char- 
acter appeared in 1891 and is entitled "Supplement 
to the Revised Statutes of the United States." This 
work waspn'pared under a special act of congress that 
uominat,.,! him for the service. An eminent practition- 
er thus, le.scribes his judicial acumen: "He is of a high- 
ly nerv,)iis Icniperment. and grasps a piaiit wiili great 
quickness, and with this p,)wer has by careful t'rain- 
iiig acquire,! a habit of woiuicrful pailisiaking labor 
which seems never weary of jirotracte,! work. This 
is a cimibination which gave w,)n,lerful power. No 
maten'al p,iiMt h,)wever small in a ca.se seems to es- 
cap,' him, an,! yet they do lurt distract his attention 
from I III' strong c,>ntr,illing issues which never elude 
ids grasp, whilst his taste f,ir work, cmibined with 
these elements of capacity, makes him a most suc- 
cessful, patient investigator. " 



340 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPj^EDIA 



BOUTWELL, George Sewall, U. S. secretary 
of tlic treasury, sixteenth governor of Massachusetts, 
and senator, was born at Brookline, Mass., .Ian, 28, 
1819, in the liouse wliich is still slandinji on what is 
known as tlie Clyde Park estate, now the jiroperty of 
the Country t'lub of Bo.ston, When he was liui "two 
years old his father, [sewall Boulwell, removed to 
a farm in the town of Lnnenburir. near Fitehburii;, 
Mass., and there the son helped in the farm work 
summers, attended the district school winters, until 
a month or two before he was thirteen years of aire, 
when he obtained employment as clerk in a country 
store in the village. After four years he accepted "a 
like situation in a store at Groton Centre, where he 
remained for twenty years — at first as clerk and af- 
terward as partner. From the beginning of liis 
clerkship he had sought to remedy the defects of his 
education by study during liis leisure hours, and 
soon after his removal to Groton Centre, having ]iro- 
cured a number of law books, he set about fitting him- 
self for the legal profession. When he reached the 
age of twenty-one he was about ready for admis- 
sion to the bar, but then his employers ollered him 
a copartnership in the busi- 
ness, which was large and 
lucrative, and he accejjted this 
opportunity to secure a com- 
petency. He was, however, 
soon afterward admitted to 
the bar, l)ut for many years at- 
tempted no other legal prac- 
tice than the giving of gratu- 
itous advice to his country 
neighbors. In politics he was 
at this time a democrat, and to 
the grief of his friends he. in 
1840, supported Martin Van 
Buren in tlie log -cabin and 
hard -cider campaign, which 
swept William Henry Harrison 
into the presidency. But this 
did not prevent their nonn- 
nating him, two years later, 
for the state legislature. The 
district was overwhelmingly whig, but he was 
elected by a handsome majority, Tlie people had 
known him from early boyhood — his father's farm 
being but a few miles away — and, honest them- 
selves, they desired an honest man for a representa- 
tive, A like result occurred whenever he was nom- 
inated for an office that depended upon the suffrage 
of his home district; in fact, he was elected to tiie 
legislature no less than seven times during the fol- 
lowing nine years; but when the vote of the larger 
congressional district was asked for, he was defeat- 
ed, because his personal influence did not avail to 
overcome the opposition to him as a democrat. 
Though but a young man of twenty-four when he 
entered the legislature, he soon toiik a prominent 
part in the debates, and, by his third term, was the 
acknowledged leadiM- of his party. In 1849 he was 
accorded the barren honor of being made the dem(. 
cratic candidate for governor of >iassachusetts, and 
in 1850 the honor was repeated. Defeat was a fore- 
gone conclusion; for his party was largely in the 
minority; but, on his third renomination for the of- 
fice, in 1851, he was, to the surprise of even his 
friends, elected. He administered the ottice with so 
much ability and integrity as to gain a national rep- 
utation, and win the admiration of men of all parties. 
He was still in business at Groton Centre, and in 
the heated election contest it was brought against 
him that he was a " country trader." but Harvard 
University answered the accusation by conferring 
upon him the degree of LL.D., and, "soon after- 
ward, by appointing him one of the trustees of that 
time-honored institution. The complexion of par- 




ties remained the same, but on his renomination in 
1853, he was re-elected governor by an increased ma- 
jority-. In 18.55 this gentleman, who had obtained 
his education by the light of a tallow candle after 
business hours in a country store, was appointed 
.secretary of the stale board of education of .Ma.ssa- 
chu.setts — an oMIee thai had been tilled by Horace 
Mann, and one demamling scholarly acquirements. 
He held this position for six years, writing reports 
of acknowledged ability, and discharging his other 
duties in a manner to win the admiration of the best 
scholars in the country. Mr. Boulwell was one of 
the organizers of the republican parly, and in 18.5(5 
zealously sujiported Mr. Fremont for llie |iresi(lencv. 
In 1800 he voted for the nomination of Mr. Lincoln 
in the Chicago convention, and after his election 
was chosen a member of the i)eace congr&ss which 
met in Wasliington in .lanuary, 181)1. Early in 1862, 
when the best men in Ihe country were propounding 
various fiuile schemes of compromise for the pacifi- 
cation of the ccamtry. he wrote for the " Continental 
Monthly Magazine" several articles, kindly and con- 
ciliatory in tone, but advi.sing a rigid adherence to 
principle, which attracted wide attention, and made 
a deep impression on the public mind. In .June of 
that _year Jlr, Lincoln appointed liiin a member of 
the commi.ssiou to adju.st the claims against the gov- 
ernment, arising out of the operations of Gen, Fre- 
mont in Jlissouri, and in the following month he 
.selected him as the first commissioner of internal 
revenue. This department he organiz.ed, and he 
continued to act as commissioner imtil JIarch in the 
succeeding year, when he resigned to take the seat 
in congress to which he had been elected in the pre- 
ceding November, He was re-elected to Ihe house 
of representatives in 18()4, 1860 and 1808, and in 
February of the latter year made a .strong speech in 
the house, advocating the impeachment of Andrew 
Johnson, He was appointed chairman of llie com- 
mittee to draft Ihe articles of imjieachmeut, and was 
one of the board of managers that conducted the pro- 
ceedings. He was also a member of the conunittee 
of fifteen that reported Ihe fourteenth anu'iidment 
to the con.slitution of the L'niled Slates, and he him- 
self not oidy drafted and reported Ihe tifleeiUh 
amendment, but conducted the ilel)ale uivon il in tlie 
house of representatives. When Gen. Grant was 
forming his first cabinet he tendered to Jlr. Bout- 
well the post of secretary of the interior, but he de- 
clined it, preferring to retain his position in congress. 
Thereupon the president offered him the jiosition of 
.secretary of the treasury, which he also declined, 
Notwitlislandingliisdeclination, Presiileiit (Jrant sent 
his nomination to the senate, and, on its being con- 
firmed. Mr. Boulwell resigned his seal in the house 
and accepted the position. Among his first acts as 
the head of the treasury department was Ihe draft- 
ing of a bill for tlie fuiiding of the ])ublic delil, and 
upon his reconuiiendation. in his annual report of that 
year, congress |)assed Ihe bill, and it became a law 
"in .July, 1870. On the elevation of lleiny Wilson to 
•he vice-presidency, Mr, Boulwell was eU'cU'd to 
succeed him in the U. S, senate; and, resigning his 
post as secretary, he took his seal in March, 1873. 
In 1877 President Hayes aiipointed him commis- 
sioner to revise Ihe statutes of the rniled Stales. 
This work he completed in 187.8, and in l.'<80he was 
made counsel for the rniled Stales before the ?>ench 
and Aineriean claims commissidM. When Mr. Charles 
.1. Folgerdied. in September. 18.^4. President Arthur 
tendered Jlr. Boulwell the position of secretary of 
the treasury, liut he declined, preferring to continue 
the practice of the l.-iw in AVasliinglon. He is em- 
phatically a si'lf-inade man, and, with the sole ex- 
ception of Henry Wilson, no Ma.s.s,.icluiselts man 
ever, from such small beginning.s, reached to such 
high station. 




COPYRIGHT, 1991, aV JAUC3 T. WHlTI 4 CO. 



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OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



343 




JI^.H^-x.i:^^^ 



BRISTOW, Benjamin Helm, secretary of the 
treasury, was liorn in Elktoii, Todii Co., Ky., June 
20, 1832. He studied at Jeffer,S(iu CdUcnc, Penn- 
sylvania, from which he was graduated in 1851, liegan 
the ])rofe.ssion of law, and was admitted to the Ken- 
tucky bar in 1853. His Ijrst practice was at Elklon, 
but he removed to iloiiUinsville 
in 1858. At the bciiinninj;- of 
the war he entered llie Union 
arniv as lieutenant -colonel of 
the twent.y- tifth Kentucky in- 
fantry, after the .severe mental 
struggle which was nece-ssary to 
southern men with northern 
sympathies in tho.se times that 
tried men's souls. He distin- 
guished himself for coolness and 
bravery at the battles of Fort 
Henry, Fort Donel.son, Pitts- 
liurg Landing, IShiloh, and other 
~ engagements. He also assisted 
in the capture of the celebrated 
raider, Gen. John H. Morgan. In 
1863, while still in the field, Col. 
Bristow was elected to the senate 
of Kentucky. Identified \\ itii the 
old whig party until its disrup- 
tion, he was now a repid)liean and an anti-slavery 
man. In 1865, after the close of the war. Col. 
Bristow resigned his seat in the senate and removed 
to Louisville, where he at once secured a lucrative 
law practice, and took position in the fore-front of 
one of the ablest bars in the country. In 1866 he 
was apjiointed a.ssistant district attornej', and in 
1867 became district attorney for Kentucky. In this 
position, rendered jieculiarly delicate and responsi- 
ble by the condition of the state, to which the Con- 
federate element had largely returned after the war, 
Mr. Bristow showed him.seif as a thoroughly judi- 
cious and, at the same time, both a fearless and 
magnanimous officer. Often his political .sentiments 
were far ahead of those of his fellow-citizens, and 
in many instances he ran the risk of arousing the 
animosity of those about him, but this never deterred 
him from pursuing that course of conduct which he 
deemed right and ju.st, and, on the whole, his popu- 
larity in the section where he lived was remarkable. 
In 1870 Col. Bristow formed a law partnership 
witli Gen. John M. Ilarlan. but. in th<' following 
year, was called by President Grant to till the newly 
made office of solicitor-general of the United States. 
Three years later, upon the resignation of Mr. Rich- 
ardson as secretary of the treasury, the president 
appointed Col. Bristow to this office. His services 
as the head of tlie treasury dei^artment were most im- 
portant to the government and to the people. He 
quite reorganized and reformed the business of his 
office, ancl it was shown that he brought to the exe- 
cution of his new duties remarkable executive ability 
and wonderful adaptation to whatever position he 
might undertake to till. In June, 1876, Secretary 
Bristow resigned, owing to the calls made u))on him 
by his private business. At the republican national 
convention of that year, held in Cincinnati. ()., he 
was the leading candidate for the i)residential nomi 
nation, receiving 123 votes on the first liallot. He 
afterward became the senior member of the eminent 
law firm of Bristow. Pcet & Opdyke, and removed 
his residence to New York, where he has continued to 
conduct a profitable and important law business ever 
since. 

RAWLINS, John Aaron, secretary of war, 
was born at East Galena. 111.. Feb. 13, 183"l, whith- 
er his father had come from Kentucky, by way of 
Missouri. Bred to the farm and the charcoal-pit, he 
was self-taught imtil he became of age, and had 
gained but a year's schooling before his brief legal 




<;'>z.<AJ^?^«-i^^Ao 



studies began. He was admitted to the bar in 1854, 
practiced at Galena, became city attorney in 1857, 
took part in politics as a Douglas democrat, and was 
on the electoral ticket of that party in 1860. At a 
mass meeting held April 16, 1861, four days after 
the tiring on Fort Sumter, he made an earnest 
speech in support of the war, 
which profoundly impressed 
U. S. Grant. As soon as Grant 
received his brigade he .sent for 
Kawlins, wlio became captain 
and a.ssistant adjutant -general 
in September, 1861. From that 
time the two were never separat- 
ed during the war, except in 
Augusl and September. 1864. 
when Kawlins was ill. He had 
the warm atlection and absolute 
confidence of liis eliief, over 
whom he exercised a singidar 
iiiHuence, and to whom, as Grant 
wrote to Senator Wilson, he was 
all but indispensable. This power 
was accjuired by no arts of sub- 
serviency: bis character was ])os- 
itive, his will strong, his opinions 
freely in I cred and boldly insisted 
on. When he became a soldier he knew absolutely 
nothing of military science or affairs; but his native 
ability soon overcame these deficiencies, and his 
cotuisels, which he never liesitated to give, were 
often of value. He was comnu'ssioncd major and 
liculenant-eolonel in 1862, brigadier-general of vol- 
unteers in August, 1863, and in JIarch, 1865, was 
transferred to the regular armj' with that rank, and 
brevetted major-general. He was nominally or prac- 
tically Gen. Grant's chief of staff through liearly the 
entire struggle, and, on his friend's elevation to the 
presidcnc}' in JIareh, 1869, became .secretary of war. 
His health had been undermined in his military .ser- 
vice, and he died of consumption at his post in 
Washington Sept. 9, 1869. His family was provid- 
ed for by a jiidilic subscrijition, and his statue in 
bronze has bci'ii erected at tlie capitol. 

BELKNAP, 'William 'Worth, secretary of war, 
was born in Newburg, N. Y., Sept. 22, 1829. He 
was the son of Gen. William Goldsmith Belknap, 
who was prominent in the Mexican war, and was 
brevetted brigadier-general for services at the battle 
of Buena Vista. William W. Belknaj) was .sent to 
Princeton in 1848, and after graduating there be- 
came a student in the law office of Hugh Capertou, 
Georgetown, D. C. He was admitted to the bar in 
1851,"'and removed to Keokuk, la., where he opened 
a law office, and formed a partnership with B. P. 
LoW'C, afterward governor of the state He became 
prominent as a lawyer and as a democratic politician, 
and in 1857 was elected a member of the .state leg- 
islature. On the outbreak of the civil war he was 
commissioned major of the 15th Ii>wa volimteers, 
and at the battle of Shiloh covered himself with 
honor. Here he was severely wounded, but remain- 
ed on the field until tlie close of the tirst ilay's flght- 
insr. Tliroiuihout the war the fullest confidence was 
felt in Belknap by Grant. Sherman. McPherson, 
and every other general under whom he served. 
Every iiromolion which he received he won on the 
battlefield. In 1804, after the battle of Atlanta, 
Belknap was promoted to the rank of lirigadier-geu- 
eral, and placed in command of llw Iowa brigade, 
at the head of which he marched to the sea under 
Sherman. When the war ended be was in command 
of the 4tli division of the 17tli army corjis. Gen. 
Belknai) was otTered the commis.sion of a tield office 
in the reirular army, but declineil it. In 1865 he was 
apiioint('d collector of internal revenue in Iowa, and 
he held that position until Oct. 13, 1869, when Gen. 



344 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 




Grant appointed him secretary of war. He held this 
place until March 7, 1^76, when he was charsed 
with ollicial corruption, iinilwa.s permitted to resitju. 
He was afterward iiui)ea(luui hy the house of repre- 
sentatives before the senate on the accusjUion that he 
promised to appoint Caleb P. JIarsli to the charge of a 
trading department at Fort 
Sill, in consideration of a 
sum of money to be paid 
quarterly to IJelknaji or his 
agent. The impcaclnnent 
proceedings were quashed in 
the senate on the groiuid of 
lack of jurisdiction, but, on 
the question of guilty or not 
guilt_v, thirty -.seven voted 
guilty, and twenty-three not 
gviilty. It was generally be- 
li(^ved among tliose best in- 
:> . formed, regarding the de- 

tails of this scandal, that 
Gen. Belknap was iimocent 
,, , ... ,1^ ^ of complicity as to the im- 

Qvyn JA yO /i^ liropiT acts charged against 

/ Ignorant of the tacts of the 

case. Gen. Belknap was 
three times married; his fir.st wife was a sister of 
Gen. Hugh T. Held; after her death he married Miss 
C'arita Tondin.son, and after her death, in 1870, he 
married her .sister, iMrs. .John Bower of Cincinnati. 
The late Senator Carpenter, wlio was Geu. Belknap's 
counsel in the impeaclnnent proceedings, was quot- 
ed after the trial as having said that if he shovild 
outlive Gen. Belknap he woulil make it his business 
to clear the memurj- of the ex-secretary, and place 
the blame where it belonged. He claimed to have 
access to proofs which would show that the nego- 
tiations with Marsh were cariied on by some one with- 
out Gen. Belknap's knowledge. The latter, when first 
accused and when brought before President Grant, 
declared his innocence of any connection with the 
affair, and said, "I admit that if I had been carefid 
of my domestic affairs, as I shouUl have been, I 
might have known that our family e.xpenses were 
greater than they ought tobe. " It was shown on the 
trial that the undertaking with Marsh was made by 
the first Mrs, Belknap, and that the cause of the ex- 
posure was a misunderstanding which occurred be- 
tween Marsh and the second Mrs. Belknap. After 
his retirement from public life. Gen. Belknap resid- 
ed for some time in Philadelphia, but from 1S7G un- 
til the time of his death he lived in Washington, and 
carried on the practice of law successfully. He was 
found dead in liis bed on Oct. 13, 1890, and is sup- 
posed to have died some time on the previous day, 
which was Sunday, Oct. 13th. 

TAFT, Alphonso, secretary of war and attor- 
ney-general, was born at Townshend, Vt., Nov. .5, 
1814. He was of English descent, one of his an- 
cestors, I'jdward Hawson, having come to New Kng- 
land in 1631!, and being sub.sequently, for thirty- 
five years, secretary of the province of JIassachusetts. 
His grandparents on both sides emigrated from 
"Worcester county, ."Mass.. to Vermont about the time 
of the revolution. His father, Peter Kawson Ta ft, 
was reared a farmer, butafterward .studied and [irac- 
ticed law, and served ni.nny yi^ars in the Vermont 
legislature. Alphonso Taft was the oidy child of 
Peter Kawson and iSj-lvia (Howard) Taft. He was 
brought up a farmer, and received but the meagre 
education of neighl)oring country .schools until he 
was old enough to teacli himself, when he taught 
school, for .several successive winters just earning 
enough to i>ay for tuition at an academy in the 
spring, and in the summer working .again upon liis 
father's farm. When he was nineteen years old he 



entered Yale College, graduating in 1833. He was 
next employed as a teacher in the High School at 
Ellington, "Coiui. He next accepted a tutorship, 
which he kei)t for two years, attending lectures at 
Yale Law School in the meantime. He was admitted 
to the bar at New Haven in 1838. and the next year 
went to Cincinnati, O., and began the practice of 
his profe-ssion. After a hard struggle he met with 
success, and, as his rcjiutation grew rapidly, he was 
employed in some of the largest and most important 
cases before the state courts. For twenty-five years 
he had one of the largest practices in the .state. 
Among his law jiartners were Judge Thomas M. 
Key, George K. Page, William N. I)i(;kinson and 
Aaron F. Perry, the last mentioned being a former 
classmate in the Yale r..aw School. He'was for a 
few years a member of the city council, and an ar- 
dent advocate of the building of railroads, hojiingto 
make Cincinnati, what it afterward became, a great 
railroad center. He lectured on this .subject in 18.50, 
and endeavored in cveiy way to bring Cincinnati and 
her railroads before the public. He was also very 
energetic in the cau.se of edu- 
cation. For many years he was 
trustee of Yale College, a mem- 
ber of the Union High School 
board, and a trustee of the Uni- 
versity of Cincinnati. He was 
one of the early republicans of 
the Western Reserve, and in 
18.56 was a member of the con- 
vention which nominated Gen. 
John C. Fremont for president. 
He was a candidate in the con- 
gressional contest of that year, 
in the first Ohio district, against 
George H. Pendleton, the latter 
being elected by a small major- 
it}'. He was apjiointed judge 
of the superior court of Cincin- 
nati, to fill the vacancy caused 
by the resignaticm of Judge 
lioadly in 1865, being afterward elected twice to 
the same position. He received, on the last occasion, 
the nomination from both parties. He resigned in 
1872, and established a law firm with his two sons. 
In 1875 he was a candidate for the republican nomi- 
nation for governor of (Jhio; but a dissenting opinion 
that he delivered on the question of reading the Bi- 
ble in the public schools was the cause of much 
op|iosition to him. The opinion that defeated his 
nomination was unaninumsly athrnu-d by the Ohio 
supreme court, and is now the law of the state. In 
the camjiaign that followed he warmly su|>]iorted 
Gen. H. B. Hayes, who held a high opinion of Judge 
Taft as a pure man and a republican. lie inadesev- 
eral s])eeclies for Hayes and hard monev which 
attracted wide attention. In ."March. l!S7f). President 
Grant appointed him secretary of war, and three 
months later he was transferred to the office of 
attorney -general, in which position he continued 
until the close of President Grant's term. He then 
became a candidate for the seat in the U. S. senate 
vacated by John Sherman, who had been appointed 
to the .secretaryslii]) of the treasury by President 
Haves, but the republican caucus nomination went 
to Staidey Matthews on the third ballot. In 1877 
and 187!) lie was a candidate for the republican nom- 
ination for governor of Ohio, but was imsucce.ssfid 
each time. Meanwhile, Judge Taft had resumed hi.? 
law practice, which was not again interrujited until 
April, 1882, when he was appointed minister to 
Austria by President .Vrthur From this iilace he- 
was transferred in 1884 to St. Petersburg, where he- 
.served until Aug. 1, 1885. While in Hu.ssia Judge 
Taft suffered severely from jmeumonia. After his. 
return to America he was troubled with a complica- 




.f^i^e^"^^?^^ 



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OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



345 



*a* 



tion of ailments, and went to Chili for his health. 

On his return (April, 1891) he stopped .it S.in Diego, 
C'lil., where he died. In 1841 he was married to 
Fauuie Phelps, of Towushend, Vt., who died in 
1853. They had two sons, Charles Phel|)s Taft aiitl 
Peter Rawson Taft. In 1854 Judge Taft married 
Louise M. Torry, of Millbury, Mass., by wliom he 
had four ehildreu: AVilliam ll.. Harry W., Horace 
D. and Faimie Louise. .Judge Taft was an upright, 
scholarly man, \mostentatious, yet raaiutaiiig a prop- 
er self-resiK'Ct, and commauiling the ailniiration of 
all who knew his tine personal character and high 
professional abilities. He received from Yale, in 18f>7, 
the degree of Doctor of Laws. He died May 21, 
1891. ^ 

CAMERON, James Donald, secretary of war 
and senator, was born at Middletown. Dauphin Co., 
Pa., May 14, 1833. His distinguished father, Simon 
Cameron.was the first secretary of war in the cabinet 
of Abraham Lincoln, U. S. minister plenipotentiary 
to Russia, and for nearly twenty .years a senator froiii 
Pennsylvania. James was graduated from the Col- 
lege of New Jersey at Princeton in 1852. Upon 
leaving college he entered the Middletown Bank, 
now the National Bank of Middletown, as clerk, 
soon became cashier, and then president, which posi- 
tion he still holds. Early in life he was very .success- 
ful in varied business enterprises. In 1863 he was 
elected president of the Northern Central Railway 
Co., whose road extends north and south through 
the state of Pcimsylvania to Baltimore, and is a much 
traveled route from Harrisburg southward. He con- 
tinued to hiild this position until 1874, when the road 
passed undi^r the control of the Pennsylvania Rail- 
road Co. He was secretar}' of war in the cabinet of 
President Grant from May 22, 1876, to JIarch 3, 
1877, showing in this position the 
same executive power that had 
characterized him in the prompt 
and orderly dispatch of his private 
business. He was a delegate to the 
republican national convention at 
Chicago in 1868 and to Cincinnati 
in 1876. He became prominent 
and influential in his state and the 
entire country, and was chosen 
chairman of the republican na- 
tional committee and delegate to 
the national convention at Chicago 
in 1880. He was elected to the 
U. S. senate from Penn.sylvania 
to fill the vacancy can.sed by the 
resignation of his father in ^March, 
1877, and took his seat Oct. 15, 
1877, in his forty- fourth year. 
He was reelected in 1879, 1885 
ami 1891. During his service in the senate Mr. Cam- 
eron has been a member of the committees on coast 
defences, to inquire into all claims of citizens of the 
United States a.srainst Nicaragua, on the five civiliz- 
ed tribes of Indians, military affairs, the quadro- 
ccntennial, and chairm.au of the commillee on naval 
affairs. He has large interests in various enterprises 
in Pcimsylvania, and owns many nf tbe most valu- 
able farms in Dauphin anil Cuniberlaiid counties in 
that state. He has a magnificent residence on Front 
street, Harrisburg. facing the Susquehaima river, and 
a cosily home in ■Washington, D. C. His first wife 
was Mary .'\Ic('ormick, a representative of a promi- 
nent family in Peiuisvlvania. She died in 1874. He 
was marrieil a secoi'id time, in 1878, to Elizabeth 
Sherman, ilaughler of Judge Sherman of Ohio and 
niece (.f Oen. W'm. T. Sherman. 

BORIE, Adolph E., secretary of the navy, was 
horn in Philadelphia Nov. 25. 1809. His father was 
John Joseph Borie, a Frenchman, and his mother 





belonged to a family of Huguenot refugees, who 
settled in San Domingo and afterward removed to 
Philadelpbia, where jlr. ]5orie was a merchant and 
wliere he married his w'ife. He was very prosperous 
in his business and was therefore able to give to his 
son the best possible educational advantages. The 
boy pa.ssed through the com- 
mon schools successfidly, and 
from them went to the col- 
legiate department of the Uni- 
versity of Pennsylvania, where 
he was graduated before he 
was sixteen years of age in the 
class of 1825. He was then 
sent abroad and continued 
his studies in one of the best 
schools in Paris, remaining 
there for more than two years. 
On his return he entered iqiou 
commercial life in his father's 
busine,ss house, which was en- 
gaged in the Mexican and 
China trade, the firm being 
McKean, Borie & Co. On his 
father's death, Mr. Adolph 
Borie became the head of the 
firm and eventually accpiired 

a large fortime. In 1848 he was elected president of 
the Bank of Commerce of Philadelphia and contin- 
ued to hold that position until 1860. On the break- 
ing out of the civil war, 3Ir. Borie gave a great deal 
of monev and much time to the enlistment and care 
of volunteer soldiers, and was also one of the found- 
ers and vice-president of the Union Club of Phila- 
delphia, afterward the Union League Club and the 
first of these institutions to be founded in the coun- 
try. On JIareh 5, 1869, by appointment of Presi- 
dent Grant, Mr. Borie became secretary of the navy, 
but resigned and was succeeded by George 51. Robe- 
son, June 25th of the same year, finding that his pri- 
vate affairs nece.s.sitated his personal attention. He 
returned to Philadelphia, where he continued to re- 
side thereafter, though he ft)rmed one of the party 
that accompanied Gen. Grant in his tour around the 
world, which began in Philadeljihia in 1877. Mr. 
Borie died in Philadelphia Feb. 5, 1880. 

ROBESON, George Maxwell, secretary of the 
navy, was born at Oxford Furnace, N. J., in 1829. 
He received an academic education, and was then 
sent to Princeton College, w here he was graduated 
in 1847, studied law with Chief 
Justice Hornblower at New- 
ark, and was admitted to the 
bar in 1850, practiced at New- 
ark, and afterward at Cam- 
den, and in 1858 was appoint- 
ed prosecutor of the jileas of 
Camden county. At the out- 
break of the civil war Jlr. 
Rol)eson was very active in 
organizing the state troops of 
New Jersey, and he was com- 
missioned brigadier general. 
In 1.867 he was appointed at- 
torney-general of New Jer- 
.sey, and served luitil June 27, 
1869, when he resigned, and 
three days after took the office 
of secretary of the navy, to 
whic:h he had been appointi'd 
bv President (iiaut. He re- 
mained in this jiosiiion until the expiration of Pres- 
ident Gram's second term, in 1877, when he resinned 
the practice of the law, and was elected to the forty- 
sixth congress as a republican, receiving nearly as 
many votes as the democratic and the greenback can- 
didates together. 




^^V-'7r^«-^?'0»-^^c-i*»^^«- ». 



346 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



COX, Jacob Dolson, secretary of tlieiDteriorand 
governor of Ohio (1860-6!:)), was "boru in Montreal, 
Canada, Oct. 27, 1838, of parents who were natives 
of the United States residing in Canada for a brief 
period. Soon after Jacob was born his parents re- 
turned to New York city, where he sludied in the 
public schools until the family removed to Ohio, 
when he was about twenty years of age. He at- 
tended Oberlin College, where he was graduated in 
1851, and in the following year began the practice of 
law at Warren. He became a republican in politics 
and was elected to the state senate on that ticket, 
taking his seat in 1859 and remaining there until the 
outbreak of the civil war. He then began todevote 
him.self to the organization of volunteers, and re- 
ceived a Commission as brigadier-general, being or- 
dered to West Virginia, where he fought under Gen. 
Rosecraus. He was subsequently assigneil to the 
9th corps, and was engaged in the battles of South 
Mountain and Antietam, being in command of the 
corps after the fall of Gen. Reno. At the close of 
this campaign Gen. Co.\ was promoted to be major- 
general. During the Atlanta campaign he command- 
ed a division of the 23d army corps, and had com- 
mand of the entire corps after lie fall of Atlanta. 
He was present at the battle of Nashville, and was 
afterward orderetl to the At- 
lantic coast to o|ien conunuu- 
icatiou with Gen. Sliernian, 
who was then making his cele- 
brated "Jlarcli to the Sea." 
r«B .i^B-^Ba Wliile engaged in this service 

\«* "^^^^ Cfen. Co.\ had a severe battle 

"** ^ with the troops under Gen. 

Bragg, who was defeated with 
great loss. After the close of 
tlic war Gen. Cox was ordered 
back to Ohio to .superintend 
the nuistering out of troops, 
and while so engaged was 
nominated and subsequently 
elected governor of Ohio bv 
the republican jiarty. But al- 
though elected. Gen. Cox was 
not on good terms with his 
part3' on account of having tak- 
en strong ground against negro 
suffrage, and for having favored the iioliej- of the 
forcible colonization of the recently emancipated 
race. Another serious objection which was raised 
against Gen. Cox was the fact that he endorsed the 
policy of Andrew Johnson, and this position deprived 
him of the nomination for the .second term. In 1S68 
President Johnson olfered him the position of com- 
missioner internal revenue, but he declined it. When 
President Grant made up his cabinet on Marcli 4, 
1869, Gen. Co.x was appointed secretary of tlie interior, 
but he re.signed at the close of the following year, 
' and settled in Cincinnati, where he practiced law. In 
1873 he went to Toledo. O., to take the presidency 
of the Waliash Railroad. He continued to hold this 
office until 1870, when he was elected to congress, 
and served until March, 1879. Gen. Cox had a 
high reputation as a lawyer, and also for general in- 
formation, being in particular an excellent military 
authority. An elegant and forcible writer, he jnib- 
lished two books, ^'Atlanta" and "The March to 
the Sea; Franklin and Nashville" (New York, 1882). 

DELANO, Columbus, secretary of the interior, 
•was born at Shi>reham, Yl., June .5,1809, the son of 
James and Lucinda (Batenian) Delano. The Dela- 
no family is of French extraction, but the first mem- 
ber of it in this country came from England soon af- 
ter the Mayflower and .scUled in Jla.ssachusetts. Mr. 
Delano's father died when he was six years of age, 
and his uncle, Luther Bateman, took charge of him. 





Mr. Bateman removed to Mt. Vernon, O., in 1817, 
and two yeare later, on the death of Mrs. Bateman, 
Columbus was thrown upon his own resources and 
began the struggle for life. He went to Lexington, 
O., and worked in a woolen mill, studied law and 
was admitted to the bar in 1831; in 1832 was elected 
to the otlice of prosecuting attor- 
ney; in 1844, after an exciting con- 
test he was elected to the twenty- 
ninth congress as a whig. During 
this congress he served on the 
committee on invalid pensions, 
and made a vigorous speech against 
the Mexican war. In the whig con- 
vention of 1846 he was a candidate 
for governor, and was defeated by 
two votes, Seabury Ford being his 
successful competitor. Mr. Delano 
was a delegate to the Chicago con- 
vention of 1860, and seconded the 
nomination of Abraham Lincoln, 
taking an active jiait in the cam- 
paign. In I8fil, on the breaking 
out of the war, Mr. Delano was yf ,a ~^ 

appointed commissiiry-general of _,,'^%^h''Ay- ^<i/U.t 
Ohio and accejitably iierformed 
his duties in that capacity ; in 
1863 he was a candidate for U. S. senator, but was 
defeated: in 1863 he was elected to the stale legislat- 
ure of Ohio, and was chairman of the judicial com- 
mittee that settled the question of the soldiers' vote. 
Jlr. Delano was chairman of the Ohio delegation in 
the Baltimore convention that renominated President 
Lincoln; in 1864 he was elected member of the thir- 
ty-ninth congress, and served as chairman of the 
committee on claims; he was re-elected to the forti- 
eth congress. After his retirement he engaged in 
sheep-raising and agricultural inirsuils. Hut when 
Gen. Grant became president, he aiipointed Mr. Del- 
ano commissioner of internal revenue, in which po- 
sition he did valuable work, reorganizing the de- 
partment, which he found in a very bad condition. 
In 1870 President Grant made him secretary of the 
interior, which position he resigned in 1875, and re- 
tired to private life to devote himself to agriculture 
at his home called "Lake Home." His advice was 
asked in regard to the provisions of the lM(d\inley 
tariff bill. Mr. Delano takes a keen interest in all 
educational matters, and for several years has been 
one of the trustees of Kenyon College, and his recent 
gift of a fund for the endowment of the grammar 
department places it in a verv prosperous condition. 
On July 14. 18;W. Mr. Delano married Elizabeth, 
daughter of M. Martin and Clara (Sherman)Leaven- 
worUi. They have two children — Elizabeth, born 
in 1839 and married to Rev. John (5. Ames; John, 
born in 1844, who married Ella, daughter of Judge 
Hurd and sister of Frank C. Hurd. 

CHANDLER, Zachariah, secretary of the in- 
terior and si'iiator, wjis born in Bedford, X. H., 
Dec. 10. 1813. He received a fair education in the 
common schools and in an academy in his native 
state, and then devoted himself to work on his fa- 
ther's farm, at the same time teaching school during 
the winter. In 1833 he received the sum of ^1,000 
from his father, and with that went to Detroit, 
Mich., where he started in the dry-goods business 
for himself. He interested himself in iiolitics as a 
whig and also as a prominent abolitionist. Detroit, 
on account of its position, was an important terminus 
of one of the branches of the "underground rail- 
road." and Mr. Chandler helijed forward this insti- 
tution in every way in his |iower. He was very 
successful in bnsines.s. and becoming well known 
and popular, he was noininaled in 1851 a candidate 
for mayor of Detroit and was elected. He made 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



347 



such a good impression in tliis office, tliat in the fol- 
lowing year lie was nominated on the wliig ticket 
and aitliouirh necessarily del'eateil, received a very 
large vote. In isr)4 the whig parly collapsed and 
the new republican party was built up on its ruins. 
In this imdertaking Mr. Chandler was |irominent 
and became recognized as one of the leaders in tiie 
organization of the new party. In 1857 he was 
elected senator for Michigan, succeeding (Jen. Lewis 
Cass. In the senate he was chairman of the com- 
mittee on the District of Columbia, and of the com- 
inittee on commerce. On Feb. 11, IStil. he wrote a 
letter, which was afterward known as the "Blood 
Letter" to Gov. Blair of Michigan, and which de- 
rived its peculiar designation from containing in it 
the following sentence: "'Without a little blood- 
letting, this Union will not in my estimation be 
worth a rush " (the entire letter can be found ill Ap- 
pleton's Annual Cycloiiacdi.-i. Vol. 1.. isdl). Mr. 
Chandler was re-elected in 1S63 and again in ]8(i9. 
During all his senatorial service he was identified 
with the leading measures before congress. His. 
first important speech was made in 18oS, when he 
opp<ise(l the admission of Kansas under the Lecomp- 
ton constitution. At various limes he was chairman 
of the committee on commerce, 
those ou claims and mines and 
mining, and other committees. 
Mt. Chandler was recognized as 
one of the most radical of rejiub- 
licans and also as a man of great 
moral and intellectual force and 
dauntless courage. At the out- 
break of the civil war he gave 
largely of his personal means and 
devoted much time and labor to 
the ijurpose of sending men for- 
ward to the field. When the call 
for 75,000 volunteers was made 
by President Lincoln Jlr. Chand- 
ler would have made it 500,000 
men. lie was violently opposed 
to Gen. McClellan as -command- 
er of the army of the Potomac, 
and attacked him sharply from 
his place in the senate. On Oct. 
19, 1875, President Grant appointed Jlr. Chand- 
ler .secretary of the interior to succeed Colvini- 
bus Delano, and he remained in this position until 
the accession of Mr. Hayes to the presiilency. He 
is .said to have found many abuses e.visting in the 
department, and to have luought about a refomiation 
iu regard to these in a number of imiiortant instanc- 
es. In 187(> Mr. Chandler was chairman of the 
national reimblican committee and managed the 
presidential canijiaign. In 1879 he was again elected 
to the senate to till a vacancy, and created some sen- 
sation by attacking .Jefferson Davis in an imjiortaut 
speech." He died in Chicago. 111,. Nov. 1, 1879. 

CRESWELL, John A. J., ])ostmaster-general, 
was born at Purt Dejiosit, Cecil Co., Md., Nov. 18, 
1828. He was thoroughly educated, his parents be- 
ing wealthy and ambitious for his future prospects. 
After studying in the sclmols iu his neighborhood he 
was sent to Dickinson College. Carli.sle, Pa., from 
whicli he was graduateil with the highest honors in 
1848. He at once began to study law. and in is.50 
was admitted to ju-actice at the bar of Maryland. 
Eventually he took rank as one of the foremost law- 
j-ers in Jlaryland. Fmni tlie time when he cast his 
first vote as a whig, Mr. Creswell was earnest and 
enthusiastic iu his .study of jiolitics, and in his con- 
sideration of parly relations. He was a nominee 
from Cecil county, appoiiiled by the whig party, to 
the genend coiivenlioii which was hehl in Maryland 
ill 1M.50, for tlie purjiose of remodeling the conslitu- 
tiou of the commouwealth. He was unfortunate, on 




this occasion, in being.ohliged to run against the most 
popular democrat in a peculiarly democratic county, 
vet he was only defeated by a very small majority. 
Upon the breakingiup of the whig party, and I he 
formation of the republican organization u])on its ru- 
in.s, Mr.Creswell joined tliedemocrals, and conlinued 
to vote with them until the outbreak of the civil war, 
four years later. This .situation lirouglit about a 
secession feeling on the part of the JIaryland dtnio- 
crats, and Creswell, who was naturally a Union 
man, cut loose from them and declared himself in 
favor of Hie Union. Meanwhile, he was not at all 
aggressive, but worked with great earncslness and 
fidelity in the direction of a peaceful .selllement of 
the troubles which had befallen the nation. In the 
autumn of 1801 5Ir. Creswell was elected as the 
representative of Cecil county in the legislature of 
the slate, and in the following year was a]]pointcd 
adjutant-general of Maryland. In isiil! he was 
chosen a member of the U. S. house of representa- 
tives. There he made his mark by delivering an 
eloquent speech, in which he favored the abolilion of 
sUuteiy. In 1S()5 he was elected a member of the 
U. 8. senate, to fill out the unexpired term of Gov. 
Thomas H. Hicks, who died in Washington Feb. 13, 
1885. While a member of the senate Mr. Cre.swell 
was appointed liy congress to deliver a eulogy upon 
the liie of Henry Winter Davis, of Maryland, one 
of the ablest men in the senate. In 18()4 he was a 
delegate to tiie Baltimore convention. In 18(50 he 
served in the Philadelphia loyalists' convention, and 
in 1807 he was in the Border States' convention, held 
iu Baltimore. In 1868 he was a member of the na- 
tional republican convention at Chicago. Mr.Cres- 
well was one of the first members of congress to be 
engaged in the movement which resulted in the at- 
tempt at the impeachment of President Au<lrew 
Johnson. Mr. Creswell was an ardent admirer of 
President Lincoln, and also of Gen. Grant, and he 
was a member of the convention which nonunaled 
the latter for the presidency. In Jlay, 1S(!8, he was 
elected secretary of llie U. S. .senate, but declined. 
Ou Jlarch 5, 1809, he was apjioiuted by President 
Grant postma.sler-general, being recommended for 
the position not only by his political friends in Ma- 
i-jland, but by Vice-President Colfax, Senator Ben 
Wade and other prominent republicans. Jlr. Cres- 
well served in the cabinet for five years and four 
months, and during his administration succee(lc<l 
ill introducing into that depart ment many valuable 
reforms. C)n.lune22. 1S74. he was appointed coun- 
sel of the L'nited Stales in connection with the coiiit 
of commissioners sitting ou the. Vlabama claims, and, 
having resigned the postmasler-generalship a few 
days later, he coutinued to serve in that capacity 
until Dec. 21, 1876. From that time forward Sir. 
Creswell continued to be viewed as a citizen of repu- 
tation and imporlance. and was freijuently cmi>loyed 
in responsible positions. He was one of the com- 
missioners entrusted with the closing up of the alTairs 
of the Freedmen's Savings and Trust Company, and 
was also president of the Cilizeiis' National Bank, at 
Wasliingloii, D. C. and at the time of hisdeath was 
vice-iiresident of the National B;ink at Elktoii, iMd. 
Jlr.Creswell diiil at Elklon. Dec. 2:i. 1891. 

MARSHALL, James W., poslmaster-geneml, 
was born in Clarke counly. Va.. Aug. 14. 1822. His 
early boyhood was pa.ssed in Jlount Sterling, Ky., 
and on arriving at school age he returned to liis na- 
tive .section to prepare himself for college. He en- 
tered Dickinson College, from which he was gradu- 
ated in l>*t8. He was retained at the college as in- 
slruclor iu the position of adjulant-profcssor until 
1S.5II. when he was |>roinoled to a full prcil'es.s()rship 
of ancient languages, and conliniied to fill that cliair 
until 1861, when President Lincoln appoiuteil him 
U. S. consul at Leeds, Eng., where he remained 



348 



THK NATIONAL CYCLOPvEDIA 




four years. In 1869 President Grant appointed "Sir. 
Marshall first assistiuil postmaster-ircneral. in wliith 
position he served m|) to llie close of the ailniiiiislra- 
tion, except tor the brief term in 1ST4 when he tem- 
porarily tilled the oltice of postinaster-ireneral to 
cover an interim between the rcsijination of Mr. 
Creswell in .Inly. \H14, and the acceptance of the 
portfolio by Jlr. .Jewell in September of that year. 
In 1ST7 he was appointed ueneral superintendent of 
the railway mail service by Post master-General Key, 
which position he held for one year. 

JEWELL, Marshall, postmaster-jieneral and 
governor of Connecticut (1869-70, and 1S7I-72), was 
born at Winchester, X. H., Oct. 20, 183.5. His Amer- 
ican ancestry jjoes back to Thomas Jewell, wlio was 
granted land at WoUaston, Mass., oidy a few years 
after the Massachusetts settU'ineiit. His l.-iter ances- 
tors were tanners in New llami)- 
^-^-^^tT^ shire, but his father, Pliny. e.\- 

/' ~ panded the liereditaiy family 

vocation, and in 184.") established 
a belting factory at Hartford, 
Conn. The son received only a 
common -school traininsr. and 
then learned taiudnr; under his 
father, but havin.i: iau!;lit him- 
self telegraphy in the infancy 
of that science, practiced it for 
three years at the South and 
West. ' He returned to Hartford 
in ls.")0 to become a member of 
the firm of P. .Jewell it Sons. 
He (juickly became its control- 
ling spirit, and greatly increased 
its fortunes by timely purchases 
of leather just "before the civil war, 
and holding it for w;ir jn'ices. Mr. 
.Jewell first entered Connecticut 
politics as an unsuccessfid candidate for the state 
senate. For four years in succession, begiiming with 
1868. he was the "republican candidate for governor 
against .James E. ICnglish. wiiming in 180!l. and also 
by an exceedingly narrow margin in 1871. when the 
opening of the ballot -bo.xes by a republican legisla- 
ture formed a precedent extensively cited in the 
"deadlock" of 1891. During his administration 
the iiresent militia .system was adopted, the char- 
ter of Yale College amended so as to allow grad- 
uates to vote for members of the uni\ersity corpora- 
tion and tlie erection of the new state-liouse was 
begim. With the year 187H Mr. .Jewell began a 
prominent career in the .service of the nation as min- 
ister to Ku.s.sia. where, it is said, he found lait the 
secret of Hussjan taiming. and introduced the proc- 
ess in this country — the clue to it having been ob- 
tained by his .sense of smell as a tanner. He was 
recalled to be made postmaster-general under Pres- 
ident Grant in Augu.st of 1874. It was a period of 
many nnsavoiy disclosures at the federal capital, 
including the whiskey ring scandals, in which 
Mr. .Jewell sideil actively with Secrctaiy IJristow, 
and re-signed in consecjueiu'O of his disagreement with 
the jiresident. Hut the exact form of that disagree- 
ment never has been fathomed, though Mr. .Jewell 
lias been reported as saying that he went into a room 
for a talk willi the president, not dreaming of resign- 
ing, and when he came out he liad resiirned. As 
postmaster-general Mr. .Jewell's admiiustralion was 
eminenlly businesslike and purifying. This feat- 
ure brought liim into antagonism with the "Star 
Route " element, and led to its overthrow. He op- 
posed Grant's ren(anination in 1880. bvit, because he 
had been a caliiiu't otlicer. refused to go to the re- 
pulilican national convention. As chairman of the 
republican initional committee he conducted the 
cjunpaign to a successful close in the election of Gar- 




field. To impairment of constitution, caused by the 

intense labors and anxieties of that canvass, his 
death, thirteen momhs later is partly ascribed. 
Though without a liberal education. .Mr. .Jewell was 
a ready and eloquent speaker, and with a natal gift 
for humor and quick epigram — the iihrase "too 
unanimous," as applied to an elTusive person, which 
went the rounds for some yeans, being attributed 
originally to him. His tine physiiiue and fresh, boy- 
isli face, crowned by thick, snow-white hair, made 
him in later life a marked tiirure wherever he moved. 
He died .-it Harltord Feb. 1(1. iss:i. . 

TYNER, James Noble, poslma.sler-general, 
was born in Brookville, Ind., .Jan. 17, 182G, and re- 
ceived his early education at the local academy, 
where he was graduated in 1844. From that time for 
ten years he was engaged in busine.s.s. He then be- 
gan the study of law. and in 18."j7 was admitted to 
practice at the bar. and settled in 
Peru, Ind. In the same year he 
was made secrctaiy of the Indiana 
state senate, a position wliich he 
continued to hold until 1801, be- 
ing also a )u'esidential elector in 
1860. During the civil war Mr. 
Tyiier was a special agent of the 
post-office department. In 18()8 he 
was chosen to till :i vacancy in the 
United States senate, and served 
until 187.~i. AVhile in the senate 
he was a member of the commit- 
tee on post-oflices, and gradually 
became known as an exiiert on 
subiects connected with that de- 
partment. In ls7."i he was appoint- 
ed by Piesiih'iit Grant .second as- 
sistant postmaster-general, and on 
the n'signation by Marshall .lewell 
of the office of postmaster-general, 
Mr. Tyner was appointed to till his 
idace. From April. 1877. to Oct- 
ober, 1881, :Mr. Tyner was first a.s- 
sistant postmaster-general under 
Presiilent Hayes. He resigned at the latter date. 
When the international po.stal congress was held iu 
1878, Mr. Tyner was present as a delegate represent- 
ing the United States. 

HOAR, Ebenezer Rockwood, attorney-gen- 
eral, was born in Concord, 3Iass.. Feb. '21. 1M6. 
He was the son of Samuel and the brother of 
George Fri.sbie Ho.-ir. tlie latter the well-known U. S. 
senator from Jlassachusetts. Ebeue^ier went from 
the common .schools to Harvard 
when he was aliout si.xleen years 
of age, and was graduated in 182."). 
He began the study of law, and 
five veal's later was admilted to 
practice and established himself 
in Boston. In 1849 he was made 
a judge of the court of common 
pleas, a position which he held 
until 18.'),'j. when \u: resumed the 
practice of law and continued in 
it until 18.")9. when, and for the 
next ten years, lie was judge of 
the suiireme court of theeonimon- 
weallh. In 1S(;9 (Jen. Grant ap- 
pointed .ludge Hoar attorney -gen- 
eral of the United Stales. biU he 
only held the position until ,Iune 
28, 1870, when he was succeeded by 
AmosT. Akerman.of (Jeorgia. Mr. 
Hoar was m;ide a member of the 
joint high commission, wliieh was appointed to con- 
sider the Alabama case, and conclude the treaty of 
W.'ishinglon.. so called, which was ratified by the L. S. 
senate May 24, 1871. This commission met iu Wash- 



'^yfc^ 







OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



349 



ington, and the treaty which it conoliuU'd provided 
that a tribunal of arbitration shouhl 1)0 constituted 
to comprise one member from Great Britain, one 
from I lie United States, and one each from Switzer- 
hmd, Italy and Brazil. This tribunal was to decide 
on the Alabama claims, these beinij: the claims of the 
United Statesajrainst the Britisli irovernnicnl for dam- 
ages on account of the injury done to American com- 
merce by the Alalia nui and other Confederate cruisers 
which had been htted oiu in Britisli ports. The ar- 
bitration tribunal met at Geneva, Switzerland, Dec. 
15, 1871, when the cases of the two governments 
were jiresented and the commission adjourned until 
June 15. 1872. On this date the .scs.sions were re- 
newed and continued, until, at the thirty-second of 
these .sessions, Sept. 14, 1873, the decision was an- 
nounced that "the tribunal, by a majority of four 
voices to one, awards U> the United States a sum 
of $15,500,000 in gold, the indemnity to be paid 
by Great Britain to the United States for the .satis- 
faction of all the claims referred to the consideration 
of the tribunal." The dissenting voice was that of 
Lord Chief .Justice Cockburn of England. .Tudge 
Hoar was sent to congress from Massachusetts by the 
republican party in 1873 and remained a member 
until 1875. 

WILLIAMS, George Henry, attorney-general, 
was born in New Leljunon, Columbia Co.. N. Y., 
March 22, 1823. He received his early education in 
Onondaga county, where he .studied law. In 184-1: 
he was admitted to the bar, and immediately emi- 
grated to Iowa. Three years 
later he was elected judge of the 
first judicial district of Iowa, in 
which position he remained un- 
til 1852. In the latter year he 
was a iiresideutial elector. In 
1853 he was appointed by Pres- 
ident Pierce chief justice of the 
territory of Oregon. In 1857 he 
resigned, although reappointed 
by President Buchanan. When 
the constitution for the state of 
Oregon was framed, in 18.58, Mr. 
Williams was a memlier of the 
convention. In politics he was 
a republican, and in 1864 was 
elected by that party United 
States .senator from Oregon, and 
served until 1871. He was very 
active during the legislation of 
the thirty-ninth congress, and 
brought before the senate a bill to regulate the tenure 
of ottices, which was referred to a committee, and 
subsequently, with moditications. passed over the 
president's veto. In February, 1867, Mr. Williams 
introduced a bill to provide for the more effective 
government of the insurrectionary states, which was 
subse(|uently passed, and became known as the 
"military reconstruction" act. He was a mem- 
ber of the committee on judiciary, and chairman 
of the committee on private land claims. While in 
the senate he was highly esteemed and respected for 
his ability and for his ehxiuence. When the joint 
high conuni.ssion was appointed to arrange the differ- 
ences existing between Great Britain and the United 
Slates on account of the Alabama claims, .Judge 
Williams was one of its members. On .Jan. 10, 
1872, he took the position of attorney-general under 
appointment by President Grant, and continued to 
serve imtil May 15, 1875, when be was succeeded by 
Kdwards Pierrepont. .Judge Williams was nominat- 
ed by I^resident Grant, in December. 1873, as chief 
justice of the supreme court, but the .senate refused 
to confirm him, and his name was withdrawn. On 
retiring frotn the oflice of attorney-general he settled 
at Wa-shinglon in the practice of law. 








v/ut^^ 7 ^^rXt^tt.i.Aj^ 



AKERMAN, Amos Tappan, U. S. attorney- 
general, was born in New' Hampshire in 1833. He 
studied in the common schools of his native state 
and entered Dartmouth College, from which he was 
graduated in 1842. \V\ was admitted to the bar in 
1844 and practiced in his .state up to 1850, when he 
removed to the South, settling at Elberton, Ga., 
where \w continued the practice of the law. He be- 
longed to the conservative Jiarty 
in Georgia, and with .Stephens, 
Warner, Johnson and Ilill lie 
opjioscd secession, but finally 
with them went with the state, 
and Jlr. Akerinan entered the 
servic(! of the Confederate gov- 
ernment in the (piarlermaslcr's 
department. After the war he 
joined the republican jiarly and 
supported the recon.struction 
policy of the government. In 
1806 he was appointed U. S. at- 
torney for the district of Geor- 
gia and served in that c-ijiacity 
until 1870,wben President Grant 
appointeil him to a position in 
his cabinet as U. S. attorney-gen- 
eral tosuceeed EbenezerR.Hoar. 
He held the portfolio until 1872. 
when be resigned anil returned 
to his ailo])led state. In 1.S78 he was the republican 
candiilate for U. S. .senator but failed of an election. 
During the reconstruction movements in Georgia, 
Mr. Akerman, while acting with the republican 
party, w.is ever jealous of the rights of the majority 
as represented by the intelligent white people of the 
state, aud oppo.sed all radical movements that were 
calculated to oppress or humiliate them, or to en- 
danger the material prosperitv of the state. He died 
at ('artcrsvillc, Ga., Dec. 21, "1880. 

PIEBKEPONT, Edwards, U. S. attorney- 
general, was born at Xorth Haven, Conn., JIarch 4, 
1817. the son of Giles Pierrci)ont and Eunice, diiughter 
of Jonathan Munson. and great-grandson of Joseph 
Pierrepont, who settled in North Haven, his father 
having given a valuable property to the town for 
public use. The progenitor of "the family in this 
country, John Pierrepont, was the younger son of 
a great family in Nottingliam. Eng. He came to 
the United States in 1650T and seltiid at Hoxbury, 
now a suburb of Boston, Mass. Six years after he 
reached America he purchased 300 acres of land in 
Ro.vbury, and was subsequently married to Miss 
Stow of Kent, Eng., who was the mother of his son 
James, one of the chief founders and promoters of 
Yale College. Edwards Pierrepont, the scion^ of 
this illustrious ancestry, was graduated from Yale 
College in the class of 1837, having been jirepared 
for college by the Rev. Noah Porter, afterward the 
president of Vale. He received the oration honor at 
his graduation, which was one of the highest ela.ss 
honors. In 1840 he was graduated from the New 
Haven Law School, and began the practice of his pro- 
fession at Columbus, ()., in partnership with P. C. 
Wilcox of that city. In 1846 he removed to New 
York city, where he has since resided. He was 
elected judge of the superior court of that city in 
18.57, resigning in 1,H60 to resume his practice. Judge 
I'ierrepont took a dee]! interest in the civil war; his 
first speech that brought him prominently before the 
public was made a year and a half before the out- 
break of hostilities, "in which he prognosticated the 
war which was at that time hardly foreshadowed in 
the future. He was one of the most active members 
of the noted " Union defence committee," and when 
the Ma.ssiu^liusetts troops were attacked in Baltimore, 
and all communication with the capital cut off. 
Judge Pierrepont was selected as one of a committee 



350 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 




MlVcvAcU 



of three to make their way as best the^ could to 
WashiiiiXtiin. Ilis associates were AN illiam M. 
Evarts and 'I'luiiinw Wccil. In \x&2 he wasappdiiitcil 
by Presiik'iit Liiiculii, in foiiMi'dioii with Gen. Johu 
A. Dix. to net as a coiiiniissioner to try the prisoners 
of state that were contiiicd in the dilferent forts of 
the United States. In lH(i4 lie toul; a prominent 
part in reorganizing the war democrats wlio favored 
the re-election of Abraham Lin- 
coln. Jiidire Piericpont was. in 
1H()7, elected a memher of the 
convenlidii for framing a new 
cmistitution for the state of New 
York, and served on the judic- 
iary committee. Me was al.so in 
this year einiiloyed by lion. W. 
II. Seward, secn'laiy of slate, 
and Henry Slanlnirv, attorney- 
general, to conduct the pro.secu- 
tiou for tlie government again.st 
Johu H. Surratt, indicted for 
being a party to the murder 
of President liincoln. In IHtiS 
Judge Pierrepont was appoint- 
ed by Presi(ient Grant U. S. at- 
torney for llie district of New 
York. He resigned iu 1870, 
and became one of tlie most 
active niend)crs of the "Goinnuttee of Seventy" 
against the "ring frauds" in the New York city 
iiumiciijal government. In 1871. when the Te.xas 
and Pacitic railroad was organized under ('liarter of 
the United Stales, he was mach" a director, counsel, 
and treasurer of tlie road, .-iiid tlie following year 
visited Frankfort and London on business for" the 
company. Judge Pierrepont wasappoiiilcd minister 
to the court of Hussia, in May, 1873, but declined 
the honor. In 1875 he acceiited the ]ioitfolio of at- 
toniey-geiieral of the United States in President 
Grant's cabinet. While lilling this position he 
argued for the government all tlu^ more important 
cases, among which were the noted Arkan.sas Hot 
Spring ease, and the Pacitic railway case. He was 
also calh^d upon by Hamilton Pish, secretary of 
state, to give an opinion iijion a great (|iiestion of 
international law, in which were discussed the ques- 
tions of natioiialily and aci|uircd milionality. This 
oiiinion g.-ive him a wide rejiutation both ill Europe 
and America. In 187f> he was aiipoiiilc'd envoy ex- 
traordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the court 
of St. James. President ({rant visited Kurope 
during the second year of Judge Pierrepont's mis- 
sion, anil he urged upon the Queen's ministers the 
propriety of according tli<^ same ]irecedence to the 
president of the United States thai had been given 
to the ex-riilerof Fran<-e. This was done, and other 
countries followed the |ireccdeiit set by(!ieat Britain. 
'While abroad Judge Pieire|ioiit devoted much atten- 
tion to tlu' tinancial system of England. He returned 
to the I'nited States in 1878, and at once resumed 
the practice of his profe.s.sion. He has recently taken 
an active interest in tinancial ipiestions, and has writ- 
ten considerably on the subject. In 1887 he wrote an 
article advocating an internalioiia! treaty, claiming 
tlial by convenlion the commercial value of the sil- 
ver dollar might be restored. He has also iniblished 
various orations and addresses. Judge Pierrepont 
was awarded the honorary degree of LL.I). from 
Columbian College, Wa.shington, D.C, in June. 1871, 
ami in 1873 Yiile College conferred upon him \\u: 
same degree. During his residence in London. Ox- 
ford bestowed upon him the degree of D.C. L.. the 
highest honor the university confers. He died in 
New York citv March (!. ls!l',>. 

CARPENTER, Matthew Hale, .senator, was 
born iu Jloretowu, Vt,, Dec. 22, 1824. After re- 
ceiving a commou-school education he was scut to 



the United States Military Academy, at 'West Point, 
N. Y.. where he entered in 184;i, but only remained 
there Iwii ye.-iis. He went b.uk to X'ermoiit and 
begau to .study law with Paul Dillingham, whoafler- 
ward became governor of Vermont, and who.se 
daughter he married. In 1847 he was admitted to 
practice at the bar of Vermout, whereupon he went 
to Boston, and for a time studied in the otlice of 
Hufus Choate. In 1848 he was settled in Beloit, 
Wis., where he entered upon the practice of his pro- 
fession. He obtained a reputation for remarkable 
ability, and in 18.")(i went to .Milwaukee, where he 
found a larger Held. On the outbreak of the civil 
war Carpenter, w ho was a democrat in politics, ad- 
hered to the Union cau.se. and made many iiublic 
addresses in aid of the elforts of the government to 
recruit its army. He was appointed judge-advocate 
general of Wisconsin, and did good .MTvice to the 
Union cause during the eonlinuaiice of the war. In 
1808 Carpenter was the coun.sel of the governmeut in 
a test case to settle the question of tlie legality of 
the reconstruction act, before the United Stales su- 
preme court, being opposed by .leremiah S. Black. 
Carjienter won the case, a success which led to his 
being sent to the United States 
senate to represent the republi- 
cans in Wisconsin. Il<' was elect- 
ed in jilace of James H. Doolit- 
tle, and served from 18r)iMo 1875, 
during a part of which time he 
was presitlenl pro Ifiii. of tlicsen- 
ate. Mr. Carpenter was nomi- 
nated for re-i^lcction, but wks de- 
fcaled iu the legislature, and 
a^iiiin look up bis law ]iraetice. 
When William W. Bclkiiap.who 
had been secretary of war, was 
impeached before the house of 
representatives. Carpenter as- 
sumed the ta.sk of defending 
him, ;iiid succeeded in oblainiiig 
his acquittal through his admir- 
able handling of the case. AVhen 
commission of 1877 was at work Mr. Carpcnler ap- 
))eared for Samuel J.TiUlcn. the democratic candidate 
for the presidency; this was especially remarkable, as 
the republican managers had designed engaging him 
lo reiire.scnlthe claims of Kulherbird B. Hayes. Jlr. 
Carpenter was elecled to the I'nited Stales .senate 
again in 1879, and remained a member of that body 
until his death. He was a forcible and logical 
speaker, and very iiiqiressive in his appearance and 
manner of delivery. In jiartieular hisspeeches in de- 
fence of Pre.sideut Grant, w hen the latter was at- 
lackcil in the .senate by Charles Sumner, and that on 
the bill to restore Gen. Filz John Porter to his mili- 
tary rank, were considered bis most able and eloquent 
elforts. Iu 18til be was slidiiuly ill favor of the 
emaiu'ipation act, althoui;li hi' was tlicn a democrat 
ill politics, and previous to this he bad opposed the 
fugitive slave law and jiut himself on record as sym- 
pathizing with the abolition movement. Through- 
out the latter part of his life he was consistent in hi.s 
position that the protection of Ihc governmeiil should 
always be exieudeil toward the negroes. Senator 
CarpenU'r was in favor of llie centralization of power 
iu the federal governiuenl, and be fearlessly so e.\- 
|ires.sed himself in his advocacy of the plan of plac- 
ing the railroads and telegraph lines under the con- 
trol of the national government. His life was writ- 
ten by Frank A. Flower, and published in JIadison, 
Wis., in 1888. The senator's real name w;is Decatur 
Merrill Hammond Carpenter, but the initials led lo 
many addrcs.sing him as M.'itlhcw Hale, and about 
18.")2 be changed it lo the one by which he became 
universallv known. He died in Wasliiugton, D. C, 
Feb. 24, 1881. 




the electoral 



i 





f(l 



COPVRIGMT, IBfll, BY J 



kUES T. WHITB 4 CO. 



OF AMERICAN BIOaRAPHY. 



353 




HAYES, Rutherford Birchard, ninctcontli 
prt'siilcnt of tlie Uiiitod SImIi's, whs liorn lit Dela- 
ware, O., Oct. 4, 1822. His ancrslry this side tlie 
Atlantic ocean bejran with George Hayes, Scotch- 
man, who came to the colony of Connecticut in 1080 
and settled at Windsor. His son Daniel, when 
twenty-two years old. was taken prisoner by Indians 
in Queen Anne's war and spent live years in captiv- 
ity in Canada. By the year 1090 lie had located in 
Salmon Brook. Conn., where he liecanu; a prosper- 
ous farmer and a pillar in the church, and was often 
employed in public alTairs. The third son of Daniel 
was Ezekiel, who became a blacksmith of merit and 
an extensive maker of scythes, 
who built for himself a larce 
brick house at Branford, Conn. 
Ezekiel's second son. Rutherford, 
settled at Brattleboro. Vl., and 
there was born to him and his 
"wife a son Rutherford, father of 
the .subject of this sketch. He 
prosjiered as a merchant at Dum- 
merston, Vt., but in September, 
ISIT, with his household goods 
stored in two larue wagons, he re- 
moved himself and family to the 
native place of the future jtresi- 
dent of the republic, but died in 
the July i)re<-eding his birth. Ruth- 
erford B. Hayes had for a mother 
Jliss Soiiliia, daughter of Roger 
and Drusilla Birchard. of Sullield, 
Conn. The fomiders of the whole 
family came from England to 
America in 103.5. When the father 
died liis mother trained him in reading and s]iclling. 
It is recorded, too. that he was a jiuiiil at the village 
district school of a thin, wiry little Yaidvce, Mr. 
Daniel Granger, who left upon his pujills a very 
dee)) impression of the rod as an agent in eilne.alion. 
An^ niiile, Sardis Birchard, who had removed to 
Ohio with the Hayes f.amily .and was successfid in 
business, supplied the eager demands of the boy and 
his favorite si.ster for books. On a visit to eastern 
relations made in l.s;U by >rrs. Hayes with her son 
and daughter it was decided that the son should 
have a college eilucation, and should begin to pre- 
pare for it immediately. In the summer of 18^0 he 




was sent to an academy at Norwalk. O,, but soon 
afterward became a pupil of Mr. Isaac (Jobb, of 
Middletown, Conn. He was finally graduated from 
Kenyon College, Gambler, O., in 1842 after the full 
four years' course of study. Here he liad excelled 
in logic, mental and moral ]ihilo.sophy and as a de- 
bater in the college societies, and was the valedictor- 
ian of his class. Inimeilialely after graduation he 
entered an ottii'C at ('olund>us, O., as a law student. 
In August, 1843, he went to the law school of Har- 
vard University, propo.sing to pursue other branches 
of education as well as the studies of (he legal course. 
His lifeat Candnidge, Mass., ended in .Tanuary,184.5, 
and he was admitted to the Ohio bar in May of that 
year. He had forced himself to .severe mental dis- 
cipline, and four rules whicli he laid down for iiim- 
self at Harvard are worth quoting: " First, read 
no newspa|iors. Second, rise at seven and retire at 
ten. Third, study law six hours, German two, and 
chemistry two. Foin'th. in reading Blackstonc, re- 
cord any ditiictdlies." Young Hayes soon opened a 
law otbce at Lower Sandusky, ()., forming a part- 
nershi|i in l.'<40 with R. P. Buckland ; but rushing 
into jiractice with feverish energy his health faile<I, 
and he was inclined lo join the I'. S. army and take 
service in the Mexican war; but a physician forbade 
this, and he went for recuperation first to Xcw Eng- 
land and then to Canada and, when winter ap- 
inoached, to a plantation in Texas. When he re- 
turned (184!)) with liealth restored he found his 
future wife. Lucy W. Webb, whom he m.arried 
Di'c. 30, l.s."i2. As a temporary resident of Del- 
aware in December, 18-19, he liad commenced the 
practice of his profession at Cincinnati. ().. forming 
a partner.ship early in 18,')0 with Mr. .1. W. Huron. 
Tliis w:is succeeded in ]i<tH by another with Mr. 11. 
W. Corwin and Air. W. K. Rogers. In l^.^O he was 
nominated for judge of the court of common pleas, 
but declined the honor. Up to this time he had 
acted with the whig party. When the republican 
party was formed he took an active interest in its 
lirst campaign, proving himself a ca))ital political 
speaker. In 18.58 he was chosen city solicitor of 
Cincinnati by a majority of over 2. .500 votes. When 
his term of office ende<I in April, 1S01. a political 
reaction had set in; the municiiial election occurring 
prior to the bondiardment of Fort Sumter, tlie entire 
city republitau ticket was defeated, Mr. Hayes, who 



354 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



ran for re-election among the rest. Apiil 13lli, at a 
mass-meclinj; called to appeal to the patriiitism of 
the people iu response to President Lincoln's proeUi- 
niation calliniij lor 7"), 000 troops, he was ehairniaii of 
the committee appointeil to draw u|) resolutions ex- 
pressive of the intense feeliuj^ which had now been 
aroused. Forlhwitli the members of the literary 
club to which he belonged organized a military 
company of which he was chosen captain, and Pre- 
sident Lincoln sent him a commission as colonel of 
volunteers, which he declined, .sayin;; that he wa-s 
not ready for so much responsibility for the service-s 
and lives of other men. At the same time lie entered 
upon a methodical course of drill and stu<ly, for 
June 1, 186L he accepteil a commission from the 
governor as major of the 33d regiment of state volun- 
teers, a body of 900 men recruited iu forty-two 
counties of the commonwealth. Its colonel was W. 



gallant and distinguished services during the cam- 
jiaign of 1804 iu West Virginia, and particularly at 
the battles of Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek, Va." 
His war record end<'d with the memorable campaign 
in the Shenandoah Valley. In the second volume 
of his ■■ Pei-soual jMemoirs " Gen. U. S. Grant wrote: 
" (Ju more than one occiusion iu these engagements 
Gen. H. B. Hayes, who succeeded nte as jiresideut 
of the United States, bore a very honorable jiart. 
His contluct cm the field was marked by conspicuous 
g.dlantry .as well as by the display of (pialities of a 
higher order than mere personal daring. Having 
entered the army a.s a major of volunteers at the be- 
ginning of the war. Gen. Hayes attained by his nier- 
ilorious services the rank of brevet major-general 
before its close." Aug. 6, IHIM, a reimbliean con- 
ventiou at Cincinnati had nominated him for con- 
gress. He was then on the lield, and to a friend. 




8. Rosecrans. In July, 1861, it was ordered to duty 
in western Virginia under Gen. Geo. B. McClellan. 
Sept. l!)lh Maj. Hayes was made judge advocate of 
the dciiartnient of Ohio, bnl on the 24th of October 
•was back with his regiment as its lieutenant-colonel, 
and took an active and commend.-ible ]iart in all its 
engagements until his retirement from the army. 
In the famous Cedar Creek tight (that of "Sheri- 
dan's Hide " from Winchester), Oct. 19tli, while at- 
tempting to rally the soldiers in the contest at the 
dawn of day, he had a horse killed under him, 
but escaped capture, and was ready to talie his 
part in the .second battle and the bi"illiant victory 
with which the day ended. Here he was slightly 
wounded in the head by a .spent ball. That niglit 
Gen. Sheridan said to him : " You will be a briga- 
dier-general from this time." His eonnni.ssion ar- 
rived a few days afterward, and on March l;i, 1805, 
he received the rank of brevet major-general "for 



who stiggested that he leave it and make the politi- 
cal eauva.ss, he replied: "Your sugirestion about 
getting a fu.'lough to lake the stuni]> was certainly 
made witboui retlectiou. .\n olticer tit for duty who 
at this crisis would abandon bis post lo electioneer 
for a .seat in congress ought to l)e. scalped." When 
the election came on, however, he was chosen to the 
U. S. house of representatives by more than 2,400 
majority. His resignation from the army was form- 
ally accepted to take etTe<-t June 8, 180.5. In con- 
gress he was appointed chairman of the library com- 
mittee, and sucei'i'di'd in greatly amending the 
co])yright law, .-is well as in trebling the area, con- 
tents, and usefidness of the congressional library, 
the additions incUiding the invaluable historical and 
.seientitic collection of the Force Libraiy and those of 
the Smithsonian Institution. His votes in matters 
alTecting the reconstruction of the South were given 
with his parly, his tirst vote being for a resolution 



OF AMEKICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



355 



affirming the sacreduess of the public debt, and de- 
nouncing every form of rcpuiliation. In Auirnsi, 
IStiti, the republicau convention of liis congressioniil 
district gave hiiu tlie liigh liouor of a nomination by 
acclamation, and he was re-elected by a majority of 
2,556. The fortieth congress was that of tlie recon- 
struction measures, including negro suffrage, and 
Gen; Hayes gave hearty support to the policy of his 
party associates, sustaining the movement for the 
impeachment of President .Johnson. Ilis own reputa- 
tion was already establisheil, not as a talking mem- 
ber, but as a vigorous worker and a man of good 
judgmeut. .June 8, 1867, the democratic party of 
the state of Ohio placed in nomination for governor 
an alile and rcsi)ected leader, A. G. Thurman. On 
the lUth of the month, at the republican state con- 
vention, liy a handsome majority and on tlie first 
ballot. Gen. Hayes was named as his competitor, a 
proceeding taken without any expression whatever 
of ambition upon his part. He resigned his seat in 
congress to go home and fight the battle upon the 
issues of the hour, including "manhood suffrage." 
He wa-s elected, as was the rest of his .state ticket, 
but a proposed manhood suffrage amentlment to the 
constitution of the state was buried under an ad- 
verse majority of .50,000, a democratic legislature 
was chosen, and Mr. Thurman was returned by it 
to the U. S. senate. Gen. Hayes was inaugurated 
Jan. 13, 1868. During his term as governor he 
steadily increased his personal popularity among in- 
telligent men of all parties, and in 1869 was nom- 
inated by acclamation and elected, receiving at the 
polls a majority of 7, 506 votes over his democratic 
competitor, George H. Pendleton. His first mes- 
sage to the Ohio legislature in his second term ad- 
vocated measures embodying the entire doctrine 
of civil service reform, as it is now understood. 
In January, 1872, he was proffered the Ohio U. S. 
senatorsliip, but rejected it that it might go to 
John Sherman. During that year the politic4il cur- 
rent in the state set against the republicans, and 
he was defeated in his contest for a seat in C(m- 
gress by William Allen, democrat. Shortly after, 
he declined the position of U. S. treasurer at Cin- 
cinnati which was tendered to him by President 
Grant, and retired to private life at Fremont, O., 
in accordance with his own plans and the wishes 
of his uncle, Sardis Bireliard, who proposed to make 
him his heir. Here he designed to create a model 
home, and over 1,000 trees were set out in his 
spacious grounds a,s a partial means to that end. 
His uncle dving in 1874 he came into pos.se.ssion of 
the estate. But these purjioses of retirement were 
broken in upon by his political friends, who, in 
June. 1874, nominated him a third time for gov- 
ernor of Ohio, to which position he was chosen by 
a majority of 5..500, after a canvas.s which had 
drawn to him the attention of the whole country. 
And now Gov. Hayes began to he talked about as a 
possible presidential candidate. When the convention 
came together in Cincinnati (June, 1876). he was so 
nominated on the seventli ballot. His democratic 
opponent in the ensuing canvass wa.s Samuel J. Til- 
den, of New York, and the result of the election be- 
came the subject of violent contention, the leaders 
of each of the great parties charging fraud upon the 
other. Gov. Hayes's position in this strife is sliown 
by a letter of his, dated Nov. 17, 1876. addressed to 
John Sherman at New Orleans, La. He said: " Y'ou 
feel. I am sure, as I do, about his whole business. 
A fair election would have given us about forty elec- 
toral voles at Ihe South, at least that many. But 
we are not to allow our friends to defeat one outrage 
by another. There must Ih- nothing curved on o\ir 
part. I,et Mr. Tilden have the i>lace by violence, 
intimidation, and fraud, rather than undertake to pre- 
vent it by means that will not bear the severest scru 



tiny." The facts turned out to be when the forty- 
fourth congress met, that the canvassing boards of 
several southern stales declared the republican elec- 
tors chosen, and Gen. Hayes had a majority of one 
in the electoral college. And the.se returns were 
sent to Washington by the .state governors. But 
others were sent as well which ceitified the choice 
of the democratic electors, and in this emergency an 
electoral commission, the only one in American his- 
tory so far. consi.sling of five U. S. .senators, five 
U. S. re])resenlalives, and five judges of the U. S. 
supreme court, was appointed by congress, which 
was to decide upon all contested ca.ses, the decision 
of this commission to be final imless set aside by 
concurrent vote of I he two houses of congress. This 
commission refused, by votes of 8 to 7 in each case, 
to go Ijehind Ihe returns made by the governors of 
the states. The lepubliean candidate was, March 2, 
1^*77, declared to have been elected president of the 
L'nited States, and on March 5lh was duly inaugu- 
rated. As to an important issue before the country, 
the pacification of the southern stales, the inaugural 
address which President Hayes made at this time, 
assured both white and colored people in that sec- 
tion that he should put forth his " best efforts in be- 
half of a civil policy which will forever wipe out in . 
any political affairs the color line and the distinction 




beween the North and the South, to the end that 
we may have not merely a united Norlh or united 
South, but a United Country." He had given evi- 
dence of this already by taking into his cabinet as 
post master-general David M. Key, of Tennessee, 
and withdrawing Ihe V. S. troops from Ihe slate house 
in South Carolina, and from that in Louisiana. In 
the matter of civil .service reform, then a new politi- 
cal topic. Gen. Hayes as president advocated the 
same views which had been noted as characterizing 
his gubernatorial administration in Ohio. And he 
now proceeded to give Ihem practical effect accord- 
ing lo the possibilities of Ihe ca.se, refusing to .'dlow 
senators and representatives to control nominations 
in their states and districts. They might advise, 
and their advice estimaied at ils pVoper value, but 
they were not to be allowed to dictate. In Ihe sum- 
mer of 1877. on the call of Ihe governors of West 
Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, he sent de- 
tachments of L'. S. troops to the places where they 
were needed to (piell extensive railroad riots; when 
Se])lember of that year came, with Mrs. Hayes and 
a larire parly of public personages he made a lour 
of Ihe southern slates, being everywhere received 
with kindness and in many places with enthusiasm, 
usually by all political parties. In the second ,scs.sion 
of the" forty-fiflh congress, while steadily jires-sing 
his measures for civil service reform, and that, 
too, against the will of the professional politicians 
of all party connections, his exerlions to keep in- 
violate the "gocxl faith of the nation in ils financial 
policy are especially to be noted. Vetoing an act to 
authorize the coinage of the silver dollar (413 1-3 



356 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



grains), and to restore its legal-tender character 
(February, 1878), he said: " I cannot approve a bill 
which in my jiulunieiit authorizes the violation of 
sacred obHi;atious. " But the bill was passed over 
bis veto in both houses by majorities exceeding two- 
thirds. On Jan. 1, 1879, specie payments were re- 
sumed by the government without trouble, to the pat- 
ent advantage of the country at large. In the thirty- 
sixtli congress the democrats were in a majority in 
house and senate alike, and pursued their previous pol- 
icy of withholding supplies, or passed appropriation 
bills with clauses in them whicli could constrain the 
executive to abandon his policy already entered on, 
of restoring civil order and .securing free elections 
at the South. The whole matter, .so far as it in- 
volved the adoption of legislation by means of spec- 
ial clauses or " riders" attached to appropriation bills 
was received liy the president in comieelion with his 
veto of an army appropriation bill which had been 
passed with such cibjectioiiable attachments A]ir. 9, 

1879, and although the .same policy was attemjned 
by his (ipponents in the passage of other appropria- 
tion bills, he vetoed each as they came before him 
for his signature, and the house was obliged by the 
pressure of popular opinion to pa.ss such amended 
and iiroper bills as the president required. JIarch 
2,1880, he sent to congress a special nie.s,sage accom- 
panied by copies of correspondence between the 
government of the United States and foreign powers 
in regard to the inter-oceanic canal project then 
under general di.scus.sion. It was a phun applica- 
tion of" the Monroe doctrine to this question, de- 
claring that " the policy of this comitry is a canal 
imder American control. The United States can- 
not consent to surrender this control to any Euro- 
pean power or to any combination of European 
powers." Congress now made one more attempt 
to attach a modification of election laws to an 
appropriation act, but the deficiency bill, to which 
it was altixed, received a veto May 4, 1880. and con- 
gress once more receded, removed the objectionable 
matter and pas.sed the bill in such a form that the 
president could conscientiously sign it. The national 
republican convention met at Chicago, 111., .lune 5, 

1880, and the president had absolutely refused to 
have his name mentioned in connection with a re- 
nomiiiatiou. This was in strict conformity with the 
declaration in his letter of acceptance of tlie repub- 
lican candidacy in 1876. His last presidential mes- 
sage went to congress Dec. (3. 1880, and in it he set 
forth his views f)n civil service reform and its re- 
quired legislation, the protection of Indian rights, 
the advanced but imiierfect state of social order and 
civil rights of the South, the treatment of the exit of 
polj'gamy in Utah, popidar education, silver coin- 
age, etc., etc. He also recommended the creation 
of the grade of captain-general of the army with 
proper i)ay as a suitable acknowledgment for the 
services rendered to his coimtrv by Gen. Grant. 
President Hayes's last important ollicial acts were a 
proclamation convening the U. S. senate in special 
session. March 4, 1881, to receive communications 
from his successor, and the veto of theact " to facil- 
itate the refunding of the public debt." In closing 
the liistory of the work done at Washington during 
the fotir }"ears of his otlicial term, mention is to be 
made of the deep impression made by President 
Haves and bis wi'i'e upon its society, habits, customs. 
Alcoholic stimidanis were for the tirsi time banished 
from the highest public life, and at thi^ same time a 
hos|iitality was exercised at the executive man.sion, 
of which it has been said that it surpassed any known 
by a veteran American statesman during his forty 
years' experience. When the ex-president returned 
to his home at F'remont, ()., in 18S1, it was largely 
to resume the managem<'Ht and development of his 
property, the beautifying of " Spugel Grove " (the 



residential name), the education and settlement of 
children. Three fields of public activity to which 
his energies have been turned since he became a pri- 
vate citizen have been tlie presentation of the per- 
sonal associations of the old army while .seeking to 
promote the welfare of its .surviving members, the 
promotion of prison reform, and the advanccnu'ut 
of popular education. He is president of the John . 
F. Slater Pxlucrational Fund.iiresident of the National 
Prison Heform A.s.s(rciation, and of other charitable 
and educational institutions. Kenyon College, Har- 
vard. Yale, and Johns Hopkins Universitiesall gave 
himLL.D. Jlore than one Life has been written 
and well written, but that to which the author of 
this sketch has been especially indebted is the Life 
by W. O. Stoddard (N. Y., 1889). 

HAYES, Lucy "Ware "Webb, wife of Presi- 
dent R. B. Haves, w.as born at Chillicothe. O., Aug. 
28, 1831, daughter of Dr. James Webb, and grand- 
daughter of Di. Isaac Cook. The Webbs were a 
Nor^h Carolina family, but Dr. Webb removed to 
Ohio, and died of cholera in 1833 in Leximrton. Ky., 
where he had gone for the purpose of completing 
arrangements to send to Liberia slaves who had been 
set free by himself and his f.a- 
ther. Jlrs. Webb was of New 
England Puritan descent. Lucy 
Webb was educated at the Wcs- 
leyan Female College in Cincin- 
nati, and first met her future 
husband while at Delaware Sul- 
phur Springs, during a vacaticni. 
On Dec. 2(1. 18")2. she was mar- 
ried to Mr. Hayes in Cincinnati, 
and during the civil war was 
with him as much as po.ssible, 
caring for him when wounded, 
and doing all in lier power for 
the sick and wounded soldiers. 
She entered the While Hou.se 
with joyful aiUicipations, enter- 
tained frequently, and appeared 
at all public functions. She 
would not ]iermit wine to be 
served at the While Hou.se table, 
even on state occasions, which called forth consider- 
able comment, hut .she was upheld by advocates of 
temperance and total abstinence, who presented her 
with numerous testimonials. Mrs. Hayes was ami- 
able, sincere, a devout Christian, a generous friend, 
and a d<'Vote(l wife and mother. She died in Fre- 
mont. (>,. June a.-), 18S9. 

■WHEELER, ■William Almon, vice-president 
of the United States from ]March 4, 1877, to March 
4, 1881, was born in Malone. Franklin Co., N. Y., 
Jime 30. 1819. His ancestors both on his father's 
and his mother's side were revolutionary soldiers. 
The two families moved respectively from Massa- 
chusetts and Connecticut and settled near Highgate 
and Castleton, Vt.. where the father of the late 
ex-vice-president was born. After a jiartial cour.se 
in the University of Vermont, he became a lawyer, 
married Eliza ^Voodward and removed to Slalone, 
where he died, leaving his .son William A., at the 
time eight years old, with two sisters and their 
mother without means of support. Youni;' Wheeler 
was kept at .school until be was able to teach, when 
he took charge of a country school, gradually earn- 
iuL' enough to justify him in passing two years at 
the Uidversity of Vermont. He then studied law 
for four years at Malone. where he was admitted to 
the bar and from that time forward he was almost 
eontiiniously in ollice. While studying law he was 
electe<l town clerk at a salary of twenty dollars a 
year; then he w:is made .school comndssioner and 
then school inspector. In 1847, although a whig, he 




OC^icy <^/^^ 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



357 




was elected district attorney on a union ticket whicli 
carried a democrat for county judge. At the close 
of bis term as district attorney he was elected to the 
assembly and served there in 1850 and 1851. In 
1857 he was elected to the state senate wliere he 
served until 1859. Two years later he was in Wash- 
ington as a member of the thirty- 
seventh congress. He remained 
in Washington during the term of 
that congress and then retired to 
private life and lu'ld no other 
otticial position until his election 
to the forty-first congress, after 
which he was in the hou.se of 
representatives continuously un- 
til 1877. In the meantime, Mv. 
Wheeler had other appointments 
of a business or private character, 
involving a great many important 
I rusts, being one of the conmiis- 
sioners of the state parks, com- 
missioner of the state survey; and 
for some time cashier of the Ma- 
loue bank. He was also member 
of the board of trustees for the 
management of the bankrupt 
Northern Railroad, afterward the 
Ogdensburg and Lake Champlain 
road. It is said while Jlr. Wheeler did not own 
a dollar's stock in tlie road he brought the bonds 
up to jiar from about a valuation of four cents on 
the dollar, in eleven years, and they were paid in 
full with interest. While 3Ir. Wheeler was a mem- 
ber of congress, the notorious " Salarj' grab " act 
was pas.sed. !Mr. Wheeler took the addition of 
salary which fell to him, bought government bonds 
witli it, assigned them to the secretary of the 
treasury, and turning them over to the latter, had 
them canceled. In this way he put the money be- 
yond possible reach of himself or his heirs. In 
1875 Mr. Wheeler was chairman of the house com- 
mittee on southern atTairs, and did good service to 
the country by pacifying the political situation in 
Louisiana, a plan which lie had formulated for the 
adjudication of the seriously complicated state of 
affairs in that state, being the means of settling the 
existing troubles. In the republican con%'entiou at 
Cincinnati in 1876, Jlr. Wheeler was one of the 
candidates for the presidency, but on the nomina- 
tion of Rutherford B. Hayes, he was made the 
canilidate for vice-president. The duties of presi- 
dent of the senate, however, had no particular at- 
tractions for him, although he discharged them 
satisfactorily. In 1879 New York politics were 
convulsed by the faction fight which was going on 
between the stalwart and half-breed sections of the 
republican party. It became essential that an end 
should be put to this condition of things, and when 
the state convention met in Saratoga, Uoscoc t'cmk- 
liug, at the time senator, was made teiuporary chair- 
man, and Vice-President Wheeler permanent chair- 
man. The result was a temjiorary reconciliation 
between the stalwarts and half-breeds, whicli was 
marked by Mr. Conkling striding up to the chair, 
and shaking the vice-president by the hand. Two 
years before Mr. t'onklingand Mr. Piatt at Rochester 
had assailed the administration ruthlessly. Twoyears 
afterward the jiarty feud culminated in the de- 
structive .senat(uial fight in Albany, and the assas- 
sination of Garfield at Washingloii. In 1881 Mr. 
Wheeler was asked to allow the use of his name as a 
candidate for the U. S. senate, but he declined the 
honor, having resolved to pass the ieinain<ler of his 
life in the community where he was born, and wliere 
he was known as a warm friend and a wise coun- 
selor. His health al.so was poor, and indeed from 
this time forward he continued to lose ground, being 



ahvavs able, however, to be about until tlie winter 
of 188C. In March, 1887, he received a chill, fol- 
lowed by fever, out of which he rallied, and con- 
tinueil in a better condition until .Inne. He then 
sudilenly failed, sank into an unconscious condition 
from which he could not be roused, and died on 
June 4, 1887, .so ea.siiyand paiiiles.sly that tlio.se who 
were at his be<lside could scarcely tell the moment 
when he expired. 

EVARTS, William Maxwell, secretary of 
state, was bni-ii in Boston, Mass., Feb. G, 1818. 
His lather was .Jeremiah Evarls, a well-known phil- 
anthropist and editorof "The Panopli.st" {a Boston 
religious monthly magazine), and also many years 
.secretary of the American Hoard of Comnii,ssioners 
for Foreign ^Missions. William, after receiving a 
good rudimentary education, was sent to Vale Col- 
lege, where he became notable for the apjilicatiou 
with which he devoted himself to his .studies, ]);ir- 
ticularly the clas.sics, which ha<l an especi:il fascina- 
tion. Among his da.ssmates in college were a num- 
ber of afterward prominent men including Samuel 
J. Tilden, Chief .Justice Waite, Attorney-General 
Pierrepont, Prof. Lyman, Benjamin Silliman and 
others. He was graduated in 1887, and a year after 
entered the law school of Harvard University w liere 
he studied one year, then removed to New York and 
after studying two years in the ottice of Daniel Lord 
was admitted to the bar, receiving very .soon after a 
partnership in the firm of J. Prescott Hall. Mr. 
Evarts .soon began to obtain a reputation for unusual 
ability combined with great industry and modesty 
of <lemeanor. He was ear- 
nest and conscientious in 
getting up his cases, thereJjy 
not only satLsfjing his cli- 
ents, but securing a high po- 
sition among the rising men 
of the New York bar. In 
1849, when Mr. Hall was 
made U. S. district attor- 
ney, Jlr. Evarts accepted 
the post of his depute and 
held it until the winter of 
1853-53. During this time 
he became prominent in con- 
nection with his handling of 
the case of what was known 
as the "Cleopatra expedi- 
tion," which was started to 
make a raid on the island of 
Cuba and incite the inhalii- 
tants to revolution. The .se- 
cret of the expedition, how- 
ever, was discovered and the vessel was stopped. The 
legal proceedings which ensued were conducted by 
Mr. Evarts with great energy and ability. He again 
made his mark in what was known as the Jjcmmon 
slave case. A vessel from Virginia brought Lem- 
mon anil certain slaves to New York on the way to 
Texas, it being the iutention of the former to take 
ship there for Texas. While the vessel was in the 
harlior the Anti-slavery society procured writs of 
Tifibeiis corpus to compel Lemnion, as owner of the 
slaves, to show cause why he should not deliver 
them up to freedom, since they had come within the 
jurisdiction of the state of New York. The ca.se 
went through the lower courts up to the court of 
appeals, before which Jlr. Evarts successfully main- 
tained the freedom of the slaves. In this case Jlr. 
Evarts acted for the state of New York, and had 
against him Mr. Charles O'Conor as counsel for tlie 
stale of Virginia. Another ca.sc of great celebrity 
with which Mr. Evarls was connected was the Parrisli 
will case, an attempt lo .set aside the will of Henry 
Parrisli of New York, on the ground of mental in- 
capacity and undue influence; and still another im- 




358 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOP.EDIA 



portant case on Trhith Mr. Evarls was engaged was 
the contest over the will of Mrs. Gardner, the 
mother of Mrs. President Tyler, contested on the 
ground of undue intluence. In this case Mr. Kvarts 
finally succeeded in .su.stainintr the will, which led to 
an amicahle adjustment anioiii; the heirs. In the 
repuhlican national convenlion of IS(ii), Mr. Kvarls 
first hecanie jironiinenl polilically in i)r(i]io.sin!r the 
name of William II. Seward for the presidency. 
In 18()1 he was a candidate before the New York 
lejri.slature for the U. S. senalorship, Horace Greeley 
being also a candidate. After a pri>lracled .and even 
contest between himself and Mr. Greeley, Mr. 
Evarts witlidrew his name and Ira Harris was 
elected. In \H(i2 he conducted inllie supreme court 
the case of the governmeMt on the ((Vieslion of treat- 
ing captured ve.ssels jis marilime prizes according 
to tiie rules of war. He also nuunluined before 
the courts the unconstilutionality of stale laws 
taxing United States bonds or national l)ank stock 
without tlie authorization of congress. In 186S the 
impeachment of President Andrew Johnson was 
vinderlakc'n, and the latter retained Mr. Evarts 
among his counsel. The result was acipiittal, Jlr. 
Evarls disphiying wonderful sagacity and power in 
his conduct of Ihe case.which was proseculed on the 
part of the hou.se of representatives by seven mana 
gers. In this trial Mr. Evans's speech for Die de- 
fence was a nnisterpiece of research, learning, satire, 
and elo(luenc(^ rarely ecpialed in the annals of Ihe 
bar. His crushing rejoinder lo Mr. Hoot well's hyper- 
bolical iiieline of Ihe " hole in the sky" as a place 
of piniislimenl for impeached iiresidents, will long be 
remembered as one of Ihe tinest specimens of foren- 
sic .satire on record. After I he clo.se of the imiieaeh- 
ment trial Mr. Evarts was appointed altorney-general 
of the United States, a |)osilion which he tilled with 
eiilirc s;ilisf;ielion until Ihe close of Pi'esident .lolin- 
sou's adminislration. In 1871 President Grant ap- 
poinleil him as one of Ihe <'ounsel at Ihe Geneva 
arbitral ion, :uid liisable cITorls in Ihe del iberal ions of 
that imporlant body have become part of Ihe history 
of the nation. It is generally admilled thai his case 
for the United States was a masierjiiece of clear 
argument ami apt illuslralion. In 1HT4-75 jMr. 
Evarls was retained as senior coun.sel for Henry 
AVaril Heecher in the trial of the suit against him in 
Brooklyn, in which he e.vbibiteil endurance e.\lrai>r- 
dinary in a man of bis age. His summing up for 
the defence lasted eight days, and at the close he 
appeared as fresh and vigorous as when on the first 
day he rose to open it. In this he olfereil a marked 
contrast to Ihe other genllemen engaged in the ca.se, 
judges and counsel on both sides looking haggard 
and careworn after their prolraetcd. .assiduous and 
responsible duties. In 1.S77 Jlr. Kvarts was the 
advocate of the republican party before Ihe eleclond 
comnii.s.sion, whose decision placed Kulherford H. 
Hayes in the presidential chair. He then became 
secretary of state, in which iiosition he exhibited Ihe 
.same cbaraclerislics and the .same general ability 
which be had displayed in all positions of life. 
Especially was his admim'stration of the oftice im- 
porlant in the fact Ibal b<' rais<'d the standard of 
consular service, and originated the idea, which has 
ever since been carried out, of a .series of consular 
reports on all topics of importance and interest com- 
ing within the range of their knowledge and juris- 
diction. In l.S.Hl, on his retirement from Ihe cabinet, 
Mr. Evarls was .sent lo Paris as a delegate to the in- 
ternational monetary coid'erence In ISS.") be entered 
the U. S. .senate, having been elected as a republi- 
can to succeed Eldridge G. I/apham as senator from 
New Vork. Besides his recognized ajjility as a 
lawyer and del)ater, Mr. Evarls h.as a high reputa- 
tion for afler-<liiuier oratory, in which his display' of 
humor and plea.sant satire is a .special feature. 



SHERMAN, John, secretary of the treasury, 
was born at Lancaster, O., May 10, 1823. His pa- 
ternal ancestors emigrated from the county of Es.sex, 
in England, to Jlassachiisctts and Connecticut, ia 
New England. His grandfather, Taylor .Sherman, 
of Norwalk. Comi., was an accomplished scholar 
!uid able jurist, who bad a .seat on the bench, went 
to Ohio in ISO.') to arrange some disputed Iioundary 
questions, and located in Sherman township, Huron 
Co. He nuirried Elizabeth, a lineal descendant of 
Anthony Stoddard, who emigrated from Englaixl to 
Boston HI l()8i). Charles K. Sherman, .John's father, 
was a native of Norwalk, Coiui., where he was 
brought up and admitted lo Ihe bar. He married 
Mary Hoyl. also of Norwalk, and soon after settled 
at Lanca.sler, O., wliere he practiced law, and was 
chosen by the legislature lo the bench of Ihe su- 
preme court. He died suddenly at Lebanon, O., June 
24, 1829. At this time John was six years of age. 
Mrs. Sherman having eleven children and Ijut 
small means, her family was gradually scattered 
among friends. In Ihe s]uing of 1831 a cousin of 
her husband, John .Sherman, took his namesake to 
his home at Mount Vernon, ()., where he remained 
for four years, with only occasional visits to his 
mother. The .schools which he attended at this time 
were good ones, and young Sherman's progress was 
rapid and satisfactory. At 
twelve years of age he re- 
turned lo Lancaster, and at- 
tended Homer's .\eademy.at 
that place. When he was 
far enough advanced in his 
.studies to have entered the 
sophomore class at college, 
he was tendered a position 
by Col. Curtis as junior rod- 
niau, on the "Muskingum 
improvement," with a corps 
of engineers I'ugaged in c<ai- 
slructing Ihe Ohiosyslem of 
CiUials. He gladly aceejiled - 
the opporlunily to make his 
own way in the world, and 
was assigneil to work at 
Lowell, d. In the spring of j^^'-C'^ 
1838 he was i)laced temper- ^^2^^ ^J^^Oi-'. 
arily in charge of the work 
at Beverly, (>., where he re- 
mained during the rest of his service on the im|irove- 
ment. His responsibilities here were heavy, and it 
is said that Ik- always regarded Ihe development 
which came to him Iherefrom as a belter education 
than be could possiblv have .secured elsewhere in Ihe 
.same lime. In ls38,'tlie whig jiarty having lost the 
stale election, com|ilicalions ensued liy reason of 
which he lost his place. He at once returned to 
Lancaster, and shortly went to Mansfield, O., to 
.study law with his brother Charles. Here he regu- 
larly" prepared the ))leadings, and did a good share 
of liis brother's oltice work. After Ihe first year he 
w;is entirely .self-supporting. He g.'ivc his whole 
mind to his jirofessional studies, and on Jlay 11, 
1S44, was admitted to Ihe bar at Springtiehl, ().. and 
forthwith entered into iiarliier.sbip with his brother, 
Charles T. Sherman, at Mansfield, .\fler this, he 
was constantly, actively and )irotilably em|iloycd in 
the practice of law unt'il he was elected a member 
of congress in 18.54. Shortly after his ailmission lo 
the bar, his mother and his two sisters removed from 
Lancaster lo Mansfield, and there kept house for 
him. In lS4()-47 Mr. Sherman visited Washington, 
I). C, where he remained a month, iind became ac- 
qu.ainted with most of thenu'n of Ihe day, especially 
with Stephen A. Domrhis. of Illinois. In the spring of 
1848 he was sent as deh'gate to the national whig 
convention at Philadcliihia, Pa., and was made a 




OF AMKRICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



359 



secretary <'f tliiil body, after the jiieuUir remark 
jmblicly iiiadi' l)y a friend, that there was a yoiiiii; 
man presi'nt fmm the stale <if Oliio, wlio livivl in a 
district so strongly deniDcralie that lie could never 
liope to get an oifie(t nrdess that eouveiilion ffave 
him one. Mr. Sherman heartily sii|>i)orled the nom- 
ination of Zachary Taylor for |)resi(l(!nl of the United 
States, and canvassed a portion <if Ohio for him. 
Aiiir. 80, 1S4S, he was married to Cecilia, oidy child 
of Judge .Stewart, of JIaustielil, (). He was now a 
prosperou.s man, having added to liis income from 
the practice of his jirofessiou the profits incident 
to the maniifacfurc of flooring, doors, sashes, blinds, 
etc., by an cstalilislimcnl which he had set in opera- 
tion, [n l.S.">:i he was a delegate to the whig national 
convention at Baltimore, ^Id.. and siiiijiorled ils 
nomiuee for United States jircsident. Gen. Winfield 
Scott. In 1 853 -,54 he opened a law otiice at Cleve- 
land, O. When the congressional "anti-Nebraska 
convention," as it was called, came together, made 
up of men who had been members of thedemocralic, 
the whig and the free-soil parlies, great dillicullics 
existed in forming a fusion of the opposing elements. 
The choice for candidate finally fell upon Sherman, 
and he was elected, receiving 8,617 votes against 
5,794 for his democratic opponent. He was presi- 
dent of the tir.st Ohio republican .state couvemioii 
in 185.5, which nominated Salmon P. Chase for gov- 
ernor. He also jiarticipated in the organization of 
the national republican jiarty, after which he took 
his .seat in the house of representatives in the thirty- 
fourlli congress, six years before the civil war. 
There was a fierce and prolonged struggle attending 
the election of speaker at this session, and at the 
ninety-ninth ballot he declared his reason for voting 
forGen. N. P. Banks to be his attitude toward .slavery, 
because, he .said, "under no circumstances what- 
ever will he (Banks), if he have the power, allow 
the institution of luimau slavery to derive any bene- 
fit from the repeal " (of the " Missouri Compro- 
mise "). The territory of Kansas had now become a 
battle-gro\uHl between the advocates of slavery 
from tiie South, and its opponents from the free 
states, and on March 19, 18.50, the api)ointment of a 
conimitlee of tlir(« members of the house by its 
speaker wa,s voted by the house. This committee 
was instruct<'d to proceed lo Kansas, inquire into 
and collect evi<lence in rcganl to the troubles 
there generally, and particularly in regard to auj' 
fraud or force attempteil or jiractif^ed in relation 
to any of the elections which had there taken 
place. The appointment of ilr. Sherman as a mem- 
ber of this Kan.sas iuvestiiialing committee was a 
turning-point in his political career. The in<|uiry 
beginning at Lawrence. Kan., was most thorough, 
and a very complete statement was obtained of the 
frec-.state side of the i|uestion, the Missouri people; 
who had been connected with the " Kansas troubUw," 
so-called, not deeming it wise to appear before the 
conunittec. The congression.al eomnn'ttee also took 
testimony .at Lecompton, Topeka and Leavenworth. 
At the last-named place a band of desperadoes 
threatened to burn the town while the congressional 
commillee was there, and probably the presence of 
United Stales troo]vs at Fori Leavenworth alone 
.saved the committee's lives. Notices, headed by 
drawings of the skull and cross-bones, of theborder- 
rullians to "wipe out" the committee, were posted 
on the doors of their rooms. In view of these dan- 
gers, copies of the testimony taken had been sent 
ea.stward, but the gentleman, Dr. Kobinson, by whom 
they liad sent it. was arrested and returned to the 
Leavenworth jail. The testimony was, however, 
concealed on liie person of Mrs. Kobinson, who was 
allowed to proceed on her journey. She delivered 
it to Speaker Banks, to await the arrival of the com- 
mittee. After about two luonths spent in this way, 



the commillee concluded its labors in Kan.sas and 
.started for Washington. On the way, at Detroit, 
Mich., Mr. Sherman, by re(pu'st of his colleagues, 
collated the testimony, and prepared the report. 
Every statement in it was verified by the clearest tes- 
timony, and was never controverted. When pre- 
sented to the house of representatives it naturally 
caused deej) feeling, and subsequently became the ba- 
sis of tlw nalional polilieal canqiaign of 1850. Intliat 
campaign .Mr. Sherman s\ip])orled John ('. Fremont 
for president, sim])ly, as he said, because the repub- 
lican parly resisted the extension, but did not .seek 
the abolition, of .slavery. When Mr. James Bu- 
chanan was elected, he vigorously combaleil his 
public vii^ws and measures. At the .same lime he 
look an active part in legislation on a variety of 
practical questions, such as the larilT bill, the debate 
on the submarine telegraph, etc. In the thirly-fiflh 
congress he took ground, in the debate on all'airs in 
Kansas, that congress ought not to recognize the 
Lecompton or any other constitution which had not 
been fniuied by a convention to which the i)eople 
had delegated full power, and which had not been 
subsequentiv submitted to .and .approved by a poiiu- 
ular vote tie was invariably a lirm advocate for 
economy in public expenditures. The then prevalent 
system of makini/contriu'ts in advance of appropria- 
tions was denounced by him as illegal. He was a 




steadfast friend of old soldiers, and ojiposed a pen- 
•sion bill which discriminated between the soldier and 
the otticer. Bills appropriating jiublic money were 
alw.ays closely scrutinized by jlr. Sherman, and by 
his prominence in all Hie business of the house he 
came to be recognized at the close of his second con- 
gressional term as its foremost man. In the exciting 
contest for the speakership with which the thirty- 
sixth congress opened, for eight weeks he lacked but 
three votes of an election, and finally withdrawing 
from the canvass, transf<Tred his solid vole to Mr. 
Pennington of New Jersey, who was elected. He 
was at once appointed chairman of the commillee of 
ways and means, and immediately took a decide<l 
stand again.st the prevailing system of engrafting 
new legislation upon appropriation bills. He also 
introduced are.solnlion, which wasadopted, providing 
that Ihe subject of a railroad to the Pacific coast be 
referred lo a select commillee of fifteen members, 
with leave to report by bill or otherwise This was 
the first move toward Ihe eonstrnclion of the great 
highway to our western stales and territories. In 
the winter of 18011-01 Mr. Sherman watched care- 
fully over the public appropdaliou bills, and took 
steps to provide for the future support of the gov- 
ernment. To make provision, as well, for Ihe Jiay- 
nien of Ihe .salaries of congressmen, and to meet 
other (h'mands, he next secured the passage of the 
bill aulhorizinir the issue of what have .since been 
known as Ihe U. S. treasiirj" notes of l.'^Ol). Shortly 
after he iiilroduc<'d a bill authorizing the president 
of the United Slates to is.sue coupon.s, bearing inter- 
est not to exceed six per cent., for the pa\Tnenl of 
110,000,000 of treasury notes, which the adminisira- 



360 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOl'.tUIA 



tion of President Buchanan had issued at twelve per 
cent, interest. In Febnuirv. 18G1. he first saw Abra- 
ham Lincoln, then presidentelect, at Wasliiniiton, 
D. C, and from that time until Mr. Lincoln's death 
the friendship between the two men was iHibroken. 
When Salmon P. Chase resigned the U. S. senator- 
ship from Ohio in March, 18(J1, to enter the cabinet 
of President Lincoln as secretary' of the treasury, 
Mr. Sherman was elected his succe.s.sor. When the 
civil war broke out he joined some of the Ohio 
troops on his way home from W;ishington, at Harris- 
burg, Pa., and tendered to Gen. Robert Patterson 
his own aid in any way that might be thought con- 
sistent with his duties as .senator, and forthwith 
served as the general's aide-de-camp without ]iay un- 
til the meeting of congress in July, ISOI. When con- 
gress came together, besides the strenuous sujiport 
which he gave to war measures, he did not lose sight of 
those reforms in the disbursement of government 
funds wliich he had advocated in the house of rep- 
resentatives, but introduced a bill to carry them out. 
At the close of the session he returned to Ohio, and 
prior to December, 1861, had recruited upon his own 
plan and largely at his own expense, for the U. S. 
goveriunent, two regiments of infantry, a squadron 
of cavalry, and a battery of artillery, comprising 
men of as good material as ever enlisted for the war. 

Resuming and retain- 
ing his seat in the U. S. 
.senate, by the advice 
of President Lincoln 
and Secretary Chase 
(for it had beenhis pur- 
po,se to resign it and of- 
fer his services to the 
government as a sol- 
dier), at the close of 
1861, hewas prominent 
and laborious in his 
oversight of the ptd)- 
lic linances and in his 
endeavor not (ndy to 
provide for the suji- 
port of the armies in 
' the field, but to main- 
tain and strengthen 
the public credit. He 
sternly resisted an at- 
tempt to increase the 
]iay of members of 
congress. On the sen- 
ate committee of fin- 
ance, muchof histime 
was absorbed in hearing and in proposing amendments 
to the tax bills, many of which were of the most im- 
portant character. He voted for some of these, as a 
temporary expedient to raise money for revenue, al- 
tho\igh he considered them as indefensible in princi- 
ciple. He took a leading part in pressing that clause 
of the bill to issue U. S'. treasury notes which made 
them legal tender, and when the bill reached the 
senate he was the chief, if not the only, advocate of 
that policy, both in the committ(^e on finance and on 
the floor of the senate. In the summer of 1862, at 
the rc([Uest of Secretary Cliase, he took charge of 
the national banking bill, making the only speech 
in the senate in its favor, and prior to its passage, 
although it was before the senat(^ off and on, for ten 
days. He advocated, however, imposing upon the 
banks severe burdens of taxation, holding it as indis- 
pensable that they should not only jniy the expenses 
of their administration, but also make a liberal con- 
tribution to the govcrmnent. During the continu- 
ance of the war he often visited the soldiers on the 
field. After the war, and when he bad l)een re- 
elected as senator, he became chairman of the senate 
committee on finance when Mr. Fcssenden of Maine 




was appointed secretary of the treasury, but volun- 
tarily surrendere<l the position to Mr. Fessenden 
when the latter gentleman returned to the .senate. 
His opposition to the issue of .six per cent, bonds to 
pay off the floating iiublic debt and liabilities was 
very earnest, and be has never, it is declared, enter- 
tained a doubt that if the policy he then recom- 
mended had lieen adopted the whole of the seven- 
thirty notes and the floating indebtedness might have 
been funded with a live per cent. bond. His speeches 
on funding the public debt, delivered in the senate 
Apr. 9 and May 22, 1866, covered the whole ground, 
in re, and attracted the attention of the country. 
He was, however, almost alone in his ojiposilion 
to the act, which was tinally passed, authorizing a .six 
per cent. bond. >Ir. Fes.senden served through this 
session as chairman of the senate finance committee, 
and then resigned the position to Mr. Sherman. 
IIc!nccff)rth the latter was distinctively and po.sitively 
identified with the various financial measures of con- 
gress. He can fairly claim to have been the author of 
the refundiiigact, and to have taken the most promi- 
nent part in the different financial l)ills which became 
laws. In 1870the refundingact wasadopted svdistan- 
tially as he had proposed it, but without the features re- 
lating to the resumption of specie payments which he 
had advocated. The senator supported the tariff of 
1867, was largely instrumental in framing and |ias.sing 
the several acts repealing internal revenue taxes, and 
reducing lliem to a low rate on whiskey, tobacco, 
etc. When the "Credit ^Mobilier" investigation was 
set on foot by congress, Mr. Sherman was attacked 
by certain news]iaj>ers in Ohio because, as it was 
said, he had amassed great wealth from the war, and 
must have made it improperly. These charges he 
met on the spot by twt) letters, the one addressed to 
the Cincinnati "Enquirer, " and the otlicr to Judge 
Welcker, of Ohio. The letters, sustained as they 
were by voluntary declarations from political adver- 
saries in his state, squelched these accusations at 
once, and the allegations have not since been re- 
jieated, save as a mere imputation founded upon 
false estimates of Jlr. Sheniian's property. In De- 
cember, 1874, he initiated at Washington the move- 
ment for the resiniiption of specie payments, and 
was cho.sen to the U. S. .senate for the third time. 
Through the long financial discussions that followed 
and [laved the way to specie payments, Mr. Sherman 
never wavered nor lost courage. In the presidential 
campaign of 1876 he made an able speech at 5Iari- 
etta, O", which supplied speakers and writers the 
country through with facts and figures upon the 
.subject. After the election he was one of the cele- 
braied "visiting committee" sent to the state of 
Louisiana to watch the counting of votes. President 
Hayes was inaugurated JIarch 4, 1877, and at once 
appointed Senator Sherman his secretary of the U. S. 
treasury. Jlr. Sherman forthwith took measures to 
hasten the sale of the four and a half percent, bonds 
for refunding jiurpo.ses, and made a contract with 
certain banke'rstosell .|3, 000, 000, 000, which hefound 
out.standiniiat his assumption of oflice; and although 
when he became secretarv but $90,000.0110 had been 
dis])ose(l of, before July 1,1S77. .$200,000,000 had been 
taken, of which ^ IT), 000,000 were applied to resump- 
tion ]iurposes. He then withdrew the bal.mce of the 
bonds from the liankers. By these and other opera- 
tions, in less than six months he so raised the credit 
of the coimtry, at home and abroad, that he was 
enabled to sell four per cent, bonds at par, and also 
to exact from the bankers who took the loan a con- 
dition that they should open it to the public, in order 
that .all might share in the benefit likely to accnie 
from the |iurcha.scs. He had, in the meanwhile, 
secured at least sS20.000,000 for resumption imr- 
po.ses. Books of subscription to this loan were 
opened throughout the United States imnu'diately. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



361 



and before thirtv (lays had t^one by more than $7!),- 
000.000 of bonds had been sold, of whidi |25.()00,000 
were reserved for i)urposes of resumption. When 
congress met (1877-78) the .secretary had to contend 
with an oppo.siliou to liis ))olicy tliat caused much 
depression in llie iiul)lic credit, liul lie persevend in 
it, and althougli before the 18tli of Januaiy, 1879, 
tlie day fi.xed by law for resumption, tlie opposition 
to liis policy had assumed the form of personal hos- 
tility in the fruitless endeavor to convict him of po- 
litical malversation during the visit to Ijoufsiana in 
1877, he had accumulated in the U. S. treasury 
$140,000,000 in gold six monllis before that day. 
The detailed record of measures by which the legal- 
tender notes of the government reached a par value, 
and by wliich specie resumption beeanu' an accom- 
plished fact at tlie time fixed for it, exliil)it the man 
under whose lead this was done as a financier of the 
highest order. So marked was the conviction of this 
fact that the board of trade iu New York city recog- 
nized his services in the achievement by authorizing 
his portrait to be hung upon the walls of their build- 
ing, a eomplimeut which has been bestowed upon 
no other financier since the days of Alexander Ham- 
ilton. At once, upon the resumption of .sjiecie pay- 
ments, the secretary put into execuliou fresh meas- 
ures for the refunding of the remainder of govern- 
ment in<iebtedne.ss, and so successful were his efforts 
that at the end of two years he was able to sav that 
in that time he had refunded nearly SjiSnO. 000,000, 
making a saving in annual interest of $1.5.000,000. 
In 1880 Mr. Sherman was a candidate for the presi- 
dential nomination before the national republican 
convention at Chicago, 111., his name being present- 
ed to the convention by James A. Garfield, of 
Ohio, to whom the nomination viltimately came. In 
1887 he was re-elected to the U. 8. senate from the 
state of his birth and residence. He received 229 
votes on the first ballot for repviblican iiresidential 
nominee at the national convention of 1888, and 249 
on the .second ballot. Senator Sherman's home is 
still at JIansfield, O.. in a large park, surrounded 
by twenty acres of lawn. He has an extensive pri- 
vate libraiT, rai.scellaneous initsmake-ii]), butaiuple 
in some departments, viz., tho.se of finance, Amer- 
ican biography, and the civil war. The senator has 
been a great traveler, both at home and abroad, and 
has met many of the most promineut and distin- 
guished of Europeans. In 1892, after au exciting 
contest, Mr. Sherman was again chosen senator for 
the terra ending March, 1899. "The Life and Piil)- 
lic Services of John Sherman " is a succinct record, 
is.sued in 1886 by B. P. Poore ; "John Sherman, 
What He Has Said and Done; Life and Public Ser- 
vices." by Rev. S. A. Brouson. was published at Co- 
lumbus, O., the same year. The senator has him.self 
published: "Selected Speeches and Reports on Fi- 
nance and Taxation, 1859-78 " (New York, 1879). 

McCKARY, George Washington, secretary 
of war, was Imrn in Evansville. Ind.. Aug. 29. 1S8."). 
At this (icriod the state of Iowa had not been formed 
out of wliat was to be Wisconsin territory, a part of 
wliicli it became July 3. 1836, being orgam'zed into 
the "Territory of Iowa" June 3. 1838, and admitted 
into tlie Union as a state Dec. 28. 1846. It was just 
about tlie time when Iowa assumed its territorial po- 
sition that the McCrary family removed thither. As 
the boy grew up he went to the nearest public 
school, and from there to an academy, and eventu- 
ally settled down in Keokuk. la., where he began to 
study law. and where he was admitted to practice at 
the bar when he was twenty-one years of age. As 
was nearly always the case in the new states. bright, 
intelligent and educated young men were in demand 
for public posiiicins. and within a year after he had 
begun practice. Jlr. McCrary was elected a member 




'--C^^^^ '•(^^^ 



of the state legislature. In 1861 he was elected to 
the state senate, where he remained until 186r),being 
chairman of the committee on military affairs during 
the whole jicriod of the civil war. In 1868 he was 
elected a member of congress on the reiiublican 
ticket, and was re-elected for each successive term 
until 1877. He opposed going " behind the returns" 
in the case of the electoral commission and its in- 
vestigations witli regard to the 
Louisiana and Florida electoral 
votes for president. He took 
a great interest in the whole 
question, having been the in- 
troducer of the bill which was 
laid before c<ingress in Decem- 
ber, 1876, and whos(^ passage 
resulteil in the organization of 
the electoral commission. Mr. 
McCrary strongly upheld the 
republican side of the electoral 
question, and on the decision 
lendcrcd by the commission in 
favor of that .side, resulting iu 
the declaration that Rnther- 
f(ud B. Hayes had been elect- 
ed president. Jlr. McCrary was 
aiipointed by him secretary 
of war. his commission dating 
from March 12, 1877. In De- 
cember, 1879, he was aiipointed judge of the United 
States circuit court, and resigned his cabinet otHce 
to accept that position. In 1884 he resigned his cir- 
cuit judgeship. He settled in Kansas City, Mo., 
where he continued to practice law up to the time of 
his death, being also general consulting coun.sel of 
the Atchison, Topeka and S;inta Fe Railroad Com- 
]iany. Mr. JlcCraiy published in Chicago, in 1875, 
"Tiie American Law of Elections." He died June 
23. 1890. 

RAMSEY, Alexander, secretary of war and 
governor of JIinuesota( 1862-64). was born near Har- 
risbuig. Pa., Sept. 8, 1815. He received a common- 
school education, and at the age of twenty-three be- 
came a clerk in the office of tlie register of Dauphin 
county, Pa. Early in life he became prominent in 
politics, and in 1841 was elected clerk of the Pennsyl- 
vania house of representatives. From 1843 to 1847 
he served in congress as a whig. In 1848 he was 
chairman of the whig state central committee of 
Pennsylvania, and aided greatly 
in securing the election of Gen. 
Taylor to tlie presidency. In 1849 
he was ajipointed governor of Min- 
nesota territory, and filled that 
office for four yeare. While gov- 
ernor he arranged for the cession 
of large tracts of lands liy the 
Sioux Indians, and also concluded 
important treaties with the Chiji- 
pewas. Upon the ex))iration of 
his term as governor he became 
a citizen of St. Paul, and in 18.")5 
was elected mayor of that city. 
He was one of the first members 
of the republican party in the 
northwest, and in 1860 became 
governor of the .state. He was 
re-elected governor in 1862. serv- 
ing until 1864. and was ranked 
as one of the ablest and most energetic of the war 
governors. He heartily and promptly co-operated 
with President Linc(>lii"in all the movements for the 
suppre.s.sion of the rebellion. He was elected U. S. 
senator in 1863. taking his seat in 18(i4. and w!i.s re- 
elected in 1869. During his twelve years of service 
he jiroved a most useful and capable member of the 
senate. During a portion of the administration of 




•S&2 



THE XATIOXAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



President Hayes lie filled the office of secretary of 
war. He was appdinted to a place on the I'lah 
coniiiiission by President Arthur when that body 
was created by congress, and servi'd sis a member of 
it for several years. He is now a resident of St. Paul. 
In 1889 he was made president of the Gerniania 
Bank of that city, and he is also largely interested 
in many other inii)ortant business enterprises. Few 
men have had a more varied ofticial career, and his 
has been marked throughout by honesty, ability, and 
unswerving devotion to public duty. 

GOFF, Nathan, Jr. , secretan' of the navy, was 
boni at Clarksliurg, Va., Feb 9, '1843. Added to 
natural ability, he took advantage of wealth and so- 
cial ])ositinn and acquired a thorough education, 
beginning in the public schools and graduating from 
the University of the City of Xew York. lie studied 
law and at tlie age of iweuty-two was admitted lo 
the bar. In June, 1801, he enlisted in the third regi- 
ment Virginia volunteer infantry; 
served as lieutenant, also as adju- 
tant of the regiment, and as ma- 
jor of the 4th Virginia volunteer 
cavalry. At the close of the war 
he re-entered his law ollice and 
continued to practice successfidly. 
He at once entered ujion a politi- 
cal career that brought his name 
prnminently before the public, 
not only in his own stale, but 
throughout the nation, being a 
conspicuous tigiire in the state and 
national republican conventions. 
In 18(!7 he was elected a member 
of the legislature and took an ac- 
tive part in the legislation of those 
troublous times. In 18B8 he was 
appointed U. S. attorney for the 
district of West Virginia, to which 
]insition he was reappointed in 
1ST2, 1876 and 1880. In 1x70 he 
was nominated for congress in the 
first West Virginia district and was 
elected. He was also elected in 
1874. In 1876 be was a candidate for governor of 
West Virginia, but was defeated by H. M. Matthews. 
He resigned the iiosition of district attorney in .lan- 
uary, 1881. to accept that of secretary of the navy ten- 
dered by President Hayes in March. 1881. President 
Garfield rea])iMiinted him district attorney for West 
Virginia, which position he again resigned in July, 
1883. He was elected to the forty-eighth, forty-ninth 
and fiftieth congresses, and .served on the naval and 
other important conimitlees with ability. In 1800 he 
again became a candidate for governor. The vote was 
very close; charges of fraud were made, and upon in- 
vestigation the ollice %vas awarded to Mr. Fleming, 
Mr. (poll's opponent. 

THOMPSON, Richard Wigginton, secretary 
of tlie navy, was liorn in C'ulpeper county.Va., .lune 
9, 1809. After receiving an excellent education he 
went to Kentucky, when he was about twenty-three 
years of age, and in Louisville obt.ained a liositionas 
storekeeper's clerk. He remained there a short 
time, when he went to Lawrence county, Ind., 
where he taught .school. He. however, again went 
into business, devoting his lei.sure time to studying 
law, and with such success that in 1834 he was ad- 
mitted to the bar. He now settled in Bedford, Ind., 
where he began to practice his profession, and .at the 
same time, from 18;S4 to 1838, he served in Ijoth 
houses of the legislature, being also, for a short 
time, president /H-otem. of the state senate, and acting 
lieut(!nant-governor. In 1840 Mr. Thonijison was a 
presidential elector on the whig ticket, and support- 
ed Gen. Harrison by pen and voice with great zeal. 




He was elected to congress and served in 1841-43, 
and the following year was a candidate for elector 
on the Clay ticket," but was defeated. In 1847-49 he 
was again in congress, but declined a renoniiualion. 
President Taylor offered him the Austrian mission, 
and Fillmore the reeordership of the land office, but 
he declined both, as he did also a .seat on the bench 
of the court of claims, urged upon him by President 
Lincoln. In 1804 .Mr. Thompson was presidential 
ele<-tor on the republican ticket, and in 18(i8 and 
1876 he was a delegate to the n'publican national 
conventions. On tlie last occasion he nominated 
Oliver P. Morton for the iiresidency. In 1867-69 he 
wa.s judge of the 18th circuit of the state of Indiana. 
On March 12, 1877. Judge Thompson became a mem- 
ber of Presidi-nt Hayes's cabiitet, holding the port- 
folio of secretary of the navy. Heconlinned tohold 
tliis ollice (luring nearly the whole of that adminis- 
tration, but resigned in 1881. to accept the position 
of chairman of the .Vmerican committee of the Pan- 
ama Canal Company, being also a director of the 
Panama Kailmaii. Judge Th<impson ae(|uired a 
reputation for his understanding of party principles 
and his ability lo write political platforms, many of 
which wen^ of his composition. He published" The 
Papacy and the Civil Power ' (New York, 1876); 
and a "History of the Tariff" (Chicago, 1888). 

SCHTJRZ, Carl, secretary of the interior, was 
born atLililar, near Cologne, Prussia, March 2, 1829. 
He was educated at Ihe Gymnasium of Cologne, and 
the University of lionn, entering the latter in 1846. 
Being concerned in the publication of a rcvoluticm- 
ary journal during the tronliles of lf<48, he was 
forced to Hy from ISoiui in conseiiuenee of Ihe failure 
of an insmieclion he had been instrumental in fer- 
menting, and entered the revolutionary army in the 
south of Germany, and took )>art in the defence of 
Kastadt, esca])inglo Switzerland on the surrender of 
this fortress, returning secretly lo Germany. On the 
night of Xov. 0, 18.">(i, he succeeded in lilieraling his 
friend and former editorial partner from the fortress 
of Spandau, and together they reached Scotland, go- 
ing thence to Paris, where, during the si)ring of 18.il, 
Scliur/. acted as corresiiondeni for several German 
joiu'nals. Later in that )-ear he 
removed to London, where he was 
a teacher, married, and came to 
America, locating first in Philadel- 
phia, but settling finally in IS.")."), in 
Madison, Wis. Entering politics 
and connecting himself with the 
newly fornu'd republican parly, 
as early as 1806 he was known as 
an effective orator through the 
speeches he had made in tlie Ger- 
man language, being one of Ihe 
mo.st potent factors in turning the 
German element in theslate against 
the extension of sl.iverv. He was 
an imsuccessful candidate for lieu- 
tenant - .governor of his adopted 
stale in 18.")7. and took part in 
Ihe senatorial eanva.ss in Illinois 
between Douglas and Lincoln, 
making his tirsi political speech in Knglisli, which 
was widely circulated as a campaign document. 
He next e.slablished himself in the practice of law at 
Milwaukee, but made many electioneering tours 
throughout the country. He was a nu'iuber of the 
national re])ublican convention of 1860, and had 
great intUience in sha|iing its platform, jiarlicularly 
that part which related to the citizens of foreign 
birth. In the subseijuent campaign he s|ioke both 
in English and (iernian, and when Mr. Lincoln be- 
came |)resiilent, Schurzwas sent as minister lo Spain, 
but resigneil his post in December, 1861, to enter the 




Ol" AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



363 



army. He livas made brigarlicr-geneial of volun- 
teers in April, 18G3, anil took command of a division 
in the corps of Gen. Frauz Siiicl. He distiniruishcd 
biniself at the second battle of Bull Run, and was 
commissioned major-general of volunteers on March 
14, 18(W. and had command of a division of O. O. 
Howard's corps and took part in the battles of Chan- 
cellorsville (May 2, 1863), Gettysbui-jr, Fredericks- 
burg and Chattanooga. After the <-lose of the war. 
President Johnson sent Gen. Scluirz through the 
southern states to inquire into the workings of the 
Freedmen's Bureau. In 1808 he was temporaiy 
chairman of the convention which nominated Gen. 
Grant for tlie presidency, and became one of his 
most active supporters during the subsequent cam- 
paign. In January, 1809, he was chosen U. S. sen- 
ator from Missouri for the term ending in 1875. 
With Senator Sumner he vigorously opjiosed some 
of President Grant's measures, and in 1ST2 i^residcd 
over the convention which nominated Mr. Greeley 
for the presidency. Subsequently, in the senate, he 
took an active part in favor of resuming specie pay- 
ments, and against the retention by the government 
of U. S. troo|)s in the southern .states. ^laiiy of the 
members of the "liberal party " alliliated with the 
democrats after the election of 1872, but in 1870 Mr. 
Sehnrz supported Gen. Hayes, who, after his elec- 
tion called Sir. Schurz into his cabinet as .secretary 
of the interior. He introduced competitive exam- 
inations for jiositions iu the service and provided for 
the protection of the forests on the public domain, 
but his treatment of the Indians provoked criticism. 
After the close of the Hayes adiniui.stration, Jlr. 
Schurz became editor of the "Evening Post" in 
New York, and remained iu this position until 1884. 
In the presidential canva.ss of 1884, 1S88, and 1893 
he supported the candidacy of Mr. Cleveland. In 
1888 he visited Europe and was cordially received 
by Prince Bismarck and other German leaders. Mr. 
Schurz has published a volume of "Speeches" 
(Philadelphia, 1861); a "Life of Henry Clay" (Bos- 
ton, 1887), and "Abraham Liucoln; An Es.say " 
(Boston, 1891). His contributions to periodical liter- 
ature have been frequent. 

DE'VENS, Charles, attorney-general, was born 
at Charle-stown. Middlesex Co., Mass., Apr. 4, 1820, 
the .sou (if Charles and Mary Lithgow Deveus. and 
grandson of Richard Devens, a revolutionary patriot. 
His maternal grandfather was Col. Arthur Lithgow, 
of Augusta, Me. The subject of this sketch, after 
completing his academic education, entered Harvard, 
from which he was graduated in 1838. He subse- 
quently studied law in the Harvard Law School, and 
afterward with Hubbard it Watts of Boston. In 
1841 he was admitted lo the bar, and at once began 
the practice of his ])rofession at Xorthfleld, later re- 
moving to Greenfield. In 1848-49 he served as a 
member of the state .senate, and from the latter year 
until 18.53 as U. S. marshal for the district of ^las 
sachuselts. Mr. Devens resumed the practice of his 
profession in 18o4, and settled at Worcester, Mass., 
■where he ha.s since resided. When the civil war 
broke out he enlisted in the cause of the l"ni(m, and 
on Apr. 19, ISOl, was luianimously elected major 
of the :!d battalion rifles — three full companies, 
with which he at once proceeded to the front. On 
July 26th of the .sjiine year. Maj. Devens was made 
colonel of the l.")th regiment .Vla.s,sacliuselts volun 
teers. He was brevetfed brigadier-general during 
the siege of Vorktown, and took command of a 
brigade in Couch's division, Keye's 4tli army eorp.s. 
Gen. Devens was severely wounded at the battle of 
Fair Oaks, but would not leave the field until the 
fall of night terminated the hostilities for the day. 
At the battle of Aniietam his horse was shot from 
under him, and for gallant conduct while in com- 
mand of a brigade at Fredericksburg, he was com- 




plimented by the general commanding the division. 
At tJie request of Gen. Grant, Gen. Devens iu April, 
18f)5, was commissioned major-general by brevet for 
gallantly and good conduct at 
the capture of Richmond. He 
wa.s mustered out of service at 
his own request, at Washing- 
ton, in Jiuie, 1866, after a bril- 
liant military career of five 
years and three months. "The 
members of the U. S. senate 
and hou.sc of representatives 
from Ma.ssachuselts united in 
signing a recommendation that 
he should be retained in the 
reorganization of the regular 
army, and though the compli- 
ment was a very high one, it 
was not presented, as Gen. Dev- 
ens wished to resume the prac- 
tice of his profession." He 
was elected national conunand- 
er of the G. .\. K. to succeed 
Gen. Burnside, and has also 

served as commander of the Military Order Loyal 
Legion of JIassachusetIs, as well as of the military 
societies of the array of the Potimiac and of the 
James, and of the 0th army corps. In 1867 Gov. 
Bullock appointed Gen. Devens one of the judges of 
the .superior court of Massachusetts, and in 1873 
Gov. Washburn made him one of the judges of the 
supreme court. On March 10, 1877, he became a 
member of President Hayes's cabinet, taking the 
portfolio of attorney-general of the United States. 
Upon returning to Massachusetts Gen. Devens was 
reapi^ointed to the supreme bench by Gov. Long. 
He is distinguished as one of the ablest of the vet- 
eran orators. He is unmarried, and as "soldier, jurist, 
orator, his name is a pride to the commonwealth of 
Ma.ssachusetts." 

KEY, David McKendree, postma.ster-geueral, 
was born in Greene coimly.Tenn., Jan. 27, 1824. He 
was the son of a clergyman of small means, who was 
unable to give him an advanced education, but in 
1845 he entered an academy of his native slate, where 
lie was graduated four years later. While he was 
receiving his college education 
Mr. Key had also devoted much 
time to the study of law. so that 
he was prepared for examina- 
tion when he was graduated, 
and w.as immediately admitted 
to practice. Three years later 
he settled in Chattanooga, 
which city continued to be his 
home thereafter. In 1856 .Mr. 
Key served as presidential 
elector, and again in 1860. 
When the civil war broke out 
he was opposed to the plans of 
the .seceding states, but being 
in the minority in his own 
neighborhood, accepted the 
appointment of lieutenant-col- 
onel of a Tennessee regiment 
in the Confederate army and 
served through the war. Be- 
ing favorably known to Andrew Johnson, when 
the latter became i)resident Col. Key received from 
him a free pardon. He held several state otlices 
after the war, and in 1875 was appointed to Andrew 
Johnson's place in the U. S. senate, on the occasion 
of the death of the latter. He served until 1877, 
when President Hayes appointed him postmaster- 
general, a position which he retained until 1880, when 
he was appointed judge of the eastern and middle 
districts of Tennessee aud resigned from the cabinet. 




364 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



BBADIiET, •William Czar, lawyer, was born 
in Westminster, Vt., March 23, 1783, the son of 
Stephen Row Bradley. He entered ^ ale College 
but did not graduate, leaving in 1796, at the end ot 
his freshman year. He then entered the law ofbce 
of his father, and in 1803 was admitted to the bar and 
be"-an to practise in Westminster. Meanwhile, m 
1800 when ouly seventeen years of age, he acted as 
secretary to the commissioners of bankruptcy, and 
from 1804, for seven years, was prosecuting attorney 
for Wyndham county, Vt. He was elected to the 
lower "branch of the k-ijislature, and m 1813 was 
made a state councilor. In the following year he 
was elected a member of congress from Vermoiit. 
In 1817 he was appointed commissioner of the I nit- 
ed States under the treaty of Ghent, and held that 
position until 1823, when he was again elected a 
member of congress, continuing; in the house of rep- 
resentatives until 1827. He tlien retired from public 
life, but in 18.50 was elected a member of the state 
senate of Vermont, in 185(j was a presidential elect- 
or and in 18.57 was a member of the slate constitu- 
tional convention. He was in the practice of law 
for fifty-six years, and in 18.58 took a formal farewell 
of the barof" his state. He died in Westminster, Vt., 
March 3, 18(>7. 

CKAWFOBD, Thomas, sculptor, was born in 
New York citv March 32, 1814. In early life he 
showed his propensity for the study of art, was 
placed in the studio of Frazer and Launitz, well 
known at that time, and made 
rapid progress. Here he began 
to inoderin clay. In 1834 he 
sailed for Italy, where he stud- 
ied with Thorwaldsen who juit 
every facility in the way of the 
vouiig man" and honored him 
with his friendship and instruc- 
tion until he left Italy. He 
made a number of busts, among 
otliers tlio.se of Com. Hall, Mr. 
Kenvoii, the English poet, and 
V ^^iA'** l/rt ^''' f'barles Vauffhau, formerly 
\^ ^ V '% 1 'Ai i\ British minister al Washington. 
■ ' 'In 1839 he designed his "Or- 

pheus." which was purchased 
by the Boston Athena-um. This 
is the finest production of his 
chisel, and it is reiiorled that 
Thorwaldsen said that it was 
the most classic statue then in 
the studios of Rome. Mr. Craw- 
ford's busts, apart from their 
artistic excellence, are said to 
have the merit of being strik- 
ing likenesses of their originals. 
Some of his other celebrated 
works are busts of "Sappho" 
and "Vesta, ""The Genius of Mirth," "Adam and 
Eve " "David before Saul," "Flora, " C hnst^ Dis- 
puting with the Doctors" (a bas relief containmg 
twelvS figures) and numerous other bas reliefs, with 
three statues of Washington, each differing' from the 
other in sentiment and costume. He died in London, 
Emr.. Oct. Ui, 18.57. 

BBEABLEY, David, junst, was born near 
Trenton N. J., June 11. 1741, and practiced law at 
Allenlowuinthat state. AVhen the troubles arose tie- 
tween the American colonies and Great Britain, 
which preceded the American revolution, he was ar- 
rested by the British authorities for high treason, but 
was set free by a mob of his fellow-citi/.ens. Enter- 
ing the revohitionary army, he became lieutenant- 
colonel in Maxwell's bri-ade of the .Jersey Ime and 
was reported to be a brave and cool ollicer. In .lune 
1779 he left the service, having been appointed chiet 
justice of New Jersey, although but thirty-four years 




-i/.-^j 



of age In the convention which framed the consti- 
tution of the United Stales, Judge Brearley protested 
against inequality in the representation of the states 
and opposed any joint ballot by the two houses of 
congress. He was president of the New Jersey con- 
vention which ratified the con.stitution, and was a 
presidential elector in 1788. In 1789 he resigned the 
chief iusticesliip of his native state to accept the ap- 
pointment of judge of the United Stales distnct 
court for New Jersey. He was one of the compilere 
of the Protestant Episcopal prayer-book of 1785, and 
died at Trenton, N. J., Aug. 10, 1790. 

BETTS, Frederic Henry, lawyer, was bom 
at Newburs, Orause Co., N. V., March 8. 1843. 
He is descended on'^his father's side from Thomas 
Belts, one of the original founders of Guilford, 
Conn., and Josiah Rossiter, as- 
sistant nroveruor of Connecticut, 
and ou" his mother's side from 
John Eliot, the apostle to the 
Indians, and several ancestors of 
revolutionary and pre -revolu- 
tionary fame, inchiding Govern- 
ors Wylhs and Leete of Con- 
necticut, and Col. Andrew Ward 
who commanded a detachment 
of the troops which captured 
Louisburg in 1744. Ho was grad- 
uated from Yale College, 1864, 
and was awarded his A.>I. from 
that institution in 1867. In 1866 
he was graduated from Columbia 
College Law School, and imme- 
diateiy began the practice of his 
profes'sionr and acquired a large 
practice. In 1867 he married M. 
Louise, daughter of John F. Hoi- 
brook. In 1872-73 he was counsel for the New 1 orK 
state insurance department. Early in his career he 
had placed under liis management several cases of 
infringement of parents. Becoming deejily engaged 
in this branch of his profession, he afterward de- 
voted himself largely to litigation of that cliaracter, 
and grew distingiiished in this branch. He succeed- 
ed against some^of the ablest lawyers of the day in_a 
suit against the AVestern Union Telegraph Co., in 
which the validity of the Simpson patent for the 
submarine cable was sustained, and has been coun- 
sel for the Edison Electric Light Co., the Westing- 
iiou.se Air Brake Co., the city of New York, the 
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and Telegraph Co., 
the Celluloid Co.. and other large corporations. In 
1873 he w.as appointed lecturer on patent law in the 
law department of Yale University, which position 
he retained until 1884, resigning on account ot the 
pressure of his professional engagements. In 1879 
he published a pamphlet on the " Policy of the Pat- 
ent Laws " and is tlie author of the " Life of Joseph 
Henry, the distinguished scientist and secretary of 
Smithsonian Institution, shortly to be published. He 
has taken an active part in most of the reform move- 
ments in the city of New York: was a memlx'r ot 




the republican county committee 1884-8.1; of the citi- 
zen's committee of li'ftv in ist<2; of citizen's commit- 
tee of one hundred in 1883; and the peoiiles munici- 
pal leai^ue in 1890-91. He was vice-prcsuient ot the 
City Reform Club and of the Yale Alumni Associa- 
tion and a member of numerous clubs in >ew \ ork 
city' In 1875 he founded the " Belts Prize in the 
law" department of Yale University. He is actively 
connected with chvireli work, and is vestryman in St. 
Geor>-e's church. N. Y., and superintent eiit of one of 
the mission Sunday-schools. He is an admirer of art, 
and po-isesses a valuable collection of iniiiortant pic- 
tures and old engravinirs, and moreover, is a dibgent 
.student of literature and founder of several associa- 
tions for the propagation of culture and study. 




•t!/w\ 




COPVmSMT, 189J, ev JAMES T. WHITE A CO. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY 



367 



S ^ '\^ 




GARFIELD, James Abram, twpiitk'th presi- 
dent of tlie Uiiileil Stales, \v[is liorn Nov. 1!», 1881, 
in Bedford. Oranjie tinviisliip, Ciiyalioiia Co., O. 
He \va.s tlie younsrcst son of Abrani and Eliza 
(Ballon) Garfield, tlie latter of French Hiisine- 
not .stock, the former a descendant of Eihvard Gar- 
field, who came to America from his birthplace in 
AValcs in the same ship which brought over the 
famous Gov. AVinthrop. His father piircliased 
eighty acres of forest land and had beniiu the work 
of cleariuir it, but died in 1S83, wlien youns Garfield 
was only eighteen mouths old. The mother deter- 
mined upon keeping her family together and under- 
took to ruu the farm witli the as.sistance of her eld- 
est son Thomas, and as soon as 
young James was able to assist 
he also devoted himself to farm 
labor, and as he grew older, did 
his full share of the work. He 
also chopped wood, and assisted 
in bringing money for the family 
nceessiiies. At one time he had 
an o]>pnrtunity to go on the Ohio 
canal and accept a jilace as driver 
at $13 a luonth. Here he nearly 
lost his life by falling overboard 
on a dark night, being rescued 
with great difficulty. This gave 
him enough of canalling and he 
went home, where he bad a severe 
fit of sickness. On recovering 
from tills he attended school as 
much as was practicable in his 
neighborhood, designing to tit 
himself for a teacher. I le was now 
seventeen years old. and a friend induced him to go to 
Chester aiid attend the high school. At the end of 
the first ses.si()n he returned home and worked until 
the second term beiran. when he went back to school, 
and at the close of that term thought himself com- 
petent to teach, and eagerly sought emiiloyment, 
but he was considered too vouiiir wluTcver he ap- 
plied. Finally, he had the opiiortunity of taking a 
school with rather a bad reputation, near his home, 
and this he accepted, although tlu' rowdyism of the 
big boys was likely to be, and wa.s, a severe trial. 
He succeede<l in con(|uering them anil cameout with 
tlie reputation of bein^' the best selioolmaster who 
had ever taught there. In the spring of 1850 he re- 




turned to the seminary at Chester, and at about the 
same time apjieared to experience religion and joined 
the CampbcUites or Church of the liiscijiles. The 
next winter he taught in the village .school at War- 
rensville, and later .studied at Hiram, Portage Co., 
O., where in three years' time he fitted him.self 
to enter the junior class of Williams College. In the 
winter of '[Xm, during a vacation, he went to North 
Pownal, Vt., where lie taught a writing-class, and 
here comes in an instance of the curious series of co- 
incidences in connection w itli the name of Chester 
A. Arthur, aftei-ward vice-president with, and suc- 
cessor to, James A. Garfield. To begin with, the 
ancestors of both were Welsh; the earliest ancestry 
of Garfield were born at Chester, in Wales; young 
Garfield received the most important part of his 
early education at Chester in Ohio, and Chester A. 
Arthur and himself both taught writing in the same 
little village in Vermont. On his second winter va- 
cation Garfield visited Troy, and was olfered a i>osi- 
tion in one of the schools at a salary much greater 
than he could hope to earn after graduation in Ohio, 
but he refused this projiosition, desiring to contimie 
his college life. He made his finst political speech 
in svi]iport of the nomination of John C. Fremont, 
the standard-bearer of what was then, in 1855-56,the 
new republican party. In the latter year Garfield 
left Williams and entered Hiram College as a teacher 
of ancient languages and literature. The next year 
he was made jiresident of the college, which office 
he continued to hold until 18o9, when he was elected 
to represent the counties of Portage and Summit in 
the Ohio state senate. He had already, in IS.W, en- 
tered his name as a student in a law firm in Cleve- 
land, and had carried on the .study of law by himself 
while still performing his ollicial functions at Iliram. 
In the senate he proved him.self industricais in the 
committee work and .also an able debater. It liap- 
jiened that when Garfield was at the academy at 
Chester, he made the accpiaintanee of Lucretia Ru- 
<lolpli, the (laughter of a Maryland fanner, who was 
also a student, and a refined, intelligent, and affec- 
tionate girl. They were married in 18.")S. As scces- 
.sion began to make its ajipearance in 18fi0-(il, Mr 
Garfield contributed much to the direction of public 
.sentimi'ut, and aided in preparing for the national 
defence. At this time he wrote to a friend ; "' I re- 
gard my life as given to my country, and I am only 
anxious to make as much of it as possible before the 



368 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



mortgage on it is foreclosed." On Aug. 14, 1861, Gov. 
Denni.son offereii Garfield tlie licutenaiil-colonelcy of 
the 43(1 regimeut. lie accepted tliecmnniissiou and at 
once began to organize and discipline his command, 
of which, when it was ready for service, he was made 
colonel. In December he reported for duly to Gen. 
Buell, at Louisville, Ky., and was ordered in com- 
mand of a brigade of four regimenis of infantry to 
drive the Confederates under Gen. Humphrey !Mar- 
shall from the valley of the Big Sandy river. In this 
he succeeded, defeating Marsliall in the battle of 
Little Creek, and forcing him to retreat from the 
state. Garlield was now commissioueii brigadier- 
general, placed in command of the 20th brigade, and 




was sent forward to join Gen. Grant, who was fac- 
ing Albert Sidney Johnston at Pittstield. He reached 
the ticld of Shiloli with his ln'iga<le on the second 
day of the battle, .-udcd in the final repulse of the 
enemy, and next day, with Sherman, took part in 
the attack on the enemy's rear-guard. The follow- 
ing year he joined the Army of the Cumberland, 
under Hosecrans whose chief-of-staff he became. In 
the meantime, in the atitumn previous, he liad served 
on a court of inquiry and on the court-martial which 
trieil Gen. Fitz .lohn I'orter, and whose verdict was 
afterward reversed by a ccmrt of inquiry, conquis- 
ing Maj.-Gen. Schotii'lil, Alaj.Gen. Perry and Maj.- 
Gcn. Getty. In 18t!3 Gartieid was ordered by IJo.se- 
crans to make a report with regard to the wi.sdom 
of a forward movement, and, as ehief-of-staif, Gar- 
field collated the written opinions of the seventeen 
generals in the Army of the Cumbeiland and sum- 
marized the substance of these opinions, accompany- 
ing them witli arguments of his own, llie report al- 
together inducing Hosecrans to move forward, con- 
trary to the ojiinions of mo.st of his generals, in the 
campaign whicli opened the way for I be advance on 
Chattanooga. In the battle of Chickamauga. in 
which tlu^ Uiiiiin forces were badly defeated, Gar- 
field was .sent, while the engagement was still active, 
to convey dispatches to Thomas, who, on being ad- 
vised of the nece.s.sities of the situ.'ition. move(i liis 
wing of the army forward raiiidly and succeeded in 
saving Rosecrans's Hying forces. This occasion was 
the la.st appearance of Gen. Garfield on a field of bat- 
tle. On Dec. 5, 18(i3, he resigned his commission, and 
went to take his seat in congress, being at once made 
a member of the military committee of the bouse, a 
position which he contimieil to hold until the clo.se 
of the war. Gartieid justly believed that his ])ath 
of usefulness to the couiUry lay in the direction of 
politics rather than that of military alTaiis. He soon 
became known in the house as a powerful speaker. 
His first .speech of importance in the hou.se of repre- 
sentatives was delivere(l Jan. 38, 1804, and was in 
favor of the confiscation of rebel property. In 
JIarch. 1804, Garfield sjioke on free conuuercc be- 
tween the states, and .fan. 11}. 186r>, on a consti- 
tutional amendment abolishing slavery. In 1805 he 



was assigned to the committee on ways and means, 
and in March, 1800, made an elaborate speech on the 
public debt and specie payments. He also spoke on 
the revision of the tarill and against the inti.ition of 
the currency. December, 1807, lie returned to the 
military committee as chairman, and during the re- 
construction period he held that position. In Janu- 
ary, 18(i.S, Mr. (Jarfield in this comieclion delivered a 
speech in w hich he severely criticised the action of 
the president and the course of Maj.-Gen. Hancock, 
at that time military governor of Texas and Louisi- 
ana, and more p.-irticul.-irly the latter's celebrated 
" Order No. 4(1." by which Hancock endeavored to 
restore judicial proceedings in the territory imder 
his conun.-md through the courts which existed be- 
fore the war, and through which, he lielieved, jus- 
tice could be obtained for all the people with the 
least possible friction. Garfield sustained the mo- 
lion to impeach I'lcsident Johnson, and throughout 
bis congrcs-sional career was a strictly party debater 
and leader. In 1808 he made an argument on the 
currency and on ta.xing U. S. bonds. In the next 
congress he was chairman of the committee on bank- 
ing and currency. He drafted several itnjiortant 
bills, and in 1871-7.') was made chairman of the com- 
mittee on appropriations. In 1873 charges of cor- 
nqition were made against Garfield in connection 
with the exposure of the "Credit Mobilier." Tlie.se 
charges excited earnest discus.sioii, even in his own 
congressional district, where he defended him.self 
with great force and determination in personal 
speeches and in a panqihlet. He succeeded in regain- 
ing bis renominalioii and re-election. The charges 
were renewed two yi'a is later, but again he succeeded, 
and in 1870 and 187s opjiosition on this ground was 
practically at aneiid, but the "Credit Mobdier" inves- 
tigation and the "Salary grab" 
resulted in a tidal wave for the 
(lenKicratic jiarly in the election 
of 1874. and it was not until 1877, 
when Jlr. Hlaine, the re])ublican 
leader of the house, was traii.s- 
ferrcd to the senate, giving Gar- 
field his op|iortuiiity, that the 
leadership descended to him with- 
out oppixsition. During the fol- 
lowing years he spoke frequenllj- 
on important measures, such as 
the Hland silver bill, the protec- 
tive tarilf, and on the passage of 
ap|iropriation bills witliout polit- 
ical riders. In l.syo he was elect- 
ed by the Ohio legislature U. S. senator for 
six years from March 4, 1881. In the repub- 
lican convention at Chicago, June. 1880, Jlr. 
Garfield appeared in behalf of the claim of 
John Sherman to llie nomination for the 
presi(iencv. In the early part of the conven- 
tion his advocacy of his friend sei'Uied to be 
earnest and faithful, but as the difiieulty of 
making a choice became more obvious, and 
the necessity for the selection of .scmie one 
outside the familiar group of possible candi- 
dates presented iLself, the confidence of the 
convention began to center in James A, 
Garfield as the only one whose nomination 
was feasible. Some accused him of selling 
out Sherman in his own interest, but many 
of those iiresent afterward remarked the almost an- 
guished expression of James A. (Jartield, when del- 
egation after delegation came over in res])on.se to the 
announcement of his name, and when at last the 
nomination was made, it is said that he was entirely 
unmanned by the unexpectedness of the honor and 
the exciting conditions under wliieh he obtained it. 
The campaign was a vigorous oiie.during which the 
old " Credit Mobilier " charges were brought up — of 





/Monument' it ij 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



369 



course by the democrats — iiud tossed back and forth 
between the two excited parties. Dissensions in the 
democratic party in the state and city of New York 
and the alleged traitorous selling out of democratic 
votes for the presidencj- in exchange for republican 
help in the state and local oftices were reasons com- 
monly given and by very many believed, why (len. 
Hancock was defeated and James A. Gartiekl elect- 
ed. Immediately after his election Gartield foimd 
him.self in the midst of internal dissensions in the re- 
publican party in the stale of Xew York, there be- 
ing formed two factions — the stalwarts, as they were 
called, of which Senator Conkling nuist be consid- 
ered the active leader, and the half-breeds, in whose 
interest Garfield appointed Mr. William H. Robert- 
son, Conkling's chief political enemy in the state, as 
collector of the port of New York. The brief pres- 
idential career of Mr. Gartield was destined to end 
in a tragedy. On July 2, 18S1, the president had 
arranged to attend the commencement exercises of 
Williams College and also to make a somewhat ex- 
tended trip through the New England slates. He 
accordingly went to the station in Washington of 
the Baltimore and Potomac Hailroad, accompanied 
by his .secretary of state, James G. Blaine. The 
party jiassed through the door which opened into 
the ladies' room, where a few people were waiting, 
and among them was a man who afterward proveii 
to be Charles Jules Guiteau. As the presi<lent, 
walking armin-arm with his secretary, jiassed this 
man, he turned, made a .step in their direction and, 
drawing a heavy revoh-er from his pocket, pointed 
it carefully and tired deliberately at the president. 
The latter said nothing, but turned and with a sur- 
prised but not excited look gazed at Guiteau. Sec- 
retary Blaine sjirang to one side. Guiteau recocked 
his revolver and deliberately tired again at the pres- 
ident, wlio fell to the tloor, covered with blood. 
Guiteau lied, dropping his pistol as he went, but was 
immediately caught. jMeanwhile the president 
neither stirred nor spoke. An amliulancc was sum- 
moned and he was driven to the executive man.sion, 
where he was at ouce attended In" the best physi- 
cians in Washington. It was judged by them, and 
more particularly In- Dr. Bliss, that his condition 
was so critical it would be highly dangerous to at- 
tempt to probe for the ball. To these phy.sicians 
the death of the president seemed very near, but, as 
not altogether luifrequently happens, in this instance 
medical judgment was at faidt. The president con- 
tinued to linger, and at length it was determined to 
remove him to the seashore, and he was accordingly 
taken to Elberon. near Long Branch, where for a 
time the sea breezes seemed to assist nature in the 
efforts to restore him to health. For eighty days 
the condition of the wounded and suffering presi- 
dent continued to hold the sympathy, not only of the 
people of his own country, but of those of all civil- 
ized nations. Bulletins were constantly issued, and 
though these sometimes indicated grounds for hope, 
the dying man gradually became ifeebler, and wast- 
ing slowly, day by day, on Mond:iy, 8ept. 19th, death 
relieved him from his sulTerings. The remains of 
the late president were removed to Washington and 
placed in the rotunda of the capitol. where they lay 
in slate until the 2;5d. At the foot of the coffin rest- 
ed an immense wreath of white rosebuds ordered to 
be pl.iced there l)y (Jueen Victoria, and beaiing this 
inscription : " Queen Victoria to the memory of the 
late President G.irtield. .\n expression of her .sor- 
r<nv and sympathy with Mrs. (Jartieldand tlie Amer- 
ican nation." President Garfielil was a very many- 
sided man. Brilliant and dashing as a polilical 
leader, pos.se.s.sing remarkable eloi|Uence, gifted with 
a stalwart form ati<l a tine, buoyant, animated face, 
he reminded one in some respects of Gambetia 
There was no more able debater on the tloor of the 



house during the period in which he was a rei)resent- 
ative. He was, as he himself conceded, a strong 
parlisiin. and was ofUai misled by this narrowness 
of polilical vision to the detriment of himself and 
even of the party which he desired to serve. 'I'lie 
curious lendeucy toward an emolional sort of relig- 
ious fervor which characterized his youthful en- 
trance into the Campbellite Church, represented one 
jili.ase of his nature, its rom.-uilic and .sen.suons side. 
G.'irtield had. after leaving college, devoled himself 
to such reading and study as woidd eventually make 
him a scholar of considcMable lueadlh and force. He 
was fond of general literature, read French with 
facility and liked the work of the best French nov- 
elists. He was genial and companionable insocielj-, 
but the tenacity of his friendship would .seem "to 
have been rather that belonging to luemliership in a 
partv or a comnuinity, than to individual allection. 
Thedale of President"Gartield's deal his Sept. ID.lHHl. 
GARFIELD, Lucretia Rudolph, wife of 
President James A. Gartield. was born at Hiram, 
Portage Co.. O., Apr. 19. IWK. thedaughler of Zebu- 
Ion Rudolph, a fanner, and one of the founders of 
Hiram College. Her mother was 
a daughter of Elijah .Mason, of 
Connecticut, and a descendant of 
Gen. Nathauael Greene. Lucre- 
tia and Mr. Garfield allended the 
sjime school, and after she was 
graduated from Hiram Collc:;c 
she taught .school until they were 
married, Nov. 11. 1SI)8. just after 
he became principal of the col- 
lege. Thev removed to Colum- 
bus, O., in'lHfiO, and in 1808 lo 
Washington, D. C. Mrs. Garfield 
did not enter into the gay society 
of the capital, but showed her 
friends uuieli hospitality, and de- 
voted llu' largest part of her time 
to study, to household duties, and 
to her children. She entered the 
White House feeling the great 
responsibility of the position, and 
during her short residence there 
senile dignity, .sincerilv, and an 




V 



\ 



^^Jly^uiC, 



manifested such 
evident desire lo 
faithfully fulfill her dutie-s, that she won the admira- 
tion, respect and sympathy of every one. 



WINDOM, William, secretary of the treasury. 

(See In.lex.) 

LINCOLN, Robert Todd, secretary of warand 
minister lo England, was born in Siiringfield, HI., 
Aug. 1. 1843. the eldest child of .\braliam Lincoln. 
At this time Abraham Lincoln, who had been in the 
stale legislature from 1834 to 1841. when he declined 
further" re-eleclion, was practicing law in Spring- 
field, and boarding at a tavern or hotel called the 
Globe, and it was there that Robert Lincoln was 
born. In Springlield he pas.sed his early boyhood. 
At the age of .seven years he entered a local academy 
taught by Jlr. Eslerl)rook. where he remained for 
three years, when he entered the IlliiKiis Slate I'lii- 
versily, and, continuing there for the six years next 
ensuing, went to ExeteV, X. H., in 1859, and for a 
year studied at the Phillips Academy in that town. 
He then went lo Harvard, where he was graduated 
in 1804, when he made a short course in Harvard 
Law School, and then aiiplied to his father for ad- 
mission to the military service. The excellent 
education which the young man had obtained was 
due, of course, in ixreat uu'asure, to the fact thai his 
father, lliroughout bis life, had felt deeply the need 
of lilerarv atlairunent, and had determined that his 
sou should at least not be lacking in thai particular. 
After leaving Harvard Law School, and obtaining 
his father's permission to enter the service, he re- 



370 



THE I^ATIOXAL CYCLOPiEDIA 




ceived an appointment as volunteer aid on the staff 
of Gen. Grant, being commissioned a captain, and 
he saw .service in tiie final campaign, ending at Ap- 
pomattox, resigning on .July 10, ISIi.j. lie now went 
to Chicago, where he continued the study of law, 
and worlied conscientiously for the purpose of 
founding a business career for himself. He was pe- 
culiarly sensitive in the matter of gaining reputation 
or position on account of the name lie bore, and this 
sensitiveness, planted on a nature wliicli in its youlli 
wa.s curiously remarliable for stubbornness and a 
phlegmatic temperament, made Inm perliaps more 
marked tlian would liave otherwise been tlie ease. He 
was admitted to the bar of Illinois on Feb. 26, IstiT, 
and soon alter formed a law part- 
nership under the name of Scam- 
mon & Lincoln, which, however, 
did not last long. In 1872 be 
traveled during the autumn and 
winter in Europe, and on return- 
ing formed a eopartnerslnp with 
Edward S. Isliam, of Chicago, 
under the name of Isliam & Lin- 
coln. In 1ST6 he was elected 
supervisor in South Chicago, and 
held the office for one year. Dur- 
ing tliat year he made his first 
political speech at a HIaine meet- 
ing. As supervisor, he succeed- 
ed in fighting a ring which had 
/?\f-^ . gained control over affairs, and 
^^ J-t~ ^/rr redeemed the reputation of South 
^ » y k^CTU.. Chicago ; meanwhile, whenever 
considered or spoken of, Mr. 
Lincoln was recognized as a 
man of .sound sense, good judgment and intei;rity 
of character, and his personalily grew steadily iii 
the contidence of the people. "He was a delegate 
of Cook county to the Illinois state convention at 
Springfield, called together for the nomination of 
delegates to the republican national convention, held 
in Chicago .June 2, 1S80, and was subsequently 
cho.sen one of the presidential electors of the state. 
He was warmly in favor of the nomination of Gen. 
Grant for the presidency, but so far as any political 
ambition on his own part was concerned, he had up 
to this time shown none whatever. He approved of 
the election of Gen. Garfield, but had no idea that 
he was under the hitter's consideration at all for any 
position, until he was notified, in ISSI, in a letti'r 
from Mr. Garfield, of the hitter's intention to nomi- 
n.ate him for .secretary of war. At first inclined lo 
refuse the position, he at length determined to .-iccept 
it, aud so telegraphed to the'presidcnt. On the as- 
sassination of Gen. Garfield, and the accession of 
Vice-President Arthur to the iiresidency. Secretary 
Lincoln was the only memlier of the existing cabinet 
who was requested lo retain bis office, which lie did 
until the close of the adminisl ration. His reputation 
as a caliinet officer w;is high; his performance of the 
duties devolving upon him showed ,a clear head, 
good judgment, anil a trained and melliodieal mind, 
combined with determined industry and earneslro.ss 
of purpo.se. Among the officers of the army his ad- 
ministration was exceedimily populiir. That it was 
generally IxOieved that Mr. Lincoln had valuable ad- 
ministrative ipialities might be judged from the fact 
that, just prior to his appoiiiliiieiit as secretary of 
war, he had been apiioiiiled by the governor of'llli- 
nois one of the trustees of the Illinois Central Hail- 
road. In 1884 Mr. Lincoln was frecpiently named 
as a po.s.sible candidate for the presidency! but re- 
fu.sed to allow his name to lie mentioned on account 
of President Arthur's being a candidate before the 
convention. In ISH.T h(. returned to Chicago and re- 
sumed the practice of law. When President Harrison 
assumed otiice, he sent Mr. Lincoln's name to the 



U. S. senate as minister to the Court of St. James, 
without the hitter's knowledge. The appointment 
was at first refused, priuciiially on account of the 
fact that it wa.s one of the most expensive ottices in 
the gift of tlie government, while being compara- 
tively very poorly paid, but, at the earnest solicitation 
of Mr. Harrison and Mr. 15laine, he recon.sidered the 
honor and finally accepted. In London, Mr. Lincoln 
made himself deservedly popular, both among the 
English people and with his countrymen who had 
occa.sion to visit the great Uritish capital. Mean- 
while, he continued to be a presidential pos.sibility 
in the republican party, having a certain popularity 
of his own, which. ei>mbined w itii his name and his 
good record, gave him certain veiy powerful advan- 
tages which would 'indoubtedly tell in the case of 
his nomination. 

BLAINE, James G. , secretary of state. (See 
Index.) 

HUNT, William Henry, .secretary of the navy, 
was born in Cliarleston, S. ('., in 1824. He was the 
youngest son of Thomas and Louisa (Gaillard) Hunt, 
aud grandson of Robert Hunt, who had twice been 
governor of the Bahama Islands and president of the 
king's council at Xa.s,sau in the i.sland of New Prov- 
idence, at a period when these colonies were im- 
portant po.s.ses.sious of the British crown. Thomas 
Hunt was a planter, and at the same time a distin- 
gui.shed lawyer and a member of the South Carolina 
legislature. Louisa Gaillard, liis wife, was of a well- 
known famil_v of South Carolina. One of her broth- 
ers, .lohn Gaillard, was for twenty-two years U. S. 
senator from South Carolina, and often president 
pro tern, of that body. Anotlier brother, Theodore 
Gaillard, was one of the earliest judges of tlie U. S. 
circuit court for the fifth district, and afterward was 
apjiointed U. S. district judge for Louisiana. Wil- 
liam H. Hunt had three brothers — Theodore and 
Kandell, both prominent lawj-ersand public men 
of Lcaiisiaiia. ami Thoma.s, a physician of high re- 
pute in his day in the South. William H. Hunt 
received a good public-school education and entered 
the cla.ss of '43 in Yale College, where he remained, 
however, only two years, when he settled in Xew 
Orleans. His family had opposed the radical south- 
ern views of .lohn C. Cal- 
houn, tills being one cause 
of their removal to Louis- 
iana, where their political 
surroundings were more con- 
genial. At the age of twenty- 
one .Mr. Hunt was admitted 
to the bar, and during the 
next thirty years continued 
to reside in New Orleans, en- 
gaged in the conduct of his 
large law business, and for 
a time filling a professor 
ship in a New Orleans law 
school, and holding no jiiib- 
lic otfiee whatever during 
this iieriod. Before the war 
Mv. lluut was a whig. I)ur- . i • , , 

ing the war he was" known /}y ^^,^^a.,„^^tJ^^~'^Y^'^'^l^ 
as a Union man, and after ' ' ^ 
the war he was a stanch 

republican. In 1876 he was appointed by Gov. 
Kellogg attorneygeneral of Ijouisiana to fill a va- 
cancy in that olliee, and the same year the repub- 
licans nominated him for the office, and claimed that 
he was elected, but the democratic .state oltici'is were 
recognized by President Hayes. In 1877 Mr. Hunt 
went to Washington for the purpose of presenting 
the ca.se of the republican stale government lo Pres- 
ident Hayes's consideration. He returned to New 
Orleans the .same year and continued to practice law 
until May, 1878, when he was appointed and con- 




OF AMKKICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



371 



20, 1813. 



flrmeil as jiKlffe of the V. S. court of rlaiius. In 
18><0. when Justice Strong- rcsij;ned from the supreme 
court of the United States, a movement was made 
on the part of the bar of Louisiana, without respe<-t 
to iiarty, to induce the president to appoint .Mr. Ilunt 
to tlie position. This was not done, liowever, l)ut in 
February, 1881, the last month of the admini.stration 
of President Ha}"es, Mr. Hunt was olfered thejudsie- 
ship of tlie U. S. circuit court for the tiftli district, 
which Iniil been held by his mother's brother, but 
he declined the office. On Marcli .">. 18(^1, Jlr. Hunt 
became secretary of the navy by apiiointment of 
President Gartield. He retired from the cabinet in 
favor of William E. Chandler, of New llamp.shire, 
Apr. 1, 1883, on the reorganization of the cabinet 
by President Arthur. In"l883 Mr. Hunt was ap- 
pointed minister to Ru.ssia. He was a conspicu- 
ous figure in the legal life of New Orleans, being 
always concerned in important cases in the admi- 
ralty and chancery courts. He was a close student 
and adherent of the doctrines of Alexander Hamil- 
ton, but was always a devoted defender of the Union. 
As a member of the cabinet and in the discharge of 
his new duties he continued to sustain a high reputa- 
tion. Mr. Hunt died in St. Petersburg Feb. 27, 1884. 
KIBKWOOD, Samuel Jordan, secretary of 
the interior, and governor of Iowa (1860-04 and 
187G-7T), was born in Harford count}', Md., Dec. 
He received an academic education in 
Washington, D. C. At the age 
of fourteen he was employed as 
a druggist's clerk at the capital, 
and remained in that business for 
seven years. In 1835 he removed 
to Ricldand county, O.. where he 
studied law. and was admitt<'d to 
the bar in 1843. For four yeais 
he was prosecuting attorney for 
the county, and in 18,50 was a 
member of the judicial committee 
of the constitutional convention, 
which contributed largely to the 
state con.stitution, which was 
adopted in 18.51. In 185.5 he re- 
moved to Iowa, where he engaged 
I ., in the double business of farming 

,/.9 Jy^ jt^ ^ and milling, near Iowa Citv. In 

"■^ ^ l^^'^-^^l'--^-^r~^ 1856hewaselectedtothe.statesen- 
ate,and served through the last ses- 
sion held at Iowa City,and the first held at Des Moines. 
In 1859 he was chosen governor of Iowa over the dem- 
ocratic candidate, by a majority of 3,964. His admin- 
istration proved so satisfactory during that critical 
period, that he was re-elected in 1861. It is .said of 
him that he saved the state $500,000 from the $800,- 
000, approjiriated for defence bonds. He was a 
strong Union man, and as governor sent about fifty 
regiments to the war, nearly all of them for three 
years, the result being that Iowa was one of the few 
stales in which there was no draft. In 1862 Presi- 
dent Lincoln otlered Gov. Kirkwood the post of 
U. S. minister to Denmark, but he declined it. In 
1S66 lie was elected a member of tlie U. S. .senate, to 
fill out the unexpired term of .lames Harlan, and 
while there .served on the committee on public lands. 
In 181)7. at the expiration of the term, he returned to 
Iowa ("ity where he continued to pursue his private 
business." In .Inly, 1875, he was noniiiialed for 
governor for a third term by the re|)ul)li<-ans and 
was elected. In January, 187'6, he was again electeil 
to the U. S. senate, where he continued until ISSl. 
During his careerin the senate he was distinguished 
for his clear and thoughtful consideration of all sub- 
jects brought before him. particularly thos(' pertain 
ing to the <Iomeslic affairs of the nation. It was 
probably his special knowledge and fitness in this 
particular, and his wise treatment of the Indian 





question, while in the .senate, that induced President 
Oarfield to appoint him secretary of the interior, 
March 5. bSHl. Hi; continued in this office after 
President (iarfield's death until Ajir. 6, 1.SH3, when 
he was succeechul by Henry M. Teller of Colorado, 
appointcil by President Arthur. After this period, 
Senator Kirkwood held no public office. 

JAMES, Thomas L., postmaster-general, was 
born in Utica, Oneida Co., N. Y., March 29, 1831. 
I'p to the age of fifteen he attended the public schools 
of Utica, where he was recognized as a bright, viva- 
cious boy, quite as faithful to 
his studies as any of his young 
companions, yet gaining the af- 
fections of those with whom he 
was brought in contact by his 
amiable and attractive nature. 
When he was fifteen years of 
age he left school, and was aj)- 
jirenticed to Wesley Bailey, of 
Utica, printer, for five years. 
He was the father of E. P. Bai- 
ley, editor and publisher of the 
Utica " Observer." At the age 
of twenty he became a partner 
of Francis B. Fisher in publish- 
ing the " Madison County Jour- 
nal," at Hamilton, Madison Co., 
N. Y., where he went to reside. 
This was an important period in 
politics, the closing up of the old 
and the beginning of the new re- 
gime. The paper was whig in its politics, and in the 
neighborhood of its place of publication were some of 
the leading men of the country, such asGerrit Smith, 
Thurlow '\Veed, Edwin D. Morgan, Roscoe Conkling 
and others. Mr. James showed himself to be an en- 
thusiastic, energetic yet judicious yoinig editor, and 
speedily made an impression on the minds of men 
such as these. In 1852 Mr. James was married to 
Emily I. Freeburn, In 18.54 he wasa]ipointcd canal 
collector at Hamilton, N. Y., a position which he 
held for two years. In 1856 the "Madison County 
Journal " was united with the " Democratic Heflect- 
or," under the name of the " Demoeratic-Kepubli- 
can." But small localities in the interior of the 
state were not stirring enough, or of sufficient im- 
portance, to very long hold a man of the calibre of 
Jlr. James, and in 1861 he went to the metroijolis, 
where Hiram Barney, at that time collector of the 
port, apiiointed him inspector. From this he was 
soon promoted to the po.sition of weigher of teas in 
the warehouse department, and when Thomas Mur- 
phy became collector he made Mr. James deputy 
collector of the third (warehouse) division, where he 
remained under the administration of Chester A. Ar- 
thur, who succeeded IMurphy as collector of the 
port. In whatever position he had been up to this 
time, Jlr. James had in:ule for himself friends among 
the most inlluential men in political and business 
life, and so it happened that, when President Grant 
was m.aking up his mind as to whom he should give 
the imiiortant position of postma.ster of New York, 
he found that the general tendency of suggestion and 
advice poinleil to .Mr. James. The habits of the 
latter had been formed on such a m'ethiHlical founda- 
tion, and he was so exact in his work, and so rapid 
in the comu^ption and execution of his|)lans, that his 
value as a public ofiieer could hardly be overesti- 
mated. .Vppointed jio.stm.-isler at New York March 
17, 1873, he found tin; office in a condition which 
showed clearly the necessity for reorganization, and, 
in many instances, for an entirely new arrangement 
for the delivery of the mails to the .satisfaction of the 
enormous and growing business interests of the 
metropolis. A very brief study of the situation in- 



372 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



formed the new postmaster of the ilircction in wliicli 
improvcmenls could be made, and he set himself 
about making them with such zeal and efficiency 
that the New Yorlj office presently became a model 
for all others in the country. The election of Presi- 
dent Hayes brought about new appointments in New 
York, and, while the names of gentlemen to succeed 
Gren. Arthur as collector and Mr. Cornell as naval 
otiicer were pending in the senate 
committee on commerce, on account 
of the aggressive oppo.sition of Mr. 
Conkling and other anti-administration 
senators, the collectorship of the port of 
• New York was olfered to Mr. .lames, 
but declined. In the meanlinie Mr. 
James had been reappointed ])(istmas- 
ter by President Hayes.aiid. his services 
phavingbeen recognized as marking a new era in postal 
[administration, he naturally felt disinclined to e.\- 
r change that po.sition for any other wliile he still had 
j in regard to it important plans to carry out. Besides 
j this, having been Gen. Arthur's deputy, he could not 
(consent to^upersede him. In 18H0 Postniaster-Gen- 
c'f:- eral Key was transferred to a circuit judgeship of the 
"f"^ U. S. court, and the vacant cabinet position was offered 
^''^ to Postmaster .James, but declined. During the same 
year the republicans offered him the nomination for 
mayor of New York, but this lionor he also declined. 
Finally, however, when President Garfield announc- 
ed his cabinet on March .'5, 1.SH1, there was general 
rejoicing in both parties when it was .seen that ^Ir. 
James had been appointed postmaster-general. His 
new office w.a.s, he soon found, full of difficulties. 
The department of the second assistant postmaster- 
general offered for investigation the scandalous con- 
dition of the "star route" and steamboat mail 
contracts, which it was evident had been dishonestly 
manipidated, wi'.li the result of the robbeiT of the 
government of large sums. It was expected by the 
people, and justly expected, that Postmaster-General 
James would make such an examination of his of- 
fice as would expose the guilty parties, and break 
up the existing wrong-doing. The opposition to 
such action on his part, however, was ])rolonged, 
powerful and bitter. It included the persistent an- 
tagonism of his personal and jiolitical enemies, and 
even of some who had been his friends. New.spa- 
pers were subsidized at the capilol and in other cities 
to attack the postmaster-general and his assistants in 
the mo.st determined and obnoxious manner, but none 
of these affected Mr. James in the way of causing 
him to lessen his efforts to break up the nest of dis- 
honest officials, whose nefarious work was speedily 
laid l)are before him. The ilishonest mail routes 
were cut off, faithless employees were dismissed, and 
the general tone of the service was strengthened and 
improved. He had been met on his entrance into 
office by the fact of an annual deficit of $2,000,000, 
which had varied in amount every year from 18fi,5, 
and, with one or two excejitions, from 18.51. The 
reductions which he made in the star route service 
and the .steamboat service amounted to over $2,000.- 
000. wliile his thorough investigation into the abuses 
and frauds of the post-office resulted in the famous 
star route trials, and revealed the scandals which 
bad existed in that service i)rior to his assuming 
charge of it. Ap|>lying, as far as it was practica- 
ble, the civil service metlKHls which had been in 
operation in the New York iiost-office to his new 
fielil of operations, the postal service was made .self- 
sustaining up to the time when the rate of postage 
was reduced by act of congress. After the de]i!oi'a- 
ble event of the as,sassination of President Garfield, 
and the assumptiou of the presidential chair by (xcn. 
Arthur, Mr. James was reapiiointed by the latter to 
the position of po.stniaster-general. But the political 
conditions rendered it desirable for him to go out of 



the public service, and he accordingly resigned his 
l)ortfolio to become president of the Lincoln Nation- 
al Hank, then just organized in New York city, and 
where he assumed office in January, 1883. "Com- 
Iiined with the bank was the Lincoln Safe Deposit 
Company, of which Mr. James became also presi- 
dent, and both these institutions, under his shrewd 
business management, and greatly on account of his 
own personal popularity, grew to be thoroughly suc- 
cessful. Genial in his hianner. quick and apprecia- 
tive in his understanding, the social position of Jlr. 
.Tames matches his ofhcial standing. He has friends 
innunieralilc; indeed, no one who is brought in close 
or conliniied eonfaet with him fails to become his 
friend. .Meanwhile, the public mind is ready at any 
moment to turn to him when the demand comes for 
the filling of a place of trust, or in an emergency 
calling for the prompt exercise of sui)erior executive 
skill. Jlr. James holds ilieilegree of A.M., conferred 
upon him by Hamilton Coliege, Clinton, N. Y., in 
1HU2, and that of LL.D., from Madison University, 
in 1882. St. John's College, at Kordham. N. "i., 
also conferred ujion him the degree of LL.D. 

Mac'VEAGH, 'Wayne, attorney- general, was 
born in Phieiiixville, Chester Co., Pa., Apr. 19, 1833. 
He was ]>repared for college at a .school in Pottstown, 
and entered Yale, where he was graduated in the 
famous class of '.")3, standing tenth in a class of 108. 
As a student young JlacVeagh distinguished him- 
self as a debater in the college society, being luited 
for his power of .sarcasm and irony, and Ms (piick- 
ness of repartee. He first became known as an able 
debater in college when the cpiestion arose as to 
whether or not the United Slates should recognize 
Hungary. Kossuth w^s at this time in the lulled 
Slates, and the feeling of the entire public was on the 
side of Hungary, yet MaeVeagh 
took the negative .side in the de- 
bate and astonished everyone 
by the strength and force of his 
argument and the quantity of 
information which he possessed 
on the subject. On leaving 
college Mr. JIacVeagh went to 
West Chester, Pa., and entered 
the office of James J. Lewis, 
where he began to study law. 
He was remarkable for his in- 
dustry and power of applica- 
tion, "and in 18.56 was admitted 
to the bar, and soon gained a 
reputation as a very able lawyer. 
It was not long before his repu- 
lation became national, as Mr. 
MaeVeagh was frequently call- 
ed to plead before tlie supreme 
court of the UnitedStales. When 
the civil war broke out Mr. JIacVeagh entered the 
Union service, and was made major of a cavalry reg- 
iment. He was obliged to resign, however, on account 
of the condition of his health. In 1803 he w.as chair- 
man of the re]iublican stale central commiltee of 
Pennsylvania. In 1870 Presidcul (irant aiipointed 
him United States minister to Constantinople, and 
he remained abroad unlil 1872. when he returned 
home and fought the Cameron faelion in Peimsyl- 
vania. lieing bitterly opposed lo m.'icliini' polilics.and 
this although he married a dau'j;liler of Simon Cam- 
eron and was always on friendly social terms with 
the family, though bitterly opposed to them politi- 
cally. Jir. MaeVeagh was appoinled on March .5, 
1881, by President Garfield attorney-general of the 
United "States, liut resigned the office on the acces- 
sion of Gen. Arthur to the presidency. Before tak- 
ing a cabinet position he had for some years acted as 
coun.scl for the Pennsylvania Kailroad Compauj'. 




m\ 





OPYRIOUT. «?!. B» J«Ut! T. *"'" « "' 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



375 



ABTHtTB, Chester Alan, twenty first presi- 
dent of th(^ United States, was liorn in Faii'liehi, 
Franldin Co., Vt., Oct. r>, 18:!0. His fattier, \Villi;un 
Artlinr, was au Iri.sli eleri^yniau, wlio was unuiwaled 
froni Belfast College, and came to the United Slates, 
■where, after studynig law for a brief period, he he- 
came a Baptist minister. He was a man of tine eilu- 
cation and remarkable attninmeMts, and publislied, 
in 1857, a work of importance, entitled "An Ktymo- 
logical Dictionary of Family and Christian Naiiies," 
an interesting and valuable contribution to the sul)- 
ject. Chester A, Arthur was the eldest child of his 
parents. His first schooling was obtained at Union 
Village, Wa.shington Co., N. Y., and afterward he 
studied at an institution in Seheneetady. where, in 
184.5, he entered Union College. He taught school 
during his sophomore year, and again in the last 
year of his college course. He was remarkal)ly 
popular among his school and college-mates, a mem- 
ber of the societies of his college, and at the same 
time an indefatigable student. His graduation, in 
1848, was distinguished by more than usual honors. 
On leaving Union College he went to Ballston Spa 
to the law stOiool, where he .studied .several months 
with the determination of following that profession 
as a business. In 1851 he became iirincipal of the 
academy at North Pownal, Vt., wliere he found 
time, however, to continue his law studies. In 1853 
be went to New York, and entered the law otliee of 
Mr. E. G. Culver, where he studied 
a 3'ear, wlien he was admitted to 
practice at the l)ar, becoming a 
member of the firm of Culver, 
Parker & Arthur. A most im- 
portant and succe.ssful case in 
which he was engaged in his 
early practice was that well 
known as the " Lemmon " slave- 
case, the question being on the 
legality of holding slaves in a free 
state while in transitu between 
two slave states. Mr. Arthur con- 
ducted the case, which went 
against the slave-owner. The leg- 
islature of Virginia afterward in- 
structed its attorney - general to 
employ counsel and ajipeal to 
the higher courts of New York; 
this was done, and the case was 
again tried, Mr, Arthur acting as 
state's attorney, associated with William JI. Evarts 
as counsel. The decision of the lower court was 
sustained by the supreme court, and later by the 
court of appeals, where the case of the slaveholder 
was argued by Charles O'Couor. This court also 
sustained the decision, which forever settled the 
question as to the right of a slaveholder to take his 
slaves into the state of New York. While actively 
interested in politics from his youth, the year 1856 
brought Mr. Arthur iirominently before the public 
in a political sense, through his being made a dele- 
gate to the Saratoga convention, whicli i)ractically 
founded the republican party. Ujion the election of 
E. I). Morgan to the governorship, in 18(!0. Jlr. 
Arthur was appointed engineer-in-ehief on his statV. 
He was already interested in the militia organization 
of the state, aiid had been judge-advocate general 
of the 2d brigade. His experience in military 
matters caused him to be called upon at once on the 
outbreak of the rebellion. Gov. Morgan sumnioncd 
him to Albany, where he was requested to take upon 
himself the duties of quartermaster-general of New 
York. To him. therefore, fell the task, at the very 
beginning of the war, of organizing the subsistence, 
quartering, uniforming, equipping and arming the 
New York quota of "soldiers. This involved the 
handling of several hundred thousanil men. and 




y^4*z^:^j^^^^ 



Gen. Arthur sliowed his wonderful administrative 
cajiacity and his (piick apiueeiation of the delicate 
nature of his functions by forwarding lU'arly 7110,000 
men to the front during th(; period in which he held 
office. Tliis was, in fact, nearly one-fiftli of all the 
men sent to the war. In Februar}', 18()2, Gen. 
Arthur was appointed ins])ector-general, and in May 
following he went to the; front and thoroughly in- 
.spected tlie New York slate troo|>s; and wliilc there, 
in view of an cxjiected advance on liichmond, he 
voiunteerc'd for duty on the staff of Maj.-Geu. Hunt. 
In December, 18(i8, the democratic .state administra- 
tion coining in power, Gen. Arthur was deprived of 
liis otliee, and resumed the practice of his profession, 
at first in partnership with Henry G. (Jardner until 
1807; then for live years alone, and on .Ian. 1. IS72, 
in the firm of Arlliur, I'helps it Kncvals. During 
this period he was for a time counsel for the depart- 
ment of asses-sments and ta.xes in New York, a po.si- 
tion which he, however, resigned. He was at all 
times actively interested in politics, and in 1808 was 
cliairman of the Central Grant Club of Xew York. 
On Nov. 20, 1871, Picsi<lenl (Jrant appointed Gen. 
Arthur collector of the jiort of New York. He 
introduced many reforms and imi)rovenients into the 
service, and in December, 1875, was reaiiiiointed to 
the collcctorship. being the first colleelor of the 
port to receive this honor. Under the Hayes ad- 
ministration. Collector Arllnir was requested to re- 
sign, on account of the determination on the jiart of 
the president to transfer the iiowerand jiatronage of 
his otliee to the use of a minorily laction in llie re- 
juiblican party. Collector Arthur declined to hand 
in his resignation, and was eventually susjiended 
from office. He held himself high in the controversy, 
which was almost altogether iiolitieal, and showed 
that he had greatly increased the revenue rcceiirts of 
the port while lessening the expense of collecting 
them. On retiring from his position as collector 
Gen. Arthvu' resumed his law practice, the firm be- 
ing now Arthur. Kuevals, Phelps & Ransom. In 
1880 he was again intluential in politics, advocating 
the nomination of Gen. Grant to succeed President 
Hayes. The defeat of John Sherman in the con- 
vention, and the nomination of Garfield being a blow 
at the Conkling wing of the republican party, and 
ending all possibility of Grant's obtaining a third 
term, made it necessary to do something to jilaeate 
the ".stalwarts," and Arthur was accordingly nomi- 
nated for the vice-])re.sideney, the nomination being 
made unanimous. Garfield and Arthur were elected, 
and the latter presided over the extra session of the 
senate, which began March 4, 1881, and continued 
imtil May 20th. Now began tlie political controversy 
over Garfield's nomination for collector of the ])oi-t 
of New York of William H. Robertson, who had 
been the leader of the New York anti-Grant dele- 
gates at the Chicago convention. Arthur supjiorted 
Senators Conkling an<l Piatt in their ojiposition to 
the confirmation of this nomination. Meanwhile 
the two senators from New York resigned, and on 
July 2, 1881, President (iarfield was shot, in Wash- 
inston, bv Guiteau, and after linm'ring painfully 
until Sept. l!)lh, died at Elberon, N. J., and Gen. 
Arthur became president of the United States. 
There was much excitement throughwul theecnmtry 
and on Sept. 20, 1881, Gen. Arthur took the oath 
as president of the United Stales at liis residence. 
123 J;exington Avenue, before Judge John R. lirady, 
of the New York supreme court. On the 22d the 
oath was formally administered again by Chief 
Justice Waite of the U. S. supreme court, in the 
vice-president's room in the Ca])it()l, at Washington, 
where PresidenI .\rthur delivered his iiniugural ad- 
dress. The administration of PresidenI Arthur, 
while not marked by any occurrence of grave iin 
portance, was characterized by dignified conduct on 



376 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



I 



the part of the president, and by an evident design to 
signalize his hokliug of tlie office Ijy evidences of 
bis patriotism, loyalty, and appreciation of his duties 
and responsibililifs. During his terra measures 
were recommended for tlie better goverumt-nt and 
control of the Indian tribes, and also stringent legis- 
lation against polygamy in Utah was not only sug- 
gested, but important laws enacted in that connec- 
tion. The adjudication of the French spoliation 
claims, which had hung fire for so many years, wiis 
made the suliject of a law, which itassed Jan. 20, 
1885. when preparation was made for carrying it 
intoelfect. President Arthurshoucd himself strong- 
ly ojiposed to extravagance in appropriations, and 
his veto of the river and harbor bill of 1SS2 was 
greatly commended. President Arthur presided at 
the dedication of the monument erected at Vorktown, 
Va., to commemorate the surrender of Lord Corn- 
■wallis at that place, Oct. 19, 1781. He was also 
present on many other similar public occa.sions, 
being always graceful and eloquent in the addresses 
which he made at such times. The republican 
presidential convention, which met in Chicago, June 
3, 1884, gave President Arthur 278 votes on the first 
ballot again.st 540 for all others; 37fi on the .second; 
274 on the third; and 207 on the fourth, when James 
G. Blaine was nominated. Among its resolutions 
the convention declared that: "In the administra- 
tion of President Arthur we recognize a wise, con- 
servative and patriotic policy under which the coun- 
try has been blessed l)y remarkable pros]ierity, and 
we believe his eminent services are entitled to and 
will receive the hearty approval of every citizen. 
The conventions in all the .slates had also unani- 
mously passed similar commendatory resolutions. 
Mr. Artluir married, Oct. 29, 1859, Ellen Lewis 
Herndon, of Fredericksburg, Va., daughter of Com. 
William Lewis Herndon, of the U. S. navy, well 
known as a government explorer of the Amazon 
river in 1851-.52. Com. Herndon died at sea in a 
gale, Sept. 12, 1857. while in command of the mer- 
chant steamer Central America, on a voyage from 
Havana to New York. Mrs. Arlhur died .Jan. 12, 
1880. She had three children,- one of whom died in 
1863; the other two, Chester Alan Arthur, and 
Ellen Herndon Arthur outliving her. President 
Arthur's death occurred suddenly, of apoplexy, at 
his resilience in Xew York on Ni")v. 18. 18S(i. 

FRELINGHUYSEN, Frederick Theodore, 
secretary of -state, was born at Millstone, Somerset 
Co., N. "J., Aug. 4, 1817, grandson of Gen. Frederick 
Frelmghuysen. Orphaned in 
infancy, he was adojiled by his 
uncle Theodore, in whose oflice 
he read law after graduating 
from Rutgers in 1S30. This cou- 
neetion brought in clients from 
his admis.siou to the bar in 1839. 
He became cityattorney of New- 
ark ten vears later, then coun- 
sel of tiie N. J. Cenlral U.K. 
Co., and of the Morris Canal 
Co., and was att(H'nev-!I<'neral 
of the .state l.'^Ol-GO. " In 18G1 
he was prominent in the Peace 
Congress. Toward the enii of 
1866, he was sent to the senate 
to fill a vacancy tuitil March. 
1869, and favori'd the im|ieach- 
nient of President J<ihnson in 
1868. In 1870 he declined, from 
domestic reasons, the great (lost 
of minister to England. His ambition was for .sena- 
torial rather than foreign distinction, and he was 
again in tlu^ .senate 1871-77. Here he was aclive, 
both on the tloor and in committees, and iire-^ided 
over that on foreign relatiims while the settlement of 




^S^ ^n^^^^^L-t-C-f?^^^*-*-*^! 



the Alabama claims was pending. The civil rights 
bill was given into his charge by Jlr. Sumner, and 
others which he introduced aimed at a gold curren- 
cy, the suiipre.ssion of inilyganiy among the Mormons 
and the relm-n of the indenuiity fund from Ja|)an. 
In an important test case he took ground with suc- 
cess against the allowance of war claims made by 
loyalists in the South. In 1876 he brought in a bill 
which might have averted the troubles arising from 
the close and contested presidential election of that 
year. It failed to pass, and early in 1877 he was 
one of the authors of the electoral commi.s.sion, and 
also one of its members. After this he returned to 
l)rivate life, antl to his legal |>ractiee. He was long 
a trustee of Uutgers College, which gave him his 
degree of LL. D., for a time president of the Bible 
society, and, like his uncle, on whom his character 
was largely modeled, a deeply religious man. After 
Mr. Arthur's succession to the presidency, he was 
called into the cabinet in December, 1881, as secre- 
tary of state, succeeding James G. Blaine. The 
duties of this office, which he discharged until March 
4, 1885, undermined bis health, and he retired from 
it to die at his home in Newark, N. J., May 20, 1885. 
FOLGER, Charles James, secretary of the 
treasury, was born in Nantucket, Mass., A]ir. 16, 
1818. "His family was founded by John Folger, 
who came to America from 
Norwich in the couutv of Nor- 
folk, Eng., in 1036. AVhen thir- 
teen years of age, the boy, 
Charges J. Folger, removed with 
his parents from Nantucket to 
Geneva, N. Y., which was ever 
after his home. He entered Ho- 
bart College where he was grad- 
naled in "ls36 at tlie age of 
eighteen with the highest hon- 
ors of his class. He decided on 
the profession of law and be- 
gan his studies in the office of 
Mark H. Sibley and Alvah 
Worden.who were practising in 
Canandaigua. He was admitted 
to the bar by tbi^ .supreme coint 
at Albanv iii 1S39, practised at /^/z^ "^ \/ -S?' X ^' "" 
Lyons for a short time, and I hen, >-^'=^- y~ v/c? /^-C-Z^ 
in 1840, returned to Geneva 
where he estalilished his office. He was soon apixiint- 
ed justice of the peace, and at once gave evidence of 
the judicial ability for which he afterward became 
dislinguislied. In 1844 he was appointed judge in 
tlie Ontario court of common pleas, in which he 
served one year. He was master anil examiner in 
chancery unlil the chancery court was aboli-shed by 
the adoption of the constitution of 1846. In 1851 
he was elected coiuUy judge of Ontario county, 
and held the office four years. He was a Silas 
"Wriiibt democrat, and afterward a "Barn-Burner," 
yet when the repvdilicau party was formed, it was 
an ea.sy matter for him to identify himsrlf with 
the new organizalioii, as he already held ]nogres- 
sive views on Ibe slavery queslion. He look an ac- 
tive part in politics, and was elected in the fall of 
1861 to represent the republicans of bis dislriel in 
the slate senate, and served there eight years in 
succession. After his fii-st year's service he was 
reeogiuzed as a leader of his parly in the uiiper 
branch of the legisl.-ilure. When Ibe eonslilulion- 
al convention met in 1867 Judge Folger was a 
member of il. and was a candidate for i)resident 
of the convention. b\it was defeated in the caucus 
by William A. Wlweler. He was, however, made 
ciiairman of Ibe Judiciary connnillee of the con- 
vention, in w hiisi- proceedings he look a prominent 
)iart. When Heuben E. Fenton was governor. 
Judge Folger attracted general attention by his ex- 




OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



377 



treme opposition, rrilicisini; severely in public de- 
bate some of the goveinnr's public arts. He also 
beamie known by his piomineuee in the contest 
between Com. Vanderbilt of tlie C'enlral Hailroad 
and .la)' Gould, of the Erie, when, in the legislature 
of IHtW, Vanderbilt was endeavoriuir to j^et posses- 
sion of the Erie Kailroad. .Judge Folger made a 
remarkable recoril liv tlw^ bold position h<^ took on 
Tweeils tax levy bills for New York citj'. In the 
senate he was the author of the famous protective 
labor bill, which guaranteed freedom of action to 
laboring men. He was the inicompromising en- 
emy of every species of debauchery and corrup- 
tion, and at all times tlic advocate and defender 
of plans for the relief of Union soUliers and their 
families. In 18()!l .Judge Folger was appointeil by 
President Grant .-issistant U. S. treasurer at New 
York city, and a year later, on the organization of 
the court of appeals, he was elected an associate 
I'udge. and on the ileath of Chief .Justice Church 
in l^iW), Gov. Cornell designated .Judge Folger to 
act as chief justice. On Oct. 27, 1881, .Judge Folger 
was nominated by I^resident Arthur to be .secretary 
of the treasury, and the nomination was ])romptly 
confirmed by the senate. In September, 11S82, the 
slate republican convention of New York nominated 
Judge Folger for governor. A defection in the 
party bronglit about a most remarkalile .situation, 
when more than 31)0,000 republicans who ditl not iu 
the least oppose .Judge Folger on general jirinciples, 
al)staiued from voting in order to show their deter- 
mination not to be dictated to by partj' leaders at the 
national seat of government, and Grover Cleveland 
was elected governor by nearly 200,000 plurality. 
.Judge Folger felt this defeat most bitterly, and it is 
l)elieved by his friends that it alfecteil his health so 
seriously as ultimately to Ijring about his death, 
wliich occurred .Sept. i, 1884. 

GBESHAM, Walter auinton, secretary of 
the treasury, was born near Lancsville, IIarri.sonCo. , 
Ind., March IT, 18:^3. His graiidpaicnts emigrated 
from Virginia to Kentucky, from which state they 
removed to Indiana, while his parents were children. 
His father was a farmer, and also a cabinet-maker, 
and sherilT of the county iu which he lived. He 
was murdered wliile in the performance of the duties 
of his ortice. ^Valt(■r Gresham's early education was 
obtained in the couutrj- schools of the neigborhood, 
and one year in the State University at Blooming- 
ton, Ind., but he did not grad- 
uate. From the tiniversity lie 
went to Corydon. Ind., where 
be studied law wliile acting as 
depntv clerk, and in 18.-)4 was 
admitted to the liar. In 18G0 
he was elected to the legisla- 
ture, and at the end of the ses- 
sion entered the Federal service 
as lieutenant-coliaiel of the ;i8th 
Indiana infantry. In Decem- 
ber, 1801, he was appointed col- 
onel of the .53(1 Indiana regi- 
ment, and .served under Grant 
until after the siege of Vieks- 
burg, when he v,as made briga- 
dier-general of volunteers. Gen. 
Gresham was transferred to 
Sherman's command at tlie be- 
ginning of the expedition against 
Atlanta, and look coniniand of 
the 4th division of tlie ITlharmy 
corps. In the severe lightingbe- 
fore Atlanta he was wounded and disjiblcd at Leg- 
gett's Hill, .Jidy 20, 1804, when he was obliged to re- 
tire from active service, and on March 13. 180.">, was 
brevetted major-general of volunteers for gallantry. 
He now went to New Albany, Ind., where he prae- 




i^ 



(A-^yJ' 



ticed law, and in 1860 he was a candidate for con- 
gress on the reputiliean ticket, lint was defeated by 
a largely reduced majority. During the next two 
years he spent part of his time in New York as tlie 
financial agent of his state. During his war service 
he gained tlie esteem of Gen. (irant, and in 1809 the 
latt(rr appointed him judge of the U. S. district court 
for Indiana, having previously declined the ofllees 
of collector of customs at New Orleans and U. S. 
district attorney for Indiana. In April, 1882, he re- 
signed his judg(whip and accepted the position of 
po.stniaster-general otTered him by President Arthur. 
Judge Folger, .at that lime .secretary of the trea.sury, 
died Sept. 4, 18S4, and Judge (iresliam was transfer- 
red to the head of that department. Here he ri'niaine<l, 
however, only until Decemlierof the same year,wlien 
he was appointed U. S. circuit judge fortlie .seventh 
judicial circuit. While not conspicuous in polities, 
he favored Gen. Grant for a third term in IHHO. In 
1884 he was himself mentioned as a candidate for 
the presidency, and in 1888 his name was very favor- 
ably received when again suggested for the same 
office. 

McCULLOCH, Hugh, secretary of tlie treas- 
ury, was liorn in Kennebuuk, Jle., Dec. 7, 1808. 
He is descended from a very respectable Scotch fam- 
ily. His grandfather, Adam McCulloch, emigrated 
from Scotland about 170.5, and settled in Arundel, 
now Kennebunkjiort, ]\Ie. His 
father was one of the largest 
ship-owners of New England, . 
but during the war of 1812 he 
sustained serious losses, which 
reduced his financial condition, 
and to a certain extent disabled 
him. He was. however, able to 
give Ills son a fair education at 
an academy iu Saco, and one 
year at Bowdoin College. When 
he was only seventeen years of 
age he began teaching school, 
and continued to teach until 
1829. In the meantime he de- 
voted his leisure hours to the 
study of the law, and in 1833 
completed his regular course in 
Boston. In June, 1S33, Mr. Mc- 
Culloch went to Fort Wayne, 
Ind., where he .settled, and began to practice his 
profession, but about two years later, having been 
offered tlie position of manager of a branch of the 
State Bank of Indiana, he acceiited and hehl it until 
the expiration of the charter. During this entire 
jieriod he was one of tin; directors of the mother- 
bank, and he gained so high reputation as a finan- 
cier, that in 1802 he was unaninuaisly elected presi- 
dent of a new bank with an authorized capital of 
§0,000,000 and twenty branches, known as the Bank 
of the State of Indiana. In the.se important and re- 
siionsiljle ollic(« his reputation was constantly im- 
jiroving among financial men. and to that degree 
that in Ajiril, 1803, Secretary Chase offered him 
the position of comptroller of the currency under 
the national bank law, which had at that time ju.st 
been enacted, in which jilaee he displayeil such re- 
markable administrative ciualities that when Wil- 
liam Pitt Fes.s<Miileii retired from the secretaiyship 
of tlie treasury in March, 180.5, there was a general 
and strong deiiiand — heartily eialorsed by Mr. Cha.se 
and Jlr. Fes.sen<len — that he should be apiiointed to 
this position. President Lincoln did ajipoint him 
just liefore the completion of his first term, and con- 
tinued him as secretary of the treasury after his in- 
auguration for a second term. When Andrew John- 
son succeeded Mr. Lincoln as president, Mr. JIcCul- 
loch was retained, and he held the office throughout 
the Johnson adminisl»-atioii. As a cabinet officer 




,::y^f^'Ji'=0'^^^^-^<^4^ 






378 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPiEDIA 



I 



and bank officer lie was especially remarkable for 
hisiiulustry iu prosecutini; business, ami his prompti- 
tude in dispatching it. in the autumn of LSTO Mr. 
JlcCulloch cstabli.shed in London a branch of tlie 
banking house of Jay Cooke & Co.. the London firm 
beimr known as Jay Cooke, McCullocli i Co. This 
firm was closeh' connected with the U. S. trciisury 
in the negotiation of U. S. loans, and after the great 
financial panic of September, 1873, consequent upon 
the failure of Jay Cooke & Co., it was reorganized, 
and continued a successful business for some time. 
In 1877 Mr. McCulloch became the head of a pri- 
vate syndicate, organized for the purpose of funding 
the public debts of the Southern states, which was 
fairly successful. In June, 1882, he was offered a 
pl.-ice on the tariff commission by President Arthur, 
which he declined. In 1SS4 Waller Q. Gresham, 
secretary of the treasury, resigned, and Mr. McCul- 
loch was appointed liis succes.scir by President Ar- 
thur, and he held the |ilaie until the expiration of 
till' president's term, ,March 4, 188.5. He is the only 
man who has ever held that office under dilTereiit 
presidents twice. Since his retirement Mr. JIcCul- 
locli divides his time between his country home and 
his house in Wa.shington. Meanwhile he frequently 
communicates his views on political and financial 
questions through the press, and he is generally con- 
sidered authority on tliese subjects. ]\ir. ^NlcCulloch 
reccivc<l from Bowdoiu College iu 1889 the degree 
ofLL.I). 

TELLER, Henry M. , secretary of the interior, 
was born in Allegany county. N. Y., ^lay 23, 1830. 
His ancestors came from Holland, and were among 
the early settlers of New York 
state. His father was a farmer in 
comfortable circumstances, and 
gave him an excellent education. 
After leaving .school, he .sought 
admis.sion to the bar in the state 
of New York; then removed to 
Illinois in January, 1858, and prac- 
tised for three years in that slate. 
In 18G1 he removed to Colorado 
and settled in Central City, then 
one of the principal mining towns 
of the territory, where he has 
since resided. ' His e.\cei)tional 
abilities as a lawyer soon brought 
him into ]n-ominence, and gained 
for him a numerous and profitable 
clientage. In politics he affiliated 
with the republicans, but declined 
to become a candidate for office 
until the admission of Colorado into the Union as a 
state, when he was elected to the V. S. senate, and 
took his seat in that body, and <lrew the term end- 
ing March 4, 1877. He was re-elected .senator on 
Dec. 11, 1876, and served until Ajjril 17, 1882, when 
he was appointed secretary of the interior in 
the cabinet of PresiiU'nt Arthur. He aeeeiited 
a cabinet posilion with reluctance, and only 
after great pressure had been brought to bear 
on him, but administered tlie affairs of the in- 
terior department in a most efficient and satis- 
factory manner. On March 3, 188.5, he -retired 
from the cal)inet, and the followimrday he took his 
.seat in the U. S. senate, having a short lime before 
been elected to succeed Xatlianiel P. Hill. In the 
winter of 1891 he was re-elecled. without opposition 
in his own party, for anotlier full term of si.\ years. 
While in the senate he served as the chairnian of 
the committees on pensions, patents, mines and min- 
ing, and as a member of tlie committees on claini.s, 
railroads, jirivileges and elect ions, and (lublie lands. 
He is recognized as one of the alilesl advocates of the 
interests of the silver miners of tlie West, and as an 
authority on all questions referring to the public 




^^^^^2:ke^w- 




Mp £L^^.^w><^^ 



lands. He is assiduous in his devotion to the welfare 

of his constituents, an effective debater, and pos- 
sessed of strong mental and moral endowments. 

CHANDLER, William E., secretary of the 
navy and senator, was Imrn at Concord. N. "H., Dec. 
28, 1835. He was graduated from the Harvard Law- 
School in 1855, receiving a jirize for a competitive 
legal thesis. He became a jiracticing lawyer in his 
native state, and in 18.59 reporter of the New Hamp- 
.shire supreme court. He early 
took an active pari in politics, 
being for three consecutive 
years a member of the state 
legislature, and speaker of the 
house iu 1803-64, and for sev- 
eral years chairman of the re- 
publican state committee. He 
was made solicitor and judge- 
advocate general of the L'. S. 
navy department in 1805, and 
had charge of many important 
cases, but resigned this position 
in 1865, to become assistant sec- 
retary of the treasury. He then 
practiced bnv in \\'ashington, 
acting at the same time as sec- 
retary of the national rejiubli- 
can committee, and in 1876 as 
one of the counsel for the Hayes 
electors before the Florida 
board of canvassers. He was nominated by Presi- 
dept Gartield U. S. solicitor-general, but not being 
confirmed by the senate, was soon after ajiiiointed 
secretary of the navy by President Arthur. In 1887 
he ^vas elected to the U. S. .senate from New Hamp- 
shire to fill an unexpired term, and resigned from 
the cabinet. He was re-elected for the full term in 
1889. 

HOWE, Timothy Otis, postmaster - general, 
was born at Livermore, Oxford Cn., Me., Feb. 
17, 1816. After graduating from tlie Headrteld Semi- 
nary, he studied law, and in 1839 was admitted to 
the" bar. Settling in Headfield he took an active 
inteiest in politics, and in 1845 was elected a mem- 
ber of the Maine legislature. In the latter part of 
that same year he removed to Green Bay, Wis., 
where, in 1850, he was elected a 
circuit judge. He held the office 
for five years, and then resigned. 
In 1861 "he was elected a senator 
in congress from Wisconsin. He 
served on a nunilier of important 
committees, and as chairman of 
those on appropriation and revo- 
lutionary claims. He was a dele- 
gate to the Philadeljihia loyalists' 
convention of 1860. In the follow- 
ing year, when his si^natorial term 
expired, he was re-eUcled, and 
ai;aiu in 1873 for the term ending 
in 1879. In 1881 he was a delegate 
to the international monetary con- 
ference at Paris, and later "in the 
same year he was apiiointed post- 
master-general by President Ar- 
thur, in congress he .supported 
the general policy of the republi- 
can party, and dining his service in the post-office 
department, a redueiion of postage was effected, 
and various reforms were peifected that gave much 
satisf.aclion to the country. He died in Wisconsin 
Mai eh 25, 1883. 

HATTON, Frank, postmaster-general, was bom 
in Caniliridge. O., Ajir. 28, 184(>. He was the son 
of Uiehard Hatton. who publishfil a newspaper 
called the " Republican " at Cadiz, O., and the boy 




cfi^uJrtrf/vir^ 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



379 




\vu^\ 



learned the newspaper business in this office, whicli 
he entered at a very early ajteand where lieactjuired 
not only type-setting, but practical jounialisni. In 
1802 he volunteered in the Union army and enlisted 
in the OSth Ohio regiment, with which he fought in 
the West. In 18G4 he received his commission as 
first lieutenant. At the close of the war he .settled 
in Iowa, and after publishing the Mount Plea.sant 
" .Journal " for a time, he went to Burlington. Iowa, 
and became part owner of the Burlington " Hawk- 
eye." He was made postma.ster 
at Burlington, and in 1881, after 
the death of Gartield, President 
Arthur called him to Washing- 
ton and made him assistant post- 
master-general, a position which 
he held for three years, when 
he took the office of postmaster- 
general to fill the vacancy caused 
by the resignation of Judge 
Gresham. He continued in 
President Arthur's cabinet un- 
til Mr. Cleveland became presi- 
dent, and it is said, that except- 
ing Alexander Hamilton, Mr. 
Hatton was the youngest cabinet 
officer who ever ser\ed. In 1882, 
and for nearly two years there- 
after, Mr Hatton was on the 
staff of the "National Republi- 
can " of Wa.shington. In 1884 be 
went to Chicago and entered the office of the " Mail." 
where he eventually became chief editor. In 1888 
Mr. Hatton was one of the s_vndicate which founded 
the New York "Press," a republican paper devoted 
to protection and high tariti and the election of 
President Benj. Harrison. 

BKEWSTER, Benjamin Harrison, attorney- 
general, was born in Salem covmty, N. J., Oct. 13, 
1810. He was the son of Francis K. and Maria 
Hampton Brewster, and on both sides came of old 
English stock: on the Brewster side from the Pil- 
grim William Brewster of Plymouth colony, and 
on his mother's side from thellamptons of" South 
Carolina. He was .sent to Princeton College where 
he was graduated with all the honors in the class of 
1834. In the same year he en- 
tered as a student the office of 
Eli K. Price of Philadelphia, 
and in 1838 was admitted to 
practice at the bar. He became 
a distinguished lawyer and in 
1846 was appointed by President 
Polk commissioner to adjudi- 
cate the claims of the Cherokee 
Indians against the United States 
government, an honor which 
was considered very flattering 
in the case of so young a nnin. 
In his law practice Jlr. Brewster 
had occasion to argue in some of 
the most important cases trieii 
in the Philadelphia courts and in 
the supreme court of Pennsyl- 
vania. During the civil war he 
was zealous in contributing of 
his means and his time to the .ser- 
in 18G7 Gov. Geary appointed 
him attorney-general of the state of Pennsylvania, 
and during his incumbency of this office he suc- 
ceeded in breaking up the notorious "Gettysburg 
Lottery" scheme, which he believed to be a i)lan tt) 
rob the public under the pretext of helping the or- 
phans of deceased Union soldiers. Jlr. Brewster 
was appointed bv President Arthurattorncy-general 
of the United States, Dec. 19, 1881, and continued to 




vice of the Union. 



hold that position until the accession of Grover 
Cleveland to the presidency in 1885. This period 
included the important star route trials in coiuiection 
with the po.st-ollice department, which were prose- 
cuted by Attorney-General Brewster with all the de- 
termination and legal skill which were characteristic 
of his professional life. .\Ir. Brewster was twice 
married, first in 18.57 to Elizabeth von Myrbacke de 
Heinleldts, a Prussian lady, who died in" 1868. In 
1870 he married for the" second lime Miss Mary 
Walker, eldest daughter of the prominent statesman, 
Robert J. Walker. He had but one child, a son. 
Mr. Brewster is described by those who have known 
him as "a versatile and brilli.nnl essayist, a correct, 
original, and iJidfoniid thinker, a gra"ceful, eloquent 
and forcible speaker." When a young man he risked 
his life to save a relative from death from fire, and 
was liiin.self severely Imnied, .Miid his face disfigured. 
Mr. Brewster died i'n Pliilailcl]ihia .\pr. 4, 1888. 
McELROY, Mary Arthur, sister of President 



N. Y., in 1843, 




Arthur, was born at Greenwich, 
the j'oungest child of Rev. Wil- 
liam .Vrlhur, a Baptist clergy- 
man, who was born in Ireland. 
Mrs. McElroy completed her ed- 
ucation at Mrs. Will.-irds Semi- 
nary, at Troy, N. Y., and in 1861 
married John E. McElroy of 
Albany, N. Y., and has since 
then made her home in that city. 
AVhile her brother was ])res- 
ident of the United States, Mr.s. 
JIcElroy passed her winters at 
the White House. Possessed of 
great social tact, rare jiowers of 
fascination, charm of manner, 
and accustomed to the best so- 
ciety both in Albany and New 
York, Jlrs. JIcElroy made a 
charming hostess, anil dispensed 
hospitaliTy with an elegance 
that willlong be remembered in Washington, and 
her reign as mistress of the White Hou.se went far 
towards making President Arthur's administration 
especialh' notable as answering all the demands of 
social amenance. 

CAMPBELL, James, postmaster -general un- 
der President Pierce, was born in Plnladelphia, 
Pa., in 1818. His father was Irish by birth, but 
emigrated to this country and set- 
tled" in Pennsylvania, where he 
was successful, and wa.s able to 
give his son James a good educa- 
tion. After graduating from the 
schools the young man studied 
law, and in 1834 was admitted to 
practice at the Philadeli)hia bar. 
He was able and eloquent, and 
soon obtained a very lucrative 
practice. In 1842 he was made 
judge of the court of common 
jjleas, and continued to hold that 
office imtil 18.-)0. In 1S.")2 he was 
made attorney-general of the state 
of Peimsylvania, and on JIarch 
7, 1853, was appointed by Presi- 
dent Pierce postma.ster -general. 
He continued to remain in the 
cabinet until the close of that ad- 
ministration, retiring on JIarch 
4tli. to be replaced on March 6, 
1857, by .Varon 'V. Brown, of Tennessee. On retir- 
ing from public life Mr. Campbell returned to Phil- 
adelphia and resumed the practice of law. In 1863 
he was an luisuccessful candidate for the democratic 
nomination for U. S. .senator. He is one of the 
trustees of the Girard estate. 




I 



380 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 




'Jsa-ccSSc 



ALCOTT, Louisa May, author, was born at 
Geniiaiitown, Pa., Ndv. 29, 1883. the (laughter 
of Amos Bron.son Alcott. In 1834 tlie family re- 
moved to Hoston, ami in 1840 to Concord, Ma.s.s., 
where most of her eliildhood wa.s pas.sed. She Wiis 
l)rinei|ially educated by lier fatlier, but for a .short 
time attended an old-fa.«hion- 
ed district .schoul in Still River 
villaire, and a small school 
kept by Jliss Ford in the 
Emersons' barn. Her taste 
naturally tiinicd to solid liter- 
ature, and she found ample 
readinic material in her fa- 
ther's "lil)iary In 1.843 she 
fell under the iulluence of 
the transccndentalists at the 
Fruitland.s farm. She had 
little sympathy with the 
movement, and gave vent to 
her feelings in after years 
in a story entitled, " T^rans 
cendental Wild Oats," which 
gave the facts of the ca.se 
with a mingling of pathos and 
humor. It was a retrospect of a period of her life in 
which the absurdities come out in bold relief, while 
she still sees the grand n\isty outlines of the high as- 
pirations so poorly realized. When she wasabout sev- 
enteen she was seized with a desire to go on the stage 
She had alrcatly written several plays, that are still 
preserved in manuscriiit form exactly as she wrote 
them She had e\l raordinary dramatic power, but her 
wise mother dissuaded her from taking the step. She 
received .f 5 for her tirst story; it was written in Con- 
cord when she was sixteen years of age. From that 
time until she was twenty-three .she passed through 
what might be tcnncd au aiiprenticeship to life, and 
tried various oee\iiiations, continuing her writing all 
tlie while. She taught for a number (jf year.s, but did 
not make a success as a teacher, and had recourse to 
sewing when other resources failed, and without doubt 
her tine mind thought out many of the stories as her 
fingers busily plied the needle. It was with great de- 
light that she was delivered from this bondage, when 
she found that her writings would enalile her to sup- 
ply the money necessary for the support of her fam- 
ily. At the age of twenty-two she actually began her 
career as an author. After her " Flower Fables " — a 
collection of verses, for which she received .f32 — was 
published she began to have aiiplications for stories 
from papers In 18.')fi the publishers began to appreei 
ate the valueof her writings, and to demand more stor- 
ies; even her poems were accepted, and, leaving her 
family, she went to Hoston to seek her fortune. She 
received the most substantial assistance from Theo- 
dore Parker, who look deep interest hi her struggles, 
and .strengthened and encouraged her. In 18(i'3 Miss 
Alcott opened a kindergarten school, whicli proving 
unsuccessful, .she finally abandoned her career as a 
teacher, and devoted Iier future to writing. She 
joined the corps of nurses during the civil war, and 
was stationed at tlie Union Hospital. Georgetown, 
where she contracted a severe illness, from the ef- 
fects of whicli she never entirely recovered. Her 
letters to her mother and sisters at this time were 
subsequently jiulilishcd in a book entitled, "Hospi- 
tal Sketches," which had quite a sale. In 1863 .she 
went abroad, and remained a year traveling in Eu- 
rope. In 18(17 she wrote " Little AVomen," which 
was published the following year, and brought her 
the fame for which she had lab<ireil so long and 
arduously, 87.000 cojiies being sold in less than 
three years. She was quite unconscious, at the time, 
of the unusual merit of the book, and equally sur- 
prised at its success. It was translated into French, 
German, and Dutch. She was so well situated 



financially that slie went abroad in 1870 for a period 
of rest and recreation. The six years following her 
return were uneventful, busy ones. She wrote 
" Work," one of her most successful books, and con- 
tinued to receive liberal remuneration for her writ- 
ings*. In appearance, Mis.s Alcott was striking nit her 
than beautiful, her tall, well-proportioned figure 
indicating strength an<l activity. She had a large 
well-shaped head, covered with a wealth of rich 
brown hair. She was unconventional and ea.sy in 
her manners, and yet possessed great dignity of de- 
portment. She cared little for outward distinction, 
but took a simple pleasure in the attentions which 
her celebrity brought her, and enjoyed the privilege 
of mingling with brilliant intellectual people. She 
had the liapjiv fortune of having always lived in the 
most cultured society — the Emersons, the Thoreaus, 
the Hawthornes were the constant companions of 
her early years, and from them she fonned the stand- 
ard of her life; her literary work is so closely inter- 
woven with her life, that it requires little scjiarate 
mention. Literature was, without doubt, her voca- 
tion; she loved and honored it, and had aniliitions 
for a higher grade of literature than that of writing 
plca.sing stories for children. While her clTorts in 
this direction would have stamped her as an author of 
original observation and keen thought, they were 
not entirely successful. She was pre-eminently a 
writer of children's stories. She says of her success, 
in her diary. " A pleasing contra.st to the receipts of 
.six iiKintlis only, in 1880, being .^8,000 for the .sale 
of books, and no new ones, but I was prouder over 
•the first $32 than the $8,000." Though slie was 
thoroughly devoted to literature, it was to her not 
only an end but a means, and she made a sacrifice to 
it of all ambitious dreams, leisure, even health itself, 
so keenly did she feel that it was hermission to con- 
tribute to the wants of her fainilv. She died at Bos- 
ton, Mass.. JIareh 6, 1888. the' day of her father's 
funeral, of whose death she was ignorant. 

SCOTT, Harvey 'W. , journalist, was born in 
Tazewell county. 111., Feb., 1, 1838, of Scotch-Ger- 
man ancestors, who settled in America at an early 
period. In 1852 his father removed to Oregon, 
where he was one of the pioneer settlers. At that 
time Oregiai included in its boundaries the whole 
of the present slate and the territories of Wa.shing- 
t(m, Idaho and a portion of Wyoming, 
but the while population in all that 
extensive territorv did not number 
15,000. The subject of this sketch 
endured in his boyhood all the priva- 
tions incident to pioneer life. When 
but sixteen years old, he assisted his 
f.ather in o]ii'niiig a farm on Puget 
.sound, and in ls55-5ti, after the In- 
dian war.Ihe family removed to Cack- 
amas county, Or., where another farm 
was opened. As soon as Harvey be- 
came of age, he began to devote his 
attention to obtaining an education, 
for which previously he had had no 
facilities. He completed a classical 
course in five ye.-us, olitaining the nec- 
essary funds Ijy working as a farm 
hand, chopping wood, rail-making, and doing .such 
other manual labor as he could obtain. In 18(i4 he 
went to Portland. Or., intending to turn his attention 
to the study of law. but being witliout resources, in 
order to carry out his designs began writing for the 
local press, "which brought him so far into notice 
that in 1805 he .secured a po.sition as editor on 
the " Oregonian," subsequently purchasing an in- 
terest in the pajier. To this publication he has 
since devoted his attention. He is a clear and 
forcible writer, and a man of ability and untiring 
energy. 




^T'r^l^c 




-^ 



>^ 



^^^Z^^^"^-^^ 



COf>«lQt<T, 189J, Bf 



ftUIS T. WMITE A CO. 



^1n,J |ilf/')//i. 




CLEVELAND, Grover, twenty-second cresi 

fr„c '/■,/•• ^^'"■'^'^ ^^- 1*^37. The family came 
from buffolk county, Eng., settlintr in Jlassachi 
setts early m the seventeenth centu.T. Richard P 
Cleveland was a Presbyterian minister in 1 8^9 and 

m Ireland. These were Grover Cleveland's fithor 

Grlr' whn 7' ""-^ ""^ "^""''^ «f ^- R- '^'Sben 
t^ro\er, who formerly occupied the Presbyterian 

D^)rn. In 1841 the famdy removed to Fayetteville 

touuiry store. He, however, obta ned such further 

ett[ed Jherftf";^ •™'.^°^'"^ ^'°- "•^<^" tie 'fend y' 
settled there, that, m his seventeenth year he was 

appointed assistant teacher of the 
^ew \ ork Institiuion for the Blind. 
in 1855 young Cleveland was em- 
ployed by his uncle, Lewis F. Allen 
at Buffalo, to assist him in compil- 
ing the "American Herd Book " 
y^^ "^oere, for several years, he render- 

. »p ed a.ssistance in tlie preparation of 

■""^ that work. At the same time he 

had a clerkship in the law firm of 
Kogers, Bowen & Rogers, in Buf 
talo, and began to read law. In 
18o9 he was admitted to the bar 
continuing with the same firm un- 
til 1802 as their managing clerk 
On the 1st of January, f863 he 
was appointed assistant di.stric't at- 
,;„ , torney of Erie county. At this 

time he was so cramped for the means of livinl ad 
of s. pportmg his mother and sisters, who were de 
peiKient upon him that, being conscn-pted a, d ,t 
a^ile to .serve in the war, he was obliged to borrow 

until long after that he wa.s able to pay off Ids To n 
Meanwhile two of Cleveland-.s brothL we e in he 
mihiary .service, and the case, so far from beinVin 

enemies), was one of tlie most common in re.'afd to 
t econstnietioa of ,he Union armies; that is1o say 




going to ,he war. wiii,;: olh^r^ who ,1^^.^,^ S 



business engagements, remained at home to support 
tl^eir faniihes. In 1865 Mr. Cleveland wasdefea ted for 
the district attorneyship of Erie county. He the, en^ 
„^^.^^ mto partnersliip with Isaac V. Vande p 1 and 
n 1869 joined the hrm of Lanning, Cleveland & F 1 
som. His law practice having extended he wi, 
now successf u . Being a p, ,pultr man in the nei^^h 
borhood which had .so long known him he was 
urgec by his friends and linally constrained toac 
cept the nomination, and in 1870 was elected sher- 
iff of Erie county. This position he held three 
years making an entirely f.^vorable impression on 
all who had olhcial dealings with him. At the close 
o his tenu he joined Lyman K. Bass in forming ,1 I 
him ol^ Ba.ss, Cleveland & Bi.ssell, which was af 
terward Cleveland & Bissell, Mr. Bass reiirm- oa 
account of poor health. In this partnership cTe.e 
and continued to improve his fonunes and his rep- 
utation as a lawyer, and also to extend his popularity 
as an ofbcial and a man. In 1881 he was nominated 
as the democratic candidate for mayor of BulTalo 
and was elected by the largest majority ever dn 
m that c.tJ^ although the republican stale tickeVwa^ 
carried in BulTalo at that election by an ave age IT 

was-S viw'" i'^""- ^'^'\ -^''"- "e^-eland-s majority 
was S,oiO for the mayoralty. In his new oltilV he 
became known as the "veto mayor," from his fear- 
less exercise of that preroirative in checking e.xtrav. 
agance and the illegal expenditure of the public 
moneys. In 1882 Mr. Cleveland ran for governor 
against Charies J. Folger, then V. S. secretary of 
the treasury. In the election (•l,.velanrnSd a 
plurality of nearly 21)0,000 over F,-lger, .-ind a ma 
jonty over all including greenback, iirohibitlon and 
scattering, of 151,742. Gov. Cleveland's a.lministra 
tionwas notable for the simple and unostentatious 
way in which business was conducted. In the 
exercise of the vet,, power he was as courarreous 
as he had shown himself to be while mayor of Buf. 
lalo; but his vetoes were always clearly siis,;,ined 
by lus duty under the law.' In a letter writ- 
ten to his brother on the day of his election. Gov 
I leveland announced the policy which he intended 
to adopt and which he afterward carried out, viz : 
lomak.^ th.' matter a business engagement between 
the people ot the state and myself in which the ob- 
ligation on my side is to perform the duties assigned 
me wnU au eye single to the interests of m/em- 



384 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



ployei-s." On July 11, 1884, Grovcr Cleveland was 
nominated at Chicago as the democratic candidate 
for the presidency of the United States. At the 
election in November Mr. Cleveland received on 
the popular vote, 4,874,986; Mr. Blaine. 4,851,981; 
Butler, 175,370; St. .John, temperance, 150.369; 
scattering, 14.904. In the electoral collcjro Mr. Cleve- 
land's majority was 37. On the 4th of March, 18H5, 
Mr. Cleveland was inaugurated as president of the 
United States. In his inaugural address he declared 
his approval of the Monroe doctrine, placed himself 
on record as in favor of strict economy in the admin- 
istration of the finances, and the protection of the 
Indians and security of the freedmen, and mani- 
fested his recognition of the value of civil .service 
reform, saying, that "the people have a right to 
protection from tlu^ incompetency of public em- 
ployes who hold their places solely as a reward for 
personal services; and those who worthily seek pub- 
lic employment have a right to insist that merit and 
competencj' shall be recognized instead of party sub- 
serviency or the .surrender of honest political belief." 
The oath of orticc was administered to President 
Cleveland by Chief .Justice Waite. Mr. Cleveland's 
cabinet was composed as follows: Thomas F. Baj'- 
ard, secretary of stale; Daniel Manning, secretary of 
the treasury, who died during his incumbency and 
■was succeeded by Charles S. Fairchild; William 
C. Endicott. secretary of war; William C. Whit- 
ney, secretary of the navy; William F. Vilas, post- 
master-general, afterward transferred to the de- 
partment of the inlerior. being .nucceeded by 
Don M. Dickinson : Augustus II. Garland, at- 
torney-general ; Lucius Q. C. Lamar, secretary of 
the interior, afterward ap|)oinled as,sociate justice 
of the supreme court of the United States. Mr. 
Cleveland in conducting the presidential office an- 
tagonized a large proporlion of his own party by his 
determination that no removals of office-holders, ex- 
cepting heads of dejiartmcnts, foreign ministers and 
other officers charged with the execution of the pol- 
icy of the administration, should take place except 
for cause. "Offensive parlisiinship " was, however, 
as.signed as a reason for the removal of many repub- 
lican office-holders. President Cleveland never 
halted in his endeavor to protect the Indians from 
the encroachments of raiders and cattle-herders, 
driving the latter relentlessly from their stolen terri- 
tory. He came in contlict with the senate in regard 
to his appointments, refu.sing to submit papers re- 
lating to the causes for which removals had been 
effected. He refused to jield to the dictation of the 
senate concerning his appointments, but during his 
entire term resisted all attemjits on the [lart of the 
senate to force from him papers and documents upon 
which he based his executive judgment for removals 
from office. In this contlict he was successful. Mr. 
Cleveland exercised the veto power beyond all prec- 
edent. He vetoed 115 out of 987 bilfs which had 
passed both houses, 102 of these being private pen- 
sion bills. On June 2, 1886, President Cleveland 
married, in the White House, Frances Uolsom, 
daughter of his former partner. Oscar Folsom, of 
ButTalo; and to the charming nature, personal beauty 
aiKl affability of this lady, the youngest of all the 
mistres.ses of the White House excepting Dorothy 
Madison, who was of her age, Mr. Cleveland owed a 
large proportion of his popularity while occupying 
the presidential chair. In 18S.S ".Mr. Cleveland" was 
a candidate for a second term, but was defeated in 
the election of that year by Benjamin Harrison. 
After his retirement fioni public life, Mr. Cleveland 
settled in New York city, and opening an office pre- 
pared to establish for himself a general law practice. 
In this he was entirely successful, and besides doing 
an extensive business in the New York courts has 
been frequently called to Washington to argue im- 



portant cases before the supreme court of the United 
States. Meanwhile Mr. Cleveland has been hailed 
as the representative head of the democratic party, 
by the rank and file of which organization his occa- 
sional utterances concerning politics have been ac- 
cepted as oracles, while he has continued to hold a 
position likely to ensnri' for him the candidacy of the 
party for the presidential election of 1892. His pop- 
ularity in his own jiarty and the enmity which he 
has incurred in the ranks of his opjionenl.s Lave both 
been due mainly to his courageous and determined 
exploitation of the doctrine of "Tariff for Revenue 
Only," as the logical outcome of the democratic idea 
in American politics. In taking this stand, Mr. Cleve- 
land has shrewdly recognized the fact that the two 
jiarties have never yet divided closely on tariff lines, 
and that while theie were protectioiusts in the dem- 
ocratic ranks, there were also many in the repub- 
lican organization that upheld his principles. That 
which would have .seemed likely to destroy him as a 
jiolitieal leader, and which did unquestionably aid 
materially in defciiting him for a second term.did, 
under the iiitluence of ilie history of the United States 
during the tirsi half of the ri-pulilicau administration, 
grow to be his strongest advocate before the coun- 
try. The precipitation of the very idlimate possi- 
bility of high tariff ujion the commercial situation 
with its vast ilnd increasing following of commercial 
and social distress, the result of coincident high 
prices, produced its logical results, and in the ua 
lional democratic convention of 1S92 Mr. Cleveland 
was renominated on the first ballot, by a vote of 617 
out of 908, on a platform which virtually prcmounccd 
for free trade after rejecting a |u-oi)usition which 
was non-committal. The democratic politicians o]> 
po.sed Mr. Cleveland's renominalion. but at the de- 
mand of the iieojile, he was chosen standard-bearer 
for the third time. 

CLEVELAND, Frances Folsom, wasborn July 
21, 1864, at No. ll'.,s Edward street. Buffalo. N. Y., the 
daughter of Oscar Folsom, who married Miss Harmon, 
of Jledina. Frances lost her fa- 
ther in 1875, and her mother then 
went home to ^Medina, taking her 
daughter with her. During her 
early childhood Frances had at- 
tended JIadame Brecker's French 
kindergarten, where .she displayed 
a quick understanding and an 
aptitude for study. After her 
return to Buffalo, she entered the 
Central School, and became a 
favorite with her teachers,as well 
as with the piqiils. After leav- 
ing the Central School, she en- 
tered the Sophomore cla.ss at 
Wells College, which her school 
certiticale permitted her to do 
without examination, and it was 
while she was at Wells College 
that Gov. Cleveland's attention to 
her. in the way of tlowers, tirst be- 
gan to be noticed. When she graduated in ,Tune,1885, 
she received superb lloral tribvites from the conser- 
vatories attached to the White House, Mr. Cleveland 
being at that time president of the United State.s. 
After graduation, Jliss Folsom spent the summer 
with herimde. Col. John B. Folsom, at Folsomdale, 
Wyoming Co., N. Y., and went abroad in the au- 
tumn with her mother. Her engagement to Presi- 
dent Cleveland had not been aimounccil. but it is 
supposed that they had come to a definite under- 
standing before her departure. She returned from 
Kuropein the following spring, laniling in New 
York May 27. 1S86, where she was met by the presi- 
dent's sister. Miss Cleveland, and his ])rivate .secre- 
tary. Miss Folsom remained at the Gilsey House in 




-^UCHiejit:. 0^«<;i*H»d. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



385 



New York city until her departure for AVasbiujiton, 
where she was married on June 2, 1880, in the Bhie 
Room of the White House. For nearly three years 
Mrs. Cleveland, as wife of the president of the 
United States, oecupied the position of "first lady 
in the land, " and it is safe to say that no other White 
Hou.se lady achieved greater popularity. Notwilh- 
standing her youth, she tilled her arduous position 
with a tact and grace that won golden encomiums 
from ever}' one; at no time did slie forget the dignity 
of her position, nor did she ever presume upon it. 
When she left the White House, in 18S9, wilh her 
husband, to take up her residence in New York city, 
it was with sincere expressions of regret from ail 
classes and parties. Mrs. Cleveland is tall, wilh 
brown hair, violet eyes, a rather large nose, and a 
mobile mouth. Her face expres.ses great strength of 
character, and she has a sympathetic manner tli;it 
wins every one. She has one child, Ruth, born iu 
■ New York city Oct. 3, 1891. 

HENDRICKS, Thomas Andrews, vice-presi- 
dent, was born on a farm near Zanesville. O., ^epl. 
7, 181S). His father, John Hendricks, was a native 
of Pennsylvania, one of the early settlers of that 
portion of Westmoreland county, known as the 
Ligonier Valley. A brother of John Hendricks, 
William, al.so born in Pennsylvania, was a promi- 
nent statesman of his time, being sole representative 
from Wisconsin from December, 1816. to 1822, when 
he was elected governor of Indiana, and also United 
States senator from Indiana, from 1S2.5 to 1837; so 
that of his immediate ancestry. Thomas A. Hen- 
dricks might well be proud. The wife of John 
Hendricks. Jane Thomson, was of Scotch descent, 
her grandfather having emigrated to America before 
the revolution, and fought with credit during that 
struggle. Six months after Thomas Hendricks was 
boni, his father removed to Indiana, and setted at 
JIadison, on the Oliio river, but in 1822 went to 
Shelby county, where he built a sub.stantial brick 
house, which is still standing and where his family 
were reared under properly moral and restraining in- 
fluences. He founded a Presbyterian church in Ind- 
ianapolis, that city having just been eslablisjied, and 
his son Thomas was educated in that denomination. 
He attended the village seliool near his home for 
several years, and then studied at the college at 
South Hanover, where he was graduated in 1841. 
His mother's brother. Judge Thomson, of C'ham- 
bersburg. Pa., now took the young man into his 
office, where he studied law, and was admitted to 
the bar in 1843. Two years later he married Eliza 
C. Morgan, and immediately entered upon a success- 
ful and profitable practice at the bar. He was al- 
ready an impressive ptiblic speaker and took deep 
interest in polities, and in 1848 was elected to the 
state legislature. Two years later he declined a re- 
election to accept the position of state .senator. In 
1831 Mr. Hendricks was nominated for congress?, in 
the Indianapolis district, and was elected; and liis 
service w.as so acceptable to his constituents tliat he 
was re-elected. In 1855 he resumed the jiractice of 
law .-It Shelbyville, but the same year was offered 
by President Pierce the position of commis-sioner of 
the general land office, which he accepted and held 
until 1859. adiuinistering the duliesof Ihe (ilhce with 
ability, good judgment and strict integrity; earning 
in that position a widespread, national reputation. 
In IHfiO the Indiana democratic .state convention 
nominiUed Mr. Hendricks for the governorship, but 
the democratic party being split between two fac- 
tions, controlled respectively by Stephen A. Doug- 
lass and John C. Breckenridge. the result was the 
election of the republican candidate. Col. Henry S. 
Lane. ^Ir. Hen(iricks then went to Indi.mapolis 
and there formed a law partnership with Oscar B. 



Hard, who was afterward the attorney-general of 
the state. The legislature of 18(J2-()3 was demo- 
cratic, and Jesse I). Bright having been expelled 
from his seat in the U. S. senate, David S. Turi)ie 
was elected to till out the remaining eighteen days 
of the unexpired term, while Mr. Hendricks wji3 
unanimously elected for the full term of .six years, 
taking his .seat in tlie national .senate on M;Mch 4, 
181)3, and .serving until lsii9. He was i)racti<-ally 
the leader of the sm.iil democratic minority in the 
senate, wliere he served on the commillees on judi- 
ciary, public lands, naval atfairs, and claims. He 
was bitterly opposed to the Southern reconstruction 
plan of the republicans and lo the aniendnienls to 
the consiiiution, but he voted for larire a|)propria- 
tions to carry on the w;ir and was strongly in favor 
of increasing the \>iiy of the soldier.s, " In 1808. in 
the democratic convention held in New York, Mr. 
Hendricks was a candidate for the presidency, and 
on the twenty-first ballot receiv- 
ed 133 votes to 135'2 for Gen. 
Hancock. That convention final- 
ly compnmiised oi\ Horatio Sey- 
mour. Just at the close of his 
term in the .senate IMr. Hendricks 
was nominated for the governor- 
ship of Iniliana. but was defeat- 
ed by Conra<l Baker, the repub- 
lican candidate, who was elected 
b_v a veiy small majority. Sen- 
ator Hendricks now returned to 
Indianapolis and began again to 
practice law, the firm name be- 
ing Hendricks, Hard & Hen- 
dricks, the latter member being 
his cousin, Abram W., astrong re- 
publican. Thetirm wasoneof two 
or three leading ones in llie city 
and enjoyeda very lucrative )U'ac- 
tice, enabling Jlr. HendricUs to 
increase the already comfort- 
able ccmijietence which he had acquired by his 
bu.siness shrewdness and economy. In 1872 there 
wa.s another important gubernatorial election in In- 
diana, when Thomas N. Brown was nominated by 
the republicans and Senator Hendricks by the demo- 
crats. The campaign was an ex(;iting one. turning 
materially on the (fuestion of temperance, as to 
which Jlr. Hendricks was understood to be in favor 
of local optiou. Partly on the strength of this ten- 
dency he was elected by a plurality of 1,2I1() votes, 
all the other oflicers of the state, except the superin- 
tendent of public constrnction, being re|)ublicans. 
He afterwards sustained his temperance injsition by 
approving what was known as "the Baxter law." 
This was in the October election, and the next 
month Grant carried the state by a majority of 
6,000. Oddly enough. Gov. Hendricks is authority 
for the as.sertion that any man competent to be a 
notary public could fill the position of governor of 
Indiana, so that it woidd apjiear there was not much 
to test the executive abilities of Gov. Hendricks 
during his term of office. He made an urbane, care- 
ful, satisfactory official, and when he retired from 
the position it was with the respect of all parties in 
the state. In July 1874. Mr. Hendricks was perma- 
nent chairman of the state democratic convention at 
Indianapolis. On June 27. 1870. the democratic 
national convention at St. Louis nominated Sauuiel 
J. Tilden for president on the s-eeond ballot, and 
Mr. Hendricks for vice-president, the latter receiv- 
ing 730 votes out of 738. The stoutly contested and 
bitter campaign which followed is a matter of his- 
tory, as also tlie claim of both parlies to Ihe election, 
and Ihe final disposition of the question by the elect- 
oral board, when Mr. Hayes was given the election. 
During the next eight years Mr. Hendricks remained 




386 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



quietly in Indianapolis, practicing his profession, 
stroncly interested in relisrious mutters, having 
joined the St. Paul's P. E. church, on its orgmiiza- 
tion in 18(i2, and being senior warden thereof. Tliis 
life was varied only in 1876 when Mr. Hendricks 
made an extended "trip in Europe, where he was 
cordially received by prominent statesmen, who 
•were familiar with his nann^ and reputation. In 
July, 1884. .Mr. Heudri<-ks wa,s a nicmber of the 
democratic national convention, held at Chicago, 
and in behalf of the Indiana delegation nominated, 
as that state's candidate for the presidency, Joseph 
E. McDonald. Mr. Hendricks was, however, pre- 
sented by Gov. Thos. Waller, in the name of Con- 
necticut, as the candidate for the presidency, where- 
ui>on the chairman of the Indiana delegation rose to 
his feet to [irotest, saying, "Mr. Hendricks is not a 
candidate and will not be a candidate. I am author- 
ized to say this by Mr. Hendricks." The nomina- 
tion was accordingly withdrawn. The nomination 
of Grover Cleveland for the presidency was fol- 
lowed by William A. Wallace, of Pennsylvania, 
naming Thomas A. Hendricks for the vice-presidency; 
■whereuiion delegation after delegation rolled in i"ls 
vote for Mr. Hendricks, and he was the unanimous 
choice of the convention. The election of the presi- 
dent and vice-president in November perfected this 
action, and Thomas A. Hendricks became vice- 
president of the United States. In JIarch 4, 1885, 
he assumed his petition, and fultilled its duties in 
good heallh until the autumn. A serious attack 
which had befallen him in 18(13 w'as, however, the 
cause of some fear.s, butli on the part of the vice- 
president and of Mrs. Hcndrick.s. that his life would 
come to a sudden end. He removed to Washington 
after his election and at the extra session of the "sen- 
ale, convened on the 4th of 
March, presided over that body, 
where his courtesy and urban- 
ity at once made him exceed- 
ingly popidar. In the latter 
part of Xovembcr the vice-pres- 
ident had been in Chicago for 
a few days, returning to his 
home at Indi.-inapolis on Nov. 
24th. He colli racled a severe 
cold, but no serious results were 
anticipated, and on that evening 
he attended a reception with 
Mrs. Hendricks, a|ipeaiing as 
well as usual. The next day, 
however, he complained of be- 
ing ill, and was taken with a 
congestive chill. A few min- 
ules before five o'clock in the 
aflernoon, Mr. Hendricks ob- 
.scrviug that he was free from 
jiain, he was for a few mo- 
ments left alone by his wife, 
who on returning "found that 
he was dead. The feeling at 
Washington and throughout 
the country, at this sudden 
taking off of the vice-presi- 
dent was deep and sincere. 
Suitable othcial action was at 
once taken, the president call- 
ing a special meeting of the 
members of the caliinet for 
the same evening, when it was dclermiiied that the 
members of the admiiiisliation slidulil alteiul the 
funeral in a body. ^Ir. Hendricks was the tilth 
vice-president of the United Stales who died during 
his term of office. He was buried from the calbc- 
dral in Indianapolis, the funeral being both civil 
and military. The govcninu'nt was represented by 
members of the cabinet, and committees from the 








^A^'VH^ 



two houses of congress and the supreme court. 
Under the circumstances it was deemed best for 
President Cleveland to remain at Wa.shington. as, 
in case of any mortal accident to him, the" i.'overu- 
ment wouUi"have been without a head. He died 
Nov, i.-), I.H.S.-). 

BAYARD, Thomas Francis, secretary of 
state, was born in Wilmington, Del., Oct. 29, "1828. 
He came of a long line of .senators, while his early 
ancestors belonged toadistinguished family of French 
Huguenots. Sanuiel Bayard was 
the grandson of a professor of 
theology in Paris, who fled from 
France to escape religious i)erse- 
cution. In 1647 Nicholas, in com- 
pany with Peter Stuyvesant, the 
last Dutch governor of New York, 
who was his brother-in law, emi 
grated to America. For a time, 
the Bayards were prominent in 
New Y'ork, but after a while they 
began to appear in Pennsylvania, 
Maryland and Delaware. John 
Bayard, who was born in !Mary- 
laiid. was the great-great-grandson 
of the Samuel Baj-ardalrcaily men- 
tioned. He settled in Philadelphia 
about 1756. and became one of the 
leading merchants of that city. A 
twin brother of John Bayard.. James 
Asheton, was one of those who ne- 
gotiated the treaty of Ghent, Dec. 24, 1818. His son 
was born at Wilmington. Del., and was the U. S. 
senator of that slate m 1851, 18.57 and 1862. Thom- 
as Francis Bayard was the son of James Asheton. 
The boy was fortunate in his educational advantages, 
a.s, in his early youth heentered the Flushing School, 
Long Island, at that lime under the direction of its 
founder, Kev. A. L. Hawks, D. D. His tirst inten- 
tion was to become a merchant, and for a time he 
w.as engaged in business as a clerk in a commercial 
house in New Y'ork. He. however, gave up his in- 
tention in that direction, and .settled in Wilmington, 
Del., in 1848, having determined to follow the pro- 
fession of the law. In 1851 he was admitted to the 
bar of the state of Delaware, and entered upon gen- 
eral practice in Wilmington, being in two years 
from that time appointed U. S. district atlorney for 
Delaware. During the years 1855 and 1856 he re- 
sided in Phil.-ulclpliia. but he then returned to his 
native stateand remainetl there, con.staiitly praclisinff 
law until 1868. when he was elected to succeed 
his father as a member of the U. S. senate. During' 
the civil war Mr. Bayard did what he could to esl.-ib- 
lisli a slate of agreement with the South, and as early 
as 1861 spoke in public to lliat elfcct. Mr. Bayaii 
was re elected Ici the U. S. senate in 1875. and again 
in 1S81. On March 20. 1875, he made an able speech 
in the U. S. .senate, displaying that loyally to his 
country and that lack of absdhite p.ai'tisaiislii|i in his 
political conduct, which were always peculiar to 
him. The name of Horace Greeley, the unsuccess- 
ful candidate fur the presidency in 1872. had come 
uj) in Ibc senate, in llie dcbale on the Louisiana ques- 
tioii, and speaking to Ibis (|ucsii(in. Senator Bayard 
said: "The nominalion of Horace Greeley had its 
impuKse largely amoiii: llic Southern white Jicople, 
whose opinions and prejudices had for more than 
one generation been strongly arrayed against him. 
There had been no represenlative man of the North 
more signally tlie opponent uf what may be called 
the Soul hern system of thought anil political action 
than Horace Greeley. He bad lived lo see this sys- 
tem utterly overthrown and revolutionized by force 
of arms, and in the wreck his ear caughl the cry of 
human misery and .sorrow that ever accompanies 
such sweeping changes in society, and his kind. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



387 



warm heart recusnizctl tlic appeal. From the stir- 
remierof the tSoiitlieru anus till the i;rave closcil civcr 
his form, I believe the paramount objeet of Horace 
Greeley's life was to bring his fellow-countrymen 
into a better uuderstanding with each other, and 
inaugurate an era of peace and good-will wliieh 
shotild cement our luiion of states, and make Amer- 
ican citizenship a tie of fraternity in all sections of 
the country. . . . To reunite his countrymen in 
the bonds of mutual kindness and good will, he sev- 
ered the ties of party organization and became the 
leader of a political hope so far as the fate of the im- 
mediate canvass was concerned. And then he died. 
But the seed sown in a good life did not die. Near- 
ly 3,000,000 voters in 1872, of whom over ninety per 
cent, were democrats, responded to the sentiment for 
■which Mr. Greelej' struggled." During his senator- 
ial career, Mr. Bayard served on a number of the 
leading committees, and was president pro tern, of the 
senate in 1881. Gradually his reputation became en- 
larged, until he began to be esteemed as a leading 
statesman, and one whose views on great public 
questions might be relied upon implicitly as not be- 
ing in the least tinged with partisanship. He was a 
member of the celebrated electoral commission of 
1870, and in 1880 and 1884 his name was prominent- 
ly before the country as a candidate for the presi- 
dency. On taking the presidential chair, Mr. Cleve- 
land appointed ilr. Bayard secretary of state, and he 
continued to hold that office during the Cleveland 
administration. In all the relations of the state de- 
partntent with foreign powers, under the adminis- 
tration of Mr. Bayard, the country had reason to ex- 
perience entire confidence and reliance on the talent 
and skill with which serious diplomatic questions 
were treated. On surrendering the portfolio of his 
department, Mr. Ba3'ard retired to his home at Wil- 
mington, Del., where he continued occa.sionall\- to 
practice his profession, while generally leading a 
qinet and peaceful life, respected by all who were 
acquainted with his high career. 

MANNING, Daniel, secretary of the treasury, 
was born in Albany, Aug. 16, 1831, His ancestry 
was mi.xed — North of Ireland, English and Dutch. 
He was educated in the public schools of Albany up to 
his twelfth year, when he left school and took a po- 
sition as " boy " in the office of the Albany " Atlas," 
which afterward became the "Argus," and with 
whicli paper he continued a connection all through 
his life, eventuall}' becoming president of the a.sso- 
ciation which published it. and its executive propri- 
etor. B3' thus begiiming his newspaper work at the 
foot of the ladder, and climbing steadily through all 
its degrees to its highest rank, Mr. Manning thor- 
oughly qualified himself in every department both 
to manage the details, and e.xercise general supervis- 
ion. Under his direction the " Argus " became a 
political power not only in Albany, but in the state. 
and, by rcHection, upon the country. While thus 
thoroughly informing himself as a journalist, Mr. 
Manning studied jiolitics as a fine art, and became 
an accomplisheil leader, and that, too, during a per- 
iod e.xceptioiial for the ability of those who directed 
the politic.-d fortunes of the state, and also for the 
large number of complicated and important ques- 
tions which it was necessary to understand. The 
admiiu'strative powers of Mr. Manning were conced- 
ed from the beginning of his asstuning a responsible 
position on the " Argus." In \Xi<h he was made as- 
sociate editor of the paper, and took full cliarge of 
it. In 1873 Mr. Ca.s.sidy, who had been the leading 
spirit of the a.s.soeiation, died. From that time for 
ward, Mr. Manning was president of the company. 
In state politics he had already given evidence of re- 
markable ability, tenacious force and an aggres- 
sive dispo.sition, in his fight against the Tweed ring, 




WZl.«-^-.<-*.^/'^'C»..C.,,.**<_.^^ 



and in the assistance which he gave to Samuel J. Til- 
den and Charles O'Comior and others within the 
democratic party, who labored so faithfully and ear- 
nestly to break up the oligarchy which would have 
soon destroyed the party itself. By general consent 
Mr. Manning was given the leadership of the anti- 
ring forces, within the democratic party in the inte- 
rior of the state, and he .so .successfully organized 
these as to break up the rings utterly inthe legislat- 
ure, where they had been able to do the most and 
worst of their mischief. In 1874 Mr. Manning was 
a member of the democratic state convention at Syr- 
aeu.se, which nominated Mr. Tilden for governor, and 
during the administration of Mr. Tilden was earnest 
in his support, and himself originated and organized 
many mea.sures for reform which met with nuich 
popularity. This was particidarlv the case in regard 
to the unscrupvdous abuses which had been planted 
in the government of tlie canals and prisons. These 
he succeeded in placing on a busi- 
ness and self-su,slaining basis. In 
1876 Mr. Maiming controlled the 
delegation for the state of New 
York to the national democratic 
convention in St. Louis, and held 
the same position in Cincinnati in 
1880. He was a member of the 
democratic state committee in 187fi, 
its secretary in 1879 and 1880, and 
its chairman in 1881, 1883 and 
1883. In 1878 Mr. Planning took 
into partnership on the "Argus," 
as an associate, Mr. St. Clair Mc- 
Kelway, retaining for himself the 
executive management of the 
paper, and the presidency of the 
company. From that time for- 
ward, Mr. Planning was con.sid- 
ered to sustain the same relation 
to the democratic party of the state which had 
previously been held by Dean l{ichmoud, and after- 
ward by Samuel J. Tilden. The best men of the 
party grew to confide in him absolutely, both in the 
integrity of his part}' loyalty, and in his intelligence 
and broad general capacity. Mr. Manning himself 
had the deepest confidence in the honesty and intel- 
ligence of the mass of voters, and while he cared 
very little forthe pretenses of local "bosses," hench- 
men an<l heelers, he was a constant and severe work- 
er and undoubtedly undermined his health througii 
the persistence of his labors, which were always re- 
sponsible and arduous. Toward the end of 1883, he 
had practically made up his niiiul to retire altogeth- 
er from political life. Up to that period he had nev- 
er held any public position, although freijueiitly 
urged to do so. In 1884 he toi>k a deep interest in 
the presidential election, and worked zealously for 
the success of 3Ir. Cleveland, and in the convention 
of that year was chairman of the New York del- 
egation. When Mr. Cleveland formed his cabinet 
in March, 188."), he appoiiUed D.aniel Manning .secre- 
tary of the treasury, and he continued to hold the po- 
sition for about two years, during the latter part of 
which time, he was in constant danger on account 
of the condition of his health, which eventually 
broke down altogether, and in April, 1887, he re- 
signed his place in the cabinet. During that sum- 
mer he recuperated partially, and in October of the 
same vear accejited the presidency of the Bank of 
New York. The aiipointment of Jlr. Jlanning toso 
impoilant a po.sition in the cabinet as that of secre- 
tary of the treasury was a surprise to those who were 
not aware of his financial and business eapacitv and 
his experience in precisely the direction most likely 
to benefit himin his administration of the finances of 
the countiy. He was long a director for the city of 
Albany in the Albany and Susquehanna Hallway 



388 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPvEDIA 



Company. From 1869 to 1882, wlieii he resisned, he 
wa-s a director of the National Saviiiirs Bank of Al- 
bany, in 1878 he was made a director of the Nation- 
al Comniccial Hank of Albany; in 1881 its vice-pres- 
ident and in 188"2 its president. He wa-s also a di- 
rector of the Electric Liglil Company of Albany. In 
all these large and important business enterprises, be 
obtained an experience wliich, adiled to his natural 
gifts, tended to make liim a most ellicient public of- 
ticer. Mr. Jlanuing married, in 1858, Mary Lee, a 
lady of English parentage, who died in 1882. They 
had two sons and two daughters. Of his .sons, 
James Hilton Manning, secretary and treasurer of a 
large manufacturing company of Albany, was also 
managing editor of the Alhany " Sunda.v Argus, "and 
after his fatlier's death, a.ssumed the charge of the 
latter'sinteresl in that paper. Frederick Clinton Man- 
ning established himself as a stationer in Albany. 
Secretary Maiming died in Albany Dec. 24, 1887. 

FAIRCHILD," Charles Steb'bins, secretary of 
the treasury, 1887-89, was born in Cazenovia, N. Y., 
Apr. 30, 1842. His father was Sidney T. Fairchild, 
for many years attorney for tlie New York Cen- 
tral R. H., and one of the leading 
men of central New York. Young 
Fairchild studied at the common 
schocjls and at the Oneida Confer- 
ence Seminary at Cazenovia, where 
he prepared for a university course, 
and went to Harvard in 18.')9, grad- 
uating in the class of 18(13. He de- 
termined to follow the legal pro- 
fession, entered the Harvard Law 
School, and completed the pre- 
scribed course in 18ti5, receiving 
the degree of Bachelor of Laws. 
He then removed to Albanj', where 
\ii: continued bis legal studies, 
and in 18C6 was admitted to the 
bar. In 1871 he became a mem- 
ber of the law firm of Hand, 
C^»Uu S. P-it—^A-^.TC' Hale, Swartz & Fairchild, this 
firm being one of the most suc- 
cessful in the business in the state. He remain- 
ed a member of this firm until 1876, but in the 
meantime, in 1874, was appointed deputy attor- 
ney-general of the state, and in 1875 was nominated 
by the democratic party for the attorney-generalship, 
and was elected, assuming the ollice in the following 
year. While holding the ]iosition of deputy attorney- 
general, Mr. Fairchild became e.xceecWngly popular 
with his party, a fact whicli secured him tlie nomi- 
nati(m for the higher position, and which doubtless 
aided greatly in accomiilishing the success of his 
future life. Mr, Fairchild displayed great skill in 
bandlins; the cases whicli came "under his charge, 
especially so in the instance of the ca.se of the Peoi)le 
m. the New York police commissioners, Gardner 
and Charlick. During the last two years of his .ser- 
vice as deputy attorney-general, Mr. F'airchild was 
more than usually occupied, and very responsibly 
so, on account of the reports of the Canal Investiga- 
tion commission, and in regard to all the suits de- 
volving upon the law office of the stale, Mr Fair- 
child was considered "the right arm of the attorney- 
general." At the democratic slate convention in 
1875, his nomination Sov attorney-general was made 
by acclamation. In Ihe election which followed he 
received a majority of 28,802 over his republican 
competitor. As attorney-general, Mr. Fairchild be- 
came also a commissioner of the land office, of the 
canal fund, a mcTnber of the canal board, a member 
of the board of state charities, trustee of the state 
capital, and trustee of the states hall. At Ihe end of 
his two years' term of office in 187S, ]\lr. Fairchild 
went to Europe, where he remained until 1880, On 
his return he settled in New York city, and devoted 




himself to the practice of law until 188.5, when Pres- 
ident Cleveland appointed him assistant secretary of 
the treasury. While occupying this position, ^Ir. 
Fairchild was freqently obliged to represent Secre- 
tary Daniel Manning as acting secretary, and when 
the latter on account of ill health was obliged to re- 
sign his olhce. Apr. 1, 1887, President Cleveland ap- 
pointed Mr. Fairchild secretary of the treasury. He 
continued to till thai office until Ihe close of Mr! Cleve- 
land's admiiustration in March, 1889. After retiring 
from public life, Mr. Fairchild became president of 
the New York Security and Trust Co. of New York 
city. In 1888 he received the degree of LL. D. from 
Harvard. Throughout his <areer, Jlr. Fairchild 
has occupied a position among his fellow-ciiizen.s, 
and among tho.se who know him, as a man of sianch 
intellecl, great skill in handling imporlant affaii-s, 
remarkable inlellcctual grasp and financial and busi- 
ness ability. During tlie latter part of September, 
1889, Mr. Fairchild, in addres.sing a large audience 
in the hall of Ihe Harlem Branch of the 'ii'oung Men's 
Christian Assdcialion. spoke regarding great social 
problems in large cities, and in reference to these, 
and illu.slrating the question, said of New York, 
"The city is the heel of our Amencan Achilles, the 
place where our popular government may be wound- 
ed to its destruction." Mr. Fairchild is an able 
speaker and a logical reasoner, and has been fre- 
quently called ujiou to address public audiences on 
occasions of moment. 

ENDICOTT, William Crowninshield, secre- 
tary of war, was born in Salem, Mass.. Nov. 19. 1S2G. 
He was the son of William Putnam and Mary (Crown- 
inshield) Endicott. He is descended directly from 
Gov. John Endicott, who came to Salem in l(i28, 
and on bis mother's side is a grandson of the Hon. 
Jacob Crowninshield, who was a well-known mem- 
ber of congress in tlie early ]iart of this century. Jlr. 
Endicott was educated in Salem schools and in 1843 
entered Harvard, from which he was graduated 
in 1847. Soon after graduating he sluilied law 
in the office of Nathaniel J. Lord, then the leading 
member of the Essex bar, and in the Harvard Law 
School at Cambridge. He was caPed to the bar in 
1850, and began the practice of law 
in Salem in 1851. He was a mem- 
ber of the Salem common council 
in 1S,52, and in 1853 he entered into 
partnership with Jairus AV. Perry 
(who is well kno\vn tbrougfliout the 
country as the author of " Perry 
on Trusts") under the firm name 
of Perry & Endicott. From 1857 
to 1864 iie was solicitor of the city 
of Salem. After nearly twenly 
years of an active and leading 
practice at the Essex bar, in 1878. 
though a democrat, Mr. Endicoii 
was appointed by a republican 
governor, William" B. Washlmrn, 
an associate justice of the supreme 
judicial court of Massachusetts, 
which position be held until the 
autumn of 1882, when be resigned, 
and at this time spent a year or 
more in Europe. In 1884" be was the democratic 
candidate for governor of >lassachusetts, but was 
defeated. In is.M5 he became secretary of_ war of 
the rnited States in Cleveland's ailniinistration, and 
held office to the end of Mr. Cleyeland's term. Mr. 
Endicott is president of the Peabody Academy of 
Science in Salem, which position he has held since 
18()S, and is a member of the corjioration of Har- 
vard, and one of the trustees of the Peabody 
Eilucation Fund. He was married Dec. 18. 1859 to 
Ellen, daughter of the late George Peabody, of Sa- 
lem, and has a son and daughter. 




-//'""^^U^,/^ 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



389 



"WHITNEY, ■William Collins, secretary of 
the navy, was born at Conway, Mass., July 5, 1841, 
a descendant in the eighth generation from John 
Whitney, one of the leaders of the English Puritans 
who settled in Watertown, Mass., in 1635. His an- 
cestors in the male line were, without exception, men 
of unusual strength of character and of iirominence 
in the communities in which tlicj* lived, among them 
being Brig. -Gen. Josiah Whitney, of Harvard, Ma.s.s., 
active in the field during the revolution, and a mem- 
ber of both the convention that prepared the consti- 
tution for Mas.sacliusetts and that which adopted the 
constitution of the luited States. His father was 
Brig. -Gen. James Scollay Whitney, who, in 18r)4, 
was appointed l\v President Pierce superintendent of 
the U. S. armory at Springfield, Ma.ss., and in 1800 
became collector of the port of Boston on nomina- 
tion of President Buchanan. Upon his mother's 
side, his ancestry goes back to William Bradford, 
governor of Plymomh colony. Mr, Whitney was 
educated at Williston Seminary, East Hampton, 
Mass., at Yale College, where he was graduated in 
1863, and at Harvard University I^aw School, which 
he left in 1864. Beginning practice in New York 
city, he was soon recognized as a fearless lawyer 
whose devotion to his clients was indefatigable. His 
first appearance in public affairs took place in 1871, 
when he was active in organizing the young men's 
demo('ratic club of New York city. In 1872 he was 
made inspector of schools, and at the same time be- 
came a leader of the county democracy division of 
the democratic party. In 1875 he was appointed 
corporation counsel for the city of New York, and 
his administration of the office was di.stinguished, it 
has been well said, "by reforms and economies 
within it and by notable "legal triumphs for the city 
in the courts." Thirtv-eight himdred suits were 
pending, involving between $40,000,000 and |50,- 
000,000. He proceeded to reorganize the depart- 
ment with four bureaus, and within two years had 
doubled the volume of business disposed of, while 
expenses were reduced. He resigned the office in 
1882, to attend to personal interests, and March 5, 
1885, was appointed secretary of the navy by Presi- 
dent Cleveland. He prepared, in his first report to 
congress, a plan for the reorganization of that de- 
partment of the government business, and it was 
afterward claimed that bj- the results which fol- 
lowed its execution, "for thefirst time in the history 
of the navj- it has been possible to prepare comiilete 
statement, by classes, of receipts and expenditures 
of supplies throughout the entire service, and of the 
total valuation ot supplies on hand for issue at all 
sliore stations." Also proceeding vigorously to the 
construction of the new navy, with which his name 
is hereafter to be closely identified, he aimed in this 
at restoring to the United States the prestige as a na- 
val power which tlie country formerly enjoyed, and 
above all things at making it independent of the rest 
of the world for supplies in case of war. When he be- 
came secretary lie fovnid that neither armor, n<ir the 
forgings for high-power guns, nor the ra]iicl-tire guns 
constituting the secondary battery, could be pro- 
duced on this side of the Atlantic. Hesolutely de- 
clining to place any contracts abroad, and stipulating 
for American production in every instance, there 
nece.ssiirily was a consiilerable delay in beginning 
the new ships; but in 1887, by embracing in one con- 
tract all the armor and gun steel authorized by the 
two previous congresses, he induced the Bethlehem 
Iron Works to assume the expenditure for new- 
plant of four or five million d<illars, and had the 
satisfaction of securing all that the government 
needed from a home institution — the largest and 
finest of the kind in the world— and of better (pial- 
ity than had ever before been (jroduced anywhere. 
American citizens and shipbuilders were invited to 



submit designs and models for the new vessels, con- 
struction by private parties was especially .stinnilated 
on the Pacific coast, and as a suiiplenient to all this 
the navy jardsat New York and Norfolk, Va., were 
also equipped for steel and iron shipbuilding of 
every type and size. When he retired from office in 
1889, the vessels of the U. S. navy designed and con- 
tracted for by him, then finished or in process of 
construction, consisted of five monitors, double-lur- 
reted, and two new armor-dads, besides the dyna- 
mite cruiser Vesuvius, and five imarmored steel and 
iron cruisers, i. e., the Newark, Charleston, Balti- 
more, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. In addition 
there were three, then unnamed, armored cruis('rs 
and four gvuilioats, two of the latter having l)een 
launched in 1888. He also contracted for a torpedo- 
boat, and purchased the Stiletto, to be used in |)rac- 
tice at the U. S. torpedo station. The vessels enu- 
merated were exclu.sive of the steel and iron vessels 
of the old navy so-called. The following tribute was 
jiaid to him by Senator Preston B. Plumb of Kansas, 
a political opponent, in a .speech in the senate on 
Feb. 12, 1881): "lam glad to .say in the closing hours 
of Mr. Whitney's administration that the affairs of 
his department have been well admiuistereil. They 
have not only been well admin- 
istered in the sense that every- 
thing has been honestly and faith- 
fully done, but there has been a 
stimidus given, so far as it could 
be done by executive direction, 
to the production of the best types 
of ships and the highest form of 
manufacture, and, more than all 
that, to the encouragement of the 
inventive genius of our people 
and to the performance of all 
possible work, not in navy -yards, 
where they might be most surely 
made the instrument of political 
strength, but in private shipyards 
and manufactories, to the effect 
that we have got to-da)' enlisted in 
this good work of building the 
American navy not only the navy 
department backed by congress, but we have got the 
keen competition of American manufactories and 
the inventive genius of all our people, so that we may 
confidently expect not only the best results but great 
imi)rovement each year. I am glad to .say that dur- 
ing the jiast four years the navy department has 
been administered in a practical, level-headed, judi- 
cious way, and the result is such that I am prepared 
to believe and to say that within ten years we shall 
liave the best navy in the world. " Sir. Whitney was 
the leader of the Cleveland forces in the national 
democratic convention of 1892, and showed, by his 
skill in outgeneraling the older politicians, all the 
(pialities of a born leader and organizer. I lis ability 
to command and holil the respect of men of every 
shaile of opinion gave bim the position of liarmoni- 
zer, his judgment being deferred to when dilVerenc'es 
arose. Jlr" Whitney was nnirried in 1869 to Flora 
Payne, daughter of" Henry B. Payne, senator from 
Ohio, and tlieir house in Washiuglou, one of the 
finest in the ca|)ital, was a social centre of great at- 
tract ion. In 1888 Yale conferred upon him the 
hiMiorarv dcLTce of I.L.I ). 

GARLAND, Augustus Hill, United States 
atlornev-ireneral, was born in Tipton county, Tenn., 
June l"l, 1S32. He received his education at St. 
Marv's Colleixe, Lebanon, Ky., and at St. Joseph's 
ColU-i;e. Bariistown , Ky. Mr. Garland studied 
law. was admitted to the bar in 1853, and prac- 
ticed law in Washington. Ark., for three years, 
when he removed to Little Hock, Ark. He was 
admitted to practice as an attorney and counsel- 




#1^ 



390 



THE XATIOJfAL CYCLOPEDIA 




w^-^^ 



or in the supreme court of the United States in 
1860, and took the official oath of that day. He 
entered political life as a whig, and was an elector 
on the Bell and Everett ticketr His first public posi- 
tion was that of delegate to the convention called 
by his state to consider her relations with the Fed- 
eral Union after Mr. Lincoln's election. He was 
chosen as a Union delegate, but after the war began 
he favored secession and voted 
for the secession ordinance. He 
was elected a member of the Con- 
federate provisional congress, 
which assembled at Montgom- 
ery, Ala., in 1801, Arbausiis be- 
ing admitted as a state in Jlay 
of that year; and he was also a 
member of the liou.se of repre- 
sentatives of the first congress of 
the Confederate stales, and then 
a member of the .«euate. where he 
remained until tlie end of the 
war. After the waf he showed 
his desire to use his jtowers in as- 
sisting to restore the Federal re- 
lations, and received a full par- 
don frfim President Johnson in 
186.5, on condition that he would 
support the United States con- 
stitution,'and obey the laws abol- 
ishing slavery. He undertook to renew his prac- 
tice in the supreme court, but was not permitted to 
do so, according to act of congress jiassfj on Jan. 
24, 1865, requiring all attorneys and counselors to 
take the " Iron-cI,<id " oath, prescribed bv the act of 
July 2, 1863. J[r. Garland filed a brief in his own 
behalf, in a case he in.slituted to test the constitu- 
tionality of that act, employing as his counsel Kev- 
erdy Johnson and M. H. Cafpeiiter. He argued the 
case himself in a masterly manner, for which he re- 
ceived high credit, and the decision was in his favor. 
He was elected to the United States senate in 1.866, 
but was not permitted to take his seat. In 1874 he 
■was for a time acting secretary of state for Arkansas 
when the carpet-bag rule was overthrown, and in 
the .same year was elected governor of that state. 
He found "the treasury bankrupt, and the financial 
standing of the state in the lowest possible condition. 
It was with much hard work and a great deal of op- 
position that he finally succeeded insettling all dif- 
ferences, and placing matters on a firm "financial 
basis. He was elected to the United States senate 
without opposition in 1876, succeeding Powell Clay- 
ton, becoming a member of the judiciary commit- 
tee, and was re-elected without opposition, serv- 
ing until 1885, when President Cleveland appointed 
him attorney-general of the United States, which 
position he retained until the close of that adminis- 
tration, when he returned to the practice of law. 
Senator Garland's stea<Iy perseverance and keen ex- 
ecutive ability early raiike<l him with the best law- 
yers of his state, and ])romised him a famous future, 
■which his subsequent brilliant and successful career 
has amply fulfilled. In society he is genial though 
una.ssuming, and his conversation is agreeably inter- 
spersed with a variety of anecdote and humor. He 
■was a delegate to the Chicago convention of 1893, 
and supported the nomination of his former chief. 



'VILAS, 'William Freeman, secretary of the in- 
terior, postma.ster-general, and senator, wa.s bom .Inly 
9, 1840, at Chelsea, Vt., the son of Levi B. and 
Esther G. (Smilie) Vilas. His grandfather, Moses 
Vilas, migrated, toward the end of the last cen- 
tury, from Connecticut to the Sterling mountain in 
Vermont, near the top of which he suiidued to lius- 
bandry 800 acres of its forest-covered sides. Tradi- 
tionary tales yet survive, in the locality, of his deeds 



and sayings illustrative of the hardy daring and tin- 
flinching steadfa.stness for which he was remarkable. 
Nathan Smilie, his maternal grandfather, was also a 
man beyond the ordinary type, acute in intellect, 
yet broad and wise in ni-nd, a leader of his party in 
the state, and long useful in her legislative service. 
Though born and reared in a mouiUain farmhouse, 
Le\-i B. Vilas inherited too much spirit and andjition 
to brook the limitations of such a life, and, when 
but sixteen, set out on foot to the academy at Han- 
dol])h, a distance of sixty mi'es, where by diligent 
study he laid the foundation of his success in man- 
hood as a lawyer, a legislator and a citizen. Hav- 
ing wim a comfortable independence he removed 
with his family to Madison, AVis., selecting this 
location with a view to the educat'on of his children, 
and five of his sons subsequeutlv took degrees at the 
State University in that city. I'he family arrived in 
JIadisou, June 4, 1851, after a journej from Mil- 
waukee in a white covered wagon. In September 
of that year at the first ses-sion of the university, 
William was entered in the preparatory depirtment. 
He took his degree in the regular cla.s.sical course in 
1858. He was reputed a good student, yet pct've 
also in the societies and sports of the college and 
popular with his fellows. In 1859 he took a course 
of instruction in a commercial school, and in the 
meantime began the study of law. He then went 
to the Albany Law School, was grad- 
uated in 3Iay, 1860. and admitted to 
the bar of Xew York. Returning 
home, he was admitted to the Wis- 
consin bar by the supreme court, and, 
in June, while yet not twenty, argued 
before that tribunal his tirst ca.se. 
July 9th he formed 'with Charles T. 
Wakeley the partnership of Wake- 
lej' & Vilas, to which, at the begin- 
ning of 1863, Eleazar Wakeley ■nas 
received as senior member. His pro- 
fessional beginninirs were promising, 
but thecal! to the civil war became too 
urgent for denial. He had drilled with 
Col. Ellsworth, was then captain of the 
"Madison Zouaves," and in July, 
1862, tendered his services to Gov. 
Salomon, who urged him to raise a company. He 
called and conducted a series of war meetings, still 
remembered for the patriotic fervor educed, and in 
a few days he formed company A of the 3M Wis- 
consin resriment which was sent in September to Cov- 
ington, iCy., and thence to Jlenqihis, to join Sher- 
man in his expedition against Vicksburg. While at 
Memphis he was attacked with typhoid fever, and 
would doubtless have lost his life but for the kind- 
ness of a cousin, resident in the city, the late Ira M. 
Hill, who took care of him, regardless of the conse- 
quences should the city be retaken by the Confeder- 
ates. So soon as convalescent, he went to his regi- 
ment and sustained with his comrades the miseries 
of camp life at Young's Point and Jlilliken's Bend, 
and the toils and joys of the campaign of V;;ksuure. 
He was promoted to be major and then lieutenant-col- 
onel of the regiment, while at Jlilliken's Bend. He 
participated in the Ijattlesof Port Gibson. Ciiampion 
Hill, Black River Bridge, the as-saulls at Vicksburg, 
and during nearly all of the siege was in immediate 
command of iiis" regiment. The day following the 
surrender he marched with the army imder Sher- 
mon in pursuit of Johnston and, after sharing the 
week's envinmment of Jack.son, on its evacuation 
returned to Vicksburg. Thence, still in command 
of his regiment, he was sent to Carrollton near Xew 
Orleans, where, after some weeks' idleness, in view 
of the unfavorable prospect for the further service 
of the regiment and pressed by the necessities of his 
father who was involved in "a Utigation, which, if 




OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



391 



unfortunate in result, might have ruined him. Col. 
Vilas resigned and returned home. lu 180,5 he 
settled down to professional practice, and on Jan. 
3, 18()6, was married to Anna M. Fox, daughter of 
Dr. \Vm. H. Fox, an early settler and one of the 
most influential men of Wisconsin. Thenceforward, 
his practice rapidly increased and his income secured 
him in a few years a moderate fortune. From 1872 
to 1881 Edwin E. Bryant, now dean of the law fac- 
ulty of the University of Wisconsin, was his law 
partner, and during tlie latter part of this period, 
his brotlier, Edward P. Vilas, now of Milwaukee, 
■was also a member of the tirm. He was appointed 
by the state supreme court to edit a new edition of 
its law reports, in wliich work his jiartner was a.s.so- 
ciated, and the iirst twenty volumes of the "Wis- 
consin Reports," except two annotated by Chief .Jus- 
tice Dixon, were rejiuljlished with "Vilas and Bry- 
ant's Notes." In 1875 the supreme court appointed 
him one of the revisers of the general statutes, who, 
after three years' labor, reported the revision adopted 
in 1878 and still in force, which will compare favor- 
ably with any similar work in the country. In 1808, 
on the opening of the law school of the University 
of Wiscon.sin, Col. Vilas was appointed a profes.sor 
of law and regularly lectured for seventeen years. 
He was also regent of the university from 1880 to 
1885. Since 1860 Senator Vilas has taken part on the 
stump in every political campaign, as a democrat, 
lias often represented his locality in state conventions 
and was a delegate from the state to tlie national 
conventions of 1876, 188t), and 1884; permanent 
chairman of the convention in 1884; chairman of 
the committee of notification, and made the otticial 
addresses to the nominees. Mr. Clevelanil and Mr. 
Hendricks. He was the Wi.sconsiu nien\ber of the 
national committee from 1876 to 1886. In 1SS4 he 
accepled a nomination to the legislature and was 
elected wilh little opposition. While in the legislat- 
ure, President Cleveland invited him to his cabinet 
as po.stmaster-general, on which office he entered 
March 7, 1885, and, upon the advancement of Mr. 
Justice Lamar to the supreme court, appointed him 
secretary of the interior, in which capacity he served 
from Jan. 16, 1888, to March 6. 1889. In the post- 
office department, the distinguishing features of his 
service were the establishment of improved business 
methods in some of the divisions; economy of nuin- 
agement by substantial diminishment of proportional 
cost with large increase of service, conspicuously 
marked in the acceptance by congress of his esti- 
mates of the second year, amounting to $57,000,000, 
■without alterali<in (an event so unusual that the 
committee of the house remarked upon it in their 
report), the complete revision of the postal laws and 
regulations, personally preparing the scheme and 
arrangement, and carefully supervising all the de- 
tails; the increa.sed expedition of overland mails, 
and the improvement of the foreign mail service, for 
■which he received an elaborate written testimonial 
of thanks signed by the great importing and com- 
mercial houses of New 'Y'ork; a new treaty with 
Mexico and a postal arrangement with Canada, by 
■which letter and paper mail tnin.smission throughout 
the North .Vmerican continent was opened to our cit- 
izens at the same rates as for domestic service, smd 
the inauguration of parcel post conventions with 
foreign countries for the transmission of articles of 
inerciiandise not exceeding eleven pounds weight. 
He refu.sed to expend the appropriation made at the 
close of the 48th congress for ocean mail subsidies, 
wliich drew hot controversy upon him, but the next 
house sustained him by more llian a two-tliirds ma- 
jority. The hu.siness of Ihe interior department Wiis 
largely in arrears, and Secretarj' Vilas began the 
attempt to relieve tho.se having affairs .so involved 
by working off the accumulations, and, by intro- 



ducing better modes of consideration in the law 
division, caused to be decided as many laud appeals 
during his service as had been disposed of iu the 
previous four years, besides gains in other offices, 
but the political result of 1888 prevented the execu- 
tion of his purposes. On Mr. Cleveland's retire- 
ment, he returned home and resumed his profes- 
sional practice. During the .state campaign of 1890 
he sjioke daily for si;veral weeks at many different 
points. The result of the election enabled llie dem- 
ocrats to choo.se, after thirty-five years' interru])tiou, 
a Uuited States senator, and so general was the 
favor toward Mr. Vilas that in the caucus of eighty- 
five votes he received every one on the first ballot, 
and was formally elected by the legislature, Jan. 
38tli, for the six years' term beginning March 4. 1891. 
Senator Vilas has distinguished himself as an orator 
in various public addresses, especially in respondjug 
to a toast in honor of Gen. Grant, "Our first Coin- 
m.under, " at the banquet of the Society of the Army 
of the Tennessee, at Cliicago, in 1879. In his do- 
mestic life he h.as enjoyed unusual felicity in a ■(vife 
of great amiability and excellence; the.v have three 
cbililrcn. 

DICKINSON, Don Manuel, postma.ster-gen- 
eral, was born Jan. .17, 1846, at Port Ontario, Oswego 
Co., N. Y. His ancestors were among the early set- 
tlers of Jlassachusetts, and his father and grandfa- 
ther natives of the state. The 
first of the family "nho came 
to America was John Dickin- 
son, a member of the Conti- 
nental congress of 1774, presi- 
dent of the executive council, 
and one of the founders of 
Dickinson College, Carlisle, 
Pa., to whom Jonathan Dick- 
inson, chief justice of the prov- 
ince of Pennsylvania in 1719, 
■was also related in the direct 
line. The father of Mr. Dick- 
inson in 1830 explored the 
shores of lakes Erie, Huron 
and Michigan in a birch-bark 
canoe, and in 1848 removed 
to Michigan, settling in St. 
Clair county, where his sou 
received his primary educaticm 
in the public schools. Having 
passed through those of Detroit also, betook a year's 
instruction with a private teacher,and enleringihe law 
department of the University of Michigan, was grad- 
uated before reaching his majority. The interval 
prior to his admis.sion to tlie bar he spent in study- 
ing the management of cases and the practical ap- 
plication of the philosophy and logic of law. In 
1867 he entered upon a succe.s.sful and lucrative prac- 
tice, being concerned in all of the leading cases under 
the bankruptcy act of that year. In October. 1887, he 
was also, in a.ssociation with Senator Edmunds, coun- 
.sel for Drawbangh in the great telephone case. From 
1875 to 1880 he was a.s.so(iated with Levi T. Griffin, 
in the firm of Griffin & Dickinson, and from 1880 to 
1883 in that of Griffin, Dickinson, Thurber & Hos- 
nier. In 1873 he entered political life, and in 1876, 
as cliairman of the state democratic central com- 
mittee, conducted the Tilden campaign, being 
brought into close relations with that statesman 
until his death. As member of tlie national demo- 
cratic committee in 1884-85. he enjoyed the full con- 
tiilence and esteem of President Clevchmd. who in 
1888 called him to a seat in his cabinet, being the 
fourth representative of Michigan to be honored thus. 
On retiring from public office he resumed Ihe prac- 
tice of law, which he carries on at Detroit in the firm 
of Dickinson. Thurber & Stevenson. In 1869 he 
married Frances L. Piatt. 







392 



TUE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 




LAMONT, Daniel Scott, jnurnalist iiud secre- 
tary, was liDinat McGiawvillc, t'Diilaud Co., X. V., 
Feb. 9, 1M51. After having studied in the C'liilhiud 
Normal School he was sent to Tnion College, ^^chen- 
ectady, X. Y. He did not graduate, but left college 
before the end of the course in order to enter the 
profession of journalism, for which he possessed 
both taste and predilection. He purchased an iulcr- 
est in the " Democrat," a paper published at the 
county-seat of his native county, and became its edi- 
tor, at the same time interest- 
ing himself warmly in politics. 
In 1870 he was appointed en- 

frossing clerk to the Xew 
'ork state assembly, and was 
chief clerk in the secretary of 
.stale's dc))artment with .lohn 
Bigelow. For a time the young 
man held a position on the stall' 
of the Albany "Argus," and 
he thus became known to 
many of the most intiueiilial 
politicians of the state. When 
Grover Cleveland was elected 
governor of Xew York, he 
met young Lamont ; and, hav- 
ing had occasion to make use 
of his knowledge and ability 
in the iirejiaration of his tirst 
message, offered him an hon- 
orary |Misitiou on bis military 
staff, which irave him the title of colonel, by which 
he has ever .since been known. Gov. Cleveland 
next appointed Lamont his private secretary, in 
wiiich position the latter made him.self so useful 
and vaUiable. that when Mr. Cleveland became 
president he took Lamont witli him to the AVhile 
House. As private .secretary to the president, Jlr. 
Lamont gained the reptitalion of smoothing the 
paths of those who visited the executive mansion, 
while liglileniiig llie burden of Mr. Cleveland as 
probably no other man could iMwsilily have done. It 
followed that he became universally poptdar, while 
winning the highest encomiums for his judgment, 
acuteness, serenity, and loyally. At the close of the 
Cleveland administration Mr. Lamont formed im- 
portant business relations with a syndicate of capi- 
talists, and ha.s continued ever since to be engaged 
in the management of valual)le interests. !Mr. La- 
mont married a Miss Kirmey of his native town, and 
has two dangliters. It was Mr. 
Lamont. who, when private sec- 
retaiy to Gov. Cleveland, oiig- 
inaled the phrase," Public oliiee 
a public trust." He used this 
as a heaiiliue in compiling a 
pamphlet of Mr. Cleveland's 
speeches and addresses. The 
expression used by Mr. Cleve- 
land was, "Public orticials are 
the trustees of the people." and 
it was employed in his letter ac- 
cepting the nomination for the 
otiice of niiivor of BulTalo. 

STEVENSON. Adlai Ew- 
ing, assisl.'uit ]i(istniaster gen- 
eral, was born in Christian comi- 
ty, Ky., Oct. 23, ISHo. and re- 
ceived his |ireliminarv educa- 
tion in I be common schools of 
his native county. Later he 
entered Center College at Pan 
villc, and when he was sixteen 
years old removed with his fa- 
ther's family to Bloominglon, 
111., where tie .studied law and 
was admitted to the bar. In 





^£ /iii<-<<>~o-«^ 



1859 he settled at Metamora, Woodford Co., 111., 
and engaged in the practice of his profession. Here 
he remained for ten yeare, during which time he 
was ma.ster in chancery of the circuit court for four 
years, and district-attorney for a like period. The 
conspicuous ability with which he discharged the 
duties of these responsible otlices attracted the fav- 
orable attention of the peojile of the .state, and in 
18(54 he was nominated by the democratic party for 
presidential elector. In the interest of Gen. McClel- 
ian, the nominee of his party for 
the presidency, he canvassed the 
entire state, speaking in every 
county. At the expiration of his 
term of otHce as district attorney 
in 1801), he returned to Blooming- 
ton and formed a law partnership 
with J. S. Ewiug, which still ex- 
ists. The tirm has an extensive 
practice in the state and federal 
courts and is considered one of the 
leading hiw lirms in the central 
portion of the state. Mr. Steven- 
son was u<iininated for congress 
by the democrats of Bloomingtou 
district in 1874. The district had 
been safely republican liy an al- 
most invaiiable majority of 3,000. 
His opponent was Gen. McXulta, 
one of the leading republican ora- 
tors of the state. The canva.ss was a 
remarkable one, the excitement at times resulting in 
intense personal antagonisms between the friends of 
the candidates. Mr. Stevenson was successful. His 
majority in the district exceeded 1,200. He was in 
congress during the exciting scenes incident to the 
Tilden-Hayes contest in 187G. His party renominat- 
ed him for congress a second time. In this contest 
he was defeated, but in 1878, having been nominated 
for the third time, he was again elected, increasing 
his majority in the district to 2.000. At the ex)iira- 
tion of his second congressional term he resumed the 
practice of law in Bloomington. He was a delegate 
to the democratic national convention of 1884 in 
Chicago, and after the election of Cleveland as jiresi- 
dent of the United States was appointed first as.sist- 
ant postmaster-general, the duties of which sire very 
exacting. During his incumbency of this office he 
had charge of appointments and ably seconded the 
president in his civil service reforms, never dismiss- 
ing a faithful employee for more political reasons. 
His democratic habits and man- 
ners, his atfability and invari- 
able courtesy created a host of 
friends for him. Mr. Stevenson 
married a daughter of the late 
Hev. Dr. Lewis W. Green, jires- 
ident of Center College in Dan- 
ville, Ky. , Decembqr, 'l86(i. He 
has four children, one son and 
three daughters, all <if whom are 
living. After retiring from the 
otfi<-e of the tirst assistant post- 
master-general at the expiration 
cf Mr. Cleveland's term, Mr. 
Slev(-nson returned to Bloom 
ington, where he still lives. Mr. 
Hayes, in 1877, appointed Mr. 
Stevenson a niemberof the board 
to inspect the Military Academy 
at AVest Point. Mr. Stevenson 
was chosen as one of the dele- 
gales at-large to the national 
democratic convention in Chi- 
cago in 1892, and was serving in 
that capacity when nominated 
for the vice-presidency. 




«f(ipM 





CO*VRiGMr. 1993. BV JAitfS T. WHitC A CO 





COPVRIQHT. 1692, 8V JAME3 T. WHITE A r" 





HARRISON, Benjamin, twenty-lbird presi- 
dent of the United States, was boru at Norlli Bend, 
O.. Aug. 20, l(^i33. His father, John Scott Harrison, 
was third son of Gen. William Henry Harrison, 
ninth president of the United States, who was the 
third and youngest son of 
Benjamin Harrison, one of 
the signers of the Declara- 
tion of Indejiendence, from 
Virginia. .Tolin Scott Har- 
rison was twice married, his 
second wife being Elizabeth, 
daughter of Archibald Irwin 
of Jlereeslnirg, Pa. Ben- 
jamin was the second son of 
this marriage. His parents 
were resolutely determined 
upon the educalion of their 
children, and early in child- 
hood Benjamin was iihiced 
tmder private instruction at 
home. In 1847 he and his 
elder brother were sent to a 
school on what was known 
as College Hill, a few miles 
from Cincinnati. After re- 
maining there two years he entered the junior class 
at Miami University in O.xfoid, O., where he was 
graduated in 1852. " He was married Oct. 20, 1.S.53, 
to Caroline Scott, daughter of Dr. John W. Scott 
who was then president of O.xford Female Semi- 
nary, from which Jlrs. Harrison was graduated in 
1852. After studying law under Storer& Gwynne 
in Cincinnati, O., he was admitted to the bar in 
1854. and began the practice of his profession at 
Indianapolis, Ind., which has since been his liome. 
John H. Rea, clerk of the United States district 
court gave him desk-room, and soon afterward he 
was ajipointed crier of the federal court at a .salarj' 
of $2. .50 per day. Tliis was the first money he ever 
earned. Jonathan W. Gordon, one of the leaders 
of the Indianapolis bar, called young Harrison 
to his assistance in the pro.secufion of a crim- 
inal, tried for burglary, and intriisled to him the 
plea for the state. He had taken ample notes of the 
evidence, but the case was closed at night and the 
court liou.sc being dindy lighted by tallow candles, he 
was unable to read them when he arose to address the 



/Lfy/L^-^^v-dr^ 



court and jury. Laying them aside he depended en- 
tirely upon his memory and he found it perfect. Best 
of all he discovered he could think and speak on his 
feet, fla.shlike ami coherently. He niadi' an eloquent 
plea, produced amarkcd impressinn and won the case. 
Since then he has always been an inipromplu speaker. 
Forming a jjartnership with William Wallace in 
the practice of law, he lueparcd deeds, gave ad- 
vice, made collections, tried cases before justices 
of the peace, appeareii in the probate courts, and 
sometimes in the circuit court. In 18G0 Jlr. Wallace 
became clerk of the coimly of Clarion, and the firm 
was changed to Harrison & Fisliliack, which was 
terminated by the entry of the .senior pailner into 
the army in ]H(j2. In 18(50 Mr. Harrison was chosen 
reporter of the supreme court of Illinois on the re- 
publican ticket by a majority of il,G88. This was 
his first active appearance in the political field. 
When the civil war began he a.ssisted in raising the 
70th Indiana regiment of volunleer.s, and became in 
it second lieutenant — althougli Gov. jlorton tendered 
him its command — he himself appointing a deputy 
reporter for the supreme court. In the ensuing 
autumn the democratic slate convention, considering 
his position as a civil officer vacated by this military 
aiipointment, nominated and cleclivl a successor, 
although Harrison's term of ofiice had not expired. 
Their view was sustained by the .state supreme 
court, but in 18(14, while Col. Harrison was in the 
army, the people of Indiana gave their judgment 
by re-electing him to the jiosition of supreme court 
reporter. l)v an overwhelming majority. When he 
returned to Indianapolis after the war, he became a 
member of the law firm of Porter, Harrison & Fish- 
back and after subsequent chaiigi's. of that of Harri- 
son, Miller & Elam. His biographer holds that 
before his election to the presidency he had worked 
his way to the head of the Indiana bar. His military 
record" can be succinctly stated. When (Jen. D. C. 
Buell was <)rd<'red, in 18(j2, to march the army of 
the Ohio to Chattanooga, he followe<l directions 
given him to go by the line of the Memphis & 
Charleston railroad from Corinth. Miss., to Decatur, 
Ala., rcjiairing it as he went. It resulted that Bragg, 
the Confederate general, was able to put him upon 
the defensive and. indeed, to begin a race north- 
ward on parallel lines, in the course of which Buell 
was severely taxed to save, first Nashville, Tenn., 



398 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



and then Louisville, Ky. The news spread through- 
out Oliio aiul Indiana that the Confederates were in 
foree. with tlie advantage of an interior line for 
their operations. It was in this season of apjirehen- 
sion that tlie 70th Indiana went to the field, with 
Harrison as its colonel, their objeetive point being 
Bowlini: Green, Ky. It was briga<lcd with the 79th 
Ohio, and the 102d, lO.ith and 129th^ Illinois regi- 
ments, under Brig.-Gen. Ward, of Kentiieky, and 
this organization was kept unchanged until the close 
of the war. Col. Harrison had the right of the 
brigade, and his command was occupied at first 
in guarding railroads and luuiting guerillas, his 
energies liemg largely spent in drilling his men. 
He was extremely systematic and painstaking, 
his theory being that every daj' in camp should 
be a i^eparation for that other day always to 
be kept in a soldier's mind — the day of battle. 
By this method he made his regiment what it 
afterwards became. When Gen. Rosecrans set 
out for Chattanooga, Gen. Ward was sent on 
duty to Nashville, and on Jan. 2, 1864, his com- 
mand was called to the front. Col. Harrison being 
placed in command of brigade. Later this brigade 
became the 1st brigade of the 3d division of the 
20th army corps, under "Fighting Joe Hooker," 
Gen. Ward resuming its command and Col. Harri- 
son again taking command of the 70th Indiana. 
The campaign under Gen. Sherman, upon which 
his regiment with its associate forces entered was 
directed, as is now known, against the Confederate 
army of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, and not against 
any particidar place. In the Federal advance one 
of the severest actions was fought at Resaca, Ga., 
May 14, 15, 18(i4. Here Col. Harrison was among 
the first, if not the first, to cross the jiarapet in storm- 
ing the Southern redoubt. From that place south- 
ward, every day brought a collision of some sort 
with the enemy — at every halt a breastwork was 
built. At New Hope Church, Ala., and at Golgotha 
Clnn'ch, Kennesaw Moiuitain and I'each Tree ('reek, 
Ga., the regiment and its leader .>iaw sharp fighting, 
that at Resaca being in Col. Harrison's opinion, the 
heaviest he was ever subjected to before or at any 
time afterwards. When the Peach Tree Creek fight 
was over. Gen. Hooker, wrote as follows to Wash- 
ington, D. C: "My attention was first attracted to 
this young officer by the superior excellence of his 
brigade, in discipline and instruction, the result of 
his labor, .skill and devotion. With more foresight 
than I have witnessed in any otticer of his e.xpcrience 
he seemed to act upon thi' principle that .success de- 
pended upon the thorough preparation in discipline 
and esprit of his command for ct)ntiict, more than on 
any infiueuce that could be e.xertcd on the field it- 
self, and when collision came his command vindi- 
cated his wi.sdom as much as his valor. In all of the 
achievements of the 20tli corps in that camiiaigu. 
Col. Harrison bore a conspicuous jiart." When 
Atlanta, Ga., was taken by Sherman (Sept. 2. 18(j4), 
Col. Harrison received his first furlough to visit 
home, being assigned to special dutj' in a system- 
atic canva.ss of the state to recruit ft)r the forces in 
the field. Returning to Chattanooga and then to 
Nashville, Tcnn., he was placed in command of a 
provisional brigade held in reserve at that lialtle 
(Dec. 15, 16, 1864), and was but little engaged. When 
the fight was over he was sent in |)ursuit of the 
beaten Confederate, Hood. Recalled from the pur- 
suit, Harrison was ne.xt ordered to report to (Jen. 
Sherman at Savannah, Ga. While jiassing through 
New York he succumbi'd to at attack of scarlet 
fever, Init in a few weeks was able to proceed on 
his way. Joining Sherman at Goldsboro, N. ('., he 
resumed command of his old brigade, and at the 
clo.se of the war went to Wa.shington, D. ('., to take 
part in the grand army review, at which he was 



duly mustered out, June ft. 1865: not, however, until 
he liad received a commission as brevet brigadier- 
general, signed by Abraham Lincoln, and counter- 
signed by E. M. Stanton, as .-iccretary of war, dated 
March 22, 1H65, staling that it was given for 
"ability and manifest energy and gallantry in com- 
mand of the brigade." Returning to Indianapolis 
he resumed his ottiee as reporter of tlie supreme 
court, but in 1867 declined a renomination, and re- 
commenced his law practice. In 1868 and 1872 he 
took part in the presidential campaign in support of 
Gen. Grant, traveling over Indiana and speaking to 
large audier.ces. In 1876 he at first declined a nomi- 
nation for governor on the republican ticket, con- 
senting to run only after the regular nominee had 
withdrawn. He receivid almost two thousand more 
votes than his associates on the ticket, but was never- 
theless beaten. In 1880, as chairman of the Indiana 
delegation in the republican national convention, he 
cast nearly the entire vole of the state for James A. 
Garfield for president. President Garfield otTercd 
him a ]ilace in his cabinet, but he declined it, pre- 
ferring the U. S. senatorship from Indiana to which 
he had just been chosen, and which he heUl from 
1881 to 1887. In the senate he advocated the tariff 
views of his party, opposed President Cleveland's 
vetoes of pension bills, urged the reconsl ruction 
and upbuilding of the navy, and labored and voted 
for civil service reform. He was delegate-at-large 
to the republican national convention in 1>^84, June 
19, 1888, at Chicago, III., and on the eighth and 
final ballot he had received 544 votes to 118 for 
John Sherman, 100 for Hussell A. Alger, 59 for W. 
Q. Gresham, 5 for J. G. Blaine and 4 for William 
jMcKinley, as the can- 
didate of that party 
for president. The 
nomination was made 
unanimous, and in 
November he was 
elected, receiving 233 
votes in the electoral 
college to 168 for 
Grover Cleveland. 
He was didy inaugu- 
rated JIarch 4, 1889. 
When President Har- 
rison begun his ad- 
ministration, he was confronted by the controversy 
between England and the United States in refer- 
ence to the killing of seal in the Bering sea. Our 
government claimed that under the purcliase from 
Russia it had not only I he exclusive right to take the 
seal upon the islands of Alaska, but to exclude our 
own citizens and people of other nationalities from 
killing them on the open waliTs within a hundred 
miles of the islands. This claim was l)ased on the 
necessitv of such exclusion for tlieiirolection of .seal 
life. \Vheu the sealing season of 1889 opened, direc- 
tions were givu the government .ships to defend the 
claim. A! 'ae same time a correspoiulence was 
being carried on through the state depHrtnient with 
a view of settling the controversy by diplomacy, 
the result being an agreement for arbitration of this 
vexed (luestion between the two UiUions. Early 
in the adniiriistralicin steps were taken to bring 
togetlu'r in Washington representatives from all 
the Soutli American and Central American coun- 
tries in a Pan-American congress which was held 
in Washington in the winter of 1S89-90. repre- 
sentatives from all tho.se countries being jiresent. 
It is believed tliat its deliberations res\dted in 
a better understanding and a more liberal feel- 
ing among the nations represented, many plans 
for reciprocity in trade with these nations were 
originated by this conference, some of which 
were formulated and made practical in the tariff 




''^-zz^eyc/fni^ 



m 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



399 



act passed by the fifty-first congress, known as the 
McKinley law. During the first two years of the 
administration six new states formed constitutions 
and were admitted into tlie Union. Tliey were 
North Daljota, Soutli Dalvota, Washington, >Iou- 
tana, Idaho and Wyoming. A number of eom- 
mis.sioners were appointed under tlie direction 
of tlie secretary of the interior to form treaties 
with various Indian tribes for the purchase 
of lands with a view to oi)en the same to settle- 
ment. It resulted in the extinguishment of 
Indian titles to vast tracts of laud and the 
establishment of the new territory of Oklahoma 
with all the forms and advantages of civil govern- 
ment. An Indian outbreak during the winter of 
18!)0-'J1, in the Northwest was managed by the 
federal authorities in such a manner as to be soon 
quelled with less expense and cruelty than 
usually characterize such wars. In the early spring 
of IH'Jl troubles between the city government and the 
people of New Orleans on one side and the Italian 
residents of that city on the other, resulted in a mob 
which caused the death of a number of Italians in 
prison, under charges of murder. This incident 
■was promiitly made the occasion for the demand 
upon the United States by the Italian government, 
for redress and indemnity. This demand was per- 
emptory in tone and in manner almost offensive. 
It was met courteously but firmly with the state- 
ment that while this government earnestly disap- 
proved and denounced the action of the )nob, it 
could not recognize a national responsibility for its 
results, unless it couUl'be shown that its action was 
the result of connivance on the part of the public 
authorities of New Orleans ; and that the United 
States did not guarantee or become insurers of the 
lives of alien residents any more than of its own 
citizens; that the courts were open, and alien resi- 
dents must resort to them the same as American 
citizens unless the public authorities were shown to 
have connived at the violating of the law. The inci- 
dent ended for the time being in the withdrawal of 
the Italian minister from the United States and an 
indefinite leave of absence to the American minister 
at Home. President Harrison's administration ex- 
hibited from the beginning a desire to strengthen 
the United States navy, by pushing forward the 
construction of armored vessels, with guns of great 
power which resulted in placing on the water the 
"white .sipiadron." The new ships im-lude the 
Chicago, Baltimore, Charleston, I-'liiladcl])liia, San 
Francisco, Yorktown, Newark. Bennington, Con- 
cord, Maeliias, the cruiser New York and the battle- 
ships Maine and Texas. Recently reciprocal 
treaties have been made not only with the 
countries of South, and Central America but with 
the leading governments of Europe resulting in a 
much freer admission than heretofore of American 
products for consumption in the great nation.s^ 
Germany, Austria, France and Spain. The laws and 
regulations relating to civil service were widened 
and exteniled and faithfully enforced, not only 
according to their letter, l)ut in accordance with 
their spirit, as is shown by the order which allowed 
only skilled mechanics to work on the new war ves- 
sels. All the departments of the government were 
conilncted with energy and upon bu.siness principles, 
so that it came to be very gencnilly spoken of as a 
business administration. In the spring of IH'JI. Pres- 
ident Harrison made an extended trip through the 
Soutli, the Soutiiw<'st, and to llic Pacific coa.st. The 
one hundred and forty-nine dilTi'rcnt speeches he de- 
livered at towns where he stopped were remarkable 
for their fertility of thought, felicity of expression 
andadapl.-iliility tothe placeand theoccasion. They 
called fiirlli the most favorable comment from the 
press and the people of the entire country. 




HARBISON, Caroline Scott, wa.s bom at Ox- 
ford, O., Oct, 1, 18;i3, of Scotch ancestry. Among 
the cimvenanters who fought for Scotland's civil 
and religious freedom in the wars which followed 
the accession of the Stuarts to 
the English throne were the 
earliest known progenitors of 
the family. The first of Mrs. 
Harrison's paternal ancestors in 
America was John Scott, the 
laird of Arras, who, after the 
disastrous battle of Bosworth 
bridge in IfiT'J, left ScolIan<i for 
the north of Inland with the 
Earl of Belhaven on account of 
dissatisfaction with tlie union 
of the crowns. After the death 
of the carl John Scott came to 
America and settled in the valley 
of the Neshaminy, Bucks county. 
Pa., where the village of Ilarts- 
ville now stands, twenty miles 
north of Philadeljihia. lie jmr- 
cha.sed a tract of laud from the 
proprietary government on part of which the first 
Presbyterian church in America was soon after- 
ward erected. On his land al.so Kev. William Tennent 
founded in 172G the historic " Log College," out of 
which primitive institution Princeton College was 
in time evolved. Jlrs. Harrison's great-grandfather, 
John Scott, son of the founder of the family in 
this country, moved to Northampton county. Pa., 
and purchased land oppo.site Belvidere, N. J., which 
is still known as the "Scott farm." During the 
revolutionary war he was a quartermaster in the 
Pennsylvania line. His brother, Mattliew, after 
servingasa captain in the army, moved to Kentucky, 
and among his descendants was Lucy Webb, wife 
of President Hayes. Kev. Gi^orge AfcElroy Scott, 
Mrs. Harrison's grandfather, was graduated from the 
University of Pennsylvania in 1793, studied theology 
with Rev. Stanhope Smith, president of Princeton 
College, and in 1799 was called to Mill Creek 
church, Beaver county. Pa., being the first Presby- 
terian minister to locate in the western jiart of 
that state. It was there that her father. Dr. 
John W. Scott, was born in 1800. Mrs. Harri- 
son enjoyed supc^rior educational advantages, 
and was graduated from Oxford, O., female sem- 
inary in IS~>2. the year that President Harrison 
took his degree -^^ 

at Oxford Univer- 
sity in the same ^ 
town. She taught 
nuisic in Carroll- 
ton, Kv., one year, 
and on Oct. 21), 
1.S.58, was married 
to Benjamin liar- 
ris(m. When the 
civil war o])ened 
and her husband 
decided to enter 
the army she pa- 
triotically .said to 
him: "Go and 
help to save your 
co\intry, and let us 
trust in the shield- 
ing care of a 
higher power for 
y(rur protection 
and safe return." 
She afterwards 
read with pride of the heroic deeds of her husband 
at Kesaca and Peach Tree creek. Mrs. Harrison is a 
woman of strong individuality and great kindness o£ 




400 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



heart; she is sympathetic and benevolent, and an 
active worker in the Presbyterian cliurcli and Siin- 
dayscliool and in charitable oriranizations. Her 
voice is a plea-sant one, and besi)eaks a gentle nature ; 
she has a special gift for conversation, which is 
characterized l)y Ihoughtfulness. Her artistic tastes 
find partial expression in water-color painting. 
She had been six years the wife (jf a senator in con- 
gress, and as snch had fornu-d many ac(|uainlance3 
and lasting friendships in Washington before she 
became mistress of the White House. In this 
capacity she performed her duties with dignity and 
grace. During her husband's administration Mrs. 
Harrison was chosen president of the daughters of 
the revolution. Pre.sidi'ut and Mrs. Harrison have 
but two children: Russell, the oidy son, was grad- 
uated at Lafayette College in 1S77, and is now 
engaged in journalism ; Marv, their daughter, 
niarri(^d Robert J. McKee, of Indianapolis, now a 
resident of Boston. 

SCOTT, John W., educator and clergyman, was 
born in Hi-aver county. Pa., Jan. 2\l. isili). He at- 
tended a preparatory school, tavighl bv his father. 
Rev. George M. tScolt, a graduateof the l'niver.sity 
of Pennsylvania. He then engagc<l in teaching five 
years, entered the junior class at Washington Col- 
lege, Pennsylvania, in 1821, and was graduated in 
1H23, after which he spent one 
year at Yale College under the 
instruction of Prof, t^illiman, 
fitting himself for teaching ex- 
perinu'Utal chemistry. He was 
professor of natural science 
and mathematics at Wnshiniilon 
College from 1H24 to 1H2H, tilled 
the same chair in Jliami Univer- 
sity from 1S;HS to 1H4."), and 
assisted in founding Belmont 
College on whose facultj- he 
remained until 1849. when he 
--.- f '"^ ■' accepted a call to Oxford Fe- 
ij/^Jjk^' ' ' ™'ilc College, Ohio, remaining 
^jA'/T^Tj^j^^p^ there ten years, and from 1860 to 
18t)8 he filled a chair in Hanover 
College, Indiana. After .serving 
the Prcsl)yterian Academy in 
and at .Jefferson, Pa., he retired 
from the teacher's profession in 1881, after fifty-seven 
years of successful labors. He was ordained as a 
clergyman in the Presbyterian church in 181^0, and 
in addition to his college work frequentlj' preached 
to the students on Sundays. Augu.sta College con- 
ferred upon him the degree of D.D., in 1837. He 
was married in 18'25 to Mary P. Neal. da\igbter of 
John Neal.who wascashierof abank at Washington, 
Pa. They celebrated their golden wedding in 1875 ; 
Mrs. Scott died the following year. The surviving 
children are John Neal Scott, a lawyer, at Port 
Townsend in the slate of Washington, and Mrs. 
Caroline Scott Harrison, wife of President Benjamin 
Harrison. During the Harrison administration Dr. 
Scott was a member of the President's family at tlie 
"White Hou.se. 

MORTON, Levi Parsons, vice president of the 
United Stales, was born at Shoreliam. Vt.. Jlay 
16, 1824 He is a descendant of George Morton, of 
York, England, who was the financial agent of the 
Mayllower Puritans in London and canu' over in 
the ship Ann (arriving iit I'lymouth. Mass., in 
162:i), and .settled at iMiddleboro, Plymouth Co., 
Mass., where his descendants have resided until the 
present time. John, the son of George, was the 
first delegate to represent Middleboro, in the general 
court at Plymouth in 1(!70, and he was again 
chosen in 1672. Levi Parsons Morton is the son of 




as principal of 
Springfield, HI. 




X^^^^C^ 



Rev. Daniel Oliver Morton and Lucretia Parsons 
Morton. His mother was a descendant of Cor- 
net Joseph Parsons, the father of the first child 
born at Northampton, Mass. (May 2, 1655), his 
title of cornet indicating his position in a cavalry 
troop (the third otficer in rank) and the bearer of 
the colors. Levi received 
a public school and aca- 
demic education: entered a 
country store at Enfield, 
Ma.ss., at fifteen years of 
age commenf:ed mercantile 
businessat Hanover, N.H., 
in 1843, removed to Boston 
in 18.")l) and to Xew York 
in 18.54, and was exten- 
sively engaged in mercan- 
tile business in both cities 
until 1863 when he en- 
tered upon his career as a 
banker in New York city 
under the name of L. P. 
Morton vfc Co. Soon after 
this time a foreign branch 
was established under the 
firm name of L. P. Jlorton, Burns & Co. In 1869 
the firm was dissolved and reorganized under 
the names of Morton, Bliss & Co., New York, 
and Morton, Rose & Co., London, Mr. George 
Bliss entering the New York firm and Sir John 
Rose, then finance minister of Canada, going 
over to London to join the English house. The 
London firm of Jlorton, Ro.se & Co. was appointed 
financial agent of the United States government in 
1873. Jlr. Jlorton was appointed by the president 
lu)norary coiumis-sioner to the Paris exposition; he 
was elected to congress as a republican from theelev- 
eiuh district of New York (which had been demo- 
cratic previou.sly), receiving 14,078 votes against 
7,060 votes for B. A. Willis, and was re-elected to 
the forty-seventh congress in 1880 bv an iiicreased 
vote over James W. Gerard, Jr. lie was nomi- 
nated as minister to France by President Garfield in 
Slarch, 1881, and resigned his seat in the fortv- 
seventh congress to accept the apjiointment. lie 
presented his credentials as minister to France to 
President Grevy Aug. 1, 1881, and resigned his 
office after the inauguration of President Cleveland 
in 1885, returning to New York in July of that year. 
During his residence in France he secured from 
the French government the official decree which 
was published Nov. 27, 1883, revoking the ]iro- 
hibition of American pork products, but the 
)irohibitory decree was sub- 
.sequently renewed bj' the 
legislative. He secured also 
the recogiution of American 
corjiorations in France, 
drove the first rivet in the 
Barlholdi statue of "Liberty 
Eidightening the World," 
and accepted the completed 
statue for his government 
on J\dy 4, 1884. He was 
nominated for the vice- 
l)residency by the republi- 
can convention at Chicago, 
in 1888, receiving ,591 votes 
against 234 votes for other 
candidates and was elected 
in November of that year 

and inaugurated as vice president on March 4, 1889. 
Mr. Morion proved a modi-1 presiding officer, filling 
the position with a dignity and fairness that gained 
the praise of all. without regard to party distinction, 
even at a time when (piestious of party politics were 
most earnestly discussed. 




.■e:"- 





TZy 



COrvaioHT, lan, nv jkHtt t. Whitc a c 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



403 




BLAINE, James Gillespie, U. S. secretary of 
state, was born at Iinliau Hill Farm, West Urowns- 
ville. Pa., Jan. 31, 183(1. He i.s of Scotcli-Irisli an- 
cestry, and liis frrandl'ather 
Col. Ephraim Blaine, was 
conimi,s.sary-j;eneral of the 
northern (ieparlnii'iit of the 
revolutionary army from 1778 
until the close of the struggle 
in 1783. He was a lirave and 
determined patriot, and the 
American army at Valley 
Forge. Pa., in the winter of 
1777-78, had cause to remem- 
ber him with gralitud(^ It 
was for him, as one of tlie 
commissaries, to tind away to 
maintain the troops, and he 
made away by the liberal use 
of his own purse and b\' ap- 
peals to his friends. His father 
was Ejihraim ISlaine. who 
removed from Cumberland 
county, Pa., whicli hail been 
the home of the family for 
upwards of lialf a century, 
to western Pennsylvania about twelve years liefore 
the birth of James Gillespie, and built there the lirst 
stone house west of tlie Jlouongahela river, which is 
still standing, and in which James G. Blaine first 
saw the light. Being a man of the best education, 
who had traveled in Europe and in South America, 
he became .justice of the peace in his new home, 
an otlice which since liis day has parted with some- 
thing of its dignity. Later on he was also a Penn- 
sylvania prothonotary. His wife, the mother of 
James, was iliss Gillespie, a woman of great intel- 
ligence and force of diaracter — of Koman Catholic 
faith. Her son was trained, however, in the Pres- 
byterian church, whicli was that of his fatlier. Tiie 
schools in that sparsely-settled region being poor, 
the father gave liis personal attention to the instruc- 
tion of liis son until he was eleven years old, wlien 
he was sent to a select school at Lancaster, O., taught 
by William Lyons, an 0.\ford (Eng.), graduate, an 
uncle of Lord Lyons who was subsequently minister 
from Great Britain to this country. While in Lan- 
caster James resided in tlie family of his relative, 
Thomas Ewing, and there had the daily compan- 
ionship of his .sons, Hugh B., Thomas and Charles 
Ewing, all of whom afterwards rose to distinction. 
Two years later he entered the freshman class of 
Wa.sliington College in his native county, and was 
graduated in 1847, being less than eighteen years of 
age. In college he was a diligent, ambitious student, 
especially noted for his proticiency in mathematics, 
logic and political economy, and in his graduation 
he shared with a fellow-stiident the first lionors of 
his cla.ss. His commencement oration was uijon 
" Tlie Duty of an Educated American. " A fter being 
graduated Mr. Blaine was for about three years a 
teacher at tlie Western Military Institute. Blue Lick 
Springs, Ky.. and while there married Miss Harriet 
Starwood of Maine, who had been sent to a semin.ary 
at Millersburg, Ky., for an education. Then he re- 
turned to Pennsylvania and entered uiioii the study 
of law, although he did not seek admission to the 
bar. lie ne.xt look a position as teacher in the Penn- 
sylvania Institution for the In.slriiction of the Blind, 
where he remained until 18.">4. Here he volunt.-irily 
compiled, in MS., a rpiarto volume of 2.H4 pages, 
giving the history, business and othiT facts <-im- 
necteii with the progress of the institution until the 
daj' of his departure from it, which is preserved at 
the institute as a memorial of its author. The 
branches he taught here were mathemalics and the 
higher studies of the educational course. lu 1854 



ho removed to Augu.sta, Me., which has since been 
Ills place of residence. Here he bought a half in- 
terest in the "Kennebec Journal," and soon, as its 
editor, made himself felt in state politics. Con- 
cerning this part of his career, one of the ex- 
governors of the state of Maine .said: "Almost 
from the day of his as.suming charge of the " Ken- 
neljcc Journal" at the early age of twenty-three, 
Mr. Blaine canu^ to a jiosition of great inlbicnce in 
the ])olitics and jiolicy (if JIaine" His jireparalion 
for his new work on the jiajier was characteristic. 
He took the bound volumes of the ".lounial " for 
the previous years, and iilunged into an earnest 
study of their contents, persevering in it until he 
had thoroughly mastered, not only the tone and 
position of the pajier, which was the ollicial organ, 
at first of the wing and then of the republican 
party, but also the minuti;e of politics and public 
atl'airs in every county in the state. Only his pro- 
digious memory and liis keen comprehension en- 
abled liim to fully accomiili.sh this feat. "At 
twenty-five lie was a leading power in the councils 
of the rcpubliean )iarly. Before lii^ was twenty- 
nine he was chosen ch.-iirnian of the executive com- 
mittee of the n-publican organization in Maine, a 
position he has held ever since, and from which he 
has practically shaped and directcci ever3' political 
c.'impaign in the state, always leading his |iart_y to 
brilliant victory." After he relintjuished the con- 
duct of the "Kennebec Journal" he accepted the 
editorship of the Portland, Jle., "Advertiser," 
although still continuing his residence at Augusta. 
About this time he made his first essay in a produc- 
tion more permanent than the d.'iy-to day writing of 
journalism, in an historical voliune: "Life of Hon. 
Luther Severance," who had established the " Ken- 
nebec Journal" nearly thirty years before. In the 
formation of the national repidilican |iarty, Mr. 
Blaine had an active part, being a delegate from 
JIaine to the lirst convention in IS.")!), which nomi- 
nated Gen. John C. Fremont for the presidency, 
and one of its secretaries. It was his report of this 
convention, at a )iublic meeting in Maine, which 
first brought him to notice as a public s|ieaker, and 
from the date of the speedi which lie delivered in 
making his report at the beginning of the campaign, 
he made iiolitical a<ldresscs in nearly every part of 
the state, being heartily greeted as a solid and con- 
vincing stumji orator. His aid has always been en- 
listed in subsequent campaigns, but he has never, it 
is said, made liis oratory a matter of price. His lirst 
public office came to iiiin in an exceptional way. 
In making his newspaper alive and useful, lie had 
occasion to criticise the jienal and reformatory in.sti- 
tulions in Maine, and expose their lax and insuf- 




ficient management. Enlightened public opinion 
was aroused to some degree of excitement. Lot 
M. Morrill, the governor, at once threw the re- 
sponsibility upon the young editor by appointing 
liim a commissioner to examine the prisons and re- 
formatories of the state and other stales, and sag- 



404 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



fest what improvements were needed in tlie former, 
'he trust was accepted, and Mr. Blaine traveled 
through fifteen of the commonwealths of the Union, 
closely ob.serviug tlieir methods of dealinj? with the 
vicious, auil made an elaborate report, embracing 
many recommendations, which were larjjcly ad(jpted 
and enforced. As a result the institutions lie had 
denounced were put upon a sound and paying biLsis, 
upon which they have ever since remained. Mr. 
Blaine has summarized the events of his life from 
this date up to the time when he himself began to 
be reckoned as a powerful and prominent candidate 
for the presideucv, as follows: " I was a member of 
the Maine legislature in 18.59, 'CO, '61 and '62; the 
la.st two years I was speaker of the hou.se. In the 
autunm of 1862 I was elected to congress and have 
been a member of the house of representatives ever 
since." (He was speaker of the hou.se in the forty- 
first and forty-second congres.se3.) The letter from 
which tliis e.xtract is taken was written in 18T2. 
During the memorable years of his congres.sional 
career as a Maine representative from 1862 to 1876 — 
and Maine senator from 1876 to 1880 — he acquired 
a reputation second to none of Iiis contemporaries 
in both house and senate as a debater, and liis in- 
fluence as a leader of his party was commensurate. 
He sustained all the great measures (or the prose- 
cution -of the civil war, and had very much to do 
with shaping the plans for reconstruction of the 
Union which followed it. The fourteenth amend- 




ment to the constitution of the United States was 
practically an embodiment of Mr. Blaine's views 
upon its" subject-matter. The "Blaine Amend- 
ment," so-called, to tlie reconstruction bill, intro- 
duced by Mr. Stevens of Pennsylvania (February, 
1867). provided tliat when any of the Confederate 
.states siiould a.s.sent to tliis amendment and legislate 
in conformity with it, that .state should come back 
forthwith to its prior and imimpaired relations witli 
the national government. It was ultimate!}- carried 
through both braiu-lies of congress, and under it the 
reconstruction of the states was consummated. He 
vigorously o]i])o,sed the ]iroposition to pay the jnililic 
debt in "greenbacks," and it was defeated. In con- 
nection with the Costello case in New York, 186.'), 
he urged upon the country the doctrine that every 
naturalized American citizen was entitled to the 
same protection abroad that would be given to a 
native American, and tlie discus.sion of the case led 
to the treaty of 1K70 between Great Britain and our 
country, by wliich this principle was given prac- 
tical elTeel as against the old English doctrine 
" once a subject, always a sul)ject." In the repub- 
lican national convention of 1876 Mr. Blaine was 
the leading candidate for the presidential nomina- 
tion, and upon the seventh ballot this vote rose 
to within twenty -eight of a majority. At this junc- 
ture all his opponents concentrated their votes, and 
Rutherford B. Hayes, of Ohio, became the nominee. 
In the senate Mr. l}lain<' ojiposed the creation of the 
U. S. electoral commission for the settlement of the 
disputed presidential election of the preceding year 



(1876). He was strenuous in opposition to a deteri- 
orated silver coinage, favoring a bi-metallic currency; 
advocated measures for the protection of American 
sliipping, and threw much of his intense energj- into 
the proposal for a steamship line between the United 
States and Brazil, South Americji, with the grant of 
a subsidy by congress to the enterjirise. A portion 
of his speecli delivered in its advocacy may be cited 
as a specimen of its author's compact an<i nervous 
power as a debater : "I maintain. Mr. President, 
that if the United States had not met with the incal- 
culable obstacle that was thrown u|)on us V)y the 
war, and had been willing to upliold her shipping- 
just as .stiffly a.s Great Britain in all the lines of com- 
merce, we should have outrun her. We had done 
it in .sailing vessels. We were ahead of her, or at 
lea.st equal to her, in 18.")7. If I remember the 
figures aright the tonnage stood about .5,700.0(10 tons- 
for eadi country, and I grieve to. say that it is 8,000- 
()(»0 and odd "for Great Britain "and only 3,000- 
000 for America to-day. You may stand liere 
and talk about the wrongfulness of subsidies and 
the imiiolicy of granting them until doomsday, and 
Great I5ritain will applaud every speech of that kind 
made in the American congress, and will quietly 
sulisidize lier steamers and take iios.'iession of the 
commerce of the world. Great Britain today- 
makes more money out of the conmiercc of the 
United States, va.stly more, than is the interest on 
our pidilic debt. She handles more in the way of 
net profits on the commerce which America gives 
her than the interest on the vast national delit with 
which we are burdened today. I make that .state- 
ment as a statistical fact capable of being illustrated 
and |)roved." He pleaded again in 1881 for the re- 
establishment of American shipping, opposing at 
tlie same time the proposition of another U. S. sena- 
tor to throw open our doors to the shiplniilders of 
the Clyde. In 1880 lie was once more balloted for 
as the candidate of the repvdilican party for jiresident 
of the United States. When Gen. G;irtield. who 
was the choice of the convention, was elected to the 
oftice, lie invited Mr. Blaine to the chair of secretary 
of state. By reason of the a.ssa.ssination of the pres- 
ident Mr. Blaine's term of oftice la.sted but a few 
months. In this tim<' lie, liowever, framed a foreign 
policy for its administration, emphasizing two prin- 
ciples as its governing forces : the iireservation of 
peace in North America, and the cultivation of 
friendly relations between the United Slates and the 
countries of South America with an increase of com- 
merce between the two. Practical measures in the 
general l)\isiness of his department which grew out 
of these principles were also entered iijion when his 
withdrawal from the state departmeut look place 
(Decenil)er, 1881). Mr. Blaine foiuid himself for the 
first time in twenty-three years, removed from pui>lic 
station. He at once bcg,-in to prejiare. in two large 
volumes, his "Twentv Years in Congress "(Norwich, 
Conn., 1884-86). Tlie first 200 pages of the book 
are especially vahiablc as a resume of the earlier 
political hi.story of the country, and a minute ac- 
count of the iio'lilical period from President Lincoln 
to Presiilent (larfield. In 1884 he was nominated by 
the national republican convention at Cliieaiio. 111., 
for the presidency. In the cam]i.Mign that ensued, 
he took a personal and eager part making the jiolicy 
of protection to American industry prominent in 
his discus.sion of its i.ssues. He was defeated in the 
election, which, turning upon the vote of the state 
of New York, was lost thereby to tlie republican 
party, by 1,047 votes. Mr. Blaine at once resumed 
ills work upon his "Twenty Years in Congress," 
which, as com])leled in two volumes, forms one of 
the most im|)ortant records of conlem|)oraneous polit- 
ical history yet written by any American statesman. 
He spent {he years 1887-88 in "Europe, in the pursuit 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



406 



of health, his physique havinj; been put to strain for 
many years, under the burden incident to public 
career. In the latter year, he sent from Paris, 
France, a notable e.\pression of liis views and 
feelings which was forthwith publislied by the 
New York "Tribune," urging that in the presi- 
dential campaign of 18bb, the leading issue to be 




contended for by the party of whicli he liad so long 
been a powerful and brilliant leader, should be the 
protective policy. Upon President Harrison's acces- 
sion to office (March, 1889) Mr. Blaine returned to tlie 
secretaryship of the United States state department, 
■which he still held on Jan. 1, 1893. In turning from 
the public record of a man who has held so long and 
holds so steadfastly the public eye, and in closing 
this sketch it is gratifying to cite the words of his 
pastor: " The hold which he has maintained upon the 
hearts of such great numljers of his countrymen is 
not sufficiently explained by brilliant gifts or mag- 
netism; the secret lies in his generous, manly, chris- 
tian character." His uniformly robu.st health is due 
in great part, no doubt, to his careful regard to those 
details of hygiene and e.xercise ■which many men 
neglect. His temperate habits may appropriately 
I)e referred to. He never took a drink of so-called 
'• hard liquors," whisky, brandy, or other spirits in 
his life, and probably does not know the taste of 
them. In elucidation of his force as a leader, it 
may well be questioned if any politiciil chieftain lias 
through all the annals of the nation, equaled him in 
■what — for want of a better term — is often styled the 
"magnetic" quality, by which men are drawn to 
other men and held as by hooks of steel. As attesting 
Lis oratorical capacity in another direction from that, 
a specimen of which has already been given, one 
mav quote the peroration of his remarkable eulogy 
on President James A. Garfleld, delivered before the 
U. S. congress, Feb. 27, 1882; ".Vs the end drew near 
his craving for the sea returned. The stately man- 
sion of power had been to him the wearisome hospi- 
tal of pain, and he begged to be taken from its pris- 
on walls, from its oppressive stilling air, from its 
homelessness and its hopelessness. Gently, silently, 
the love of a great people bore the pale sufferer to 
the longed-for healing of the sea, to live or to die. as 
Gotl should will, within sight of its heaving billows, 
■within sound of its manifold voices. With wan, 
fevered face tenderly lifted to the cooling breez.e, 
he looked out, wistfully, upon the sea's changing 
■wonders; on its far sjiils whitening in the morning 
light; on itsrestle.ss waves rolling shorewaril to break 
and die beneath the noonday sim; on the red clouds 
of evening arching low to the horizon; on the serene 
and shining pathway of the stars. Let us think 
that his dying eyes read a mystic meaning which 
only the rapt anti parting soul may know. Let us 
believe that in the silence of the receding world he 
heard the great waves breaking on a farther shore, 
and felt already upon his wa.stc<i brow the breath of 
the eternal morning." Several " Lives" of Mr. 
Blaine have been published. That bv C. W. Bales- 
tier (New York, 188-ti, and that by fl. J. Hainsdell 
(Boston, 1884) have been used in preparing this 
sketch. 



FOSTER, Charles, secretary of the trea.sury, 
was born near Tiltin. U., April 12, 1828. His pater- 
nal ancestors were early New England residents of 
Scotch-Iii.sh origin. His inothers family, the C'rock- 
ers, of Knglish ancestry, were also early settlers of 
New England. The family' went to northwestern 
Ohio in 183'2, to what was then known as the " Black 
Swamp," and located at Home, now the citj' of 
Fostoria, occupying a double log-cabin. In one end 
of it they lived, in the other the father kept a general 
store. The latter also engaged in the purcliase and 
sale of real estate, and was a man of much more than 
average intelligence and ability to acquire jiroperty. 
His son Charles may be said to have grown up in a 
country store. He began to attend the iiublic schools 
at the age of four years. At twelve he entered the 
academy at Norwalk, O., where lie remained two 
years, when owing to sickness in his father's family 
he became actively engaged in the management of 
the store, and never returned to the academy or at- 
tended any other institution of harning, though he 
received private instruction until he became very 
■well informed in the English branches. At the age 
of eighteen his father constituted him a partner, and 
at nineteen he took entire charge of the store ; he 
made regular trips to New York to jiurchase goods, 
and soon transacted the largest country business in 
the state of Ohio. During the 
civil war he was active in en- 
couraging enlistments, and sup- 
ported all measures tending to 
sustain the country. He con- 
sented to accept the colonelcy 
of the 101st Ohio regiment, but 
his lather and mother, who had 
no other surviving children, 
prevailed upon him to forego 
his inclination. He gave credit 
to the family of every Federal 
soldier in his neighborhood, ex- 
tending these credits over the 
entire period of the war. In 
18(57 the large business which 
he controlled was changed from 
the country-store system to more 
modern methods. "Out of it grew a bank, of which he 
has been the manager from the start, a grain and 
produce business, and a hardware store. The old es- 
tablishment also continued to carry on trade in which 
he retained more than a inajoritv interest till 1888, 
a period of fifty si.x years. Mr. t'oster has been an 
ardent republican; he has always attended the con- 
ventions of his party and has contributed liberally 
to its success. Ilis generosity toward all charitable 
institutions ar.l humanitarian calls, coupled with a 
willingness to assist de.serv.ng people and worthy 
olijects, have g-dned fi-- liii.i a marked popularity. 
In 1870 the republicans of the democratic district "in 
whi(-h he lived nominated him by acclamation for 
congress. In the management of this, his first cam- 
paign for his first office, he demonstrated his power 
of organization and keen political sagacity. He 
carried the district by a majority of 72fi. overcoming 
a democratic majority of 1.800, the district at the 
.same time giving a niajority for the democratic state 
ticket. He took his seat March 4, 1871, and was as- 
signed by Speaker Hlaine to a place on the committee 
on claims. He displayed great industry in the dis- 
charge of his duties on this committee." and gained 
for himself the confidence of the house. Some years 
after, Mr Blaine sent him a letter which he hiid re- 
ceived from Horace Greeley, who had never seen Mr. 
Fostqr, suggesting that a gentleman who could cany 
a democratic district as Sir. Foster had carried his 
must uaturallj' pos.sess elements that justified his 
bein^ given a higher place on committees than is 
usually granted to new members. In 1872 be was 




^l(a^ c^^^if^z^ 



406 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



renominated for consjess by aoclamation. He was 
opposed by Rush H. yloane of Sandusky, who up to 
the nomination of Mr. Foster had been a republican. 
Mr. Sloane was president of a railroad which ran 
through the district. After an hilen.sely interesting 
campaign Mr. Foster triumphed l)y a majority of 770. 
Mr. Blaine as speaker a.ssigucd him to the ways and 
means committee of the forty-second congress, 
ami he wa.s also appointed on a subcommittee on 
internal revenue matters. While engaged in the dis- 
charge"of the latter duty he discovered the ramifica- 
tions Of what was then known a.s the " Sanborn con- 
tract," and unearthed the frauds connected with it. 
In the cour.se of this investigation he eiicouutered 
Benj. F. Butler, whoattacked him on the tioorof the 
hou.se. In this controversy he displayed a thorough 
knowledge of the subject with which lie was dealing 
and e.xhibited a talent for debate with which he had 
not hitherto been crediled. The result of this con- 
test was a decided trimnph for Mr. Foster, the law 
authorizing the Sanborn contract l)eing repealed 
•without <ipposilion in either ho\ise. while the encoun- 
ter with Gen. Butler gave him a national reputation. 
The ways and means committee took up the question 
of the nioiety laws, then prevailing in customs mat- 
ters. Mr. Foster took an active part in llie investi- 
gation and in the deliate that followed, which result- 
ed in the repeal of these laws as well as in the 
Pacific mail investigation, which took place in this 
committee. He was also placed on a committee to 
make an examination of Louisiana alfairs, and as 
chairman of a subcommittee visited New Orleans. 
He witnessed the organization of the Louisiana legis- 
lature in January, 187."), when Wiltz assumed to be 
speaker, took possession of the gavel by force, and 
entertained a motion to unseat si.xteen republican 
members and to seat an eipial number of democratic 
members. He afterward saw tlie U. S. troops, at 
the instigation of Gov. Kellogg, remove the demo- 
crats and install the republicans again in their places. 
Mr. Fo.ster dealt with the .subject in a manner which 
he deemed fair, pointing out the wrong-doing of both 
the democratic and republican parties. This report 
created (|uite a sensation at the time, and fora while 
it seemed as though he had injured his prospects of 
continuing in public life. In point of fact it strength- 
ened him with all fair-minded people, for he was 
re-elected to congress in 1S74 by a majority of 159, 
the district at the time giving a "democratic majority 
of l.tiol) on the state ticket. In this congress he was 
on the cimimittee on appropriations, of which Samuel 
J. Randall was the cliaiinian. In 1S7G he was once 
more nominated by acclamation. In his district re- 
sided Gen. Hayes, who was then the republican can- 




didate for President. The democratic national com- 
mittee felt that if they could succeed in defeating 
Mr. Foster in October they would .score a strong 
point against the popularity of Gen. Hayes, and pro- 
ceeded to take special charge of the democratic can- 
vass in the district. Mr. Foster won, however, by 
276 votes, and was again placed on the committee on 
appropriations, once more serving as the leader of 
his party on this subject. He was the only republican 
member from Ohio who voted for the electoral count 



bill, which resulted in the election of Pre.sident Hayes. 
In 1S77 the democrats carried the legislature of Ohio 
and in redistricting the state gave Mr. Fo.ster a dis- 
trict Willi a democratic majority of .I.OOO. The re- 
publicans of the Toledo district tendered him a 
nomination for congress, whicli he declined, accepting 
one in tlie district made for him. though he knew 
defeat was inevital)le. The result was a majority for 
the democratic candidate of only 1,800. At the re- 
publican convention lield in Cincinnati, June, lS7y, 
he was nominated for governor by a majority of seven 
and a half votes over Judge Taft. He began this 
campaign June 2'.Mh. and with the exception of a few 
brief intervals in Jul}- every week day until the elec- 
tion, Oct. 14th, was spent in making this canvass. He 
was elected over Gen. Thomas Ewing, the democratic 
candidate, by a majority of 17,000 votes. He gave 
close attention to the details of organization in his 
state campaign, and was not only the candidate, but 
to a large extent the committee, directing personally 
almost every movement. It was in this campaign 
that tlu^ democrats dubbed him "Calico Cliarlie." 
intending it as an epithet of opprol)rium, being a ref- 
erence to the fact tliat lie was simply a merchant 
and dealer in dry goods. The application of this 
ejiithet proved a complete boomerang to the o|iposi- 
tion. Toward the clo.se of the campaign, as the ex- 
citement grew more and more intense, whole towns 
and cities were decorated with calico, bands were 
dressed in it, almost all the neckties worn by republi- 
can ladies and gentlemen were made of calico, and 
finally newspapers were printed upon it. In 1881 he 
was re-elected by 2."), 000 majority. In his adminis- 
tration of the otiice he gave special attention to tlie 
management of the public institutions, undertaking 
to free them frum jiartisan superintendence. His 
boards were compo.sed of three rejiublicans and two 
democrats, cho.sen on account of their merit and 
ability. He threw the responsibility of the nianage- 
nientof each institution entirely upon the board of 
trustees, refusing in all cases to recommend jicojile 
for place. This course resulted in a marked improve- 
ment in the management and a large saving in the 
cost of maintaining these institutions. Healsotooka 
position in favor of the taxation of the liquor traffic, 
in oppo.sition to the li(iuor interests, which demanded 
free trade: and in opposition to Die prohibitionsts, 
who demanded the cessation of tlie traffic. The re- 
sult of the legislation was the pa.s.sing of the taxation 
law and the submitting to the people of two consti- 
tutional amendments, one favoring prohibition and 
the other license or taxation, tjotli amendments 
were defeated, together with the entire republi- 
can ticket. For a time Mr. Foster became quite un- 
popular with his party, many of them charging him 
with leading them to defeat; liut he was .soon 
fully vindicated, as the party took up his views, 
and decided in favor of the measures he had pro- 
po.sed in the early stages of the contest over the 
question of the liquor traffic. In 1889 President 
Harrison ajiiiointed him chairman of a commission 
to negotiate a treaty with the Sioux Indians, which 
was successful in achieving what the government 
had been trying to accomiilish for many years. In 
January, 1890, he received the votes of" the republi- 
can members of the Ohio legislature for U. S. 
senator, and in this vear. he again became a can- 
didate for congress in the di.strict which the year 
before had given Canqibell for governor a ma joritv of 
1,960. He came within 194 votes of success. ^Ir. 
Foster was appointed .secretary of the treasury by 
President Harrison Feb. 27. 1891. This nomination 
was received with great favor by all parties in all 
sections of the country. The successful adju.stment 
of the four and one-half per cent, loan which ma- 
tured Sept. 1. 1891, was one of the prominent events 
of his first official year. Of the $50,869,200 four 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



407 




son obtained 



Cv^eT) 



and one-half per cent, bonds which were outstand- 
ing July 1, 1891, |25.3()4.ri(KI were presented by the 
holders for continuance at two per cent, per annum, 
and the remainder were called for redemption and 
paid upon presentation. No other finance otlicer 
has ever negotiated a p\iblic loan at so low a rate of 
interest as two per cent. 

PROCTOR, Redfield, secretary of war, and 
senator wa.s born at Proctorsvillc. Vt., June 1. 
1831. Leonard Proctor, his grandfather, was an 
officer in the revolution, and 
pjirticipated in various bat- 
tles, including Trenton and 
Moiuiiouth. After the war 
he moved to Vermont, and 
settled in an imbroken forest, 
where he founded the beauti- 
ful village of l^roctorsville. 
His son, Jabez, the father of 
Secretary Proctor, was a suc- 
cessfid farmer, merchant and 
manufacturer. Asa member 
of the whig party he became 
an influential citizen of Ver- 
mont, was several times a 
menilier of the governor's 
council and a presidential 
elector from Vermont in 1824 
and 183G. He was married 
to Betsy Parker, and Ked- 
field was the youngest of 
their four children. The 
a good preparatory education and 
then entered Dartmouth College, where he was 
graduated in 1851. He completed the course at the 
Albany Law School in 1859, was admitted to 
the bar at Albany and Woodstock, Vt., the same 
year. During the succeeding two years he prac- 
ticed law in the office of his cousin, .Judge I.saac F. 
Redtield. at Uoston, Mass. In .lune .1801, heentered 
the 3d Vermont regiment as lieutenant and quar- 
termaster, in .lulv of the .same vear, he was placed 
on the staff of Gen. W. F. (Baldy) Smith, and in 
Octoljer was commissioned major of the 5th Ver- 
mont volunteer militia. With this regiment he 
served (me year around Washington and on the Penin- 
suhi. In October, 18()2, he was made colonel of the 
loth Vermont, a nine months' regiment, and com- 
manded it at the li.-ittle of Gettysburg, and luilil its 
term of service ended. He was universally pojivdar 
as a military officer. After the war Col. Proctor 
formed a law partnership at Rutland with W. G. 
Veazy, afterward associate justice of the state 
supreme court, but in 18G9 relinquished the practice 
of law and accepted the office of manager of 
the Sntlierlaiid Falls ^larble Co. In ISSO.' when 
that conqiau.v with another united as the Vermont 
Marble Co., one of the largest companies of its kind 
in the worhl. Col. Proctor was chosen president and 
in this position displayed rare executive abilities. 
He took a keen interest in the welfare of the one 
thousand workmen employed by the comjiany, and 
presented them with a library of three thou.sand 
volumes. He began his political career as a select- 
man in Rutland : was elected to the Vermont house 
of represenlatives in 18I5T, 1808 and in 1888 was a 
member of the state senate, and president /)/■<> /<-/«. of 
that b(xiy, in 1874 and 1875. The general law 
authorizing the form.ition of corporations in Ver- 
mont, was drawn and introduced by him while in 
the state senate, and has resulted in a great diminu- 
tion of special legislation. He was elected lieutenant- 
governor on tile same ticket with Gov. Fair- 
banks in 1876 and was chosen governor in 187S by a 
majority of twenty thousand votes. His adminis- 
tration "of that office resulted in a reduction of slate 



expenses, the passage of a law establishing savings 
banks, a law recpiiring the direct payment of taxes 
to the state, a law compelling every taxpayer in 
the state to swear to this list, and a revision of the 
statutes of the state. In March, 1889, he was chosen 
secretary of war by President Harrison and filled 
that position until Nov. 2, 1891, when he was 
appointed U. S. senator by Gov. Page, of Ver- 
mont to succeed Hon. George F. Ednnmds, who 
resigned. He took his seat Dec. 7th, at the opening 
of tlie tifty-.sccond congress. 

While secretary of war, his earnest oversight of 
the army exteiuled to its ever}' interest and equally 
to the numerous branches of its organization. It 
was in all directions a reformatory work. The spe- 
cial attention of the secretary was given to coast 
and border defense, the building of modern guns 
for fortification and field service, the reorganization 
of the army, and the iircparafion of new tactics to 
meet modern conditions. He gave vmremitting at- 
tention to the subject of bettering the condition of 
enlisted men and raising the standard of recruits. 
The rations were improved, the rewards for soldierly 
conduct raised, the difficult subject of punishment 
received close attention, and the needed reforms 
under his department were instituted. .\s a result, 
the army has rapidly improved in its enlisted force, 
and contentment has reduced desertion to the lowest 
point in the history of the armj-. Under the lead of 
Secretary Proctor more wholesome legislation was se 
cured for the army than at any prcvi(«is time during 
an equal period. The country has reason both for 
surprise and deep satisfaction in the progress which 
his administration shows in the work of national 
defenses and in the success which has attended 
American skill in the production of modern steel 
guns. The secretarv gave liis attention to this vital 
subject the moment he entered uiion liis duties. His 
personal experience at the time of the St. Alljans raid 
gave the question of lake border defense its proper 
weight in his mind in its relation to the great and 
pressing problems of harbor protection. He gave 
liim.self to these questions with untiring attention 
and industry. His work was quiet but most effect- 
ive. The general of the army and the chief of 
engineers actively co-opcrateil with him. He soon 
created unusual interest in the various committees 
of the house and senate having to do with this mat- 
ter. His plain and i)ractical presentation of the fact 
that our great cities both on the sea and the lakes, 
were utterly defenseless soon carried conviction and 
received general support for the proposition to give 
all the money which could be profitably expended 
within the year for the purchase of sites for fortifi- 
cations, and for the construction of batteries, mines, 
the great gun factor}- at Watervliet, N. Y., for the 




manufacture of heavy guns for sea-coast defense. 
Senator Proctor, was married ^lay 2I>. 18.58 to 
Emily. I. Dutlon. daughter of Hon. Salmon F. Dut- 
ton, Iif Cavendish. Vt. Thev have four children. 
The eldest son. Fletcher 1). I'^roetor succeeded his 
father as prcsiilcnt of the Vermont Marble Co. in 
18.'<!». He served in the state house of represen- 
tatives in 1890 and 1891. 



408 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 




ELEIIfS, Stephen Benton, secretary of war, 
■was born iu Perry ecmuty, O., Sept. 2G, 1841. His 
ancestors were Viriiinians. ami his grauiifatlier was 
a man of considerable wealth and a slavclioUler. 
He sjinpathized, however, 
with President .letlerson's 
emancipation scheme, and 
he removed to Ohio and 
bought a great lot of land iu 
the southern part of the 
state. Among other jiro])- 
erty he owned about three 
thousand acres in the Hock- 
ing Valley, and this land is 
now woilh at least a million 
and a half of dollars. It is 
in the best of the coal fields 
and it was sold b.y Mr. El- 
kins's father for little or 
n<ilhing. Secretary Elkins's 
grandfather settled in Perry 
county, and Elkins was born 
-' \^' within a short distance of 

^^^^/titMf. where Gen. Sheridan was 

— ' born, and not far oft from 

the birthplace of .Tereniiah 
Rusk, the secretary of agriculttire. His jiareiits 
subsequently removed to Missouri, where he re- 
ceived his early education in the public schools, 
and afterwards entered the Vnivcrsity of ilissouri 
from which he was graduated in the class of 1800. 
Mr. Elkins, having chosen the law as his profes- 
sion, began its stu<ly, and irk 1863 was admitted to 
the bar. In the .same year he cro.ssed the plains to 
New Mexico, where he soon became proficient in 
the Spanish language then generally spoken through- 
out the territory, and practiced his profession with 
much success and profit. Though not actively 
engaged iu recent years iu the practice of the law he 
stands well in the jirofessiou. In 1800 he was 
elected to the legislature, and shortly afterwards 
■was made attornev-general of the territory. In 1868 
he was ajipointetJ U. S. district-attoruey by Presi- 
dent Johnson. He was very etficient in the execu- 
tion of the act of congress providing that there 
should not be slavery or involuntary servitude in the 
territories or District of Columbia, luider which sev- 
eral thousand peons or slaves, held by the Mexi- 
cans, were .set at liberty. He was the first to put the 
act into etfective operation. Iu 1873 he was elected 
to congress from New Mexico, beating his opponent, 
a native Mexican, by 4.<)(i0 majority. He was nom- 
inated and elected to the next congress, although 
traveling in Europe at the time. During his first 
term he was made a member of the republican 
national committee upon whicli he served for three 
presidential campaigns. In congress Mr. Elkins 
■was noted for his industry, ability and effective sup- 
port of imiiortant measures. He was luitiring in his 
efforts to secure the admission of New Mexico as a 
state and an elaborate speech setting forth the 
resources and treaty claims of the territory gave him 
national repute. This speech, logical, ardent and 
impassioned, placed him in public estimation in tlu^ 
front rank as a reasoner and debater. His eloquent 
effort alone carrie<i the measure through the liou.se 
and luishc<l every opjiositiou wliich might have 
retarded its pas.sage. He secured the passage of an 
enabling act by a two thirds vole in the hou.se and 
the same in the senate, but the bil! having been 
amended in the senate the amendment was not con- 
curred in bj' the house. In congress Jlr. Elkins 
became the trusted personal friend of .James G. 
Blaine, whose nonunation for president in 1884 he 
■was largely instrumental iu securing. He did nnich 
to bring about the nomination of Benjannn Harri- 
son in 1888, and is now ranked as one of the most 



skillful, sagacious and forcible political leaders in 
the country. But the chief work of Mr. Elkins's 
life lias not been in law or politics, but in the field 
of business ; here he has shown rare executive abil- 
ity which has made him known as an unu.sually 
strong and successful man. He was for years 
president of the First National Bank of Santa Fe, 
one of the most prosperous banks iu the AVesi . He is 
favorably known among bankers, lawyers and busi- 
ness men in New York where he has spent much 
time in imporlaul biLsiness negotiations. While 
residing in New Mexico he became one of the 
largest landowners in the country, and an exten- 
sive owner of mines iu Color.ado. His later and 
greater business enterprises have been in West Vir- 
ginia, where in conjunction with his father-in-law, 
ex-Senator H. G. Davis, he has devoted himself to 
the develo|iment of the resources of that state, 
especially of the coal-lands. He has been vice- 
president of the West Virginia Central and Pittsburg 
Kail way Co., since its organization, and also vice- 
president of the Piedmont and Cumberland Hailway 
Co., and has done much to bring capital into the 
slate. He has recently built a beautiful country- 
seat called '■ Halliehurst " at Elkins. Randolph Co., 
W. v., which occupies a mountain .site of singular 
beauty, and commands a superb view of the sur- 
rounding country. It contains over ninety rooms 
and is one of the wonders of modern architecture. 
He has also a house in New York and be lives in 
Washingtcm in Senator Palmer's big brown-stone 
mansion, williin a stone's throw of the White House 
and not far from Secretary Blaine. Mr. Elkins has 
always been an earnesl. active and aggressive mem- 
ber of the republican party. His |niblie addresses 
show originality, briadth and peculiar insight into 
the political, industrial and economic questions of the 
day, they have been widely published and quoted. 
In" politics his role has not been that of a politician 
in the ordinary sense of the word, but rather that of 
the business man wlio.se remarkable .soundness of 
judgment and skill in tlie manageinent of men make 
his opinion respei-ted iu the most important councils 
of his iiarty. A high testimonial to the value of 
these .services to his party was 
given to Mr. Elkins when Presi- 
dent Harrison tendered him the 
portfolio of the war department, 
and on Dec. IT, 1891. he became 
a member of the cabinet. Mr. 
Elkins is a strong man physically 
as well as intellectually. He is 
of a pronounced western type, 
more than six feet in height, 
with well-rounded figure, broad, 
dee]) chest and a large head set 
firmly on jiowerful shoulders. 
His manners are jileasing and 
]iopular, and his tastes scholarly 
and refilled. In his habits he is 
domestic rather than social, 
shrinks from crowds and public 
jilaces, is rarely seen at clubs or 
even hotels except on business. Is a great reader, 
and keeps his Jjaliii and Greek books about him in 
his ollicc or home ready to snatch up at any inonicnt 
of leisure. In 1888 he delivered before the Hlerary 
societies of the riiivcrsily of West Virginia an elo- 
quent, forcilile. patriotic and very practical address 
upon American civilization. He believes in Amer- 
ica, her people, her future. He believes iu his 
adopted stale, and .shows his failh by giving his 
capital, his energies and his time to the development 
of her mineral endowments, and the opening up of 
her forests to the commerce of the world. One of 
the most flourisliiiiir towns in the state was foimded 
by him and uuuied Elkins iu his honor. 




OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



409 



MILLER, William Henry Harrison, nt- 

torucy-gL-uiTiU, was bum at Auirusta. ( »iici(lu t"o., 
N. Y., Sept. 6, 1840. His aowtiiry is Ennlisli and 
Scotch. He grew up ou hi.s 
fatUcr's farm, attciuliug the 
CDiiiitry schooLs aud VVhiteslowii 
Seminary, and was jtradviated 
from HaniiltDU College in 18G1. 
After teaching school at Mau- 
mee City, ()., for a short time, 
he enlisted in May, ISd:!, in the 
84th Ohio infantry, a three- 
months' regiment. Heing mus- 
tered out in Se|)teinber, he took 
up the study of law in the otlice 
of Chief Justice Waite. His 
studies were cut sliort. however, 
by financial necessities, and after 
acting for a few months as clerk 
in a law olhco he accepted the 
snperiutendency of the i>ublic 
Ind. He read law during liis 




\jCU%%-^^^«rf 



schools of Pent, 

leisure and was admitted to the bar at Peru in 1805. 
He practiced in that city for a short time, holding 
the oftice of county school examiner, the only olhce 
he ever held until apiniinted allorncy-gencral. In 
18f)6 he moved to Fort Wayne, Ind., and undertook 
there among strangers and without any intluenlial 
connections the practice of law. He formed a jiart- 
ncrship with 'William H, Coombs, a lawyer of ability, 
but of small practice. The business of the lirui in- 
creased so rapidly tiiat a third partner was soon 
added. In conducting business before the federal 
courts at Indianapolis, Mr. Miller formeil the 
ac(iuaintance of Gen. Harri-son, and on the retire- 
ment of Albert G. Porter from the firm of Porter, 
Harrison & Hines in 1874, he was invited to enter 
that firm. From then till his appointment as 
attorney-general Mr. Miller was e.\clu.sively engaged 
in the practice of the law. As his was one of the 
two or three leading tirms of Indiana, he was 
engaged in the most important litigation before the 
United States courts and the supreme court of the 
state. Taking rank with the leaders of the bar, he 
was known as a man of unquestioned integrity aud 
exceptional industry, and as a lawyer well grounded 
in the principles and well inforuied in the prece- 
dents of jurisiirudence. His work in the tirm was 
general, including all dtUies recjuireil of a lawyer in 
a large practice. He had no outward connection 
■with politics, but was the trusted adviser of party 
leaders on politico-legal questions, and whenever 
political controversies came before the courts lie 
appeared as one of the coiuisel for his party and its 
candiihites. Among other controversies of this 
sort, he ap|)eared in the case on the adoption of the 
amen<lment of the state constitution in IS78 and 
the lieutenant-governorship contest in 188(). For 
many years, and particularly during the campaign 
of 1888, he was a contidential adviser of Gen. Har- 
rison, and .so was nalurallv chosen to a iilace in the 
cabinet when President itarrison was inaugurated. 
Though well known as a lawyer in his own s'ate, 
Mr. Miller came to the position of attorney-general 
■without nali<inal reputation and untried as an ad- 
ministrative oHicer. At the oiUset, matters of excep- 
tional imjiortance and dilticulty both in a legal 
and executive aspect ]>resented tliemselves. In 
the Terry case liis bold and fortunate action 
early attracted public attention. On hearing that 
there was danger that David S. Terry, a very prom- 
inent and somewhat notorious lawyer of California, 
•would attack Justice Field, of the United States 
supreme court, when the latter should go on the 
California circuit. Mr. Jliller promptly directed the 
V. S. marshal to protect him. In compliance with 
this order a deputy marshal was detailed to attend 



Justice Field. Terry wag killed in the very act of 
niaking a deadly assault on the venerable "justice. 
The authority of the dejiuty marshal being ques- 
tioned, and an allem|it made to pnwecute him by 
the authorities of California, Mr. Miller avowed tlie 
act, and directed the defense of the deputy marshal 
on the high ground that, inde|)endenlly of all 
statutes, it was the constitutional dutv of the execu- 
tive to protect the judiciary. On lhis"high plane the 
issue was fought and the attorncv-general sus- 
tained, both in the Cuited Stales circuit and supreme 
courts, before which laller tribunal he argued the 
matter in person, greatly adding to his reputation. 
He maintains a clo.sc sujiervisiiMi of all government 
cases before this court, and has been personally- 
engaged in an unusual numlier of ditlicult and iin- 
portant ones, among them the Bering sea litigation, 
the constilutional validity of the .McKinley tariff 
law, the inlerslale commerce and anii-loltefy laws. 
On three occasions he has been called to present to 
the supreme court resolutions of the bar on the 
death of members of the court. His addies.ses have 
on these occasions been characterized by an ab.scnce 
of the ornate and high .sounding, but have been 
marked by that genuine and greater eloquence 
which has the quality of severe simplicity, self- 
restraint and direelness. In the administrative 
functions of his otlice he has inaugurated a vigor- 
ous policy, and has endeavored, effectively in many 
instances, to correct the abu.ses in the enforcement 
of the laws, and to secure their impartial adminis- 
tration. He has exercised particular care in recom- 
mendations to the president for the appointment of 
United Slates judges — an unusual number of whom 
have been appointed under this administration — 
with the result that the selections have been gener- 
ally commended bv members of all parties. lu 1863 
Mr. Miller married Gertrude A. Bunce of Vernon, 
N. Y. Three children of this marriage, a son and 
two daughters, are living. In 1889 Hamilton Col- 
lege conferred on him the degree of LL.D. 

WANAMAKER, John, U. S. postmaster-gen- 
eral, was born in I'hiladelpliia, Julj- 11, 1837. His 
grandfather was John Wananiaker, a farmer of 
Hunterdon county, N. J., a 
descendant of the Palatines 
who left Germany during the 
religious persecutions which 
raged from 1730 lo 1740, aud 
about 1815 removed to Day- 
ton, O., and shortly afterward 
to Kosciusko county, Ind., 
where he died. He left three 
sons, all of whom returned East 
and settled in Philadelphia 
county. Pa. One of these sons, 
John kelson W.anamaker, mar- 
ried Elizabeth I). Kockersper- 
ger, a desceiidant of a French 
Huguenot who came to Amer- 
ica before 1750. John Wana- 
maker. the subject of this 
sketch, was the oldest of their 
.seven children. He attended 
the Philadelphia )nibUc schools 
until fourl<'en years of age, 
when he entered a retail store on Market street as an 
errand boy at a salary of ^1. 50 jht week. After he had 
served as stock boy, entry clerk and salesman in 
the largest clothing house in the city, hewaschosen. 
in 1857, the lirst paid secretary of ihe Young Men's 
Christian Association, which olHce he resigned iu 
April. 1861. to engage in the clothing bu.siness with 
his brolherin-law, jlr. Nathan Brown, fm a joint 
capital of $3,500. The amount of the tirst day's 
sales at their store was |:'.24.07, aud the business for 




^ f^^^ 



410 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPJJDIA 



the year $34,121). His partner's health failing, most 
of the details of the liusiness devolved upon Jlr. 
Wan.imaker. The closest application soon bore its 
legitimate fruits and by the time of Mr. Brown's 
death, in 18(jy, the tinii of Wanamaker & Brown 
■was widely known. In May, 1809. Mr. Wanamaker 
established the house of "John Wanamaker & Co.," 
on Chestnut street, placing his brother Samuel in 
charge. In 1871 he enlarged his "Oak Hall " cloth- 
ing house, on JIarket street. In 18T5 he bought the 
Pennsylvania railroad freight depot Thirteenth and 




Market streets, and when Dwight L. Moody visited 
Philadelphia in Xovcmber of fhat year, fitted it up 
as a tabernacle, where from ten to twenty thousand 
persons daily listened to the great evangelist. In 
187(5 the dc])ot was remodel<;d and opened in Slay 
as a ba/;iar for the sale of men's and l)0vs' clothing, 
hats, shoes, etc. JIareh, 13, 1877, the establish- 
ment was reopened as a dry goods mart to which 
have since been added millinery, upholstery, car- 
pets, furniture, books, toys and almost every kind 
of goods that go to make up the stock of a general 
store now the" largest in the world. 3Ir. Wana- 
maker has spent millions of dollars in advertising, 
mostly with the newspapers. He has never been 
reckless in his advertising, however: but, from his 
earliest efforts a careful supervision of the cost was 
always made. He began by inserting small cards 
in the "Public Ledger," and paid foi- them before 
pulilicatiou. It was several years before any ac- 
coimts were opened with the newspapers. For the 
first eight j-ears of his mercantile life he did not 
lose a .single day from business. In 1865 he took an 
active part in the great sanitary fair held in Logan 
square, Philadelphia, to repleiu'sh the funds of the 
sanitary commission. He was a member of the 
citizens' relief committee, which was so successful 
in securing .supplies for the yellow fever sufferers of 
Memphis, and other places in the South. He also 
rendered etficieut service at the time of the Irish 
famine, helping to raise large sums of money for 
the flood sufferers of the Ohio valley, and acted as 
chairman of a number of committees for the relief 
of towns which had been destroyed by fire. Mr. 
Wanamaker held a responsible post on the finance 
committee of the centennial exposition in 187G. and 
gave considerable attention in 1882 to the arrange- 
ments for the two liuiidredth anniversary of The 
founding of Pliiladel|ihia by William Penn. In 
1880 and 1887 he was |iromincnt in a movement to 
secure a supply of p\irer water for Philadelphia and 
in 1888 when an attempt was made to dispose of the 
city gasworks he came forward with an otTer to pur- 
chase the entire plant, which proposal, though de- 
clined, .saved the works to the city. In 1.882 he was 
offered the republican nominaticm as congressman- 
at-large for the state of Pennsylvania, but declined 
it. In 1886 he declined to be an independent candi- 
date for mayor of Philadelphia. In 1888 he took 
SB active part in the presidential campai'^u serving 



as one of the electors for his state and giving a great 
amount of time to the work of the reimblican 
national executive committee, of which he was a 
member. After the election President Harrison, at 
the request of the Manufacturers' Club of Phila- 
delphia, the leaiiing republicans of Pennsylvania 
and the republican national committee, invited Mr. 
Wanamaker to enter his cabinet. He became post- 
master-general. Mr. Wanamaker is still in the prime 
of life and looks ten years younger than he really 
is. He has always been a careful, abstemious liver, 
loves exercise and is a rapid walker. On the street, 
in his office or on the rostrum, he has a calm, easy 
manner. He does not allow his business to trouble 
him. Once when asked where he got his education, 
he replied: " I picked it up as I went, as the tenders 
on the railroad take up the water from their track 
tanks." Again, when wrilten to for some part of 
his biography to be read to young men, he replied: 
"Thinking, irying, toiling and trusting is all of my 
biography. " Jlr. Wanamaker has a million and a 
half of insurance on his life. In 1868 he presented 
to each one of his 140 employes, some of whom are 
still connected with his business, a policy of life in- 
surance for one year. Very early in life he became a 
member of Rev. John Chambers's Presbyterian 
church. He organized on South street, near Twen- 
tieth, in 18.")8, a Sabbath-school with twenty-seven 
members, which has become the renowned "Beth- 
any," with over 2,600 scholars, and 128 teachers and 
otliccrs. He was for several years president of the 
Philadelphia Y. M. C. A., and greatly assisted in 
the erection of the fine " Association " building at 
Fifteenth and Chestnut streets. He took a lively 
interest in the founding of the first Penny Savings 
Bank of I'hiladelphiarwhich. although only a few 
years old is doing a business of a hundred tliou.sand 
dollars annually. Jlr. Wanamaker is an organizer. 
He goes forward, inviting others to accompany 
him ; but he does not let go until the operation 
is thoroughly successful. He inspires confidence 
in those with whom he is associated to such an 
extent that success is written on whatever he 
undertakes. He is much appealed to for all sorts 
of charities. On receiving the first mouth's pay 




in his position as postmaster-general, he remarked 
to a friend : " This is the first salary I have earned 
for over twentv-fivo vears: I do not know what I 
shall do with "it." "The Philadelphia "Times" 
later said: " It is estimated that the postnia-ster-gen- 
eral's salary for a year would not be sufficient to 
supply the applicants for donations with a tenth of 
the requests received through the mail in a week." 
There is seldom a steamer that arrives without 
bringing appeals from foreign lands for help, to say 
nothing of the constant <li'man(ls upon him for all 
kinds of benefactions at home. This merchant 
prince of Philadelphia is .so much interested in the 
work of his cabinet department that, in addition to 
devoting practically all of his own time to it, he 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



411 





spenas miicn more than liis salan-, in the employ- 
ment of a private secretary and in investijrations, 
rewards, postage, newsjiaper siiliserijitions, ete. 

Since he has been postniastcr-gencral Mr. Wana- 
maker has provided (piiclier transmission of tlie 
mails by pushimr the railway companies to new 
achievements iu rapid transportation ; he has estab- 
lished sea post-orticcs, whereby foreign mail is dis- 
trib\ited and made-up aboard ship, and is ready for 
immediate transmis.sion to iidand cities on arrival at 
port ; he has improved the immediate delivery sys- 
tem, and nrged the establishment of the postal tele- 
graph service. 

TRACY, Benjamin Franklin, secretary of 
the navy, was born at Owego, N. Y., April 2(i, 
1830. His father, Benjamin, a man of marked in- 
tegrity and enterprise, was a pio- 
neer in the settlement of tlie 
southern tier of counties in the 
state of New York. Vouiig Tracy, 
who exhibited a love of liooks and 
study at an early age, began his 
education at the common school 
in Owego, and next entered Owego 
Academy, where he studied for 
several years, acquiring an excel- 
lent English education. He then 
entered the law ottice of K. W. 
Davis, iu his native place, as a 
student, and soon began to try 
■=?:='/ cases in the village justice's court, 
'' / being admitted to the bar in May, 
/' 1851. There he met in legal 
contests, Daniel S. Dickinson. 
John A. Collier, A. S. Didlo and 
others, making his way by this 
contact to local distinction. In 
November, 1853, as a candidate 
upon the whig ticket, he was elected by a 
surprisingly large majority, district attorney for 
Tioga county, at that time a democratic strong- 
hold. He was re-elected in 1S56, defeating the 
democratic candiilate, Gilbert C. Walker, subse- 
quently governor of Virginia. Tracy and Walker 
were friends and immediately after the election 
formed a law partnership. In 1859 he was again 
tendered the nomination for the district attorney- 
ship, but declined it. In 1861 he was chosen a 
member of the state assembly by republicans and 
war democrats in his county, and had a part in the 
earnest contest which ended with the election of 
Henry .J. Raymond as speaker. 5Ir. Tracy was 
appointed chairman of the committee to call future 
caucuses of the repul)lican members of the a-ssembly. 
He was al.so placed on the judiciary committee and 
made chairman of the committees on railroads and 
on bills entitled to early consideration. He made 
his mark on the floor of the house as a dcb.-iter. In 
the spring of 1862 Gov. Morgan having appointed 
him one of a committee to pnmiote volunteering 
for the civil war in the counties of Broome, Tioga 
and Tompkins, he personally recruited two regi- 
ments of state volunteers, the IflOth and ISTth, 
accepting the colonelcy of the former. Reporting 
at Baltimore. ^Id., the regiment remained there 
until it was transferred to Washington, I). C. In 
the spring of 1864 it joined the 9th corps of the 
armv of the Potomac, and took i>art in the battle of 
the \Vilderness. Col. Tracv. exhausted by his exer- 
tions in the tight, fell nea'r the close of the battle 
and was carried from the field, but refused to go to 
the hospital, and continued to lead through the 
three days' conflict at Spottsylvania. when he utterly 
broke down and was forced to surrender his com- 
mand to the lieutenant-colonel. Going north to re- 
cruit his health he received and accepted in the fol- 
lowing September the colonelcy of the ISTth United 



States colored troops, and was subsequently assigned 
to the command of the military post at Elmira, N. V., 
including the |)rison camp, and the draft rendezvous 
for western New York. In this camj) there were at 
one time 10,()()0 prisoners. In the U. S. house of 
representatives in 1ST6, Mr. Hill of Georgia charged 
upon Col. Tracy's administration of this post 
cruelties equal to those recorded of the southern 
prisons, but the charges were at once denied by Col. 
Tracy in a full and well-worded rejily to Jlr. Hill, 
and ills denial was ftirthwilh attested on the tloor 
of the house by Mr. Walker, then representative from 
the Elmira district, although the latter was a politi- 
cal ojiponent of the colonel. When the war clo.sed 
Col. Tracy entered the law firm of Benedict. Burr 
& Benedict in New York city. In October, 1866, he 
was ajjpointed U. S. district attorney for the eastern 
district of New York, and for two j-ears gave esiie- 
cial attention to the prevention of frauds on the 
United States reveiuieby whisky distillers, of whose 
estJiblishments there were something over five luui- 
dred in his district. He drew up a bill regulating 
the collection of taxes upon distilled spirits which, 
in one j-ear after it became law, resulted in securing 
$.5n,on(),()00 for the United States treasury, instead 
of the |13,00l),n00 collected during the previous 
twelve months, the commissioiier-inchief of the 
United States internal revenue declaring that if it 
had not been for the exertions of District Attorney 
Tracy the internal revenue sy.stem of the cotuitry 
would have been a failure. In 1873 Mr. Tracy re- 
signed his po.sition to resume the jiractice ot his 
profession in Brooklyn, N. Y. His connection with 
important cases was frecpient. the mo.st notable of 
these being the Tilton-Beeeher trial, in which Wil- 
liam M. Evarts and John K. Porter also took part. 
In December, ISSl, he was appointed by the gov- 
ernor of New York an associate justice of the state 
court of appeals, to fill a vacancy, and held the 
judgeship until January. 18S3. He then formed a 
law"" partnership with VVilliam C. l)e Witt and his 
son F. B. Tracy, and opened an office in Brooklyn. 
March 5, 1889, "he was appointed by President Har- 
rison secretary of the United States navy and was 
coniirraed the same day by the U. S. senate. The 
secretary entered vcrj' zealously ui)on the jirosecu- 
tion of i>lans for the rehabilitation and increase of 
the naval force and reported in April, 1891, that the 
department was then engaged in the construction of 
twenlv-five vessels, in addition to eleven completed 
and placed in commission since the spring of 1889; 




~'^'«'i«iy<!v.>-»«r" 



that the Washington gunfonndn,-. for the produc- 
tion of heavy artillery, had been brought to a very 
high degree "of perfection, and that under the .stim- 
ulus of The department, jwovision for a naval reserve 
force, or naval militia, to be created on the shores 
of our great lakes, and in every seacoast state of 
the Union, has been begini in Jla.ssachu.setts. while 
the system of civil service reform was in progress 
of application in the administration of the United 
States navy yards. Secretary Tracy was married 
in 1851 to" Belinda E. Callin, of Owego, N. Y. 
Feb. 3, 1890, by the occurrence of a fire in their 
Washington home, his wife and youngest daughter 
lost their Uves. 



412 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 




gJ^;^C<^ /> ^a-^ 



H-e^.. 



NOBLE, JohnWillock, secretary of the interior, 
■was born at Lancaster, O. Oct. 26, WiX. His 
father was a native of Pennsylvania, and his niotlier, 
Catherine McDill, of Marylami. 
After obtaining a good prepar- 
atory education in the public 
schools of Cincinnati, he spent 
one year at llianii University, 
and then entered the junior class 
at Yale, from which institution 
he was graduated in 1851, be- 
fore he had attained the age of 
twenty years. He then studied 
law under the in.struction of 
Henry Stanbery (afterward at- 
torney-general in the cabinet of 
President Johnson) and of his 
brother, Henry C. Koble, and 
was admitted to the bar in iK'iS 
at St. Louis, JIo. He began the 
practice of law there, but in 
1856 removed to Keokuk, Iowa, 
where he formed a copartner- 
ship with Hon. Ralph P. Lowe. He served two 
years as city attorney, and soon rose to prominence. 
When the civil war opened he joined in defense 
of the Union, taking part in the battle of Athens, 
Mo., before he was an enlisted soldier. In August, 
1861. he was made a first lieutenant in the 3d regi- 
ment of Iowa cavalry, and subsequently became 
adjutant. He did valiant service at the battle of 
Pea Ridge in the spring gf 1862 and was present at 
the surrender of Vicksburg, and at the battle of 
Tupela, Miss. He also took part in the successful 
raids made by Gen. James H. Wilson, the storming 
of Selma, Ala., the capture of Columbus, tJa., and 
in numerous minor engagements. For a time he 
■was judge advocate-general of the armv of the 
southwest, and the department of the Missouri, tnider 
Gen. S'anuiel K. Curtis, but soon returned to his regi- 
ment, with which he served four years. He rose 
by regular [iromotion in his own regiment to be 
colonel, and was breveted brigadier-general by con- 
gress "for distinguished and meritorious services in 
in the field." After the close of the war Gen. Noble 
resumed the practice of law in St. Louis. In 1867, 
upon the recommendation of Mr. 8taubery, then 
attorney -general, he was appointed U. S. district 
attorney for eastern Missouri. There he encounter- 
ed great opposition in enforcing the provisions of 
the internal revenue laws, especially from dealers 
in whisk}' and tobacco, who were very rebellious in 
that state. In this office Gen. Noble, even to a 
greater degree than before, sho-.ved the commanding 
abilities he possessed, by urging the prosecutions to 
asuccessful conclusion until the law was thoroughly 
enforced and justice administered. Among the 
offenders brought to justice by him at this jieriod, 
•were the noted counterfeiters Biebusch and Hurke. 
In 1870, after three years of remarkable success, 
he resigned the position. Shortly after, when 
in AVashington, President Grant invited him to 
the White House, and in the presence of his as- 
sembled cabinet thanked him "for the faithful man- 
ner in wliich he had performed the duties of his 
office." The president afterwards tendered him the 
position of solicitor-general, ranking next below a 
place in the cabinet, but he declined the proffered 
honor, although it might Iiave led to his selection as 
attorney-general. In Iowa, Mr. Noble, before the 
"war, had practiced at the same bar, .state and federal, 
■with Samuel F. Miller, afterward justice of the 
United States .supreme court, Gen. W. W. Belknap, 
and George W. McCrary, each afterward secre- 
tary of war, and John F. Dillon, afterward 
judge of the United States circuit court, and other 
able lawyers. From 1870 to 1888 he pursued his 



profession ■with great energy and success, and was 
in full practice and engaged in the largest cases 
both in the state courts and in the supreme court 
of the United States. Among his professional 
triumphs during this period may be menti<ined. the 
case at Santa Fe, N. M., of Moore and Mitchell 
m. Huntington, involving |;300.000, and won in the 
United States supreme court: the Little Pittsburg 
mining case, at Denver, Col., tried before Justice 
Miller on circuit in St. Louis ; the case of Meyer & 
Co. T«. the St. Louis Fire Insurance Co., for 
loss of cotton at Jersey City, N. J., amounting to 
about $100,000, and involving difficult questions of 
law relating to fire and marine insurance ; that of 
the National Bank of Commerce of New York r». 
the Nati(mal Bank of thestate of 5Iissoiiri,in which 
the verdict obtained for the plaintiff before a jury of 
the United States circuit court al St. Louis, was 
over $4;i4,000 ; that of the Granby Mining Co. v*. 
St. Louis and San Francisco Railroad Co., an 
injunction against the railroad cimipany compelling 
the restoration of zinc mines of great value that had 
been seized by the railroad company : that of 
St. Louis M. the City Gas-Light Co.. a suit in 
equity, involving property of the companv worth 
$3,000,000, and $1,000,000 in money, in which the 
comiiany's case was completely won in the state 
supreme court after two adverse decisions below ; 
the City Gas-Light Co. iss. St. Louis, in which 
there was a verdict for the plaintiff before n jury 
and on which there was collected $1,000,000 cash 
from the city. Gen. Noble ■was also one of the at- 
torneys for Gibson, in Gib.son m. Chouteau, a case 
that went live times through the supreme court of Mis- 
souri, three times through the United States supreme 
court and was twice decided hy the secretary of the 
interior. It involved a conflict between a Siianish 
grant and a claim under anew Madrid certificate, and 
was filially decided in favor of Gibson. The reconls 
of the United States supreme court and of the state 
supreme courts indicate that Gen. Noble was able to 
hold in these tribunals his verdicts in the lower 
courts — a somewhat exceptional result. His ability 
as an attorney and his marked individuality as a 
public-spirited citizen gave him a national repu- 
tation, and in 1889 President Harrison appointed 
him secretary of the interior, a position for 
which his successful experience and marked execu- 




■sj^C^^'ves^ 



0^"?^v.id^ ,.,!>,. l!.-»7^3'« 



five abilities especially fitted him. His administra- 
tion of tlie duties of this responsible oftice has been 
characterized by decision of purpose and a compre- 
hensive knowledge of public affairs, nowhere more 
marked than in his settlement of questions arising 
from the opening to settlers of some of the Indian 
reservations and the organization of the territory of 
Oklahoma, where the rush for land gave rise to 
conflict of claims. Yale University and ."Miami 
I'niversity (O.) have each conferred on him the 
degree of LL.D. Secretary Noble is prominent in 
the grand army of the republic and the loyal legion, 
and is godfather to a post of sons of vetcra^us, 
named after him in St. Louis. He was married in 
1864 to Lizabeth Halsted of Northampton, Massa- 
chusetts. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



413 




HUSK, Jeremiah McLain, secretary of apri- 
cultiire, was boru in Mi)ri,'an couuty, ()., June 17, 
1830, the youngest of the ten cliililren of Daniel 
and Jane Fakiier Husk. lie 
obtained his education in the 
schools near his lionic and j;re\v 
to manhood on his fatiier's 
farm. He has never since relin- 
cjuislicd the occufialion of a 
fanner althoujih his varied capa- 
bilities have frequently been 
called into requisition for posi- 
tions of honor and responsi- 
bility. Afterhis father s death, 
he engaged to drive a stage 
between Zanesville and New- 
ark, O., thus contributing to 
the support of his mother and 
two sisters, who with himself 
comprised the family then living 
at home. It was one of the old- 
time Concord .stages that young 
Rusk at the age of (ifleen was 
proud to drive, and he managed the horses with dex- 
'.erit)'. It was then he first met James A. Garfield who, 
as a canal boy, was driving a single mule along an 
Ohio towpath. and he often twitted the future pre.si- 
Jent as he rapidly passed him witli his well-fcil team 
of four sprightly horses. In lS4y he marrieii Mary 
Martin of C)hio, and in 1853 moved to Wiscon.sin 
and took up a farm in Bad Ax, now Vernon county. 
In addition to his successful efforts as a farmer, he 
engaged in stage driving, having established a line 
between Sparta and Prairie du Cliien, and also 
opened a hotel in Viroqua, the county .seat. His 
success in capturing and bringing to justice a thief 
who had eluded the grasp of the regular ollicers of 
the law, made him so popular that in IS.'i.^, he was 
chosen sheriff, and in 1857 coroner of the county, 
while in 1861 he represented his section in the state 
legislature. Sept. 14, 1802, he entered the Fcdi'ral 
army as major of the 25th Wisconsin volunteer in-' 
fantry, a regiment which he had raised. He declined 
the colonelcy alleging want of ndlitary experience, 
but his soldierly qualities practically gave bin) the 
command from the start. His first service was in 
the Minnesota Indian camp.aign, and in 18(i3 he 
participated in the siege and capture of Vicksburg. 
In February, 1864, when in command of his regi- 
ment, he joined Sherman in the Jleridian cam- 
paign. He was complimentea by his superior oflicer 
for the .skill with which he handled his regiment in 
all the engagements about Atlanta. When McPber- 
son fell in front of Atlanta, on July 22, 1S64. Husk 
was leading the advance and in that hard fought 
contest lost one-third of his men. At one time in 
this battle he was cut off from his command, sur- 
rounded by the enemy and ordered to surrender ; 
but by a chivalrous dash he broke through the Con- 
federate line and escaped to his regiment with only 
a .slight wound and the loss of his horse, which fell 
riddled with bullets. In Sherman's " ;^Iar<h to the 
Sea" Col. Husk was in comiuiind of the advance of 
the 17th corps by special apjiointment. On the march 
through the Carolinas. at the battle of Salkahat- 
chie which took place in February, 186,5, there was 
a race, in which all the divisions took part, to reach 
the river first. Jlower's division was the winner 
and Col. Husk was in its ailvance brigade. Oen. 
Mower rode up and inquired where the brigaiie 
conunander was ; Rusk replied that he did not know, 
but he was ready to move, and did not want to be 
left l)ehind and superseded by another brigade be- 
cause of the absence of his "superior officer. The 
division commander would not at first listen to his 
protest, but finally said to one of his stafT : " Bring 
up that colonel who objected to remaining behind, 



and we will give him a taste of what he is yearning 
for." Col. Rusk made the attack, carried the point, 
and cro.ssed the river amid the plaudits of Gen. 
Mower and all who saw him and his brave men ac- 
complish the daring feat. Here again he lost his 
horse by a shot from a battery, which at the same 
in.stant killed the regimental bugler who rode 
close behind. Gen. Sprague in a letter to him 
said : " You are entitled to and I hope will receive 
the general thanks of the executive and the people 
of your .state for your faithfulness to the troops 
under your care. The able manner in which you 
have discharged every duty in the field entitles you 
to the gratitude of all who' love the cause you have 
served so well." In June, 186,5, when nui.stered out 
of the service. Col. Husk was presented by the 
officers of his regiment with a testimonial acknowl- 
edging him "a gentleman, a hero and a soldier." 
Col. Husk was subsequently promoted to be briga- 
dier-general by brevet for his gallantry at the battle 
of Salkahatchie, He returned to his Wisconsin 
home, and in November, 1865, was elected by the 
republican party slate bank comptroller, was re- 
elected in 1867, and held the oflice until, on his own 
recommendation, it was abolished by amendment to 
the state constitution. In November, 1870, he was 
elected to congress l)y the largest majority ever 
given a representative from Wisconsin. His career 
at Wa.shington began March, 1871, at the meeting 
of the forty second congress, in which he served on 
the committee on public lands and militia. During 
bis second term he was chairman of the committee 
on invalid pensions, and a mendier of that on nnnes 
and mining, and being elected a third time in 1874 
be .served on the committee on invalid pensions and 
agriculture. A speech delivered by him in the house 
of representatives on the tariff and its relation to 
agriculture was used as a cain|iaign docunuut in 
1876. He voted against the .salarj* grab bill, and 
after its final passage turned his back pay into the 
national treasury. In congress he renewed his former 
acquaintance with Gen. Garfield, on a strong, and 
more intimate basis. When the latter became presi- 
dent, he offered Gen. Husk the po.sitions of minister 
to Paraguay, minister to Deiunark, and chief of the 
bureau of engraving and printing, but all of these 
were declined by him. In 1881 Gen. Rusk w as elected 
governor of Wisconsin. A mouth after his inavigu- 
ration, the Chicago, Portage and Superior Railway 
Co. failed, owing two month's pay to 1.700 em- 
ployes, who became desperate. When citizens ap- 
pealed to the governor to send militia to quell the 
disturbance, his laconic reply was "these men want 
bread not bayonets," and he forthwith sent them 
provisions. lie further required the company pur- 
chasing the effects of the defunct road to jjrovide 



Ji^^ 




fjmdi for the payment of these laborers and to reim- 
burse the slate for taking care of ihem during the 
emergency. While governor he look an active part 
in pnmioting the agricultural and dairy interests of 
the slate, and in forminir farmers' in.stitutes. 
During his first term an ameuduieut to the state 



414 



THE NATIONAL CTCLOPiEDIA 



constitution was adopted providing for biennial ses- 
sions of the legislature, and extending the guberna- 
torial office one year. So uniformly popular was 
his administration as governor, that he was three 
times honored by re-election, serving continuously 
from January, 1882, to. January, 1889. At a soldier's 
reunion at ^linneapolis in 1884, Gov. Kusk instead 
of appearing with a gorgeous military escort took 
with him a band of crippled veterans of the war 
each of whom had lost a leg or an arm in the 
service of their country, thus winning the un- 
bounded admiration of all present. During his 
second term as governor the Milwaukee riots 
occurred. In this emergency he assumed com- 
mand in person of the state troojis and promptly 
dispersed the strikers and quelled the riot. Tlie 
people of the entire state heartily applauded the 
governor's firmness and prompt action on this occa- 
sion. The energy and courage he displayed, won 
for him a national reputation, and he received prai.se 
from all sections of the country. At the republican 
national convention in 1888, Gov. Rusk's name was 
considered for the presidential nomination. Pres- 
ident Harri.son uiKiii the organization of his cabinet 
in March, 1889, gave him the portfolio of secretary 
of agriculture, a cabinet office created only one 
monlh before tlie inauguration. His long experience 
as a practical and successful farmer admirably titled 
him for the place wliich he has since filled with the 
same success that has attended him in all other posi- 
tions he has held. Secretary Rusk's, home is in 
Vernon county, Wi.sconsin, and includes though he 
has since made large additional purchases the origin- 
al tract he bought in 18o3 when he first .settled in 
Wisconsin. His first wife died in 1858, leaving 
three children, of whom the eldest daughter, and 
the son, Col. Lycurgus .T. Rusk, survive. By his 
marriage with EMzabelh .Jolinsuu. his present wife, 
he has one daughter. Mary, and a son, Blaine Daniel, 
■who reside with their parents at Washington. 

■WINDOM, 'Williain, secretary of the treasury, 
■was born in Belmont county, ().. May 10, 1827. 
His parents were both of the Quaker persuasion, his 
mother, Mercy Spencer, coming of Penn.sylvania 
and his father, Hezekiah Windom, of Virginia stock. 
William's early life was spent in a log-cabin from 
which his father had gradually 
cleared aw.iy the native forest. 
He assisted on the farm at first 
as a chore boy, but as he grew 
older and stronger he did man's 
work without the advantage of 
man's pay. As a boy he was 
fond of books and devoted much 
of his leisure to such reading as 
lie coidd get hold of. By helping 
the neighboring farmers he .suc- 
ceeded in picking up a little 
]iocket-nioney which he saved 
and which finally enabled him 
with slight as.sistance from his 
father, to go to the academy at 
Mt. Vernon, O., where he n;- 
ceived the customarv academic 
educatidn and where also to tln^ annoyance of his 
parents, particularly of his father who .seems to 
have had a peculiar liorror of the legal i)rofessi<)n, 
he in.sisted u|kiii studying law. William was taken 
from the academy before he had finished his course 
to be apprenticed to a tailor in Fredericklon, O. 
Finding the tailor's trade or any trade for that mat- 
ter dista.steful he soon obtained the means for return- 
ing to the academy at Mt. Vernon, where he re- 
sumed his legal studies. Being admitted to the bar 
in 18")0 he established himself at Jit. Vernon as a 
practicing lawyer. Two years later, having already 




made himself many friends, he ■was elected on 
the whig ticket pro.secuting attorney for Knox 
county by a majority of 300, a noteworthy fact 
since that county had previously gone demo- 
cratic by a majority of 1.000. In'l85.5 he estab- 
lished himself in Winona, Minn., where he re- 
sided many years. In 1856 he married Ellen P. 
Hatch, daughter of a well-known congregational 
minister of Warwick, Mass., by whom he had three 
children, a son and two daughters. The son, 
William D. Windom, is an architect in Boston. The 
daughters, Ellen H. and Florence B., are well 
known in Washington society. Mr. Windom was 
one of the earliest and warmest supporters of the 
repuljlican party. He soon became as jiopular 
among his neighbors in Miimesota ,is he had been in 
Ohio, and in 185!) he was elected to the Ihirty-.sixth 
congress, where he was conspicuous in the house of 
representatives for his services on different commit- 
tees, including those on public lands, public exjien- 
ditures and hulian affairs. He was re-elected to the 
thirty-seventh, thirtv-eighth, thirt_v-niiith and for- 
tieth congresses. in 1SG2 he was the successful 
advocate and champion of the important homestead 
law. As chairman of the committee on Indian 
affairs he was the head of the special committee 
which visited the western tribes in 1805 and also of 
the committee appointed to investigate the conduct 
of the commissioner of Indian affairs in 1807. After 
the election of Lincoln to the presidency Mr. Win- 
dom was a member of the special peace committee 
of thirty. At the clo.se of the second session of the 
fortieth congress, although he was strongly urged to 
accept a reuomination, he retired for a time from 
public life. In July, 1870, he was appointed by the 
governor of Minnesota to the L". S. senate to fill the 
unexpired term of Daniel S. Morton, deceased, and 
he was subsequently chosen for the senatorial term 
ending in 1870, at the e.xpiratinn of which he was 
re-elected. In 1881 he resigned from tlie senate to 
enter the cabinet of President Garfield as secretary 
of the treasury. In this position he becam? a finan- 
cial authority. A cabinet discussion having arisen 
on the question of refunding bonds which were 
about to mature Mr Blaine, tlie .secretary of state, 
deeming the financial .situation a critical one urged 
the president to call an extra session of congress. 
Mr. Windom told the president that he thought he 
could .settle the question without the aid of congress 
by forcing the banks to refimd their bonds at three 
and a half per cent. The president after learning from 
the attorney-general that this procedure would be 
legal consented to it. The bondholders accepted 
Mr. Windom's proposition. The expeii.se of the 
transaction to the government was aliout 5;10,000 
for the issue of new Ivmds. while the annual saving 
of interest was about ^10,000.000. (.)n the accession 
of President Arthur. Mr. Windom resigned his posi- 
tion in the cabinet, whereupon the Minnesota legis- 
lature re-elected him to fill the vacancy in the senate 
which his withdrawal earlier in the year had 
caused. He accordingly filled out his own term, but 
failed of .securing a re-eU'Clion by one vote. He tlien 
took up his residence in the cily of New York, 
where he established himself in law practice. In 
1880, 1884 and 1888 he was a candidate for the 
presidency, and at the republican convention of 1890 
received the ten votes of the Minnesota delega- 
tion until the thirty-ninth ballot. On the election of 
President Harrisim, Mr. Windom was appointed 
secretary of the treasury, and he continued to hold 
that po.sition until his death. At the annual <liiiiier 
of the New York Board of Trade and Transporta- 
tion in 1891 he delivered a patriotic speech contain 
ing valuable advice with regard to the protection of 
our shipping, and warnings to the advocates of the 
free coiuaire of silver. At the close of his address he 




^^-S.JJtzt^'^eu^. 



rt 



eOPVRlGHT, 1S92. av JAUES T. WMITE 4 CO. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



417 




fell dead to the floor of the banqueting hall. Almost 
his last words were the following: "As poison in 
the blood permeates arteries, veins, nerves, brain 
and heart and speedily brings paralysis or death, so 
does a debased or fluctuating currency permeate all 
the arteries of trade, paralyze all kinds of business 
and bring disaster to all classes of peojile. It is as 
impossible for commerce to flourish with such an 
instrument as it is for the human body to grow 
strong and vigorous with a deadly poison lurking in 
the blood." Tills speech of Secretary Windimi's 
made a deep impression, and quotations from it 
were kept standing on the editorial page of the New 
York " Herald " for more than six months. Secre- 
tary Wiiidom died Jan. 39, 1891. 

BEID, Whitelaw, editor, was born near Xenia, 
O., Oct. 27, 1837. His grandfather, who was a Scot- 
tish covenanter, founded the town of Xenia, and his 
mother, Marian Whitelaw Ronalds, is descended 
from a well-known hue of High- 
land chieftains. Mr. Heid's 
parents being neither rich nor 
poor, he grew toward manhood 
in conditions wliich brought out 
his native powers. Hcv. Hugh 
McMillan, his uncle, priucipal 
of an academy at Xenia, took 
charge of his education, and he 
was graduated from Miami (O.) 
Universitj-, with the scientific 
honors of his cla.ss, in 1856. Af- 
ter leaving college he spent a 
year in teaching, but it was the 
year of the Fremont camjiaign, 
and the few stiniip speeches 
. , , , , -_ which young Reid made for the 

JjS~^.^cXiJ^JsjL,y -'lKsijCjA:> ' candidates of the newly formed 
^^'""^~ republican party gave him a lo- 

cal reputation which streugth- 
' ened his inclination toward a broader career than 

that of a school-teacher, and he left that calling at 
once to become editor and proprietor of the Xenia 
I "News." He gained a further reputation by his 

; political speeches and liis editorial writings during 

the first campaign of Abraham Lincoln for the 
United States presidency. Then circumstances took 
J him to Columbus. ()., the capital, as a legislative 

eorrespdudent. where lie soon establi.shed relations 
I with the Cincinnati "Gazette," and the Cleveland 

; "Herald." He was oflVred and accepted the city 

i' editorship of the "Gazette." and from that time 

until he took uji his residence in New York city, 
his pen was mainly used in the service of that jour- 
li nal. As its war correspondent, over the signature 

li of "Agate," he won national distinction, develop- 

] ing a power of analysis of events and characters, 

searching and suggestive, (lescriliing scenes with 
accuracy and tidelity, and making .statements that 
were invariably correct. During the two \'irginia 
campaigns, he was at the front with McClellan and 
Rosecrans, and was the first to record Gen. Grant's 
extraordinary ability at the fall of Fort Donelson. 
One of the most reni.ai'kal)le pieces of reportorial 
work during the war was .Mr. Heid's description of 
the battle of I'lttsburg Landing, written under fire, 
but complete and accurate. While in Washington 
Jlr. Keid met many prominent men, and to a certain 
extent was friend, confidant, and counselor of many 
of the leading republican statesmen of that day. He 
also met Horace Greeley, the veteran editor of the 
New York " Tribune. ' who. in 1864, .sought unsuc- 
cessfully to employ him upon his paper. He then 
offered "Mr. Ueid" the management of the "Tri- 
bune's " Washington bureau, but this was also de- 
clined, Jlr. Heid's interest in the "Gazette" having 
become of a jiroprietory nature, and was too valuabU; 
lo be sacrificed for any salaried position. After the 




war Mr. Reid accompanied Secretary Chase on a 
secret ini.ssion tlirou^di the South. He also engaged 
in cotton planting in Alabama, and imblished the 
results of his observations in a book descriptive of 
the Tcsources of the southern states, 
which was entitled ''After the War." 
He next spent two years (186(i-68) in 
jireparing "Ohio in the War," a two- 
volume histoiy, which has been pro- 
nounced the most iinpoilant of all 
the stale histories of the American 
civil war. It contains biographies of 
most of the generals of the United 
States forces, ami a full history of the 
state of Ohio from 18Ul-(i."(. Mr. Heid's 
last work for the Ciocinnati " Gazette" 
was in reporting the proceedings in the 
iinpeaeliment trial of President Andrew 
Johnson. In the meanlinic he had lie- 
come editor of that paper, but in 1868 
he accejited a renewed invitation to con- 
nect himself with the New York " Tri- 
bune." His position on that journal 
was not. at first, one of special <listinc- 
tion. He wrote editoral paragraphs, 
his salary was a large one, aiul he received orders 
direct from the editor. He was soon after apiioint- 
ed managing editor, was given unlimited authority, 
and it was .soon suspected that Mr. Greeley had select- 
ed him for his successor, which proved tobetheca.se. 
Mr. Reid regariled his chief as a geuins. and a man 
of irreproachable nobility of character; iMr. Greeley 
felt a strong admiration for his associate, .-ind a deep 
interest in his career. Though ipiite unlike, there 
was perfect .sym|iathy and ciaifidciue between the 
two. the one pos.se.s.siiig those qualities that the other 
lacked. In those days the staff of the "Tribune" 
was exceptionally brilliant, being composed of such 
men as Smalley. Congdon. Hassard, Winter, Ripley, 
Young, Bayard Taylor, A. I). Richardson, and i. 
1). Stockton. On the nominal ion of .Mr. Greeley as 
candidate for the presidency, he resigned his position 
as editor of the "Tribune, " and Mr. Reid succeeded 
him. Soon after the death of Mr. Greeley, in 1873, 
Mr. Reid became [irincipal owner of that journal. 
At that time the pa|)er was lo.sing money, but Mr. 
Reids bold and vigorous management, ccaipled with 
a brilliant staff of editorial writers, ]u-oduced a paper 
that the iiublic could not alford to ignore; the new 
"Tribune" liuilding was erected, and Jlr. Heid's 
energy and audacity were rewarded by a greater 
success for the pajier than it had ever known. In 
1876 Mr. Reid was eJiosen by the New York legis- 
lature regent of the New York State University. 
This was the only ortice which, uji to that time, and 
for .some time thereafter, he was disposed even to 
ccmsider. so closely had he held him.self to the du- 
ties of his profession. His three years' occupancy 
of the librarianship of the L'. S. hiaise of representa- 
tives, in earlier days, can hardly be reckoned an ex- 
ceiilion to this statement. He twice declined the 
mi.s.si()n to Germany, first tendered by President 
Hayes, and afterward by Presi<lenl Garfield. In the 
spring of ISSl Jlr. Reid luarrii'd Klizalielli, daughter 
of 1). O. Mills. They have two children, a son and 
a daughter. In the spring of 188U Mr. Held was iip- 
])ointed mini.ster to France by President Harrison, 
accepted the position, and discharged its functions 
most acceptably. In June, 1S92. tlie republican na- 
tional convention, as.si nibled ;it Minneapolis. .Minn., 
nominated Mr. lieid for the otlice of viceiuesident 
of the United States, on the tiiket with Benjamin 
Harrison for president. Mr. Reid is a resident of 
New York city, occupies a handsome hou.se on 
Madison avenue, and ha.s a country place between 
Rye and White Plains, N. Y., known as " Ophir 
Farm." 



418 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 




S<«M»«J^.2»»~^. 



LONGFELLOW, Henry Wadsworth, poet, 
■was born in PiirtlaiKl. Me., Ftb. 27. ISOT. Ilis first 
American anfcstor. \Villiam Lonjifcllow, oniigratcrl 
from England to Ni'\vl)iiry, JIass., in 1G75, thus be- 
coming a townsman of Percival Lowell, the ances- 
tor of James Russell Lowell; and it is a noteworthy 
circumstance that the two most eminent of llieir 
descendants sliould also Iiave been near neighbors 
and intimate friends in another Massachusetts town 
— Cambridge— two hundred years later. His grand- 
son removed to Maine, then a province of Massachu- 
setts, some time prior to the war of the revolution, 
and there in the fourth generation, 
Stephen Longfellow, the father of 
the poet, was born in ITTfi. Hav- 
ing been graduated from Harvard 
in 1798, he was admitted to the 
bar of Portland, and became a 
successful practising lawyer. He 
represented liis di.strict in the 
Massachusetts legislature, and was 
for one term a member of con- 
gress. He was also president of 
the Maine Historical Society, and 
received the degree of LL.D. from 
Bowdoin College (of which he was 
for many years a trustee) when 
such honors were not bestowed 
iniliscriminatelv. He married, in 
1K(U, a daughter of Gen. Wads- 
worth, of the army of the revo- 
lution, and their imion was bless- 
ed with eighl children, the second of whom was 
the poet. Henry AV'adsworth Longfellow received 
his first instruction at the Portland .schools, and 
there, even when very young, attracted attention by 
his bright countenance, his gentle manners and good 
disposition, his master speaking of him when he was 
b\it si.\ years old as " one of the best boys in school." 
He was a studious lad and very fond of reading, 
though not neglectful of boyish play. The one book 
that most fascinated his young imagination, and gave 
him, perhaps, a first glimpse of the power that lay 
slumbering within him, was Irving's "Sketch 
Book," the first number of which, containing the 
sketch of Kip Van Winkle, fell into bis hands when 
he was twelve years old. The succeeding numbers, 
as he afterward said, were read by the schoolboy of 
twelve years "with ever iiicrea.sing wonder and de- 
light." Within the following year his first printed 
verses appeared in the poet's corner of the Portland 
"Gazette," entitled "The Battle of Lovell's Pond." 
But this early dallying with verse was not allowed to 
interfere with the pursuit of solid knowledge, for at 
the age of fourteen he passed the e.\annnation re- 
quired for admission to Bowdoin College. Hut this 
does not imiily that he was at that time a miracle of 
eruditioti, for all that a successful examination involv- 
ed was a fair knowledge of ' ' Mor.se 's Geography. " and 
"Walsh's Arithmetic," and the ability to read the 
Greek Testament and some portions of Virgil and 
Cicero, and translate them into gnunmalical Eng- 
lish. Among the thirty-eight young men who passed 
this ordeal on this occasion were John S. C. Abbott, 
the historian; (leorge I?. Cheever. the eminent cler- 
gyman; James W, liradbury, Unilcd States .senator 
from Maine when Clay and Webster .sat in the .sen- 
ate; Jo.sepb Cilley, who closed, when only two j-ears 
out of college, what ])roMiised to be a brilliant con- 
gressional career, in a duel with William T. Graves 
of Kentucky; Xathaniel Hawthorne, and his friend, 
Horatio Bridge of the U. S. navy. Hut this constella- 
tion of nebulous .stars young Longfellow did not join 
unlilthe following year. when. entering the sophomore 
class, he found the circle of his college companions 
increased by the addition of William Pitt Fessen- 
den, Franklm Pierce, Luther V. Bell, Sergeant Smith 



Prentiss, John P. Hale, and Calvin E. Stowe, subse- 
quentlj' the husband of the famous Harriet Beecher 
Stowe. There is no direct evidence that the j'outh- 
ful poet shone with any especial brilliancy in this 
gathering of future greatnes.s. His letters io his fa- 
ther show that he even then aspired to eminence in 
literature, which he knew could be attained only by 
diligent study. He writes, " Whatever I study, I 
ought to be engaged in with all my soul, for I will 
be eminent in something." And again, in his Junior 
year: " I most eagerly aspire after future eminence 
m literature. My whole soul burns most ardently 
for it, and every earthly thought centres in it. . . . 
Nature has given me a very strong predilection for 
literary inirsuits, and I am almost confident in be- 
lieving that if I ever rise in the world, it mu.st be by 
the exercise of my talent in the wide field of litera- 
ture." At graduation, he stood fourth in his class, 
and delivered an oration on "Our Native Writers," 
at the connnencement in 1825. Among fourteen 
poems written while in college before he was nine- 
teen, and published in the " Literary Gazette " of 
Boston, were seven, including his well-known 
" Hynm of the Moravian Nuns," "The Spirit of 
Poetry," " Woods in Winter," and " Sunrise on the 
Hills," which he thought worthy of insertion in his 
first volume of poems — " The Voices of the Night," 
published in 1.S39. Immediately after his gradua- 
tion there came to him the otTer of a position suited 
to his genius, a position which became the stepping- 
stone to his future eminence as a poet. A chair of 
modern languages was established at Bowdoin, and 
the authorities bethought them of young Longfel- 
low, and tendered him the position on the condition 
that he should first (jualify himself for it by three 
years of study in Europe. He gUxlly accejited the 
proposal, and after si.x months' reading at home, set 
sail for France in the spring of 1826, having then 
just passed his nineteenth birthday. He spent the 




better part of a year in Paris, studying the French 
language and literature and making .some acquaint- 
ances in French society. He then went to Spain, 
where at Aladrid he was introduced by the United 
Slates miiiisler. Alexander H. Everett." to Wa.shing- 
ton Irving, who was at that time allached to the 
legation, and nearing the comitlelion of his work on 
the "Life and Voyages of Columbus." The 
" Sketch Hook " h.ad been the most delightful read- 
ing of f,ongfellow's boyhood, and he looked upon his 
intercourse with its author as among the m<ist agree- 
able of his Eurojiean experiences. After spending 
eight months in Spain he visited Italy, where he re- 
mained a year, and then went to Germany, where he 
studied at GOttingeu; from there he returned to 



H 




1^'^ qa/x^xv. vf . ^lC^^^ o!y Jlil^ 






CO^vmOHT, 1B93. iV JAUES T. WHITE A CO. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



421 




:i,^^. e 



America, arriving in August, 1829. During his ab- 
sence lie had eschewed all literary coniposiiion and 
engaged in study with "all his sduI." tlmriiughly 
mastering IheFn^nch, Spanish and Italian languages, 
and acquiring enough of the German to read it read- 
ily. Tlioiigh still lnU twenty-two years of age, he 
was pn)l)al)ly as well equipped for the duties of his 
new position as any of the much older professors in 
the country, and this was owing to his Imviiig fol- 
lowed the rule he ohscived throughout his life, of 
doing with all his might whatever his hand foiuid to 
do. In Septcinher. 1829, he ciUcred upon his new 
duties, and liegan a career of almost unvarying suc- 
cess. In this career whatsoever Ik; aimed at he 
achieved — whatsoever he desired of earthly good ho 
enjoyed. He was attended throughout its eo\irse by 
"honor, love, obedience, troops of friends," and at 
its close he held such a jilace in 
the universal heart of his own 
country, and of Kiigland, as has 
not }et been held by any Ameri- 
can who has lici'u merely a writer, 
anil not an actor in the alTairs of 
his time. BiU there was nothing 
in Mr. L(}ngfcllow's present posi- 
tion to give in'oniisc of his sub.se- 
queut eminence. He was merely a 
junior professor in what Oliver 
Wendell Holmes has termed a ' ' fresb-water college, " 
which had begiui its existence but 1 wentj-seven years 
before, and at this time numbered only seven jiro- 
fessors, three tutors, and about l.")0 undergrad- 
uates. The students paid an aimual fee of but 
$24, anil what little endowment the college pos- 
sessed yielded a still smaller revenue. Consequent- 
ly, hard woiU and plain living were in order among 
the tutors and professors, but there was also "high 
thinking." for in this small facility there were some 
men of marUed ability. President AVilliam Allen, 
who was the author of the tirst biogra|iliical diction- 
ary published in tliis country; Pi'ofe.s.sor Cleveland, 
the distinguished mineralogist; Alpheus S. Packard, 
Sr., who for sixty-five years gave instruction in 
Latin and Greek; and Samuel P. Newman, who 
wrote a "Practical System of Rhetoric." which 
pa.s.sed rapidly through ten editions in England and 
sixty in this couiUry, and is still one of the best 
works of the kind in existence. At this time the 
young ])rofe.ssor oecu|ued rooms in the college. 
Two years later he married JIary Potter, of Port- 
land, and brought her to an old-fashioned house 
shaded by a single magnificent elm, which is still 
pointed out on the main street of Bnmswiek. There 
the two lived in contentment on his .salary of 
$1,000 and such inconsiderable additions as he 
received for occasion.-il .scholarly articles written 
for the "North American Review." Sketches of 
his Euro|ie;m experiences, contributed to the " New 
England Mag.azinc," were never paid for. He wrote 
no poetry at this period, his almost undivided ener- 
gies being given to the prescribed duties of his posi- 
tion, to which he added courses of written lectures 
and the preparation of .several text-books. He also 
wrote and published "Outre Mer," a volume of 
sketches of his Eiuopeaii travels. In these ways 
he won such distinction that his name went abroad, 
and he was invited, when not yet arrived at his 
twenty -eighth year, to accept the chair of mod- 
ern languages at Hiuvard which was about to be 
vacjited by that eminent scholar, (i<orge Ticknor. 
This involved another visit to Europe, with spi'cial 
reference to the study of the German .■mil Sciindina- 
vian literalnres. Accompanied by his wife, he set 
out for Europe in the spring of IS:!."!, proceeding by 
the way of England, where he made the acipiaint- 
ancc of Cailyle, Rrowinng. Loekhart and others, 
into Sweden, "and in the fall of that year was 



traveling toward Germany when his wife fell 
sick at TJotterdam, and died there after a .short ill- 
ness. The blow was a .severe one, for she %vas the 
choice of his youth, tlie one with whom he had hoped 
to share the congenial life that was opening before 
him; yet he lo.st no time in unavailing regret, but 
even more eiu'i-gctically I ban ever pursued his studies, 
seeking in them relief from his despondency, which 
in a sensitive mind is inseparable from sucli a be- 
reavement. Wv .speTil tlie winter and spring in Hei- 
delberg, and the following siunmer in thcTyroland 
Switzerland, where he met the lady who was sid).se- 
quently to share for eighteen years his fame and 
pro.sperity. She was a tiaughlcVof the Hon. Nathan 
Appleton, of Boston, Mass., and he has described her 
vmiier another name in "Hyperion," which was 
published nearly four years prior to their marriage. 
Some allowance shoulil be made for the warmth 'of 
expression permissilile in a romance, biU it is evi- 
dent that, though clouded as his min<l was by his re- 
cent bereavement, he then conceived for the lady a 
gemiine admiration. She wa-s, he says, of "majes- 
tic figure;" her "every step, every attitude, was 
gracefid, and yet lofty, as if in.spiiVd by the soul 
within," and tiiat soid was "like the PaiUheon at 
Rome, lighted only from above." "There was not 
one dis(-ordant thing in her; but a perfect harmony 
of figure, and face, and .soul — in a word, of the 
whole being." He returned from Europe in the fall 
of ISHti, and at once entered ujion his diuies at Har- 
vard. The next year he took lodgings at the " Cra- 
gie House," which is on the street leading to Mount 
Auburn, and about a fotirth of a mile from " Elm- 
wood," the resilience and birthplace of .lames Rus- 
sell Lowell. It is a fine old colonial mim.sion which 
had been Washington's headquarters while in com- 
mand at ('ambridge in 177.'>-7(!. Here amid congenial 
surroundings ids poetic genius resumed its natural 




fl^i^^.:JS^£^«l^ 



activity, and he produced the " Footsteps of An- 
gels " and the " P.sidni of Life," which were at once 
recognized as from the hand of a genuine nuister of 
poetry. In the following year (bSJilt) he published 
his piose romance, " Hypericai, "and the " \oicesof 
the Night." the latter establishing his rank as one of 
the first of American poets. These were succeeded 
in 1841 by " Ballads and Other Poems," and in 1.842 
by "Poems on Slavery." In the succeeding year, 
he married the lady he had met in Switzerland, and 
took her to live in the old "Cragie House." which 
had become his propertv, and which thenceforward 
was his home until Ids ("Icath. Surrounded now by 
all that is most to be desired by a man of cidtivnteil 
iniiai and warm affections, liis genius became a 
pereiuiial spring, pouring out a con.stani stream of 
soni;, and in such volume as may 1h' e.slinuiled by 
the niere mention of his works. " In 1843 appearc-il 



422 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



his "Spanish Student;" in 1845 his edition of the 
" Poets and Poetry of Europe; " iu 184G " 'i'he Hcl- 
fry of Bruges;" in 1847 "Evangeline;" in 1849 
"Kavauagh;" in IHoO " Tlie Seaside and the Fire- 
side;" in 18.51 "The Golden Legend;" in •185,') 
" Hiawallia;" and in 1858 "The Courtship of Miles 
Standish." After this last a l)reak occurs, caused 
by the distressing death of his wife, whose light 
summer dress was ignited while she was amusing 
her children with some lighti^d sealing-wax, and she 
was fatally burned before help could reach her; this 
occurred in July, 1801. Two years later he collected 
some scattered poems into the volume "Tales of a 
AVayside Inn," but he did not resume regular work 
until he took up again the translation of Dante, be- 
gun some years before, which task he tinislied in 
1867. His later vohuues are: "Flower de liucc" 
(1867); "TheNew England Tragedies "(1868); "The 
DivineTragedy "(1871; these two were the next year 
joined to the " (iolden Legend " and published under 
the title " t'hristus "); "ThreeBooksof Song" (1872); 
"TheMas(jue of Pandora and Other Poems " (1875), 
containing the poem "Afoiituri Salutamus," read by 
him at the semi-centennial of his class at Bowdoin 
College; " Keranios and Other Poems " (1878); " Ul- 
tima Thvde " (l.SSO). After Ins death were published 
"In the Harbor "(1882);and "Michael Angelo "(1883). 
In 1868, accompanied by his family, he went abroad 
for the fourlli and last time, visiting England and 
the continent. In London he was received with un- 
bounded hos]iitality and respect liv people of all 
classes; CJamliridge and Oxford L'niversiiies con- 
ferred on him their Doctor's degree. After his 
death his bust was placc'd in the Poet's C^orner of 
Westminster Abliey, an honor then for the first time 
bestowed upon an American. If Longfellow is not 
the greatest, he is certainly the most popular of 




American poels, and he is so because he addresses 
the great heart of humanity — interprets to the com- 
mon mind the noblest tlniughts of the noblest men of 
every age and country. He has the broadest sympa- 
thies and the keenest perception of the beautiful, in 
nature and in human life, but he fails to detect the 
hidden springs of action, and to .sound the deeper 
Jiassious of mail. He is an interpreter, not an origi- 
nator. His nature was .so keenly syMipalhetic that it 
caught the tones of other ages and r.-iees as readily 
and naturally as the nnisician recalls the popular 
melodies of to-day; and the spirit of that ol<l world 
of history he has transl.aled to the new world in 
which we are living, showing us that in those vanish- 
ing ages were the .seeds from which the present has 
sprung. In his verse. Ihi' arliilrary luid the acciden- 
tal fade away, and the life of our race becomes one 
continuous stream, freighted with enduring memo- 
ries, and lighte<l by immorlal hopes. Walt. Whitman 
called hinV: "Poet of the mellow twilight of tin- 
pa.st; .... poet of all symjiathetic gentleness, and 
universal jioet of women and vouug people." Mr. 
Longfellow died March 34, 188'3.- 



'^ S • 




aJw/^r 



BUTLER, Pierce, senator, was born in Ireland 
.Tidy 11, 1744. being the third son of Sir Hicliard 
Butler, fifth baronet of the family of the Dukes 
of Onnond, and :M.P. for Cirlow, I72i)-(>1. He 
was entered in the liritish army at a very early 
age, holding a comnii.ssion as lieutenant in the 22d 
foot, before he was eleven years old. In 1761 he be- 
came captain in the same regiment. He cxi hanged 
into the "JiHh foot iu .luly, 1762, and of this regiment 
became major Apr. 20, 1766. For some years Capt. 
Butler was stationed at Boston, 
Ma.ss. , but he sold his commis- 
sion iu 1773 in South Carolina, 
where he had married, in 1768, 
a <laughter of Col. !Middlelou. 
When the revolution was over 
he took an active part in politics. 
Early in 1787 he was a]>]ioiuted 
a delegate to the Continental con- 
gress from his adopted state, but 
di<l not take his seal luitil Aug. 
2d, having meanwhile been chos- 
en a representative of the state 
in the convention for framing 
the federal constitution. Maj. 
Butler was prominent in tlie de- 
bates of that bodv, favoring the 
"Virginia ]dan," saying he had 
been o|i|)oscd to granting new- 
powers to a single body, but 
would supjiort their distribution 
among dilVerent bodies. He also spoke a.!rainst the 
plan of a triple executive, and maintained that [irop- 
erty was the only true basis of representation. He 
was U. S. senator from South Carolina, 17H!)-',)(), 
and then resigned. In 1802 he was again chosen, 
and resigned again in 1804. He was usually in op- 
position to Presiilent Washington's administration, 
but voted in favor of .lay's treaty, and was. in con- 
sequence, nnicli taunted in the lam]Hinns of the day 
with his nobit; liirlh, of which he was vain. He was 
a director iu the First and Second U. S. Banks. A 
son of the same name, born in 1807, married, in 
184;^, Fanny Kemble the actress, fnmi whom he 
sejiarated two years later. Pierce Butler died at 
Philadelphia fVb. 1.5. 1822. 

GARRETT, Andrew, conchologist, was boni 
in Albany. X. Y.. Apr. 9, 1823. His mother was 
Joanna Van Noah Camjianeaux, a native of Bel- 
gium, of good education and speaking several lan- 
guages, and his father was Franco Garrett, a native 
of Canada. His early life was s|)ent in Vermont. 
He had a great fondness for travel, and lo satisfy 
the lon.ging he went to sea at the age of eighteen 
years. As a shell collector be miide his first ac- 
quaintance with the South Pacilic in 1848. and in 
18.52 he ullim.-Uely ailopled that island-studded ocean 
as his especial field of research. Jlr. Garrett subse- 
({uently visited almost every island of note in the 
various groups <}r the South Pacific, .sjiending con- 
siderable lime in each group. His sludies not only 
embrace shells of the marine fresh-waler land onlers, 
but also birds, fishes and oilier objecis of nalural 
hislorv. For one period of ten years he was prolcs- 
sioiiall.v engaged in Ihe interest of the Godcfroi Mu- 
seum, Haiiilmrg. during which lime was ]niblislied 
"Andrew Garrdt's Fischc de Sudsee," in six (larls, 
edited by Dr. Albeit Gunlher, of the Brilish Muse- 
um. Mr. Garrett was also foratime associated with 
Prof. Agassi/.. In addition to visiting and residing 
in every .uroup of islands of the South Pacific, Jlr. 
Garrett CxpIored many of the Atlantic and Pacific 
coasts of South America, the East and West Indies, 
the Sandwich Islands, and various unfreciuenlcd 
liarts of the I'niled States. He died on the Island 
of Hanbiiie, Societv Group, South Seas, Nov. 1, 
1887. 






Cs> 



cofYnroHT, i«n, dv jamcs t. whiti a eo, 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



425 







SMITH, Roswell, publisher, was born at Leb- 
anon, Ccmn., March 30, 18'Jit. His fall;or, Asher L. 
Smith, was engaged in teaching, witli his uncle, Ros- 
well C. Smith, in Providence, R. I. Being dissatisfied 
■with the text-books then in u.se, the uncle prepared 
a series of school-books expressly for his own classes, 
and tested their usefulness while they were yet in 
manuscript form. One of these subsequentlj- became 
famous as " Smith's Grammar," whicli, after " Web- 
ster's Spelling-Book," is believed to he the most suc- 
cessful schoot-book ever published in this coimtry. 
When the subject of this sketch was fourteen years 
of age he left his father's farm and went to New 
York city, acquiring his tirst knowledge of the pub- 
lishing business, in which he was destined to become 
famous, in the house of Paine & Burgess. After 
three years, he returned to Providence, and, entering 
Brown University, followed the Englisli and scien- 
tific course. He subsequently stud- 
ied law with Thomas C. Perkins, 
one of the ablest men of the times at 
the Hartford bar; and, having attain- 
ed his majority, settled in La Fay- 
ette, Ind., where he began the prac- 
tive of his profession, anil where he 
was married in IS.VJ to the only 
daughter of Henry L. Ellsworth, the 
first commissioner of patctits, ap- 
pointed by President Jackson. In 
1870, after traveling abroad for a 
time incomjiany with Dr. J. G. Hol- 
land, Roswell Smith settled in New 
York city, abandoned the jirofe-ssion 
of law, and witli Dr. Holland and 
the firm of Charles Scribner & Co. 
founded "Scribner's ^lonthly," now 
" The Century Magazine." In this 
venture he had the counsel and assist- 
ance of all the members of the firm ; liiU , from the first, 
the controlling interest in tlie stock was held by Dr. 
Holland and Roswell Smith, the lattc-r assuming the 
business management. Thus his iutlueuce was dom- 
inant in shaping the business policy of the company. 
He had unlimited faith in the enterprise, wlu'ch oth- 
ers deemed a hazardous venture, and threw himself 
into it with energy and enthu.siasm. From the out- 
set the magazine was a pronoimced success, and in 
1873, at his suggestion, the com]3any began the pub- 
lication of "St. Nichola.s," a children's magazine, 
with Mrs. ^lary Mapes Dodge as editor. In view 
of the memorable panic of (hat year, and tlie general 
stagnation of business which followed, Mr. Smith 
conceived the idea of buying up munerous period- 
icals for young people and consolidating them into 
one leading magazine, and in a short time "Our 
Young Folks," of Boston; the "Little Corporal," 
of Chicago; the "School -Day Magazine" and 
"Children's Hour," of Philadelphia, with several 
others of less importance, were merged into the " St. 
Nicholas." The results, which at the time looked 
dubious, fully justified the policy pursued — " St 
Nicholas " rapidly attaining a larger circulation than 
had been reached by any of its predecessors in the 
same field. In 1881 j\ir. Smith and some of his 
younger associates purchased the interest of Dr. Hol- 
land and the Scribners in these magazines — the .sale 
being coupled with the condition that the name of 
the company and of its principal magazine should 
be changed. His most intimate frietuls were of the 
opinion that no periodical could undergo such a rad- 
ical alteration without .serious financial difficulties. 
The result again justified his business foresight. The 
circulation, instead of decreasing, increased, and for 
some years past has averaged more than 200,000 
copies per month — a considerable number being sohl 
in England. The idea that an American magazine 
could gain a large circulation in England originated 



with Mr. Smith, and he personally arranged the sale 
of both the company's magazines in that country. 
Under his presidency the business of the Century 
Co. has been gradually extended in the line of book 
publication. Among its special works are: " Spir- 
itual Songs" and " Laudes Domini," a series of 
hymn and tune books, by the Rev. Charles S. Rob- 
inson, of which nearly a million copies have beea 
sold; the "Century War Book " and "Abraham 
Lincoln," recently issueil from their press. But the 
work which for years to come will be their crown- 
ing achievement, is the " Century Dictionary." This 
work was designed in 1882, when Mr. Smith made 
a proposition to adapt the "Imperial Dictionary" 
to American demand.s. He .supjiorted the undertak- 
ing with his usual foresight and lil]erality. When 
the plans of the editors manned, and reached far 
beyond the original limits, he did not lose faith; and 
no similar undertaking was ever attempted in this 
country where so much money was expended before 
a profit could be realized or success in any way as- 
sured. Doubts wereeiuirely dispelled at the appear- 
ance of the first volume of the work. The first edi- 
tion had been expected to last a year, but it was soon 
evident that it would be exliausted in six months, 
and a second and larger edition was at once begun, 
which w'as followed by a third. Jlr. Smith is inter- 
ested in most of the great movements of the day, the 
problem of education at the South claiming his spe- 
cial attention. He is a prominent member of the 
Presljyterian church, a member of the Board of Di- 
rectors of the American Tract Society, and was for a 
number of years president of the Conffrcuational 
Club of New Yoik. He died April 111. ISlfi. 

HOLLAND, Josiah Gilbert, authorand editor, 
was born at Belchertown, Hampshire Co., Mass., 
.July 24, 1819. The family originated in this coun- 
try with .John Holland and his wife .Julia, who in 
1630 were among the earliest settlers of Dorchester, 
Mass. Harrison Holland, tlie father 
of Josiah, was born at Pi'ler.sham. 
Worcester Co. He ■\\as a man of 
considerable ability as a mechanic 
and inventor, who, after devoting 
his life to various manufacturing 
pursuits, died as he had lived, a 
poor man, the houso in which he 
and his family resided at Belcher- 
town being, in a large degree, con- 
structed by his personal industry. 
When young Holland was but three 
years of age, his parents removed to 
Heath in Franklin county, where 
they lived for seven years. Lai 
they resided in different places, the 
father's mechanical occupations 
requiring him to make frecjuent 
changes to South Hatlley, Granby, 
and other towns. Young Holland received his tir.st 
instruction at his mother's knee. Later he ob- 
tained some training in the distrii-t school which he 
attended during Ine winters, his smnmers being ncces- 
.sarily devoted to work with the farmers, or in the 
small factoriesof theneighliorliodd. When Ihehouse- 
hold settled in Norlhaiuiiton lu^ had a chance to 
study, and began to prepare himself feu- college at the 
high school, but he worked too hard, and a severe 
illness prostrated him for manv months. On his 
recovery he began to teach in district schools, giv- 
ing, in addition to his day's work, lessons in writing 
during the evening. In the meantime he developed 
a tendency toward literary ptirsuits, making verses 
and IVlling .stories, but without much encourage- 
ment from those who read the first or heard the 
second. Being finally induceil to determine upon 
a profession he chose that of medicine, and in 
1840 entered as a student the office of Drs. Parrett & 




Northampton 



426 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



Thompson in Northampton. There he remained 
until lie liad mastereil tlie nidiments of practice and 
theory. He then attended the Berkshire Jledical 
College at Pitt.slield, from which he was graduated 
■with lienor in 1844. He determined to settle jiro- 
fessionally in Springfield, and a.ssociated himself with 
a classmate, Dr. Charles Bailey, but his practical 
experience as a physician lasted only three yeai-s. 
He met witli little success, and as the profession was 
di.stasteful to him, and he still iiungered to express 
himself in writing, he started, in 1847. a weekly news- 
paper called "The Bay Stale Courier." This ven- 
ture had an existence of six m(mths, at the end of 
which its editor and proprietor accepted an invita- 
tion to settle in Richmond, Va., as a teacher in 
a private school. There, to his surprise, he received 
the announcement that he liad been elected superin- 
tendent of the pul)lic schools of the city of Vicks- 
■burg. Miss., but upon arriving at that "city, he dis- 
covered that tlie public scliools of whicli he was to 
he superintendent, with the excejilion of a small 
female department, did not exist. He had been au- 
thorized, by legislative enactment through a board 
of trustees, to organize a system. This" lie under- 
took in the face of great "ditliculties. and event- 
ually succeeded. A great concession ou the part of 
the trustees was that of fidl jiowers as to corporal 
piuiishment, i( propon of which Dr. Holland used to 
say, during the civil war, that he had "whipped 
more rebels" than any other m;iii in America. 
Within a year not a local private school remained in 
Vicksburg, the most' wealthy and aristocratic resi- 
dents ijreferring the new sy,stem. But in 1850 Dr. 
Holland was compelled to return to Ma.s,sachusetts. 
He immediately formed a ctmnection with the 
Springfield " Kepubliean," which mav be regarded 
as the actual opening of his literary life. Up to this 
time poems from his pen had been published in the 
"Knickerbocker Magazine," and the "American 
"Whig Review," as well as in local papers, but his 
■writings had been altogether casual. At this time 
he became otlicially a journalist, and he occupied 
the editorial chair of the "Republican," and in one 
form or another retained his connection with that 
journal until 1801;. Two years after entering its 
service, he became a partner, and year by year in- 
crea.sed his iiroprietorshiji, working, meanwhile as 
the principal writing editor of the paper, whose 
Inisiness management was in the care of Samuel 
Bowles, its founder. When Dr. Holland sold his 
share in the " Republican," the establishment was 
valued at I^OO.OOO. During all these years he had 
acted in almost every ci>nceivable capacity, public 
and |)rofessioual, flitting about the city as "reporter, 
secretary and lecturer, participating in" politics, and 
doing special work for the "Republican" in the 
shape of serial papers. These last soon became so 
popidar that the daily issue in which they were to 
appear was awaited with eager interest 'by thou- 
sands of readers. These articles, which were satirical 
ill their nature and personal in lone, were the begin- 
ning of Holland's important original writings.' A 
number of his articles in the " Reiniblieau " upon the 
history of western Massachusetts were issued in 18.'i.'>, 
in book form, and tilled two volumes. The " His- 
tory " was followed by the "Bay Path," Dr. Hol- 
land's tirst work of tictiou. which appeared as a 
serial in the daily and weeklv " Republican," and 
was published in a volume in 18r>8. The " Timothy 
Titcomb Papers " also appeared in-iginallv in the 
"Republican;" they. were followed by "Gold Foil," 
"Lessons in Life " and "Letters to" the Jone.ses." 
The pseudonym of " Timothy Titcomb " became a 
familiar one over the whole "United States, and its 
owner soon began to be called for as a lyceum speak- 
er. Dr. Holland made a pronounced ".success as a 
public orator In 1858 he published his lii-st extended 



pcx-m, " Bitter Sweet," through thehou.seof Charles 
Scribner i Co., which also published in IstiG his 
second work of tiction. The .sjime house brought 
out " Miss Gilbert's Career " in I860, "Lessons in 
Life " in 1801, "Letters to the Joneses " in lS(i3, and 
"Plain Talk ou Familiar Subjects " and " Life of 
Abraham Lincoln " in 1805. In 1807, the siime year 
in which he disposed of his interest in the " Repub- 
lican, " Holland's second narrative poem, " Kath- 
rina," appeared. He had by this time acquired an 
independence, and had become the owner of a 
beautiful himie, Brightwood, erected under his su- 
pervision in the suburbs of Springfield. Relinquish- 
ing the routine of newspaper hie, in 1808 he .sailed 
for Europe, accompanied by his family, and re- 
mained abroad two years. It was while traveling in 
Switzerland that he met by chance a gentleman 
whose subsequent association with him led to some 
of the most lasting results of his jniblic career. 
This was Roswell Smith, with whom, and in con- 
nection with the firm of Charles Scribner A: Co., he, 
in 1870. founded " Seribner's JIagazine." of whicli 
Charles Scribner was the godfather. The success of 
this publication was largely due to Dr. Holland's 
name as well as to his earnest, faithful and intelli- 
gent work. He contributed to its colunuis his later 
successful novels, "Arthur Bonnica.-^tle," "Seven 
Oaks " and " Nicholas Minturn,"an(I a number of 
poems. His poetical works were collected ami pub- 
lished in book form in 1876. Dr. Holland's longer 
jioems have enjoyed an enormous separate Side, 
90,000 copies having been sold of "Bitter Sweet," 
and 100,000 of " Kathrina." Of the "Titcomb" 
series, in prose, about 70,000 copies have been issued. 
Dr. Holland was married in 1845 to Miss Elizabeth 
Chapin, of Springfield. He died very suddenly from 
heart disea.'^e, at his Imme in New York city, Oct. 
Vi, 1S81, leaving a u iilnw, two daughters and a son. 
GILDEB, Richard 'Watson, author and editor, 
was born at Bordeiitown. N. J., Feb. 8. 1844. He 
is the sou of Rev. W. H. Gilder, a Methodist clergy- 
man and litUraieur of no mean rank, who was 
at one time editor of the " Phil- 
adelphia Repository," a monthly 
iournal, and also of the " Literary 
Register," a quarterly review. 
His paternal grandfather was 
John Gilder, a member of the 
Pennsylvania legislature, and a 
man held in such high esteem 
in Pliiladeliihia as to have been 
made ch.-iirmaii of the building 
committee of Girard College, in 
which capacity be l.iid its corner- 
stone. Richard AVatson was one 
of a family of eight children, and 
received his earliest education at 
Bellevue Seminary, a school es- 
tablished by his fat her at Borden- 
town. Like many of our eminent 
men of letters, he showed the bent 
of his mind at a very early period. At the age of 
twelve, we tind him at Flushing, L. I., publishing a 
newspaper — a little footsi|uare print bearing the im- 
po.sing title of the "St. Thomas Register" — for which 
he set the type and did ••ill the work himself. Four 
years later he again embarked in a newspaper enter- 
prise, this time unitingwith two young colleagues in 
the production of a campaign pajier championing 
Bell and Everett for jiresidential honors. A boy 
thus projected into national politics could neither be 
indifferent nor inactive in our great civil struggle, 
and accordingly, while still in his teens, lie became 
a member of Landis's Philadelphia ballery, enlist- 
ing for, and .serving through, the " emergency cam- 
paign " of 1863, on the occa.sion of the Confederate 
invasion of Peunsvlvania. It is interesting to note 







OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



427 



that another private in the same compan}' was 
Charles Godfrey Leland. On his release from mili- 
tary service. Richard began the study of law in Phil- 
adelphia. Hi.s legal career, however, was cut short, 
before it was weltentered upon, by the death, in the 
spring of IStW, of his father, who was cliaplaiu of 
a New York regiment. The young man was thrown 
on his own resources, with little more than his own 
stout heart to trust to. He accordingly took the 
first situation that offered, which was that of pay- 
master on the Camden and Amboy railroad; but a 
year later he returned to his first love, and .secured 
employment as a reporter on the " Newark Adver- 
tiser,""soon making his way to the po.sitious of legis- 
lative correspondent, local editor, and finally of 
managing editor. Neither was he forgetful of his 
boyish ambition for a paper of his own, and accord- 
ingly, in conjunction with ;Mr. Newlou Crane, later 
consul at Manchester, Eng., and a lawyer of St. 
Louis, he started a daily journal entitled, the New- 
ark "Morning Register," soon assuming, in addi- 
tion, the editorship of a New York monthly, " Hours 
at Home." His duties were many and" exacting. 
He would work, it is Siiid. most of the night on his 
Newark paper, and then, after snatching a few hours' 
sleep, would start off to his supplementary work in 
New York. All the Gilder family were "deeply in- 
terested in the " Regi.ster. ' .Jeannette L. Gilder, 
now the able editor of the " Critic. ' tells in " Lip- 
piucott's ^Magazine," in an article entitled, " My 
Journalistic Experiences," how all the members con- 
tributed to fill its columns. As, however, the paper 
" was fast losing money — just as fast as a newspaper 
can lose money, which is faster than anything else in 
the world," the two young men sold out their inter- 
est, and Gilder, still a youtli, had to woo fortune 
elsewhere. But before "this sale. Gilder edited both 
his daily newspaper and "Hours at Home," pub- 
lished by the Scribners. 'When " Scribner's " was 
started ■"' absorlied the old magazine, and Dr. Hol- 
land, editor-in-chief of the enterprise, appreciating 
liim to whom this periodica! was mainly indebted 
for its success, associated Jlr. Gilder with himself as 
managing editor. Thus at the age of twenty-six, 
Richard Watson Gilder found himself in a po.sition 
of honor and high literary influence. Among his 
other contributions to " Scribner's 3Ionthly."may be 
especially noted the " Old Cabinet " series, distin- 
guished for freshness of thought, timely suggestions, 
and able and candid reviews. In the course of the 
eleven years during which he labored in conjunction 
■with Dr. Holland, the magazine grew to immense 
proportions, and when Dr. Holland died, in 1881, no 
one was judged so worthy to succeed him as the 
young managing editor. His inces.sant editorial la- 
bors had had an injurious effect on ^[r. Gilder's 
health, and he therefore went abroad, spending 
fifteen months in Europe. In 1875 his first volume 
of poetry, "The New Day," made its appearance, 
and met with general admiration for the bird-like 
purity and clearness of its notes, its vivid depiction 
of the absorbing passion of love, and the grandly 
adequate expression it gave to the aspirations of a 
noble soul. All through, it evidenced the conscien- 
tious labor of an artist .skilled to clothe precious 
thoughts in words. Five years later a second volume 
appeared, " The Poet and his Master." which was 
lauded by thecriticsforits greater breadth of thought, 
though it could not excel its predecessor in pureness 
and spirituality of feeling. Mr. Gilder has a warm 
admiration for Ke.its, and this feeling finds expres- 
sion in his poem, "An Inscription in Rome," and 
in other pieces, sacred to the memory of that most 
meUxlious child of song. At his liome is to be seen 
a mask of Keats's face. Gilder saw Severn's at Rome. 
Severn told him it was genuine: .so he hunted it up in 
London. At his home is also a life-tnask of Abraham 



Lincoln, for the great and patriotic president had 
few more fervent admirers than Mr. Gilder. In 1885 
Mr. Gilder's third volume of collected " Poems and 
Lyrics " was published, and in 1887 a new edition 
in three volumes, "The New Day," "The Celestial 
Pa.s.sion," and " Lyrics." Of these and his other 
works, Edmund C. Stedman says: " Each is a cluster 
of flawless poems — ^the earlier verse marked by the 
mystical beauty, intense emotion, and psychological 
distinctions of the select illuiiiiiiati. He appears to 
have studied closely, besides the most ideal English 
verse, the Italian .sonnets and canzoni, which ever 
deeply impress a poet of exquisite feeling. An in- 
dividual tone dominates his malurer lyrical efforts; 
his aim is choice and high, as should be that of one 
who decides upon the claims of others." In 1891 
his "Two Worids" was published. In 188;i Mr. 
Gilder was created LL.D. bv Dickinson College, 
and in 1890, A. JI. b.y Harvard X'niversity. His wife 
is the daughter of Com. DeKay, and granddaugh- 
ter of Joseph Rodman Drake, the author of the 
"Culprit Fay." His life is one of unceasing ac- 
tivity. The Lincoln Historj' was obtained for the 
" Century " by his pei'sonal efforts, extending over a 
year or more. He is often asked to grace distin- 
guished occasions by his presence and liis pen. 
Among other dedicatory pieces he is the author of 
the inspiring hvmn sung at the presentation of the 
obelisk to the city of New York, Feb. 23, 1880. He 
has spoken on "poetry, fiction, etc., at Wesleyan 
University and other colleges. He is a member of 
the " Century," "Authors'," " Players'," "Fencers'," 
" Aldine," and " Thursday Evening " clubs, and of 
theG.A.R., and was president, for three years, of the 
" Fellowcraft Club," composed of journalists, maga- 
zinists, and illustrative artists. He was secretary of 
the art and exhibition committee of the New York 
centennial celebration in the spring of 1889, and, later, 
secretary of the AVashiugton memorial arch commit- 
tee, and" a member of the New York general com- 
mittee on the world's fair. He was the first president 
of the Kindergarten Association, having taken an ac- 
tive interest in the movement to establish free kin- 
dergartens in New York city. He was one of the 
founders of the Society of" American Artists, the 
American Copyright League, the Authors' Club, and 
the Free Art league. He is a member of the gen- 
eral committee of'^the People's Municipal League of 
New York. 

JOHNSON, Robert ITnderwood, editor, was 
born on Capitol Hill, AVashington, D. C, Jan. 12, 
1853. On his mother's side his 
ancestors are of a Calviuistic 
strain, while on his father's side 
they are of Quaker stock of a lib- 
eral type and marked literary 
tastes." His father, the late Nim- 
rod H. Johnson, was prominent 
in eastern Indiana as a lawyer 
and a jurist, and was noted for 
his wide and exact knowledge of 
history, poetry,and general litera- 
ture. From him the son inherited 
his literary predilections. After 
an ordinary high-school educa- 
tion at Centreville.Ind., where his 
boyhood was pa.ssed, he matricu- 
lated at Earlham College. an insti- 
tution under the auspices of the 
SiK-ietv of Friends at Richmond, 
Ind. In 1871, at the age of eighteen, he was graduated 
from this institution^iis Baclielor of Science, and in 
1889 his alma mater honored him with the degree of 
Ph.D. On leaving college, he at once began work 
as clerk in the western agency of the Scribner educa- 
tional books at Chicago, fn 1873 he became con. 
nected with the editorial staff of the " Century Mag- 




428 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



azine " (then " Scribner's Monthly"). In 1S81, 
when Mr. Gilder became editor, Jlr. Johnson suc- 
ceeded him as associate editor, a position which he 
continues to occupy. From 18tS3 to 1889, in con- 
jvinction with Mr. C. C. Buel, he edited the Cen- 
tury "War Papers" both in the masraziue and 
in the revised book publicaticm of four volumes, 
" Battles and Lea<lers of the Civil AVar." In 1870 he 
married Miss Katharine McMahon, of Wa.shington, 
D. C. In 188tihewent abroad to become acquainted 
with the best examples of European art and architec- 
ture, visiiinsr the chief galleries of England. France, 
Holland, and Italy, and inspecting the Greek monu- 
ments of Athens and Sicily. Besides his exacting 
duties as an editor, he has written editorial and criti 
cal articles and verse. The latter has appeared in 
" The Century." " Harper's Monthly," '• St. Xicho- 
la.s," the ■• Tribune," and other periodicals. He is 
a member of the Authors' Club, Century Club, 
Aldine and Players' Clubs, of New York, and of the 
Civil Service Reform Association, and the Free Art 
League. Since 188;^ he has been actively connected 
with the international copyright movement, having 
been for .several years treasurer of the American 
Copyright League, and continuouslv, since that year, 
a meml)er of its executive eoniniittee of five. In 
November, 1889. he exchanged thetreasurership for 
the more responsible work of secretary of the league, 
becoming by this office also secretary of the ioint 
executive conunittee which was in charge of the 
campaign fortbevco|iyright bill. From that date until 
the parage of the international copyright bill. March 
4, 1891. Mr. .Johnson gave fully half his time to the 
cau.se, sjiending, in the aggregate, several months in 
Wa.shington, where his efforts in creating a sentiment 
in favor of the measure were both untiring and de- 
cisive. In June, 1891, Y'ale University conferred 
upon him the honorary degree of M.A., in recogni- 
tion of his labors in the campaign for international 
copyright. Ilis services in this connection have been 
recognized abroad as well as at home, the French 
government having conferred upon him the cross of 
the Legion of Honor, in March, 1891. He was active 
in urging the northward extension of the East River 
Park, New York, took the leading part in securing 
the creation of the new Yosemite Xatioual Park, and 
has recently devoted much attention to the move- 
ment in favor of se<-uring a better .supervision of the 
Yosemite Valley. In recognition of his work in this 
cause, he was, in 1891, appointed one of the trustees 
of the Redwood Forest of 000 acres, in Sonoma 
county, Cal., given for public uses by Col. J. B. 
Arms} rung. 

DODGE, Mary Mapes, author, and editor of 
"St. Nicholas," was born in New York city in 1838, 
the daughter of Prof. .James .1. Majies (q.v.), who 
attained a reputation as a scientist and author. 
Throughout her life .she has had the good fortune to 
live in a literary atmosphere. Her father had a 
theory that children are naturally fond of good litera- 
ture, a theory which the subject of thisskelch has 
lielped to prove and to tran.smit. She is indebted to 
her father for her thorough knowledge of English 
literature, to which, in a degn-e. may lie attributed 
the excellence of her style. She moreover pos.se.s.ses 
a ta.ste for music, drawing and modeling, a fine criti- 
cal judgment and great executive ability. While 
she was yet weighing in the balance the claims of 
sculpture and jiainting to her allegiance, a heavier 
claim was put in from another source which farout- 
Weiglied the others, and early in life she was married 
to William Dodge, a lawyer of high standing. After 
some years her hnsbaiid died suddenly, and the 
ideal home was broken up. Mrs. Dodge with her 
two sons returned to the house of her father, who 
wa.s at that time residing in New .Jersey, and there 
resumed the thread of her broken life, educating her 




sons a.s their father would have done. Turning her 
attention to literature, she did a man's work with 
the untiring application and fidelity of a man, and 
earned a man's wages. Still, with all her many 
duties, she was the comrade and friend of her sons, 
everything being subsidiary to their rearing and 
education. She flew kites with them, swam" with 
them, skated with them, walked miles with them 
collecting specimens, and .set up many a form at the 
printer's ca.se. All subjects 
in which they were interest- 
ed liecame likewise her in- 
terests and she studied them 
in secret, so that when the 
younger, a natural musi- 
cian, turned his attention to 
music, it was tlu^ mother 
who knew more of the art 
than any teachers in the vi- 
cinity, and when the elder, 
James Mapes Dodge, now 
well known as a successful 
inventor, first began to in- 
vestigate subjects pertain- 
ing to his craft, it was again 
the mother who explained 
to him the crystallization of 
iron, the laws of statics and 
dynamics, and the effects of 
heat and cold. Mrs. Dodge 
is not only a good liouse- 
keeper, but in the fittest sense of the word a "home- 
maker," and has inherited from her gifted father his 
brilliant conversational talent, and his generous and 
unostentatious hospiiality. Her first book was " Ir- 
vington Stories." a collection of short tales for cliil- 
dren. Her "Hans Brinker"was begun as a short 
serial but developed into a volume, whose success 
was assured as soon as i)ublished. Besides having a 
large circulation in America, it has pa.ssed through 
several editions in England, and been translated 
into French, German. Russian and Italian. A ver- 
sion in French was awarded one of the Montyon 
prizes of l,oOO fiancs by the French Academy. 
Tliis success was the reward of patient research aiid 
conscientious writing and retouching. The studio in 
which " Hans Brinkcr " was composed was in a de- 
serted farm-house in New Jersey, a stone's-throw 
from her father's dwelling. It was furnished with a 
few cjist-off ]>ieces of furniture, and ornamented with 
the odds and ends which no one claimed for the 
house, with a few cheap pictures, draped with Flor- 
itla moss, enlivened by bunches of bright leaves, 
and with a profusion of fiowers. In 1870 Mrs. 
Dodge became associate editor of " Hearth and 
Home." a weekly publication with which .Mrs. Har- 
riet Beechcr Stowe and Donald G. Mitchell ("Ik. 
Marvel ") were also connected. Her editorial al)ility 
was at once recognized, and when the St. Nicholas 
magazine was organized in 1873, she was solicited 
to assume the management. She cho.se the title of 
the new magazine, and has since given her perscmal 
attention to the issue of each number. Its success 
has been unpi-ecedented and it is generally regarded 
as the best magazine for children that has ever been 
published in this country. In fact, Mrs. Dodge has 
made it an ideal publication. Notwithstanding the 
pres.stire of editorial duties, she has published sev- 
eral books; among them " Rlivmes and Jingles" 
(1874): "Thcoiihilus and Others "(1870); and "Don- 
ald and Dorothy" (1883). She has contributed to 
the leading jH'riodicals of England and America, 
and while her jirose writings have been more volu- 
minous than her verse, her poetry ranks among the 
best of its class. New editions of " Hans Brinker" 
and "Donald and Dorothy" are published yearly, and 
they have come to be regarded as standard works. 




■^i/^^ ^y^:4^ 



1-^ 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



431 



WHITMAN, Walter ("Walt"), was born at 
"West Hills, L.iug- Ishiiul, N. Y.. May 31, 1819. His 
father's family was of EuglisU and his mother's of 
Dutch descent. Most of the men of the latler were 
seafarers. Mrs. Whitman herself was known as a 
bold rider. The Whitmans lived in a ramhlinn farm- 
house until 1833, when they removed lo Brooklyn, 
where tlie father worked as a carpenter. It is nar- 
rated that when Lafayette rode in state through 
the streets of Brooklyn, in 1834, he stooped down 
and kissed little Wait, who was standinn on a pile 
of stones watching the procession. Walt, while a 
mere boy, was apprenticed to the Long Island 
"Star," of Brookljm, and afterward to the Long 
Island " Patriot," with which lie served out his time. 
At eleven or twelve, according to his own statement, 
he began to write ".sentimental bits" for the 
"Patriot," and soon after he succeeded in getting 
one or two of his pieces into the New York " Mirror," 
edited by George P. Morris. In 1839, having saved 
some money by teaching in country schools for two 
or three years in various parts of Sullnlk and tjiieens 
counties, he determined to start a pajier for him.self. 
Being encouraged by his friends, he bought a press 
and type in New York, and began the publication of 
the " Long Islander " at Huntington, L. I. He did 
most of the work himself, including the press- 
work. The paper was imblished 
weekly, and after it was out he 
rode through the Long Island 
towns on horseback, delivering 
copies. He soon became rest- 
less, however, and went to New 
York city, where he obtained 
work on the " Aurora" and the 
" Tattler." After a time he was 
offered a good jiosition on the 
Brooklyn "Eagle," with which 
he remained two years. About 
1847-48, being again free, he de- 
voted his time to making pe- 
destrian tours through various 
parts of the United States and 
Canada. At length he was 
offered a position on the staff of 
the New Orleans "Crescent," 
in which he continued for .some- 
thing over a year, wiien he re- 
signed, giving up a large salary, to travel with his 
brother who Was suffering from consumption. Re 
turning to Brooklyn he started the " Freeman," at 
lirst as a weekly, then as a daily. During the first 
years of the w-ar he wrote for "Vanity Fair" and 
01 her comic or satirical papers in New York, and was 
a recognized member of a group of young " Bohe- 
mians, "as they were called, made up of musical, 
dramatic and literary critics attached to the daily 
and weekly press. At this time he led the life of a 
literary free-lance. The continuance of the war. 
however, and the concentration of the public mind 
upon its episodes and exigencies, drew him to Wash 
ington, and from thereto the front, where he became 
known as the friend and comrade of the sick and 
wounded. He labored in the army hospitals, .show- 
ing a tenderness which only the very few who knew 
him best had ever appreciated. He received a clerk- 
ship in the department of the interior from l'resi(ient 
Lincoln, from which he is .said to have been removed 
by Secretary Harland, on accomit of the character 
of his poetical writings. He then received an ap- 
pointment in the attorney-general's office. In 1H73, 
owing to a paralytic shock, he was obliged lo give 
up his position and retire to his brother's hou.se in 
Camden, N. J. A few months later the sudden 
death of his mother in his presence brought about a 
relap.se. He has been physically disabled ever since, 
but his mind has continued clear, and his occasional 




/?^C^r';:^Z'?C^ 



'='^ 



literary efforts evince the originality and quaint 
power of his earlier writings. As a poet Walt Whit- 
man became known to the publit- through his 
" Leaves of Gra-ss," the tirst edition of which was 
printed in Brooklyn, much of the type being set up 
by the author himself. It was published in New 
York in 18o5. The boldness of the manner and 
matter of this volume, while it attracted general at- 
tention, incurred the most severe criticism. Those 
who were attached to the conventional forms of lit- 
erature opposed it on account of its complete di- 
vergence from these. Those who insisted on 
immaculate language and pure ide.-is called it simply 
indecent. Very few copies of the lirst edition of 
"Leaves of Grass" were sold, and a number of those 
sent out by the author as gifts were returned to him 
with scathing criticism ; yet Ralph Waldo Emer- 
son wrote under date Concord, Mass., July 31, 
1855: "I give you joy of your free and brave 
thought. I have great joy in it. I find in it incom- 
parable things .said incomiiarably well, as they must 
be. I find the courage of treatment which .so de- 
lights us and which large perception oidy can in- 
spire." E. C. Stedman comi)laiued, "Not that he 
discussed matters which others timidly evade, but 
that he did not do it in a clean way. That he was 
too anatomical and maladorous, withal. Fiu'ther- 
more that in tliis dejiartment he showed excessive 
interest and applied its imagery to other departments 
as if with a special purpose to lug it in." A .second 
edition of " Leaves of Grass " was published in Bos- 
ton in 1860, and it was republished in London by 
Longmans &: Co., edited by Ro.ssetti. By the best 
literary minds of Great Britain Walt Whitman was 
quickly recognized as a new poetical avatar. "He 
is the first representative democrat in art of the 
American continent," .said Edward Dowden. "At 
the same time he is before all else a living man and 
must not be compelled to ajipear as mere official 
representative of anything. He will not be compre- 
hended in a formula. No view of him can image 
the substance, the life and movement of his man- 
hood, which contracts and dilates and is all over 
sensitive and vital." His work has also Iieen admir- 
ably characterized by Robert L. Steven.son: " In .spite 
of an uneven and emphatic kev of expression some- 
thing trenchant and straightforward, something 
simple and surprising distinguishes his poems. He 
has sayings that come home to one like the Bible. 
We fail upon Whitman, after the works of so many 
men who write better, with a sense of relief from 
strain, with a sense of touching nature, as when one 
passed out of the flaring, noisy thoroughfares of a 
great city into what he himself h.is called, witli un- 
excelled imaginative justice of language, ' the huge 
and thoughtful night.' " In 1865 Mr. Whitman pub- 
lished: "Drum Tap.s," and in 1867 "Memoranda 
During the War," and in 1870 a volume of iiro.se es- 
says called "Democratic Vistas." His other works 
are: " Passage to India" (1870); " After All, Not 
to Create Only " (1871); " As Strong as a Bird on 
Pinions Free" (1873); "Two Rivulets" (1873); 
"Specimen Days and Collect " (1883); "November 
Boughs" (1885); and "Sands at Seventy " (1888). 
In the meantime new editions were issued of 
"Leaves of Grass" in the United States, England 
and Scotland. It will take the judgnienl of pos- 
terity to decide whether Whitman or his accusers 
arc right, but the fact remains that if there was 
anything unhealthy or unworlh}' in the recesses of 
Whitman's moral nature, his acts contradict it. 
Those who have known him intimately from his 
youth acknowledge his life to have been pure 
and wholesome, charitable and beneficent. In 1889, 
on the occasion of his seventieth birthday, he was 
tendered a public dinner by a largi; number of his 
friends and admirers. He died Mar. 36, 1893. 



432 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOP-EDIA 





BANCKOFT, George, historian and secretary 
of llif iiiivv, was burn in Worcester. Mass., Oct. 3, 
180U, the sou of Hev. Aaron Bancroft. After a coin- 
iiion-.school education, whieli was carefully .super- 
vised by bis father, lie was prepared for college, 
which he was readv to enter at the unusually e^irly 
ai^eof ten yeai-s. In IHU he went to the celebrated 
Phillips Academy. Kxeter, N. H., which for fifty 
years was jiresided over by Benjamin .Vbbolt. M.,.!)., 
and where Webster. Sparks, and Kdward Everett 
obtained the rudiments of their education. Even at 
this early aire Bancroft showed a remarkable ten- 
dency toward study and anxiety to learn, and 
obtained the prai.ses not only of his teachei-s but of 
noted scholars, who took enouirh interest in liim to 
keep informed as to his standinf; and scholarship. 
In 1SI8 he entered Harvard where he sustained 
the reputation he bad jireviously gained, graduat- 
ing in 1S17 with honors. In college he devoted 
himself more particularly to metaphysics and moral 
philosophy, and to the' study of the Greek lan- 
guage an<l literature. It is i)elieved that be was 
destined by his parents for the i)ulpil; but, being .so 
young when he left college, it was decided that lie 
should be .sent to Europe to complete his education. 
He accordingly went to Gottingen, where for two 
years he studiitd German, French 
and Italian literature, and also Ara- 
bic and Hebrew; having for his 
teachers in these de|)artmeuts such 
eminent scholars as Bunscn and 
EieJiborn. He studied histoiy with 
Ileereii, and natural history with 
Blunicnbacb. It is probable that 
the one, among all his teachers, who 
made the deepest impression upou 
liis mind, was Heeren. who direct- 
1(1 his ideas toward history as a vo- 
I alion. Subsequently be translated 
I lie works of that venerable liis- 
inrian. Meanwhile, young Bau- 
ridft devoted much of his time 
and thought to the study of the 
metaphysical ipiestious which, at 
that ])eriod especially, were agitat- 
ing tlie entire world. Moreover, he 
paiii great attention to ancient and 
modern art and literature, and made poetical trans- 
lations from Goethe. Schiller and other poets. So 
early as islil Dr. Joseph G. Cogswell, afterward 
the noted superintendent of the "Astor Library of 
New York, wrote, in regard to Bancroft: " Heis a 
most interesting youth, and is to make one of our 
.great men." in" ISiO Bancroft received from the 
University of Gottingen the degree of Ph.D. From 
Gottingen he went to Berlin, where he went through 
a course of study of the Oriental languages and of 
Biblical interprelalioiis. While there, he niade the 
personal aci|uaintance of Schleiermacher, William 
von Humboldt and Varnhagen von Ense, and at Jena 
he became ac((iiainted with Goethe. He enjoyed 
also the advantage of studying on the spot the polit- 
ical institutions of I*ru.s.sia and the other German 
states, at the time when they were emerging from 
the chaos which resulted from the continental wars 
and the French revolution. In 1S','1 Haiieroft enter- 
ed up(m a period of travel, in which he jiassed 
through the principal cities of Germany, remained 
for some time in Paris, cro.sscd the Alps" on foot, vis- 
ited Italy and made the acquaintance of Man/.oni 
and Niebuhr and also that of Lord IJyron. who. on 
oneocca.sion, iiresenti'dbim totheCouiilessCJuiccioli. 
In 1822 Baiici-ofi returned to the Vnitcd Slates, and 
for a year held the position of (iicek tutor in Har- 
vard. It was at. this time be made his lirst publica- 
tion, which was a small volume of jiocins. He 
also published, in the "Xoiih Americau Review" 









and the "American Quarterly Review." the trans- 
lations which he had made while in Eurojx', and a 
number of e.s.sjiys and other articles on topics of in- 
terest at that lime. Ic 1823 Bancroft associated 
him.self with Dr. Cogswell in founding the celebrat- 
ed Hound Hill School at Northanipton, Mass., an 
institution which was designed to represent in the 
scholarship of America somewhat of the character 
of the Eton and Hugby schools in England. Mean- 
while, Mr. Bancroft was not fcjrgetfui of the early 
intentions of his progenitors in a theological direc- 
tion, and he accordingly obtained a liccn.se to preach, 
and is said to have (ielivered several sermons. In 
1H24 he published a translation of Heeren's " Politics 
of Ancient Greece;" and in 1826 lie made his en- 
trance into politics by an oration, in wliich he 
aiivocated universal suiTrage, and the establishment 
of the authority of the stale ujion the basis of the 
decision of the whole Jieople. In 1830 Mr. Bancroft 
was elected to the legislature of Ma.s.sachusetts with- 
out his knowledge, and de<-lined to.serve, taking the 
same action the following year on being nominated 
for the senate, with a certainty of being elected. In 
the intervals of leisure left him from his profes-sional 
duties at Harvard, he found time to translate and 
iniblish two others of Heeren's works, the "History 
of the Slates of Antiquity," and the "History of the 
Political Sy.stem of Europe an<l ilsColouies." The 
publication of these works, as well as the special 
studies which had preceded their writing, was always 
in the direction of the idea wliich Mr. Bancroft had, 
even so early as this. I'onnulated in his mind, of his 
" History of"llie United Slates." AViili his natural ten- 
dency in this diiection. that is to say in thedireclion 
of histoiy. which had been encouraged and devel- 
oped by the drift of bis studies in Europe, iIktc 
could hardly be any other natural oulconie. That 
lie had a slrong bias toward a specilic interest in 
American history is shown by the fact that his first 
political ajipearance, as the "town orator of Korlh- 
aiiijiton, Mass.. on the Fourth of July. 182(), was 
employed by him to set forth the doctrine of " De- 
mocracy." in its widest sense, on the basis of the 
principle of universal suffrage. It was a significant 
coincidence that the daj' of the delivery of this 
oration was that of the death of John Adams and 
Thomas Jefferson. It would, indeed, be difficult to 
tell what intluence this cxtiaordinaiy cata.stroi)he 
may have exercised over the mind of the future his- 
torian of his country. Certain it is that, after 
preliminary .studies, in 1S30 he retired from his con- 
nection with Dr. Cogswell in the Uouiid Hill School, 
and from that time forward devoted all bis ihoiights 
and time to the production of the work which was 
to make his name immortal. It was not until 1834 
that the first volume of Bancroft's "History of the 
United Stales" was published. This work, which 
may be said to have been the first important efTort 
of an American author in the domain of history, oc- 
cupied forty years in its completion. Of the first 
volume. Edward Everett said: "It is one of the 
ablest of the cUrss that has for years ajiiieared in the 
English language. It compares advantageously 
with the standard British historians; as far as it goes 
it does such justice to its noble subject as to su]ier- 
sede the necessity of any future work of the same 
kind: and. if completed as commeneeil. it will un- 
questionably forever be regarded both as an Ameri- 
can and an Kiiglish clas.sic." Bancroft's old teacher, 
Heeren. .said of it: "We know few modern hi.sforic 
works in which the author has reached so high an 
elevation, at once as an hisloii<-al iiicpiirer and an 
historical judge." After 18:!."), for three years Mr. 
Bancroft resideil in Springfield. Ma.ss.. where he con- 
cluiled the second volume of his history, which was 
published in 183T. In tli<' mean time he sustained 
himself in politics by deli\ering public addresses. 



#" 







•^,- 










Ccc. 4y<2;t^c^t^^-^ 






corymonT, 1532, a» j«uis t. white d co. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



435 



which were published and widely circulatf<l. Iti 
fact, at this time he interested himself personally in 
state politics as a democrat; and in 1838 President 
Van Buren appointed him collector of the port of 
Boston, It is "ratifying to remember, not only in 
the interest of literature but in that of kindliness, 
that he took advantage of liis position to give Nathan- 
iel Hawthorne a place in tlie Boston custom house. 
The third volume of Bancroft's history, whicli 
brought his suliject down to 1748, and which com- 
pleted the colonization period, was published in 
1840. The conclusion of this section of his work 
gave Mr. Bancroft an opportunity to devote himself 
more assiduously to politics— always a matter of the 
deepest interest to liim. In 1844 lie was nominated 
by the democratic party for governor of Massachu- 
setts, but was defeated. Having, however, devoted 
himself to the interest of James "iv. Polk, in his can- 
didacy for the presidency of the United States, on 
his election Mr. Bancroft naturally stood high with 
Mr. Polk, and received the po.sition of secretary 
of the navy in his cabinet. Perhaps the most 
important act of the office during his incum- 
bency of it was the foundation in 184.5'' of the Naval 
Academy at Annapolis. Md., which has since 
done so nuich toward the creation of the navy of 
the United States. Mr. Bancroft, also, acting official- 
ly, with a view to the war with Mexico which 
ensued, ordered the American squadron in the Pa- 
citic to California, which subsequently took posses- 
sion of that region for the United States. It also 
happened that for a month, in 1846, he acted as sec- 
retary of war, in which capacity it fell to his duty 
and initiative to order Gen. Tavlor to make the ad- 
vance to the Rio Grande, which was, in fact, the 
step whicli became the precursor of the Mexican 
war. This was, practically, the first occupation of 
le.xas by the United States government. In the lat- 
ter part of the same year (1846), Mr. Bancroft was 
appointed minister to the Court of St.'james and he 
continued to reside in London until Gen. Taylor be- 
came president, in 1849. As minister to En. ■ land 
wilh which country the United States at that time 
had no complications of importance, Mr. Bancroft 
had chiefly to handle matters referring to the north- 
eastern and northwestern boundaries of the United 
Stat,es. His leisure was passed between London and 
Pans m historical studies, and at this time he made 
the acquaintance of such eminent historians as Gui- 
zot, Mignct, Lamartine and De Tocqueville. Duriuo- 
this period he was elected a corresixmding member 
of the French In.slitute. and of the Rovaf Academy 
of History at Berlin, and in 1849 the University o"f 
Oxford conferred upon him the degree of D C L 
On his return to America, ]\Ir. Bancroft .scllled' in 
New \ork city, and at the same time purchased an 
estate at Newport. P. I., which thereafter became 
for a great portion of his time his habitual home 
Ihere, m an old roomy house, facing Bellevue av- 
enue, surrounded by grand old trees, and in summer 
fragrant wilh the perfume of iwes, much of his later 
work on his history was done, Jlr, Bancroft devot- 
ed five years to the period between 1T48 ami 1774 
and It was not until lH,j8 that lie published his first 
volume devoted lo the actual history of the revolu- 
tion, which is volume .seven of the entire work the 
eighth volume being published in 1860. During the 
next .six years Mr. Baiicrofi did no work on hi.s'^His- 
tory, but resu-d from his labors, only ocea.sionally 
appraniig 111 public lo deliver .•in address before <.ii'e 
ot tlie historical .socielies of llie eounlrv, of which 
as well as of the leading scienliHc and literary .socie- 
ties of the ]irineipal capitals of Kuroiie. he was a 
member. He was also for a lime jiresident of the 
Aniencaii Geographical Society. The ninth volume 
of Mr Banerolls History was published in 1860 
and the tenth volume, which came down to the 



close of the war of the revolution, appeared in 1874. 
During the intervening period he filled diplomatic 
positions in Berlin, at first being minister to Prussia- 
then, in 1868, to the North German Confederation, 
and finally, after the Franco-German war, being ac- 
credited lo the German Empire. While in Bedin, 
he succeeded in concluding important treaties bear- 
ing on naturalization, and was able also to devote 
ainsideralile time to the study of authorities, both in 
England au<l Germany, having reference to his im- 
portant hi.storical labors. On returning to the United 
States, in 1874, Jlr. Bancroft settled in Washington, 
D. C, where he continued to resideduring the win- 
ter throughout the remainder of his life; while 
spending the summers in Newport. In 1882'he pub- 
lished volumes eleven and twelve of his great work 
under the title "History of the Formation of the 
Constitution of the United States." But during the 
progress of this work Mr. Bancroft frequently 
brought out revised editions of certain parts of it, 
and in 1876 published an edition which was both 
revised and condensed in si.x duodecimo volumes. 
The last revised edition of the whole work appeared 
in 1885. The latter years of Jlr. Bancroft's life 
were singularly felicitous. He was held in high re- 
spect by his fellow-countrymen, and by men of 




position and prominence niii.ini; nil .ivilized nations. 
He enjoyed good health, ■s\hich was due, doubtless, 
in no small measure, to the habit of equestrianism! 
which he kept iiji until he had long pas.sed the ao-e 
of three score and ten. Mr. Bancroft was a member 
of the Unitarian church, and, while never an en- 
thusiast upon religious questions, was always deeply 
interested in ethics and in moral philosophy. He 
was married to the widow of Alexander B"li.ss. of 
Springfield. Mass., once the law partner of Daniel 
AVebster. They had no children, but the children 
of his wife by her former niarriatre formed a part of 
his household. One of Mr. Bancroft's .sisters was the 
wife of .John Davis, who was for several terms gov- 
ernor of Ma.s.sachusetls. Her son, J. C. Bancroft 
Davis, was assistant secretary of state under Hamil- 
ton Fish in the administration of Gen. Grant, and 
succeeded Mr. Bancroft as minister at Berlin. In 
the fall of 1878 Mr. Bancroft met with an accident, 
by being thrown fi-om his carriage at Newport, and 
severely injured. To the surprise of his friends, he 
entirely recovered from this accident, and was not 
only able to resume his literary work and associa- 
tions, Imt lo take his daily horseback ride, and the 
brisk walk of a mile or two, which usually followed 
it. At the last, the infirmities naUiral to Ins extreme 
age caused Ihroiighout the country llu^ expectation 
that yU: Bancroft's life Icrm was liable to exjiire at 
any moment; and for several weeks the announce- 
ment of his death was con.stantly expected. He died 
in Washington, quietly and peacefully, on Jan. 17, 



436 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



LOWELL, James Russell, poet and diploma- 
tist, was bcira at Cambridsc Mass., Feb. 32, 1H19. 
He was descended from a ioiiir line <}f worthy ances- 
tors and was reared amidst circumstances tlic most 
favorable for tlie dcveloi)ment of intellectual jiower 
and a high manhood. His tirst American ancestor 
was Percival Lowell, who emigrated fnnn Worces- 
tershire, Eng., and settled at Xewbnry. JIass., in 
1039, and who has had as descend- 
ants men eminent in ever>' sphere 
of New England lifc.nmoiig whom 
may be nientiiine<l Joliii ijowell, 
the" distingiiishccl jurist, who, in 
1780, introduced into the constitu- 
tion of .Massacliusetts the clause 
abolishing shivery in that state, 
andsubsetpicntly. for a number of 
years, was L'. S. justice for the dis- 
trict which then included Maine, 
New Hampshire, Massachusetts 
"^ and Rhode Island; another John 
Lowell was an eminent lawyer 
and political writer in the period 
of the second war with England: 
Francis t'abot Lowell was a promi- 
nent merchant, who introduced the 
manufacture of cotton goods into 
this ctnmtiy, and whose moiuimcnt, 
erected siiice his death, is in the 
populouscity of Lowell, Mass; and his son, .John, also 
a merchant, 'fotmded the Lowell Institute of Hoston, 
which for fifty years has sustained annual courses of 
lectures on science, literature and kindred subjects, the 
most distingui.shed in this country. .lames Kussell's 
grandfather was .John Lowell, the eminent jurist; his 
father was Charles Lowell, who, from ISDIi until his 
death in ISGl, was settled over the Unitarian church 
in Hoston, of which Dr. C^yrus A. Hartol is now (1S!)'>) 
the pastor. He was a man of cultivated taste 
and resjiectable learning, but more distinguished for 
the .sweetness and benigniity of his character tlian for 
])rofound scholarship." Soon after his scttlemcut in 
the miuistrv he married a daughter of Com. Hobert 
T. Speiice of the U. 8. navy, a highly gifted lady, 
acquainted with several languages, familiar with all 
the old English songs and ballads— which she was in 














---M''^ 


/-- ' ">)M~_ 


--,---' .'.'^■^. 




-■*^-wi*%j«»fto^a;; ^ 'J.I 



the habit of repeating to her children — and, though 
never a writer of verse, es.sentially a poetess. It was 
from this lady that her son inherited his poetical 
genius, for though in his father's family there had 
been several of distinguished ability in alTaiis, there 
h.ad been none who had shown any sjiccial aptitude 
for literature. Charles Lowell took his yi>uiig wife 
to a flue estate in the outskirts of C'andiridge. called 



Elmwood. It was an old colonial mansion, lookinif 
out upon the Charles river, and surrounded by about 
.seven acres of lawn and garden, interspersed with 
shrubbery, and dotted here and there by stately elms 
and pines, among which are now many of the excel- 
lent clergyman's own planting. There James Rus- 
sell Lowell was born, and there he grew up imdcr 
the guidance of this admirable father and mother, in 
inlercour.se with the most cultivated society this 
country has yet |iroduced. and in daily companion- 
ship with an oliler brother and sister who had inher- 
ited a like genius with him.scif, and who, had their 
minds not been directed to other pursuits, might 
have attainetl a like eminence. It is not .strange that, 
planted in such a soil, and fed by .such influences, 
his inherited genius liowered out to be the tinest ex- 
pression of purely American thought and culture that 
has been .seen in this centuiy. He does not .sound 
the organ notes of Whitlicr. nor sing the household 
songs of Lontifellow. nor has he the seer-like vision 
of Emerson, but more fully than all these does he 
embody the critical thought, virile strength, and 
soaring imagination of the America of to-day. He 
has laid his ear to the great heart of the time, and 
has echoed its pulsations in words that are the lieart- 
beats of more than sixty millions. His tirst tuition 
was at a private school, and entering Harvard 
in his sixteenth year he was gradu.iled when not 
yet twenty. I5ut he was not an industrious stu- 
dent, and at the very time he was to have delivered 
the class poem he was under discipline for inatten- 
tion to his text-books. He edited ■■ Ilarvardiana " 
during his last year in college, in which he may jios- 
sibly have inserted some poems, but his tirst known 
published literary comiiosilion was his class poem, 
written while he was rusticating at Concord. Mass. 
While there he made the ac<piaintaiice of Emer.son, 
which soon developed into a friendship that only 
terminated with the death of the elder man. Lowell 
was quick to see the humorous side of the social 
movements of the day. and in his class poem, which 
sjiarkles with wit, he attaekcil the aboliticaiists, Car- 
lyle. Emerson, and the trauM'eiulentalists. He then 
entered the Harvard Law School, and was graduated 
and admitted to the bar of Boston two years later 
at the age of twenty-one. He ;Ulemiiled to prac- 
tice law. but either clients did not come to him. or he 
did not go to them, fin' at the end of a year he aban- 
doned the law and betook himself definitely to litera- 
ture. A stoiy dealing with the practice of his jn'o- 
fession. entitled " My First Client," gives an anuising 
account of this part of his life. In taking up litera- 
ture he seems to have been influenced by a young 
woman to whom he had become attached, and who 
subsecpiently became his wife — Miss Maria White, of 
Watertown. She was a person of great l)eauty of 
mind and charaeler, and herself , a |)oet of tender .sen- 
timent and niueh delicacy of feeling. Her lines, 
"We wreallied almut our darling's head 
The morning-glory luight." 
have, wt'thiidi, been ineludcMl in every collection of 
American poetiy which has appeared since their tirst 
pulilication in is.V). Mr. Lowell's first volume of 
poems, "A Year's Life," published in 1S41. was ded- 
icated to this lady under the name of ■■ Una." She 
inspired this volume, .and there can be no cpiestion 
that .she gave direction to his genius when. Iietwcen 
184() and 1S4S, he entered the lists against slavery 
and all forms of cant, hypocri.sy, and luilitical cor- 
ruption, in that incomparable satire, the fir.st series 
of the •■ Biglow Papers." His first volume had been 
scarcely indigeiaais — it was a mere trying of his 
wings;"in his later ones: "A Legend of Brittany," 
and the " Vision of Sir Launfal." he reacheil a height 
which led I'oe to class him among the tirst of Amer- 
ican poets; but in the "Biglow Papers." which first 
appeared in the columns of the Boston " Courier." 





COPVRiGMT, 1891, Oy JAMES T. WHITE & CO. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGKAPIIY. 



439 



beginning in June, 1846, he became the poet of 
the time, piercing to the quick its petrified follies 
and embodied wrong.s. and displaying the invent- 
ive genius of an original mind, with infinitely var- 
ious resources, working neilher for jiay nor for 
praise, but enlisted for hunianify. These papers liad 
a moral influence which it is hard tojijipreeiate now. 
They were a prophetic warning of the coming con- 
test between freedom and slavery, and they ultered 
a stern defiance that ran tlirough the North, and 
nerved it fin- the mighty conflict. They revealed 
Lowell to himself, as well as to the world. "I found," 
he .said, " that I held in my hand a weapon, instead 
of a fencing-stick as I had supjiosed." Prior to this 
time he had edited a cou|)le of unsuccessful maga- 
zines — too good for their time, and so dying young — 
and soon after the iniblicalion of the " Biglow Pa- 
pers" he became one of the e(iitors of the "Anti- 
Slavery Standard," and about the same time imb- 
lishedhis amusing satire, "A Fable for Critics." 
The greater part of the years 1851 and 1853 he spent 
iu Europe, and on his return he wrote occasional 
papers — including "A IMoosehead Journal" — for 
"Putnam's Montldy." The most important results 
of his Eurojiean travels were Iiis essays on Italian 
art and literature, and the eminence to whi(-h he 
afterward attained as inter])reter of Dante, becom- 
ing, also, a leading authority in old French and 
trovencal poetry. About a year after his return 
to this country, his wife, to whom he was devotedly 
attached, died, and for some time thereafter he did 
no literary work; Init iu 1855 he accepted the posi- 
tion of professor of modern languages and literature 
in Harvard University, made vacant b}' the resigna- 
tion of Henry W. Longfellow. This po.sitiou beheld 
for twenty years, meanwhile being from 18.59 to 
18(i2 the editor of the "Atlantic Monthl v." and from 
18G3 to 18T2 joint editor with Charles Eliot Norton, 
of the "North American Review." During his ed- 
itorship of tlie " Atlantic" his position gave liim the 
platform, and the increasing anti-slavery sentiment 
of the North gave him the audience, for a great deal 
of vigorous political writing, which at once took 
rank, and will probably continue to be regarded as 
the best work of its kind yet done in this country, 
althougli his lectures on the poets, delivered before 
the Lowell Institute, and his essays on Italian art and 
literature, had already established his reputation as 
a prose writer. Mr. LowelTs ardent Unionism led 
to a second series of the "Biglow Papers" at the 
outbreak of the civil war, and great as was his ]Jo].i- 
ularify before, lie now became, next to Whitticr, the 
one who voiced the sentiments of the people of the 
North. These papers, which appeared in the "At- 
lantic Monthly," lashed the disunionists at home 
and their foreign sympathizers, and struck a respon- 
sive chord in the hearts of the people. These papei-s 
■were afterward gathered intt) a volume and issued 
in l.HfiT. The de'grees of D. C. L. and LL. D. were 
conferred upon him by Oxford and Cambriilge 
■while he was abroad in 1872-74. After resign- 
ing liis professorship at Harvard in 1875, lie was 
appointed minister to Spain by President Hayes, 
and in 1880 was transferred to the same jiost in 
London, which he continued to hold until a change 
of administration in 1885. While in England lie 
delivered several public addresses, which have since 
(1887) been publi.shed in this country, underthe title 
of " Democracy, and Other Addresses," and lie 
■was also elected rector of the X'niversity of St. An- 
drew.s, Glasgow, an unusu.al honor to be conferred 
on a foreigner. 5Ir. Lowell's health was never good 
after his return from the Court of St. James in 18S.5, 
and. except for a brief visit in 1SS7 to his old haunts 
in England, he became a ti.xfure either at the be- 
beloved Elmwood, his birthplace, or at his other 
Massachusetts home, Dccrfoot Farm. Althougli 



toward his last days his physician forbade him 
to indulge in the long walks and drives which 
had been a constant pleasure and a never-failing 
source of inspiration for his verses, he was never 
separated from the companionship of his books, 
which, if possible, were even dearer to liim than in 
his youth. !Mr. Lowell won a place equally high as a 
prose writer and as a poet, and in the caiiacity of 
critic no American could be compared with him 
except, perhaps. Edmund C. Stedman. The leading 
trait which cliaract<.'rizes lioth his iirose and his po- 
etry is moral nobility, both of mind and character, 
and tliis trait is, in his criticisms, combined with 
an acuteness, a keen insight, that .sees into the 
very heart of an author, and grasps at once his essen- 
tial and main purpose. It is generally suppo.sed that 
the poetical and critical faculties are antagonistic, 
and that, if combined, one impairs tlie power of the 
other. But in Jlr. Lowell the opposite appeared to 
be true. His poetical power lends sympathy to his 
critical writings; his critical acumen gives stiength 
to his poctrj'. But it is undoubtedly by his poetry 
that he will be longest remembered, for he has writ- 




ten lines that have gone into the speech of the people, 
and will last as long as our language. Who docs not 
recall : 

"What is so rare as a day in June? 

Then, if ever, come perfect days: 
Then Heaven tries tlie earth, if it be in tune, 
And over it softly her warm ear lays." 

"Before man made us citizens, great Nature made 
us men. " 

" Truth forever on the scaffold. Wrong forever on 
the throne. " 

"Earth's noblest thing, a woman perfected." 
" 'Tis heaven alone that is given away; 
'Tis only God may he had for the asking." 

These, and thoughts like these, ■which are .scat- 
tered all through his verse, will cause that ver.se to 
live when the great mass of our literature is forgot- 
ten. In l.Si)2 his essays on the Englisli jioets of the 
eighteenth century, which had appeared in the pages 
of the magazines or as prefaces, ■were gathered into 
a volume. In these writings is to be found, in large 
proportion, the habit of thought — now iiractical, 
now profound — wliich especially distinguished liis 
later works. At his death England joined America 
in mourning the loss of one who had more firmly 
cemented the union between the two nations, and 
memorial services were held in Westminster Alibey. 
Mr. Lowell died on Aug. 12, 1891, and two days 
later the funeral .services were held at the Apjiletoa 
chapel of Harvard University, Cambridge. Mass., 
the burial being in Mt. Auburn cemetery, in a .spot 
chosen bv himself. A full liiblioiiraphy mav be found 
in the "'Literary Worid " for .tune 27, 1880; F. H. 
Underwood's biographical sketch iniblished in 1882, 
and Stedman's "American Poets" may be consulted. 



440 



TIIE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



CHILDS, George William, publisher, journal- 
ist ami philautUr(ii)ist, was born in Baltimore, Md., 
May 12, 1«2!). He obtained his early education in 
private schools, and during his summer vacations 
was employed as errand boy in a book store at $2 
per week in which position he showed remarkable 
aptitude for business. In 1842 he entered the United 
States navy as an apprentice on board the ship 
Pennsylvania, but remained in the service only tif- 
teen months. In 1S44 he removed to Philatlelphia, 
with no resources but a fertile 
brain, imdaunted courase, and in- 
defatigable energy. Obtaining a 
position in a book store kei>t by 
•• j»; Peter Thomson, he worked dili- 

^(fc gently and faithfully for the inter- 

ests of his employer, who soon ad- 
vanced him to a place requiring 
judgment and tact. When he was 
but si.xteeu he attended the great 
trade sales in New York and Bos- 
ton, where he purchased whole edi- 
tions at a time. When he was 
eighteen he had saved a few hun- 
dred dollars, and with this, aided 
by his experience, he began busi- 
ness for himself in a small room 
at Third and Chestnut streets, 
_ Philadelphia, in the old Ledger 

Building. In 18-50 he became a 
member of the publishing tirm of R. E. Peterson & 
Co., which soon afterward was changed to Childs &; 
Peterson. The business of this house prospered, and 
one of their first publications, Peterson's " Familiar 
Science," young Childs pushed into a circulation of 
2(X), 000 copies. Dr. Kane's "Arctic E.xplorations" 
they put forth in splendid style and it paid a profit 
to the author of |70.000. Brownlow's book jiaid 
the Tennes.seean a premium of .flo.OOO. Fletcher's 
" Brazil," Bouvier's " Law Dictionary," Sharswood's 
" Blackstone's Commentaries, " Lossing's " Civil War" 
each had an extended sale and greatly increased the 
profits of the tirm. They also published Dr. Alli- 
bone's celebrated " Dictionary of f^nglish and Amer- 
ican Authors," which was dedicated to Jlr. Childs 
who was I hen recognized as a young man <if remark- 
able business tact and sagacity. After completing a 
very successful career as book publisher, Mr. Childs 




r^.^lrS^i^UM 




on Dee. .">, l><i)4, ]>incli;i^r(l the "Public Ledger" of 
Philadeljihia. The paper had been established in 
1836 b_v three journeyman luinlers from Baltimore, 
but up to the time of its purchase by its present 
owner, had not risen to the position of an influential 
journal, and was not then on a paying basis. The 
faculty of the proprietor of detecting the public 
ta.stes and supplying the public wants was at once 
brought into requisition. His paper, taking the right 
side of every question, rapidly rose to a great circu- 



lation and to a commanding position in journalism. 
The "Ledger" assumed an exceptionally high tone; 
every improper feature in advertising or in news 
was excluded from its columns; a spirit of fairness 
and justice was made to breathe throughout its re- 
ports and opinions of men and things; no expendi- 
ture was withheld in enhancing its value as a tnist- 
worthy family newspaper and a welcome fireside 
visitor. Mr. Childs gave to his paper the closest atten- 
tion and his great enterprise has since moved like 
clock-work under his constant supervision and con- 
trol, gradually increasing in popularity and influence 
until it has become one of the most valuable journal- 
istic properties in the United States, netting a princely 




revenue to its jiroprietor. The present elegant Ledger 
building, at Sixth and Chestnut streets, was formally 
opened .Jime 20. 18(iT, and the ceremonies were fol- 
lowed by a banquet attended by many distinguished 
people from various sections of this country. All 
of his employees are jiaid good salaries, and in addi- 
tion Mr. Childs makes them a handsome Christmas 
pi'esenl every year. The Typographical Union in 
1878, owing to the depressed condition of every 
branch of business, voluntarily reduced the price of 
composition, but Mr. Childs, on receiving notice of 
the reduced rates, declined to take advaniage of the 
reduction and continued to pay his compositors the 
wages they had previously been receiving, thereby 
involving an extra outlay of thousands of dollars a 
year. Il has always been his pride to as.sist all the 
men of family in his em|iloyment. and not only says 
that he wishes them all to own their own homes, 
but in many instances has advanced money to help 
them builci their own dwellings. Besides having 
won a brilliant reputation as a publisher and journal- 
ist, Mr. Childs is known the world over for his un- 
ostentatious i)liilanthropy. The wealth which he 
has accumidated has been dispensed with great lib- 
erality. When he began life his only resources were 
industry, perseverance and a stout heart. Willi 
these ipialities he has become the living illustration 
of that noble characteristic so rare among men of 
artluence, the accumidation of ricbes not for him- 
self alone, but to make others happy during and 
after his life. This is his best eulogy: it lives and it 
lasts and teaches a noble lesson. He has thus jilant- 
ed himself in the human heart and has laid the 
fouixlation of his monument upon universal benevo- 
lence. He coins forttme like a magician and spends 
it like a man of heart. Both personally anil in his 
journal he has m.anifested great interest in every 
tiling which has affected the city of Philadelphia 
and the welfare of her people. He was among the 
foremost to .secure Fairmount Park, one of the orig- 
inators of. and a large contributor to, the Zoological 







CO^VRpflHT, 1892. BY J*UES T. WMlTf « CO. 



OF AMEKICAN BIOGKAPIIY. 



443 



Garden, the Pennsylvania Museum, and the School 
of Industrial Arts of I'liiladelphia. lie ]in;s<fMl('d 
to tlie Typographical S<ieiely a lari;e Imrial lot in 
AVoodhuul Cemeterj', has given freely of his means 
to many charitable institutions, has scut inmates of 
these on pleasure excursions duriufr the hot weather. 
Qud he regularly celebrates the 4th of July and 
Chrislmas by a banquet to newsboys and boolblacUs. 
Mr. Cliilds's phil;uUhro|iy is not confined to his own 
city and couiUry. The public drinking fountain at 
Stratford-npon-Avon was erected by him in 1S,S7. .as 
a memorial to Shakespeare, and he placed in West- 
minster Abbey a memorial window to the jioets Her- 
bert and Cowper in 1877, and one in St. JIargarel's 
church, Westminster, as a memorial to Milton in 
18.S8. He gave to the Church of St. Thomas. W'in- 
chesier. a reredos in memory of Bishops lyauncelot, 
Andrews und Ken, and was the largest contriliutor 
to the memorial window for the |ioel Tliomas Moore 
in the church of Bromham, Eng. He also erected 
monuments to the memory of Edgar Allan Poe and 
Leigh Hunt. His habits are simple, yet his elegant 
residence in Philadelphia is a gem bright with e\- 
■quisite decoration and rich in every variety of art. 
A few years ago he creeled a beautiful country 
home a short distance outside of Philadelphia near 
Bryn Mawr. and gave it the historic name of Woo- 
ton. which is shown in the accom|)anying engraving. 
He also owns a handsome cottage at Long Brancli. 
With unbounded hospitality he has entertained 
more distinguished people from all over the world 
than any man in this country. In 188.5 Mr. Childs 






^, 




published "Some Recollections of Gen. Grant." a 
valuable acquisition to the bibliography of the great 
soldier who was his personal friend and associate for 
many years. In 1890 a volume of his own ■■ Recol- 
lections" was issued. This work is rich with remi- 
niscences of famous persons, accounts of exceedingly 
interesting possessions and delightful occasions. 

DBEXEL, Anthony Joseph, banker, was 
born in Philiidelphia in 1826. Francis Martin Prex- 
el. his father, who founded the large tinancial insti- 
tution of which his distinguished son is now the 
head, was a native of Dornbirn. Austrian Tyrol, 
born in 1792. He studied languages and the tine 
arts at an institution in Turin, and on his return 
home in 1809 found his country invaded by the 
French. To esCcape conscription he went to Switzer- 
land and subsequently to Paris. Upon his return to 
Tyrol in 1812 he fmuid the conscription still in furce 
and he went to Berlin to contiiuio his studies in 
])ainling. In 1817 he came to America and settled 
in Philadelphia. A few years later he went to Peru 
and Chili, where he executed some fine portrait 
paintings of notable persons, including Gen. Bolivar, 




with whom he was on terms of intimate friendship. 
After spending <-(iMsi(litiable time in Mexico, he re- 
turned to Philadelphia anil engaged in the banking 
busiues.s. In 1837 he foiuided the banking house of 
Drexel & Co., which grew to be a large and pros- 
perous institution with the highest creilit during his 
lifetime. After his death in lM(i;i he was .succeeded 
by his two sons, AiUhony J. .and tln^ late Francis A. 
Drexel, under whose management the banking 
house became one of the largest and 
nnist successful enterprises of its 
kind in America. The New York 
house of Drexel, ^Morgan & Co. dates 
back to 1850, and the Paris house 
of Drexel, Harjes it Co. was found- 
ed in 1867. Mi-. Anthony .1. Drexel 
entered the bank when he was thir- 
teen, before he was through with 
his .studies in scIkjoI. Since then 
the history of the banking business 
of which he is the head, is the his 
tory of his life. Its growth, its pros 
perity, wide influence, and the e\ 
tent of its operations are laigely due 
to his directing hand. Tlie I)re\( 1 
houses are mouej'-furnisbing estab 
lishments.theirprincipal transact ions 
being to supply capiita! for individu.il 
and corporate enterprises or neetls, 
for government use. national, .state and municipal, 
and for times of public emergency. In all such ne- 
gotiations, especially those of a large or a ])ublic nat- 
ure, Mr. Anthony J. Drexel has a quick and intu- 
itive perception, his mind taking in all llu- prominent 
bearhigs of the proposition at once, and enabling 
him to decide promptly what ought or what ought 
not to be done. In all his business operations he 
takes notice not only of the interests of his own 
banks, but shows just and generous regard f(n' the 
interests of the client and for the public also, when- 
ever the negotiation has its public side. If it is an 
occasion when solvent bu.siuess men or fiduciary in- 
stitutions are hard pressed, or might be coin])elled to 
suspend or break, owing to panic in the money mar- 
ket, the means are furnished to save the institutions 
from breaking or discredit. Mr. Drexel has many 
times done this under all .sorts of circumstances 
from the humblest to those involving safely or ruin 
to very large corporations, where, if the relief had 
not been extended, there would have been peril or 
wide-spread disaster. For all such matlci's he has 
strong insight, the broadest view and the quickest 
decision. The Drexel banking houses have supplied 
and placed hundreds of millions of dollars in gov- 
ernment, corporation, railroad and other loans and 
securities. These securities are jilaced for invest- 
ment. They do not have dealings with speculative 
bonds or stocks, but engage only in sound and sure 
transactions. The reputation of these banking houses 
for fair dealing has always been mainlaincd on the 
highest plane. At the opening of the Franco-Prus- 
.sian war in 1870. a large number of travelers and 
tourists having Drexel letters of credit were in Ger- 
many, Switzerland, Franci- or elsewhere on the con- 
tinent. They were cut off from communication and 
were compelled to remain where they were, becau.se 
the railways and telegraphs were.si-ized for exclusive 
government use. In this emergency the Paris house 
of Drexel, Harjes & Co. directed a large amount of 
gold to be sent to Geneva and other places on the 
continent to protect their letters of credit, and au- 
thorize the holders of them, wherever they nerc, to 
draw through the local liauks. m francs, sterling, 
marks or dollars, as woul<l be most available for 
them. This gave instant relief to the holders of the 
letters of credit and won the highest imiise for the 
business methods of the Drexels. The entire history 



444 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPiEDIA 



of these famous financial institutions has heen one of 
contimied prosperity and siiccfss. The loans, cred- 
its, and other transactions of tlic Drexel Iiuiises, for 
the Jiast lliinl of a century have exteuded all over 
the commercial world. The liiiih personal character 
of Mr. Dre.xel, who po.s.ses.ses many estimable traits, 
has won for him the friendship and esteem of all 
people of his native city. He is interested in all 
measures intended to promote the public jtoimI, and 
has given liberally of his vast means to assist and 
support numerous <-liarital)le and benevolent proj- 
ects. The Dre.xel Institute in Pliiladelpliia, which 
he recently founded and heavily endowed, has al- 
ready achieved a wiile reputation. It has de]iart- 
ments of arts, science, mechanical arts and domestic 
economy, and is an institution whose object is to 
furnish means of openinir better and wider avenues 
of emploj-ment to younj; men and women. To this 
institution his distinguished jiersonal friend and 
companion, George W. Cliilds, with his character- 
istic generosity, has jircscnted almost his entire col- 
lection of rare prints, manuscripts, valuable relics 
and autographs. It is probably the finest collection 
of its kind in America, and is estimated to be worth 

BOUDINOT, Elias, first president of the Amer- 
ican Bible Jsociet.v, was born in Philadeliihia, Pa., 
May 2, 1740. His great -grandfather, a French 
Huguenot, came over to this country after tlie revo- 
cation of the Edict of Xanlcs. 
This ancestor's name was Elias, 
as was also his grandson, the father 
of the subject of this sketch; he 
died in ITTO, having married Cath- 
erine Wiliiams.who was of Welsh 
origin. Their son Elias received 
a common school and then a clas- 
sical education, and entered the 
law ortice of Richard Stockton, 
who.se eldest sister he married. 
He was admitted to practice at 
the bar in New Jersey, and rajiid- 
ly rose to distinction. From the 
beginning of the troubles between 
thecolonyand the mother-country, 
Mr. Boudiiiot was an ardent ]iatri- 
ot. In 1777 he was appointed by 
congress commissary-general of 
prisons, and in the same year was 
elected delegate to theConiinental 
Congress, becoming president of that body in Novem- 
ber, 1782. in which capacity it fell to him to sign the 
treaty of peace with (Jreat liritaiii. At the clo-.c of the 
■war, he returned to the practice of law and in 17S!), 
under the newly adopted constitution, was again 
elected to congress, and remained a member of that 
body during the next six years. In 179G, President 
Washington apiiointcd Mr. Houdinot a director of 
the United Slates mint, in jilace of Rittenhouse, 
who had died, and he remained in this ollic(! until 
1805, when he resigni'd anil settled at Hurllngton. 
N. J. Jlr. HoudiMot lost his wife abotit the vear 
1808. In IM13 Kllas was elected a member of the 
American Board of Coniini.ssioners for Foreign Mis 
sions, and gave to that organi/alion the sum of 
£100: but Elias Boudinot is best remembered 
for his interest in the American Bible Society, of 
■which he was the first ]iresident. This soi'icty was 
organized in New York in May, |S2<!, there being at 
the time about sixty local Bible Societies, delegates 
from thirty-five of which came to the metropolis to 
form the greater organization. The fir-st Bible So- 
ciety in the Uiuted Stat<w was instituted in Phila- 
delphia in 1808, the second at Hartford, the third 
at Boston, the fourth at Princeton, N. J. — all of 
these in ISO!). After the American Society had been 
established, the miniber of its auxiliaries increased 




very rapidly, and in ISSt fhese numbered about 
7,000. The American Bible So<:iety was incor- 
porated in 1841 with privileges which have since 
been greatly enlarged. Its first place of business 
was a room seven feet liy nine, the next was twenty 
feet .sijuare, the third was in a building located in 
Na.s,sau street. New York, on a lot fifty feet liy one 
hundred, which was afterward enlarged. In" 18,")2 
the present Bible House was built, occupying the 
whole open gnamd bounded by Third and Fourth 
avenues, Asior jilace and Ninth street, being six 
stories high with an open square in the centre. In 
this establishment, which carried on the executive 
and mamifactiu'ing departments of the society the 
number of persons employed is about 400. Here 
the society prints and binds the Bibles and Tes- 
taments, owns its own sets of stereotype and 
electrotype plates, with the plates which were stere- 
otyped, at great expen.se, of the whole Bible in the 
Boston raised letter, for the use of the blind. The 
object of the American Hil)le Society and its auxil- 
iaries is to distribute Bibles as widely as pos.sible 
among the destitute of all classes and religious de- 
nominations either at cost or at a very low |)rice. The 
Scriptures are published at the Bible House in nearly 
every known language. The number of volumes 
is.sued has increaseil between 1810 and 1881 from 
440.000 to 11,840.000. while receipts have increased 
from *4."iO,(HIO to l<li.7!l4.0OO. After Mr. Boudinot's 
election as presiilcnt of the American Bible Society, 
he made to it what was at that time a most numif- 
icent donation of ^10.000, and he afterward con- 
tributed liberally towards its building. All of his 
later days were passed in the study of Biblical liter- 
ature and in charitable work. He was trustee of 
Princeton Colleiie, and there founded in 180.") the 
Cabinet of Natural History which cost ^3,000. In 
1.S18 lhi-ee boys of the Cherokee trilie were brought 
to the foreign mission school at Philadelphi.a. and 
iMr. Boudinot permitted one of them to take his 
name, being deeply interested in every attempt to 
improve the condition of the American Indians. 
This boy had a romantic and tragic history. He be- 
came an intluential chief in his tribe. In is;!!t, .hme 
10, he was murdered while west of the ]Mississip])i, 
by a savage Indian. Elias Boudinot al.so did much 
to aid in the instruction of deaf-mutes aiul m the 
education of y<umg men for the ministry. By his 
will, he bc({ueathed his estate, which was very large 
an<l valuable, to charities, among them an appropria- 
tion to buy spectacles fortlicaged po<M-. Mr. Boudi- 
not pvdilished a niunber of Wdiks. including: "The 
Age of Revelation" (1790), which was a reply to 
Paine's " Age of Reason;" "An Oration before the 
Soiietv of the Cincinnati" (1793); "Second Advent 
of the" Messiah " (Trenton. 181")); "Star in the West, 
or an Attein|5t to Discover the Long Lost Tribes of 
Israel" (181(>) — in this work, agreeing with Jlr. 
James Adair, Jlr. Boudinot regards the Indians as 
the lost tribes. He died in Burlington, N. J., Oct. 
34, 1821. 

KAMPMAN, Lewis Francis, educator, was 
born in I'liil.-idi'lpliia Kel). l(i, 1S17, the great-grandson 
of Bishop I). Nitschmaim. He ])assed through Naz- 
areth Hall and the Seminary; taught at the former 
18:ir)-40; served for three years as a missionary in 
Canada; was ))astor at Canal Dover, O., 1843-r)0; 
at CTnadenhutten, O., 18r)0-.')2; at Bethlehem, Pa., 
18.")2-r)."), where be was one of the founders and edit- 
ors of the "Moravian;" at Lancaster, Pa., 1855-58; 
president of the theological seminarv on its removal 
to Bethlehem, 1858-04; pastor at"Lititz, 18t>4-G7; 
member and .secretarv of the Provincial Bo; rd, 1867- 
79; pastor at York, "Pa., 1879-84. He was one of 
the compilers of the Moravj,-in hynmal. and .supplied 
several of its translations from tlie German. He 
died at Bethlehem Oct, 21. 1884. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGEAPHT. 



445 



POE, Edgar Allan, poet, was boni in Boston, 
Mass., Jau. 19, 1809. David Poe, of Baltimore, son 
of Gen. Poe, a distinguished Maryland<T, in 180(i 
married Elizabeth Arnold, an English lady and an 
actress, in the city of (."liarle.ston, S. (_'. The stud}' 
of the law had been planned for David by his fatlier, 
but a natural talent inclined llie youlli lo Ihe stage. 
and as an amateur actor he fell in love with and mar- 
ried Miss Arnold. It was while lie and his wife 
■were tilling a brief professional engagement in Bos 
ton that the child who was destined to make their 
name illustrious was born. Two years after the birth 
of Edgar his parents died, lioth suddenly and only a 
few days apart, in Hichniond. Va.. and their cliil 
drcn. three in all, were adopted by .sympathetic 
friends, Edgar being taken by .John Allan, a gentle 
man of high .social position. The data of Poe's life 
were for many years curiously uncertain. Diligent 
research has at last established" a (piite clear array of 
facts re.specting his career, llioiigh there are .slil) 
elusive chronological phantoms here and there. Ed- 
gar's primary scholastic experience ranged from 
tutelage in England at the age of seven, to the classi- 
cal .schools of Profs. Clarke and Burke, in Rich- 
mond, Va., from 1820 to 1823, and then with private 
tutors. In 182G he was sent to the University of 
Virginia. Among his classmates 
and companions there the best 
l)lood of the South was represent 
ed. Some of these have contribut- 
ed to the record of his university 
days, and they, with such of the 
faculty as have left accounts con- 
cerning him, agree that he was not 
only a successful .student, winning 
uncommon cla.ssic di.slinction, but 
that he was conspicuous for nobil- 
ity of character. He led a free life 
.at the university; but to fully es 
'cape this he would h;ivebeeu coin- 
pelledtoshun the aristocratic clitjue 
with which he naturally atliliated. 
Soon after his withdrawal from the 
imiversity, wearying of the duties 
of Mr. Allan's counlinsi-room, hede 
termined to seek his fortune in the 
world. His fancy led him to the 
city of his birth, and there, in 1827, in his eighteenth 
year, he found a publi-sher for his youthful ver.ses. 
which appeared under the title of "Tamerlane, and 
Other Poems." This slight volume contained, in all, 
ten poems, among the fugitive pieces biMiig "The 
Lake," a lyric which foreshad<iwed the "tremulous 
delight" which his ardent imagination ever drew 
from obiects of real or supposed terror. Finding 
himself friendless and with depleted resources in Bos 
ton, he cajuiciimsly enlisted in the V. S. army, as a 
private, under the name of E. A. Perry. He served 
two years, receiving minor but honorable luomotion 
for faithfulness and etflcieney, and was (lischarged 
by sub.stitnte. While in the army he coruimied to 
write, and in 1829 he publisheil, in B;dliniore. an 
other .small book, entitled "Al Aaraaf. Tamerlane, 
and Minor Poems." This volume revealed mental 
growth and advance in literary style and the art of 
rhetorical effect. Poe now decided upon re-entering 
the army by giaduation at AVest Point, His cadet 
ship was readily etfeeted throuirh iutluciitial friends, 
an(l he donned the uniform of the Military .\eademy 
but only to find it a distasteful gear. His true ain 
bitiou pointed to literary eminence. He .soon re 
quested his foster-father's permis.sion to resign, but 
was denied his wish, whenupon he iirocured his 
own dismissal by pleading " gnilt v " lo counts before 
a court-martial ingeniously eonnlved at by hinisi'lf, 
and then returned lo Kiehmond. .Air. Allan was 
justly incensed at his protege's waj,\vardness, do 




mestic discord followed, and Poe, forfeiting Ids pros- 
pective fortune, renounced connection with the 
Allans. The true history of this rupture will never 
be known; but in justice to Poe it may be .slated that 
Didier exhibits in his biography a lelter to him.self 
from a lady eontidante of Poe's which acquits the 
young poet of ingratitude or unmanly conduct in Ihe 
alfair. About the lime of his leaving West Point 
he published a third volume of poems (New York, 
18iil), puriKirling to be a second edition of the Balti- 
more print, but containing si.x new pieces, among 
them the haunting lyric, "To Helen, "and the happy 
.song-burst, "Israfel." This book was generally 
ridievded by the cadets, to whom it was foolishly 
iledicated, but the ap|ireeialive spirits into whose 
hands it fell knew that lot he roll of true poets another 
name would be added. Fiuni liiehmonil the home- 
less wanderer went to Baltimore, where he fell in 
love with his young cousin, Virginia Clenim, who 
four years afterwarti became his wife. On reaching 
the "Monumental t'it_v " he sought variiais means of 
subsistence, but was unsuccessful, so, ]iartly from 
choice, partly from necessity, he tuiiied to literature 
as a profession. Fortunately he was wise enough to 
realize that the South was imcongenial to the higher 
element of his talent — that there was no constituency 
there for the poet. This led him to try prose. His 
first published story was "A MS. Found in a 
Bottle." It appeared in the "Saturday Visitor," 
and was awarded a prize of $i(M, which had lieen 
offered for the best tale. Encouraiicd by this, he 
wrote more stories. His next publicatum was "Bere- 
nice " — a story of diabolical fascination — which came 
out in "The Southern Literary Messenger,"of Rich- 
mond, and this was immediately followed by other 
tales and some brief critical essays. It was about 
this time that Poe was first jiublicly known to drink 
occasionally to inebriety. The indulgence with which 
he had harmlessly dallied as a youth now became to 
his strained organism a menacing vice; l)ut he fought 
it down and devoted him.self with unremitting indus- 
try to literary work. He was not a drunkard, and 
he never became one; yet. notwithstanding the mass 
of proof to the contrary, there is a general feeling 
that he was a contirmed inebriate. The truth is. he 
was not even a tippler. He seldom drank strong 
liquors — and this is true of him to the end — but when 
he did so he invariably became intoxicated. He had 
lesion on one side of the brain, and the lightest tonic 
was sufficient to cause him to act strangely. The 
' ' immortal infamy " of fastening upon him the shame 
of drunkenness belongs partly to Griswold, one of 
his literary executors. In 183.5 Poe went to Rich- 
mond to assist in editing the "Literary Messenger." 
L'nder his management that magazine increased its 
circulation in one year from 700 to .'j.OOO. In little 
more than twice the same length of time he subse- 
quenllv influenced the increase of "(}raham's Alaga- 
zine," "in Philadelphia, from a list of ."i.llOll to.'")2,000. 
The imjietus given to these periodicals was due as 
much to his criticisms as his l.ales. He was a fear- 
less .-ind generally a just ciitic, though, as .Mr. Lowell 
has graciously said, he .sometimes seemed to mistake 
his vial of prus,sic aciil for his inkstand. The bitter- 
ness which developed against him is plainly traceable. 
When he entered the tield of literature he fcmnd it 
usurped by iiretentioiis claim.ants who.se right lo do- 
m,-iin he forthwith vigorously disputed and merci- 
lessly att.'icked. Adhering lo prose, he produced 
many stories in rapid succes.sion. Ilisold poems oc- 
casionally appeared in print in revised dre.s.s, but 
prose was his stand by. In 18;!8 he was lentatively 
enga'.red in New York. From New York he went 
lo Philadelphia ils;i9), and became asso<iate editor 
of Hurlons "(ientlenian's Magazine, " in which 
"The Fidl of the House of I'sher " soim appeared. 
About the same time he made a collection of his best 



446 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPJJDIA 



stories, and tlie.v were published in two volumes, as 
"Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque." Among 
tlie I wenty-tive tales in this collection was " Ligeia," 
wliich I'oc regarileilashis tiiicsl ])icce. Il is a poetic 
story, delicately conceived and liandUd with matcli- 
less skill — a startling story of the victory of the .soul 
over death through the might of love and the power 
of will. In 1S41 he took the editorial chair of "Gra- 
ham's," in which the " Genllcinan's " had been 
merged. Hy way of diversion he i)ublished several 
papers on the science of cryptology, maintaining the 
theory that human ingenuity <'ould not construct any 
conbinat ion of secret characters whicli human .s,'igaeity 
could not decipher. Several shrewd cdncspondenls 
tested his genius in this matter, and he triumphantly 
proved his daring assertion. "The Murder in the 
Rue Morgue " (which tirst made his fame in 
France), appeared in "Graham's" in 1841, and in 1S43 
" TheGold-Hug" (illustrative of atheorvof ciphers), 
in " The Dollar Newspaper. I'oe's salary as editor 
was exceedingly meager, yet by vigilant economy he 
managed to keep a eomfortalile home for his wife 
and her mother. In 1844 he removed with his little 
household to New York. In this city he was engaged 
as editorial assistant on "The Jlirror," which was 
owned by N. P. Willis, and on "The Broadway 
Journal," of which he became sole proprietor; but 
this iiaper soon collapsed. He continued to pour 
forth stories from his magical cornucopia, but was 
chiefly noted for a series of elaborate 
criticisms on living authors, principally 
poets. In .Januaiy, 1845, the most mo- 
mentous event in Poe's literary his;tory 
o(-curred. This was the publication of 
" The Kaven " — a poem which with mer- 
eurlal swiftness ran the circuit of the 
reading world, and gave its author un- 
rivaled cisatlantic fame. The secret of 
the instant success of this poem, aside 
from its artistic construction, was its 
touch U]ion the ready sympathies of 
heart and intellect by its portrayal of 
a mournful and never-ending remem- 
brance of love and loss. " The Haven " 
made Poe a literary "lion," and for 
the first time since his youth he figureil in society. 
He even appeared on the lecture stand, but with 
poor success. A new poem was now daily expected 
from him; but tlie fountain was again sealed. 
Throughout life he exemplified the honest}' of his 
early dictum, that with him poetry was "not a pur- 
pose, but a passion." The next sensation created by 
his pen was a series of crili(|ues — "The Literati of 
New York" — which ran in "Godey's Lady's Book." 
These criticisms combined with his own estimate of 
variousauthors the opinions ex pressed of them in con- 
versational circles. In his fifteen years of editorial 
service Poe was a model of eon.scicntious application 
to duty. Grahan\ and Willis, perha|is the most 
trustworthy of his coadjutors, have left testimonials 
as to liis industry and tidelily. In the spring of 1841!, 
his own health being bvit little better than tiiat of his 
fa.stfailing wife's, he rented a suburban cottage at 
Fordham (hoping to find more comfort there than 
in the city). He was very poor, for his work had 
brought him oidy the barest necessaries. Ilislieautiful 
• Virginia's frail state had not needlessly al:irmcd him, 
for at Fordham she .steadily grew weaker from 
month to month, and in the winter of 1S4T she died. 
After this distressing event the pathway of Poe led 
precipitously to his own grave, though three of his 
best poems were written in the two "immemorial" 
years which remained to him — " Ulalume," "The 
Bells," and "Annabel Lee " (his last). He also then 
wrote tlie metaphysical medley " Eureka," and the 
extpiisite landscape studies. " Landor's ('oltage"and 
"The Domain of Arnheim. " Utterly broken in 




health, and mentally dispirited, in the fall of 1849 
he revived the idea of publishing a magazine of his 
own, to be called "The Stylus," andfor the pur- 
pose of furthering his design he journeyed south to 
(MUd'er with old friends, lie went to Philadelphia, 
from there to Uiehmond, and thence to Baltimore. 
Here the melancholy drama of his life ended — swift- 
ly, darkly, pitifully. The fulfillment of that "im- 
piMiding doom " which for years ,so sinislerly over- 
shadowed him came down like the ru.sh of a" storm. 
II(^ died in Wa.shington College Hospital in a .state 
of delirium. lie was bniicd in thecemetery of West- 
minster church. After the lapse of twenty-si.x years 
a monument was raised to his memory. The dominant 
tone of Poe's verse gives tlie key to his .soul, and ex- 
plains the transient moods under which his lyrics 
were composed. He was a devotee to beauty: but liis 
large mind, illuminated with unusual intuition. ai>])re- 
hended the significance of creation in the a))palling 
as well as in the beautiful, and to his mental toucli 
these antipodal phases became interchangeable and 
were sometinies unified. His tuneful poems revived 
in Amcric'a the dying notes of the Georgian era, 
and his wonderful stories lit the reading-lamps of 
the world. Poe was uncommonly liandsome, with 
broad shoulders and a slender waist; his bearing 
was erect, his carriage graceful, his hands and feet 
most shajieh', his face pale but clear, his brow wide 




^k^^m^^ 



1^''*^-:"^ 



and noble and, as Stedman has rciuarked, not un- 
like that of Bonaparte; his hair was dark and clu.s- 
tering, and his eyes were miracles of blended shades. 
He habitually drcs.sedin black. For additional par- 
ticulars the reader is referred to the following: 
Memoir by Griswold; notices by Willis and Lowell, 
N. Y., 18r)0; Poe and His Critics, Mrs. Whitman, 
N. Y., 18(10; Notice to Works, liy .lames Ilanimy, 
London, 18.'")(i; Works, with a study from the French 
of Baudelaire, Lonilon, 18T)i: Memoir by K. II. 
Sloildard, with Poems, N. Y.. 187.'), Memoir by John 
H. Ingram, Edinburgh, 1874; Ibid.. N. Y .', 1876; 
Life bv Inirnim. London. 1881); ^Memorial Volume, 
S. S. Hice'lSaltimon', 1S77: Life by Wm. F Gill, 
N. Y. and London, 1878; Life by pfngene L. Didier, 
N. Y., 187(), Critical sketch by E. C. Stedmun, 
Bo.ston, 1881, now in Poets of "America, Life by 
Levi Woodberry, Boston, 188."); Es.says by Higgin- 
son, Lalhrop, Fairfield, Coiiwav, Gos.sc, Swinburne. 
HiMlicd at Baltimore Md.. Oct. 7, 1849. 

SERGEANT, John, missioniiry, was born at 
Stockliridgc ill 1747, the son of John Sergeant (1710- 
49). He was educated at Princeton, and in 1775 re- 
turned to minister to I he Indians whom his fat her had 
Christianized. When the tribe, numbering about 400, 
removed to .Madison county, N. V., after the revolu- 
tion, he shared their migration, and continued to 
labor amonu- them lint ilhisdeath at New Stockbridge, 
N. Y., Sept. 8. 18i-l. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



447 




HARPER, James, publisher, foiiuder of tlie 
house of Harper ifc Brothers, was born iu Newtown, 
L. I., Apr. 13, 1795. His father was Joseph Har- 
per, who was born in 1766 and was a farmer at 
Newtown. The father of Joseph Harper, James 
Harper, was an Englishman, one of the earliest 
American Jlethodists who came to this country. 
He settled as a schoolmaster at Newtown, about 1740. 
Joseph Harper married Elizabeth Kollyer, who is 
describe<l .-is having been "a woman of vigorous 
and supei-ior character, of a cheerful piety and 
kindly humor." James was their eldest child, and 
when sixteen years of age he and bis brother John 
were apprenticed to two printers 
in New York. They were both 
well-trained boys, with sound prin 
ciples, while James was also pos 
sessed of great personal strength, 
and both were noted for their reg- 
ular and correct habits. In the 
office where James served his ap- 
|)renticesliip. Thurlow Weed was 
fellow-workman. and the two there 
formed a friendship which lasted 
through life. James soon became 
a noted iire.ssman. The two broth- 
ers were thrifty, and when they 
had served their ap]irenliceship, 
they were in possession of a small 
capital, which represented their 
joint savings. To this was added something from 
their father's means, and they started a business of 
their own, a small printing office in Dover street. 
New York. Here they printed books to order, their 
first work being completed in Augu.st, 1817, when 
they delivered 2,0(10 copies of Seneca's '• Morals " 
Their ne.xt book was Mair's "Introduction to Latin 
Synla.x:" and in April, 1S18, they printed 500 
cojiies of Locke's " Es.say Upon the Human Under 
standing;" and upon this volume appeared, for the 
first lime, tlie imprint of J ifc.T. Iiar]-yer as pnblisliers 
From I his small l]eginning. anil l)y <'Xcrcisiiig care and 
judgment in all their undertakings, tlic young firm 
soon grew to eminence in publishing They became, 
perhajis, best known throngli the publication of their 
celebrated series known as "Harper's Fanu'ly Li 
hrary,"acolleclion madeupof standard worksof gen 
eral interest, whieli was ;i favorite both in jirivateand 
pulilic libraries. The placing of two younger broth 
crs. .loseph \Vesley and Fletcher, as api>rentiees 
to the tirni, was in dtu' time followed by their ad- 
mis.sion as partners, when the style was changed to 
llariKT & Brothei-s. In 1825 "the firm was estab- 




lished at Nos. 81 and 82 Cliff street. James Harper 
sustained throughout his life his devotion to the 
cause of temperance and religion. After he re- 
moved from Ids house in Rose street to the upper 
part of the eitv, he united with the congregation of 
St. Paul's church in Fourth avenue. There was 
nothing bigoted or fanatical about him, and his per- 
sonal relations with men of different religious views 
were uniformly of the plcasantest chai-acter. He 
was remarkable for his spirit of toleration and for 
the kindly way in which he excused the faidts and 
aberrations of others. In politics he was a whig as 
long as that party lasted, and in 1844 was elected 
mayor of the city of New York, a position in which 
heViiuPfl tlie respect of all who had occasion to 
come in contact with him. He was frequently 
asked to be a caudirlate for other important offices, 
but always declined, preferring to devote himself to 
his business. One dav he was driving near Central 
Park, when the jiole of his carriage broke and the 
horses became frightened and ran away. Mr, Har- 
per and his daughter, who was with him, were 
thrown violently'fo the pavement, and while she 
fortunately escaped serious injury, her father was 
taken insensible to St. Luke's Hospital, never re- 
gained consciousness, and died on the following 
Saturday, March 25, 1869, 

HARPER, John, was born at Newtown, L. I., 
Jan. 22, 17!»7. Having been apjuenticed to a print- 
er, as was the case with his elder 
brother, James, he soon gained the 
reptUafion of being a first-class com- 
positor and pressman. When the 
firm became Harper & Brothers, 
to John Harper fell the duty of 
financial manager, which include 
the purcha.se of all stock, material 
and machinery. He was a man 
of calm, judicial mind — never Hur 
ried, unusually clearheaded luif 
businesslike. .\II his transactions 
were conducted. a|i|iarenlly. wiili 
ease, and alw.-iys courteously and 
with a due sense of justice. In ])ri- 
vate life John Harper was remark- 
able for his simple and tuiostenta- 
tious ta.stes and liabits. His chief 
recreation was driving a lively 
team of horses, which became well known to the 
habiltu's of Harlem L.ane. After the death of his 
brother James, John Harper, although he then be- 
came the senior member of the firm, eea.sed to take 
an active part in the business. In 1872 he suffered 




^"^ 



448 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 




a severe paralytic stroke, and a second in 1875, in 
which year, on tlie evening of Apr. 22d, he died, in 
tlie seventy-ninth year of his age. 

HABPEB, Joseph Wesley, was born at New- 
town, L. I., Dec. 25, 1801. He was the third child 
of his parents, and was always a delicate boy. He 
was only ten years of age wlieii his brothers. .lames 
and John, began their appreiitici-sliip to printers in 
New V(irk. "When Wesley, with 
his youniier bruther. Fletcher, be 
{(an his apprenticeship with .1. i.t .1. 
5lar|)er he was under twenty, but 
he was industrious and earnest, 
and he soon mastered the trade of 
printing. He was an esjiecially 
skillfurproof-reader. and his duty 
in this direction naturally familiar 
ized him, in the course of time, 
witli llic best English literature, 
which was reprinted by the liouse 
and proof-read by him. He be 
came foreman of the compo,sing 
room, and through the sweetness 
of liis disposition and the gcner 
osity of liis nature, exerci.scil an 
e.xtraonliiiary power over the nicu 
who worked under him. Wlicn 
Wesley and Fletcher were admitted to the firm, the 
former undertook the corresi)ondence — a most im- 
portant part of the business. Soon after entering the 
firm he married and settled in Brooklyn, where he 
reared a large family. He was always in delicate 
health, and was frequently obliged to make short 
voyages or trijis int<i the couutrj- for the purpo.se of 
gaming strensth to enable him to cany on his work. 
He died Feb."l4. 1870. 

HABPEB, Fletcher, was born .Tan. 31, 180(5. 
He was the youngest of the four brothers, and after 
having served his apprenticeship with the firm and 
become a partner in 182.">. he soon, like the other 
brothers, fell into his natural iilace in the bouse and 
became one of its sustaining iiillars. In the arrange 
ment which grew up naturally, 
James Harper superintended the 
mechanical operations of the estab- 
lishment; Jolin made most of the 
purcha.ses and became the tinau- 
cial manager of the firm; Wesley 
read the tinal (iroofs of the most 
important w(nks, while conduct 
iug the correspondence of the 
house; and Fletcher, after being 
for a time foreman of the compos 
ingroom. grew into the charge of 
the publishing depaitments. It 
was to his suggestion that the pub 
licaticm of tlie " Weekly " and the 
" Ha/.ar" was due; while the idea 
of the " Maira/ine " originated 
with James Harper Fletcher Har 
writer himself, but he was always 
shrewd and acute in his suggestions to the editors. 
Like his lirothers he was a life long and consi.sient 
nientber of the ilethodist denomination. In private 
life he was genial and lio,si)italile Ilarin-i A: Brothers 
have urown to be the lart'esl publishing house in the 
United States, and juobably in the world Before 
1825 the firm gave employment to fifty hands and 
kept ten large hand-presses constantly in use: re 
niovins; in tlial year to Cliff street, the demands 
of their business required the addition of one 
building after another, and at as early a period 
as was practicable steam power was introduced 
into their establishm<Mit, and every new discovery 
and invention wliieh could be of use to them 
was apiilied to their business. The firm began 
stereotvping their works in 1830. From that time 




per was not a 



forward they became known for their collec- 
tions of staiidard publications, and the firm was 
rapidly achieving the highest success when, on Dec. 
10, 1853, it met with a terrible blow in the destruction 
of its building's by tire. A plundjcr, who was en- 
gaged in mending some pipes on the premises, threw 
a bit of lighted paper in a trough which he tlioughC 
contained water. It was actually filled with cam- 
phine, used for cleaning ink rollers. It burst into 
fiaiuc, which almo.st instantly swept through the 
rooms, and in a few hours the nine buildings, where- 
in were conducted the operations of the house, were 
totally destroyed, the loss being nearly a million dol- 
lars. The brothers met immediately after this catas- 
trophe at the residence of Mr. John Harper, to make 
arrangements for rebuilding. Soon after, the present 
structure was planned, e.Mending between C'lilf .street 
and Franklin Square; a fire-proof building, oi rather 
two buildings united by biidges. The Franklin 
Square building is five stories high ahove the street, 
and contains the business olhces, warerooms, edito- 
rial rooms, and the art and engraving depart inents. 
The Clilf street building is si.x stories high, and 
therein are conducted the various processes of hook- 
making, which are complete from the lype-selliug 




and electrotypingto the stitching, binding and letter- 
ing. Fronting Franklin Square, and oeeupyiiig the 
fir.st floor above the .street, are the book store and 
counting-rooms, in the latter of which, facing the 
windows, are to be daily seen the members of the 
third generatiini of the Harper & Brothers, engaged 
in the condtu-t of the business of the firm. The 
basement stoiy of the Cliff street buildim; isdevoted 
to the engine-rooms and press-rooms of the " Week- 
ly," "Ba/.ar," " Yotuig People," and " Fraidiliu 
Square Library." The second stoiy contains the 
]n-esses devoted to the " JIagazine " aial book work. 
Sheets are dried and jiresscd by steam on the next 
tioor; and on the others are the folding, collating, 
stitching, binding and e!e(ir<ityping r<i<ims The 
groun<l area of tlie building is about three fourlhs 
(>f an acre It is thoroughly fire-|iroof, well-lighled 
and ventilated. The whole num'oer of employes 
in tlie establishment is about 1,000. \\'liile, as 
book publishers, Harper «.t Brothers have conduclcd 
a va.st businc.ss of the greatest importance to the lit- 
erature and education of the country, it is in their 
periodicals that lliey have made, perhaps, their most 
extraordinary success. " Hai'iicr's Magazine," es- 
tablislied ill "l^i50, gave a new imiietus to jieriodieal 
lileialure, whi<-li has since become such a field for 
aulhorship and artistic elTort. Itsiiifiuence upon art, 
taste and general culture can hardly be overestimated. 
A second periodical, in all rcsiiecis reprc.sentali\'e of 
Ihetiisteaud liberality of the Hariiers, and one which 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



449 



has, moreover wielded great influence, social and 
political, IS "Harper's Weekly, a Journal of Civil- 
ization, whose lirst number was issued Jan 3 1857 
This paper, which was suggested and originated by 
Mr. Fletcher Harper, has been remarkable for the 
high character of its literary and art work, and not 
less for the remarkable force and vitality of its edi- 
torials. Its services during the civil war were of 
the greatest value to the country, while hardiv 
less so, in relation to the city of N'ew York in the 
vigor and earnestness with which it handled the 
corruptions of the Tweed "ring." "Harpers Ba 
zar," more particularly devoted to the interest and 
taste of women; and "Harper's Young People" 
which sup])lies appropriate illustrated literature fir 
children, complete the list of periodicals published 
by Harper & Brothers. Among the editors con- 
nected with the Harpers have been Henry J Rav 
mond. who was editor of the "Magazine" durino- 
the first three years of its existence; ^George Ripley 
and Dr. Alfred H. Gueru.sey, who succeeded him in 
that position; and Henry M. Alden, who has been 
the editor since 1869. Mr. George William Curtis 
has ha(i the charge of the "Editor's Easy Chair " of 
the " Magazine " for many years, besides having the 
editorial supervision of the " Weekly." The" fir.st 
editor of the "Editor's Drawer" in the "Magazine" 
was Lewis Gaylord Clark, who was succeeded bv S 
IremBus Prime, who was followed bv W^ A Seiver 
and Charles Dudley Warner. The catalogue of the 
inibhcations ol Harper & Brothers is in itSelf a con- 
siderable volume of 200 pages. Prominent in this is 
Harpers ■ Library of Select Novels," which was for 
many years so popular with the readers of fiction 
and which mduded 61.5 numbers. Tliis series was 
replaced by Harper's " Franklin Square Library" 
which ran tbrough 700 numbers; while tbe "Handy 
N-r.es, ;• Half-Hour Series," "Library of American 
J-ictioii, and others, have been convenient forms for 
their respective clas.ses of books. The inde.x to 
^^'Pe'^^^^l^Saime," from the beainuing down to 
1888, IS a large octavo volume, and is a comprehen- 
sive key to a perfect library of literary wealth. 
Fletcher was the last one of all the brothers, pass- 
ing away, after a long illness, on May 39 1877 

ALDEN, Henry Mills, author and klitor,' was 
born on Mount Tab,>r, near Danbv Borough, Rut- 
land Co., Vt„ l^ov. 11. 1836. HJ is the di^iith in 
descent from .John Alden of Puri- 
tan fame. His childhood, up to his 
si.xth year, was spent in a mountain 
solitude, the Bible, nature and a 
good mother his only instructors. 
His parents then removed from 
\ermont to Hoosick Falls in New 
1 ork state, where he attended the 
common schools until he was four- 
teen, most of his time, however 
, being given to work in a cot- 
, ton factory. At fourteen he began 
to prepare for collese, and after 
two years' study he" entered Wil- 
lianis, where he was graduated in 
18o7, having paid liis way throuah 
a fouryears' course by teachingdur- 

c+,,^0. , .-„r.„. '"»""^^""''^'''^- Among his fellow- 
Sttldent.s at W^illiams were Charies A. Stark. Horace 
E. Nudder, Jaines A. Garfield, and E.x-Senator In- 
galls He went from college directly to the Andover 
Iheologica! Seminary, one of the principal nltrac- 
tions tliere being a well-stocked classicld library. 
Jhe three years he passed at the seminary we're 
given almost entirely to the readin- of " Greek 
autliors, which bore fruit in two artk^les on the 
^Eeusmian Mysteries," contributed bv him to the 
R,w „ f f -Monthly," wliich were accepted by James 
Russell Lowell, then its editor. On the same day 




\^^^.a/i^ 



when he was graduated from Andover he delivered 

the master's oration at Williams on the " Hellenic 
Ijpe ot Man. He also wrote the class hymn for 
the Andover graduation exercises. He was licens- 
ed to preach, but was never settled over a church 
in I8bl he took up his residence in New York 
city, where his only acquaintance was his former 
college associate, Horace E. Scudder. He taueht 
and wrote editoruils for leading daily papers, tnd 
m the suimner of tliat year married, at Andover, 
Susan F. Fo.ster, with whom he had become ac- 
quainted during his theological course. For some 
time he supported his family by writing and teach- 
ing, occasionally contributing an article to the " At- 
antic Monthly," until August, 1863, when he en- 
tered the service of the eminent publishing house 
ot Harper & Brothers, taking Richard Grant White's 
place as collaborator with Dr. A. H. Guernsey in 
wntmg " Harper's Pictorial History of the R^bel- 
lon, and m reading manuscript ofl'ered for publica- 
ton. In 1864 he succeeded Mr. John Bonner as 
the editor of "Harper's Weekly," and .since 1869 he 
has been the editor of "Harper's Magazine " In the 
winter of 1863-64 he delivered before the Lowell 
institute, of Boston, a series of lectures on "The 
Structure of Paganism." an amplification of his 
papers in the "Atlantic." Mr. Alden has con- 
tnbuted numerous poems and prose articles to 
Harpers Magazine," ar.d is the author of a well- 
known poeni, "The Ancient Lady of Sorrow, " and of 
God in His World; An Interpretation," a work 
Which published anonymously in the sprino- of 1890 
created a profound impression among relbnous think- 
?'"^'-, o'io ^****'-''* t'"'0"gli several editions wtthin a year 
In 1888 he received from Williams College tlie de- 
^rcG 01 Jjlj.i). '~ 

;„ ^A°f ^-^^^^^^ ^°^'^ '^•' io"nialist, was born 
in Adams county. O.. Dec. 5, 1845. He was edu- 
cate m the coinmon schools of his native place, and 
at the age of fourteen learned the 
Jirinter's trade in the oftice of a 
countiy newspaper, at West Union, 
O. In the eariy part of the civil 
war. July. 1861, he enlisted as a 
musician in the 24th Ohio regi- 
ment, serving under Gens. Rose- 
crans and Reynolds in West 'V^ir- 
ginia, and under Gen. Buell with 
the army of the Ohio, until 1863, 
when he was mustered out of ser- 
vice. He was afterward a bugler 
ill the artillery of the Ohio National 
Guard, in which capacity he saw 
some service. In 1865 he became 
owner and editor of the "True Tele- 
graph," a weekly newspaper pub- 
lished in Hamilton. O.. and in 1868 
edited for a short time the "Daily Ledger," of Day- 
'?'^i i , H'V''^'' became a member of the editorial 
stall ot the Cincinnati "Enquirer," and in 1872 was 
made managing editor of tliat journal, retainino- ihe 
position until 1877, when he went to Europe to art as 
correspondent during the Russo-Turkish war. Upon 
his return, in 1878. he a.ssisted in the establishment 
of the Washington "Post," after which, in 1879 he 
removed to St. Louis, where he served as mauarrinr 
editor of the ■ ' Evening Post-Dispatch. " He retained 
this position until 1,883, when he came to New York 
city to a,ssi.st m building up the New York " Worid. " 
He was ass<iciate editor, managing editor, and editor- 
in-chief of that jiaper. resigning fhe last-named posi- 
tion m May. 1891, to become editor of the New York 
"t()inmercial Advertiser" and the "Morning Ad- 
vertiser. When yU: Coekerill joined the " Worid " 
It stoofl lowest in the list of the five irreat morninc 
nevvspapcrs of the city. He saw it take a foremost 
position lu point of circulation and influence 




■3«Uvv J\.. \aoiAij,iXi. 



450 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 




DTJRRETT, Reuben Thomas, jurist and his- 
torical writer, was burn in Ik-nrv county, Kv., 
Jan. 33, 1834, a son of William andElizabfth (Kaw- 
lings) Durrett. The Durretts arc of French origin, 
and the family traditions dale back to Louis Durct, an 
eminent French physician and autlKirwho Hoiirished 
about the middle of the sixteenth century. He was 
the author of several learned books and especially of 
a commentary in Greek, Latin, 
and Frencli, upon the works of 
Hippocrates, wliich was tirst pub- 
lished in Paris in l.WH. It is a 
venerable folio bound in thick 
boanls covered with vclhun and 
now in the piisscssiun (jf the sub- 
ject of this sketch. Mr. Durrett 
also has other venerable volumes 
of which difTerent members of 
the family were authors, and 
which are quaint specimens of 
the arts of printinp; and bindini; 
in earlj' times. Amoni; these may 
be mentioned: "A Commentary 
on the Cu.sloms of the Dutch." 
by Jean Durct, a folio publi.slicd 
at Lyons in 1584; "A Treatise 

/'yi^yjZyr^'!?/'^ on tlie Causes and Effects of 
-■ <cri<^n^e^<<. Tijys," by Claude Dtnet, an oc- 
tavo published at Paris in 1(!00; 
" A History of the Laui;uascs of the East, " by Claude 
Duret, a quarto publisiied at Cologne in 1613. After 
the massacre of St. Bartholemew."some of the Durets 
crossed the channel and settled in England. In 1644 
Christopher Duret was prominc-ntly connected with 
the Ba])tists in London, and his name appears sub- 
scribed to the articles of faith put forlh that year. 
In England, the French pronounciatiun wasdroiiped 
and the name |iriiiiiiuMci-d Duret as it was spelled, 
instead of Duray as the French liad it. In the course 
of time this English pronounciation was emphasized 
by doubling the /■ and the t which produced the 
name Durrett. Early in the eiglitceiitb century three 
brothers, John, Kicliard. and I5arlliolomew Durrett 
came from England to Spollsylvania couiuy, Va., 
where they purchased lands and' permanently .settled. 
From these three Virginian ancestors all the Durretts 
in the United Slates have descended. Francis Dur- 
rett, the grandfather of the .subject of this sketch, 
was with Gen. George Rogers ('lark in the Illinois 
campaigns of 1778-79, but returned to Virginia in- 
stead of settling at once, as others did, in the new 
country. Early in the present centtiry, however, he 
removed to Kentucky and .settled u|iiin land which 
be purcha.sed in Henry county. Here William, the 
oldest son of Francis, and the' father of .Mr. Durrett, 
became a wealthy farmer and erected uiion liis plan- 
tation the tirst brick hou.se that was built in Ih'ury 
county. That liouse stands to-day as .sound as it was 
when erected nearly a century ag'o. After receiving 
•such educational advanlages" as the schools of his 
native counly afforded. Reuben went to Georgelown 
College, at Georgetown. Kv., in 1S44 and reniaine(l 
there until 1846. He then'weiit to Brown Univer- 
sity, in Providence, R. I., where he was srradualed 
with the degree of A. IJ. in 1849. The same year 
he entered the law dejiartment of the University of 
Louisville, where, liy suiierior ap])licalioii, he com- 
bined the course of siudv for two years into one, and 
was graduated with tli'e degree of LL.H., in IS.'iO. 
In 185;j the degree of A.M. was conferred upon him 
by Brown University, for continued advancement in 
learning. Imniediiitely after leavim; the law school, 
Mr. Durrett began the'iiraclice of law in Ijonisvillo. 
His knowledge of Greek. Latin, French, Italian, 
Sjianish, and German, and his rare gifts as speaker 
and as writer contributed lari;elv to his succes.s. 
After continuing at the practice of law for thirty 



years, he was able to retire in 1880 upon the compe- 
tency he had earned. A number of his speeches to 
juries and arguments to courts were deemed worthy 
of publication, and appeared in the newspapers of 
the time. His speech in defence of Heitz for the 
murder of Lob.stein, published in the "Courier- 
Journal " of Jan. 39. 1871, and his argument in be- 
half of that paper in defence of tlie libel suit of Hull, 
March 30, 1873. are specimens of learning, style and 
eloquence which have seldom been surpa.sseo in the 
Louisville court-house. His fame as an orator, how- 
ever, will more permanently rest upcm his oration* 
prepared for public occasions. When lie was grad- 
uated from the law .school in 1850, he delivered the 
valeilictory and it was so much admired that it was 
published and highly prai.sed in the new.spapers. 
His Fourth of July oration, at the invitation of the 
city council of Louisville in 18.53. his address before 
the Jlechanics' Institute of Louisville in 1S.50, and 
Ins centennial oration in LouLsville in 1880, all of 
which were iniblished at the dates of delivery, were 
so replete with learning and so beautifully written 
that they cannot fail to occupy a permanent place in 
literature. In his earlier years Mr. Durrett yielded 
to an imagination w liich demanded the expression of 
thoughts in verse, and had he not acquired distinc- 
tion in other lines, he might have been widely known 
as a poet. In poetry he was exceedingly versatile 
and jia-ssed from the hunnirous to the grave with 
marked facility. His serious humor, however, pre- 
dominated and his best prcwluctions may be consid- 
ered in this vein. His "Night Scene at Drennon's 
Springs," in 1850; his "TlioughtsOver the Grave of 
Rev. Thomas Smith," in 1853, and his "Old Year 
and New in the Coliseum at Rome," in 1856. each of 
which was ]niblislied when written, are tine speci- 
mens of classic thought e.xpres.sed in blank verse. 




It is as a prose writer, however, that Mr. Durrett 
will be most favorably and most enduringly known. 
As soon as he left college he began writing for the 
newspapers and jieriodieals. Most of his arliclesjip- 
peared in print as editorials or over anonymous sig- 
natures so that he got no credit for them except 
among a few intimate friends. From 1857 to 1859 
he was the editor of the Louisville "Courier." and 
his leaders, always distinguished for their broad 
range of knowledge and vigor of style, made him an 
enviable reputation as a journalist. AftiT r<'tiring 
from the biir in IS.SO, lie devoted much of his leisure 
to historic studies, for which he always had an inclina- 
tion. His articles in the "Southern Bivouac" for 
March, Ajuil and May, 1886, on the ' Kentucky Res- 
oluticms " of 1798-!t9, may .serve as s))eciniens of his 
writings in this line He corrected the errors which 
had prevailed for three-quarters of a century con- 




tA.^ /r <Aui^^u^Ur 



COPYRIGHT. 1892, 8V JAUE3 T. WHITE 4 C 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



453 



cerning these celebrated resolutions and placed tlie 

authors and the resolutions themselves in their true 
position in history. His numerous liistoriral articles 
published in the "Courier-Journal " since 18S(), have 
been widely read and much admired for tlieir orig- 
inal research and the new colors with which they in- 
vested important events anil subjects. In 1SS4 a few 
of his associates of similar tastes joined Jlr. Durrett 
in establishing an association in Louisville for co- 
operative effort in the collecting and jireserving and 
publishing of historical matter relating to Kentucky. 
This association was named the Filson Club "in 
honorof John Filson, the first historian of Kentucky, 
and Mr. Durrett, who was made its president, pre- 
pared and read tlie first paper before it. This paper 
was the "Life and Times of John Filson," which 
was published as number one of the series of club 
publications. It is a quarto of 133 pages .so full of 
original matter and so beautifully written that it at 
once gave the cluli a prominent stand among kindred 
associations. Mr. Durrett is also the author of num- 
ber five of the club iniblicalions. entitled "An His- 
torical Sketch of St. Pauls Church, Louisville. Ky." 
The characteristic of Mr. Durrett's historical writ- 
ings is original research, and he invests his new mat- 
ter with such charms of style that it is always a 
plea.sure to read what he has written. In his literary 
studies, ilr. Durrett has always bought the books he 
neeiicd, and in thus iiurchasing from year to year, 
he iias accumulated a large and valuable library. 
The volumes ai.J pam]ihlets and papers and manu- 
scripts upon his shelves number more than 50,000, 
and he is adding to them every day. His collection 
embraces the best works in almost every branch of 
human knowledge, but is particvdarly rich in history, 
especially American history. In Kentucky histories 
and Kentucky books, his collection surpasses those 
of all others combined. He has made it an object to 
secure every book about Kentucky or Kcntuckians, 
or that was written by a Kentuckian or even printed 
in Kentucky. He has thus covered the whole field 
of Kentucky bibliography, and the other libraries of 
the world contain nothing to comjiare with his col- 
lection. He is so familiar with his books that he can 
promptly lay his hands on any one of his 50,000 vol- 
umes without the aid of a catalogue; but betterthan 
this, he is as familiar with the contents of his books 
as he is with their location upon the shelves. In 
recognition of his varied attainments, Mr. Durrett 
has been made a member of niunerous historical, 
scientific, and learned .societies in this country and in 
Europe. Unlike most men distinguished for learn- 
ing, he has a clear busine.ss head and sound judg- 
ment which has weight among men of affairs. As 
president, vice-president, director, trustee, commis- 
sioner, etc.. he is connected with various corporations 
in Louisville, and is noted for giving as luiremitting 
attention to those of a charitable as to those of a busi- 
nes-s character. He is a man of broad benevolence 
and contributes liberally to all tbccharities which he 
deems worthy. In 1S.V.J Mr. Durrett was married to 
Elizabeth II. Bates, the only daughter of Caleb and 
Elizabeth (Humphreys) Bates of Cincinnati, Ohio. 
Mrs. Durrett was a lady of rare intellectual attain- 
ments, and. like her husband, had literary ta.stes. 
There were but few gmid books in the accessible 
range of literature whiili had nut cciiUriluited to lier 
knowledge, and Mr. Durrett owcsnuu-hof his varied 
learning an<i culture to the companionship of his 
gifted wife. She bore him four children, three of 
•whom preceded her to the grave and one of whom, 
Lily Hates Durrett, who died at the dawn of young 
■womanhood, had written a series of letters from 
Europe and from Florida which were published in the 
" CiiurierJournal " in the winter .and spring of IS.Sd, 
and which gave abunchint proof th.'it she had inherit- 
ed her father's gifts a:i a writer. The only survivor 



of their children is Dr. 'Wm. T. Durrett, of Louis- 
ville, Ky. Mr. Durrett is a well-preserved man of 
health and vigor, who bids fair to be among those 
who. at the age of seventy-si.x, will cross over from 
the nineteenth to the twentieth century. He belongs 
to the school of old Virginia gentlemen, now so rare, 
and his hospitable home is ever open to tho.se who 
wish to .see him. His collection of books and antiq- 
uities has made him a kind of show in Louisville, 
whither strangers as well as acquaintances resort, 
with an assurance of seeing something worth seein" 
and learningsomething worth learning. He is never 
more delighted th.-m when in his great librarj' with 
one or more persons in .search of information from 
i-are books and manuscripts. In this way most liter- 
ary persons at home and many from abroad have 
been placed under obligations to him; and his con- 
stant regret is that he has not been able to do more 
good to others with his books. 

DONNELLT, Eleanor Cecilia, author, was 
born in Philailelphia, Pa.. Sept. 6, 1848, in the old 
family homestead on Pine street, near Sixth, situated 
in a locality ripe with the traditions of colonial times. 
She has always resided in her ancestral home. The 
Donnellys are one of the oldest 
Catholic families in Philadelphia, 
her father. Philip Carroll Donnelly, 
was a distintinguished physician of 
that city. Miss Donnelly began to 
write at an early age. Whc-n but 
nine years old, she composed verse 
which was published. She has 
since been a prolific writer, having 
received from her gifted brother, 
Ignatius Donnelly, the most care- 
ful training. In 1873 she publish- 
ed her first volume of poems, en- 
titled "Out of Sweet Solitude." 
Two years later " Domas Die " ap- 
peared, and in 1880 she published a 
volume for the benefit of the Irish 
famine fund, entitled "The Legend 
of the Best Beloved, and Other Po- 
ems, " and in 1881 a collection of 
legends and lyrics, called "Crowned 
with Stars." A number of other equally meri- 
torious works have followed in rapid succession. 
One of Miss Donnelly's poems, "The Vision of the 
Monk Gabriel." has excited unusual comment and 
controversy, from the fact that Mr. Longfellow was 
supposed by some to have borrowed from it the idea 
of his " Legend Beautiful." Besides her numerous 
other works, IMiss Donnelly has i.ssued two metrical 
collections set to music. "A Garland of Festival 
Days," and "Hymns of the Sacred Heart." Nota- 
ble among her hymns is the " Jidjilee Hymn," com- 
posed for tlie Golden Jubilee of the priesthood of 
Pope Leo XIII., December, 1887. This hymn was 
presented to the Pope by a member of the Papal 
court, together with an Italian tran-slation prepared 
for the occasion by a theological professor. Sliss 
Doimelly is a frequent and welcome contributor to 
the current perio<iicals, one of the regular contribu- 
tors to the ' 'Ave JIaria, " and verses from her ]ien have 
appeared in all the leading Catholic magazines and 
paiH-r<. 

COFFIN, Joshua, antiquarian, was born in New- 
bury, ^la.ss., Oct. 12, 1792. He was graduated from 
Dartmouth College in 1817, and beciime a teacher. 
Whittier was one of his pupils, and his poem, entitled 
"To My Old Schoolmaster," is addres,sed to him. 
Mr. Collin was one of the founders of the New Eng- 
land Anti-Slavery Swiety, its first recording secre- 
tary, and was an earnest worker in the cause. He 
was a contributor to various magazines, and wrote 
" The History of Ancient Newbury " (Boston, 1845), 




454 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOP.EDIA 



HOLMES, Oliver Wendell, author, -n-as born 
at Camliriasc', Mass., A\i,i.'. 2!», 1SU9, the son of Sarah 
WeniU-ll ami Abiel Hohiifs, who was a t;iuiliialc of 
Yale C'oHcge in 1783, and for forty j'ears jiaslor of 
the first churcli in (-ainhridge. Through his niotlier 
Dr. Holmes is of distinguished Duteli and EngHsh 
descent and through liis father is descended from 
English ancestors quite as worthy. Through his 
motlier he is rehited to the Wendells, Qnin<-ys, and 
Jacksons, the Qniucys having lieen among the first 
settlers of Boston, and gave a president to Harvard; 
to the Olivers, one of wlioni was lieutenant-gov- 
ernor of Boston; to Gov. Bradstreet, and is dis- 
tantly related to Wendell Phillips. Richard Henry 
Dana, and William Ellery C'hanning, The first 
Holmes of this branch of the family was Thomas 
Holmes, of London, a lawyer. .John Holmes .settled 
at Woodstock, Comi.. in iOSO. and was one of th(^ 
first proprietors of this new town, settled by a col- 
ony from Hoxbury, Mass. David, Oliver's iiateriial 
grandfather, served in the French and Indian wars 
as captain, and at the first news of the battle of 
Lexington he joined the army as surgeon, serving 
nearly four years, when, liroken in health, he re- 
turned home, and soon after died. In ISO? Hev. 
Abiel Holmes moved into the historic gambrel- 
roofed house in Cambridge, where the poet was 
born two years later. This old 
house was selected by General-in- 
Chief Artemas Ward, as his head- 
quarters; liere the occupation of 
Bunker Hill was plamied. and 
Gen. Wa.shington was entertain- 
ed; Gen. Warren rested here on 
his waj' to Bunker Hill, and here 
Benedict Arnold received his first 
commission. Oliver went to a 
school at Cambridgeport, for 
aljout five years, where he had 
for schoolmates Alfred Lee. after- 
ward Bishop of Delaware, Jlarga- 
ret Fuller, and R. II. Dana, and 
then to Phillips Academy at An- 
dover, to jjrepare for college, and 
w here for a few days he was very 
homesick. It is said that his par- 
ents sent Iiira to Audover with the 
hope that he might become a clergyman. It was liere 
he made his first attempt at versification, a translation 
from the first book of the ■'.■Eneid."in heroic couplets. 
He was graduated from Harvard in 1829. in the class 
with William H. Clianning. Prof. Benjamin Pierce. 
James Freeman Clarke. Rev. S. F. Smith, and Ben- 
jamin It. Curtis. He contributed twenty -five poeius 
to one of the college periodicals. "The t'ollegian" — 
some of which have not been surpassed by his later 
production.s — delivered the poem at commencement, 
and was one of the sixteen menil)ers elected to the Plii 
Beta Kapjia society. In the following year, when 
it was proposed to break up the old frigate Con- 
stitution. Holmes wrote his poem " Old Ironsides," 
one of the finest patriotic lyrics in the lauginige, be- 
ginning, 

" Ay, tear her tattered ensign down ! " 
which was" published in the Boston " Advertiser," 
saved the ship, was extensively coi)ied in other \ni- 
pers, and gave tlie author a wide reputation. For 
a year after leaving college he studied at the 
Cambridge Law School under Judge Story and Mr. 
Ashmun, during which time lie prod\iced many of 
his most famous humorous pieces, including " Even- 
ing by a Tailor," and "The Height of the Ridicu- 
lous." With Epes Sargent and Park Benjamin, in 
1833. he contributed five or six poems to a gift-book, 
entitled "The Harl)inger," a collection made at tlie 
suggestion of Dr. Sanniel G. Howe, which was sold 
for the benefit of the asylum for the blind. He sub- 




^C^C y^e<a&^^c^^^ 



sequently studied medicine under Dr. James .Tack- 
son, and in the spring of 1833 went aliroad. where ho 
st\idied medicine, chiefly in Paris, relurned to Amer- 
ica in the autumn of 183,'), and received his degree 
of M.D. in 183(i. In August of that year he deliv- 
ered before the Phi Beta Kai>pa society Iiis long 
piK-m in ihymed heroics, entitled "Poetry, a .Metri- 
cal Es.say." designed to express some general truths 
on the sources and the machinery of poetry. At 
this time he was described as "extremely youthful 
in his appearance. bid)l)ling over with the mingled 
liuinor and (lathos that have alw.ays marked his po- 
etry, and sparkling with coruscations of his peculiar 
genius, his Phi Beta Kappa |ioem of 183(i. delivered 
with a clear, ringing enunciation, which imparled 
to the hearers his own enjoyment of his thoughts 
and expressions, delighted a cultivated audience to 
a very uncommon degree." In tlie same year he 
jmblished his first volume of poems, containing 
among others "The Last Leaf," a favorite of Abra- 
ham Lincoln's, who said, "for pure pathos, in my 
judgment, there is nothing finer than those six lines 
in tiie English language." He referred to the follow- 
ing verse: 

" The mossy marbles rest 
On the li]is that he has pressed 

In their bloom. 
And the names he loved to hear 
Have lieen carved for many a year 
On the tomb." 
In 1839 lie was appointed professor of anatomy and 
])hy.siology at Darlmoulh College, and in 1840 ho 
married Amelia Lee. daughter of Judge Charles 
Jackson, of the supreme court of Massachusetts, re- 
signed his in-ofessorship at Dartmouth, and settled 
in Boston to practice his profession. During the 
summer of 1849. and for several consecutive sum- 
mers, heocciiiiied a house at Pittsfield. >Iass., where 
he hatl as neighbors Herman Melville, G. P. R. 
James, Miss Si'diiwick. Fanny Kemble and Haw- 
thorne. In 184T Dr. Holmes was aiiiioiiiled to suc- 
ceed Dr. John C. Warren as professor of aiialomy 
and ]iliysiology in the Harvard Medical School, and 
at about the same time he became a lyeeum lecturer, 
and was mvich in demand for several years. He 
received tiiree of the Boylston prizes for medical 
dissertations, and his essays were published together 
in 1838. He has. besidesthis. published several sci- 
entific works and several voluines of poems. In 
18.V.> he delivered in several cities a course of lec- 
tures on the "English Poetsof the Nineteenth Cen- 
tuiy." On the establishment of the "Atlantic 
Monthly," in 1857, Dr. Holiues became one of its 
contributors. His first contributions were in the 
form of a series of conversational jiapers. entitled 
"The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table." which con- 
tained some of his best poems. An I'minent critic 
.says: " Possibly his near friends had no just idea_ of 
his versatile talent until lie put forth the most taking 
.serial in (irose that ever established the jirestige of a 
new magazine. At forty -eight he began a new 
career, as if it were granted liim to live life over, 
wilh the wisdom of middle-age in his favor at the 
start. Coniiiii;-. in a sense, like an author's first book, 
•The .\utocral of the Breakf.asI -Table ' naturally 
was twi<-e as clever as any " first book ' of the pe- 
riod." This was followed by a similar series, " The 
Professorat the Breakfast -Talde," writleu somewhat 
in the mama'r of Sterne, yet without niuiii artifice. 
The Story of Iris has been called "an interwoven 
thread ol' gold." After a long interval a|)i)eared 
" The Poet at the Breakfast-Table," of a more seri- 
ous cast tlian its predecessors. In his preface he 
says that these papers were the fulfillment of a plan 
that was conceived twenty-five years before, when 
he published in the " New- England ^lagazine " two 
articles under the title of "The Autocrat of the 








^^'^^^^^U^ 



COPVRIOHT, 1693, BY JAMES T. WHITE A CO. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



457 



BreakfastTiilile." His novels, "Elsie Venner " and 
" The (Juaniiau Angel," were written to illustrate 
a psyeholoirical theory of heredity, and are more re- 
markable as cliaracter-stiidies than as novels. On 
the occasion of his seventieth birthday, in 1879, the 
publishers of the " Atlantic Monthly " gave a break- 
fast in his honor. Jlauy literary celebrities were 
present, and Dr. Hohnes read lii;! poem entitled 
" The Iron Gate," whicli he wrote for the occasion, 
and wliich lias been called " tlie finest creation of 
his senius," with the exception of "The Chambered 
Nautilus." In 1882 Dr. Holmes resigned his posi- 
tion as Parkman professor of anatomy at Harvard, 
for the purpose of devoting himself to literary work, 
and was immediately appointed professor emeritus. 
In November of that year he delivered his last lec- 
ture before the students. He is described as being 
a little under the mediimi height, as quick and nerv- 
ous in his movements, and conveys, in speaking, the 
inijiression of energy and intense vitality. He is said 
to " have a poet's sensitiveness to noises, and a dread 
of persons of superabundant vitality and aggressive- 
ness. " Dr. Holmes said that as a child he was 
afraid of the tall masts of schooners and ships, and 
used to cover up his eyes from them. ^[r. Kennedy, 
who has written his "life, .says; "Holmes is one of 
the last survivors of an illustrious group of writers 
who lived in an epoch of great intellectual brilliancy 
— the era of Transcendentalism. He belongs to what 
may, perhaps, be known to posterity as the Concord 
school, the writers belonging to which have, one and 
all, liased their intellectual creations upon the moral, 
and whether they have sung, or leitured, or written 
fiction, have never failed to reveal the fact of their 
Puritan antecedents by deftly wreathing the lus- 
trous flowers of their thought around some hidden 
sermon, some practical moralization, or some useful 
lesson in life. Holmes was brought up in a Calvin- 
istic family. . . . The one persistent purpose 
running all through the prose writings of our 
author has been to attack the effete ceclesiasti- 
cism of the Calvini.slic creed. . . . The central 
core of him is bravery, honesty, kindliness ; and it 
is as a writer of hiunorous poetry that Holmes 
excels." K. C. Stedman, in the " Century," 
says: "The distinction between his [Holmes's] 
poetry and tliat of the new makers of society-verse 
is, that his is a survival, theirs the attempted re- 
vival, of something that has gone before. 
Holme.s's early pieces, mostly col lege- verse, were 
better of their kind than tho.seOf a better kind writ- 
ten in youth by some of his contemporaries. The 
humbler the type, the sooner the develoi)ment. . . 
. There are other eighteenth-century survivors, 
whose sponsors are formality and dullness; but 
Holmes has the modern vivacity, and adjusts with- 
out effort even the most hackneyed measures to a 
new occasion. Throughout the changes of fifty 
years he has practiced the measures familiar to his 
youth, thinking it fit and natural, and one to which 
he would do well to cling. The conservative con- 
sistency of his nuise is as not.Mble in matter as in 
maimer. On the whole, so far as we can cla.s.sify 
him. he is at the head of his class, and in other re- 
spects a class l)y himself. Though the most direct 
and obvious of the Cambridge giou]i, the least given 
to subtilties, he is our typical imiver.sity poet; the 
minstrel of the college that bred liim, and within 
whose liberties he has taught, jested, sung, and 
toasted, from bovliocKl to what in comnton folk 
would be old age. . . . The jioet of ' The 
Last Leaf ' was among the first to teach his coun- 
trymen that pathos is an ecpial part of true humor; 
that sorrow is lightened by jest, and jest redeemed 
from coarseness by emotion, under most conditions 
of this our evanescent human life. . . . The 
thing we first note is his clastic, buoyant nature, dis- 



played from youth to age with cheery frankness, so 
that we instinctively search through his Dutch and 
Puritan ancestries to .see where came in the strain 
that made this Yankee Frenchman of so likable ii 
type. Health begets relish, and Holmes has never 
lacked for zest — zest that gives one the sensations 
best worth living for, if hapjiiness be the true aim 
of life. ... In his early work the mirth so 
often outweighed the sentiment as to lessen the 
promis'e and the self-prediction of his being a poet 
indeed. Some of one's hei'rtblood must .spill for 
this, and, while many of his youthful stanzas are .se- 
rious and eloquent, those which approach the feeling 
of true poetry are in celebration of companionship 
and good cheer, so that he seems like a down-east 
Omar or Hafiz, exemplifying what our gracious Em- 
erson was wont to [ireach, that there is honest wis- 
dom in song and joy. . . . Eloquence was a 
feature of his lyrics. . . . 'The Meeting of the 
Dryads,' another early poem, is marked by so much 
grace that it seems as if the youth who wrote its 
cpiatrains might in time have added a companion- 
piece to 'The Talking Oak.' The things which 
he turned off with ])urely comic aim were ueativ fin- 
ished, and the merriment of a new writer, who dared 




not be ' as fimny ' as he could, did quite as much 
for hira as his poems of a higher class. . . . His 
poetry was and is, like his humor, the overflow of a 
nervous, original, decidedly intellectual nattire; of a 
sparkling life, no less, in which he gathered the full 
worth of heyday experiences. See that glimpse of 
Paris, a student's penciled sketch, with Clemence 
tripping down the Ilue de Seine. It is but a bit, yet 
through its atmosphere we make out a poet who 
cared as much for the sweets of the poetic life as for 
the work that was its product. He had through it 
all a Puritan .sense of diUy, and the worldly wisdom 
that goes with a due [lerception of values, and he 
never lost sight of his i)racti<-al career. His profes- 
sion, after all, was what he took most seriously. Ac- 
cejiting. then, with hearty thanks, his care-dispelling 
rhyme and rea.son. plea.scd often by the fancies which 
he tenders in lieu of imagination and jiower, we go 
through the colleetiim of his verse, and .see that it 
has amounted to a great deal in the course of a bust- 
ling fifty years. These numerous pieces divide them- 
selves, as to form, into two classes — Ij-rics and |)oetic 
essays in solid couplet-verse; as to purpose, into the 
lighter songs that may be sung, and the nobler num- 
bers, part lyrical, part the poems, both siay and 
sober, delivered at frequent intervals during his 
lile.'isant career. In the years that followed 

Ills graduation, while practicing in Boston and after- 
ward a lecturer at Dartmouth, he was summoned, 
nothing loath, whenever a diimer-song or witty bal- 
lad was needed at home, and calls from transpontine 
and barbaric regions came fast upon him as his iiop 



458 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



ularity grew. Ilere arc some forty jirintcd poems, 
which cheered tliat hieky clatssof '2!), anil how many 
others went before auJ after tli<Mn we know iiiif. 
Amonj; collegeiiocts Ihe parairon — and sinely this 
the ideal civic bard, who at the outset boasted "of his 
town, 

"Her threefold hill shall be 
The home of art, the nurse of liberty," 
and who has celebrated her every elTort, in peace or 
war.toniakejioodllicbiiasl. . " . Ihavereferred 
to till' si:indiMtr nf l>r. Holmes as a life-long expert 
in tlie art of writing those natty lyrics, satires, and 
jeux d'enprit, which it has become the usage to des- 
ignate as society-verse. . . . And yet society- 
verse, meaning that which catches the secret of that 
day or t his, may be — as i>()ets old and new have shown 
us — pictwresiiue, even dramatic, and rise to a high 
degree of lumior and of sage or tender thought. 
The consccnlive iioems of one whose fancy jiliiys 
about life as he sci-s it. may be a feast comjilele ;nid 
epicurean, having solid dishes and fantastic, all just- 
ly savored, cooked with discretion, tianked with 
honest wine, and whose <'ates and dainties, even, are 
not designed to cloy. Taken as a whole'. Holmes's 
poetry has regaled us somewhat after this fashion. 
His pieces light and wise — 'C'onleiilment,' the 
' Epilogue to Ihe Hreakfast-lablc t>eries,' 'At the 
Pantomime,' ' A F'amiliar Letter,' etc. — are always 




enjoyable. One or two are exquisite in treatment 
of the past. ' Dorothy Q.,' that sprightly cajjture 
of a portrait's maiden .soul, has given, like 'The 
La.st Leaf,' lessons to admiring pujiils of our time. 
For sheer hunu)r, 'The Otie-hoss Shay,' and ' Par- 
son Turcll's Legacy' are memorable — extravagances, 
but full of character almost as jiurely Yankee as 
'Tarn O'Slianter' is i)urely Scotch In various 
whimsicalities. Holmes sets" the key tor Harte and 
others to follow. 'The First Fan,' read at a bric- 
a-brac festival in 1877, proves him an adept. . . . 
Good and bright as these things are, some of his 
graver work excels them. AVhere most in earnest 
lie is most imaginative: this, of course, is where he 
is most iiilcrcsii'd. and this again, in moods the re- 
sults of his scicntilic l)ent and experience. Here he 
shows himself akin to tho.se who have bolh lightness 
and strength. Thackeray's revereiuial mood, tliat 
was so beautiful, is matched by Ihe feeling which 
Holmes, having the familiarity with Nature that 
breeds contempt in graver men, exhibits in his 
thouglits upon 'The Living Temple.' .... 
There arc charity and tenderness in ' The Voiceless,' 
'Avis,' 'Iris,' and 'Tiie Silent Melody.' . . . 
'The Living Temple' and 'The Chambered Nau- 
tilus' doubtless show \is their writer's finest quali- 
ties, and are not .soon to he forgolteri." The 
things which, after all, sharply distinguish Hohnes 
from other laicts, and conslilule Ihe bulk of his 
work, are Ihe lyrics and metrical essays composed 
for sp<'cial .auiliences or occasions. Starting without 
much creative ambition, and as a bard of mirth and 
sentiment, it is plain that he was subject to faults 



which an easy standard entails. With respect 
to his style, there is no one more free from struc- 
tural whims and vagaries. He has an ear for the 
"classical " forms of English verse, the academic 
measures which still bid fair to hold their own — 
those contirmed by Pope and Goldsmith, and here 
in vogue long after German dreams, Italian languors, 
and the French rataplan had their ellect upon the 
poets of our molherl.'ind across the .sea. His way of 
thoughl, like his style, is straightforward and sen- 
lenlious: bolh are Ihe reverse of what is called 
transcendental. ^Vhcn he has sustained work to do, 
and braces himself for a great occasion, nothing will 
suit but the rhymed i)enlanieter; his heaviest road- 
ster, sixteen hands high, for a long journey. A 
]>hantasmagory of the scmgs, odes, and rhymed ad- 
dresses of so many years; collegiate and civic 
gloiies; tributes to princes, embassies, generals, he- 
roes; weleonies lo novelists and poets; eulogies of 
the dead: ver^e inaugural and dedicatory: stanzas 
read at lilcrary breakfasts. New England dinners, 
mnnlcijial and bucolic feasts; odes natal, nni)tial 
and mortuary; nu'trical delectations otTered to his 
brothers of the medical craft — to which he is so loy- 
al, brislling with scorn of (piaekery and challenge to 
opjjosing systems — not only e(|ual to all occasions, 
but growing belter wilh iheir increase. The half of 
his early colleclions is made up from efforts of this 
.sort, and Ihev conslilute uinclenlhs of his verse dur- 
ing Ihe last thirty years. Now, what has carried 
Holmes so bravely through all this, if not a kind of 
special maslerhood, an individuality, humor, touch, 
that we shall not see again':' Thus we come, in tine, 
to be .sen.sible of the dislinclive gift of this poet. 
The acliievcment for which he must be noted is, 
thai ill ,'1 lield the most arduous and least altractive 
he should bear himself with such zesi and Illness as 
to be numbered among poets, and should do honor 
to an olHce which they chiclly dread or mistrust, 
and which is liltle calculated lo excite their inspira- 
tion. As Holmes's humor had relaxed the grim- 
ness of a PuriUui constituency, so his i)rose satire 
did nuich lo liberalize their clerical system. This 
was not without some wrath and objurgation on the 
part of the more rigid clergy and laity alike, and at 
times worked to Ihe disadvantage of the satirist 
and his publishers. The notable ]u-ose essay ou 
Edwards excites a wi.sh that he oflener had found 
occasion to indulge his talent for analytic characler- 
izati(m. He has lew .sujieriors in disceinment of a 
man's individuidity. however dislinci llial individu- 
alily may lie from his own. Emerson, for example, 
was a lliinker and poet whose chartered ilisci|)lcs 
.scarcely would have .selected Holmes as likely to 
protl'er a sympalliclic or even objective transcript of 
him. Yet, when the time came. Holmes was ecjual 
to the effiH't. He presented wilh singular clearness, 
and wilh an ejiigraiiunatic genius at while heat, if 
not Ihe esoleiic view of Ihe Concord I'lolinus. at 
Ica.st what could enable lUi audience lo get at the 
mold of that serene teacher and make some fortunate 
surmise of the spirit lliat ennobled it. Holmes, 
aiming our poets, is another original writer, but his 
prose is a setting for brilliants of a ditfercnt kind, his 
.shrewd .sayings are bright with natives metaphor; he 
is a proverb-maker, .some of whose words are not 
without wings. As a New Englander he Ions; ago 
was awarded the highest .sectional praise — that of 
being, among all his trilie, the cutest. His clever- 
ness and versatility bewiUier oulside judges. Is he 
a genius'? By all means. And in what degree"? His 
prose, for the most part, is ]ieculiarly original. His 
serious jioetry scarcely has been the serious work of 
his life: but in his specialty, verse suited lo the frolic 
or ]i:illios of occasions, he has given us much of Ihe 
best delivered in his own time, and has excelled all 
others in delivery. Both his strength and weakness 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



459 



lie in his genial temper and his brisk, speculative habit 
of mind. Concerninj; "Over tlie Teacups," the 
last (if his serial papers, puljlished in ISOl, tlie "Na- 
tion" says: " Tlie present volume follows, as naturally 
as tlie years tliemselves. its predecessors, wit li a full cir- 
cle aliout llie table wliose conversations found, near- 
ly forty years ago, so fortunate a reporter, and whose 
occasional poems were received with a general wel- 
come." The "Saturday Review" said: "Dr. 
Holmes is, of all living American authors, the one 
who may most truly be .said to have won the hearts 
of English readers; . . . there is no American au- 
thor now living whose works are more often read 
and (which is the best test of their value) more often 
taken up again, than those of Dr. Holmes. " 

PLATT, Orville Hitchcock, senator, was born 
at WasliiMiilon. Conn., .luly 1!). 1827. His father, 
Daniel I'latl. was a farmer. He himself worked on 
the farm uiilil he was twenty 3-ears old, receiving 
his education in the common schools, and at Freder- 
ick Gnnn's .\cailemy, style<l tlie "Gunnery," which 
has since lieconie a well-known institution. He 
afterward studied l;iw in the office of Gideon H. 
Hollister, tlie historian of Connecticut. He was ad- 
mitted to the bar of Ccrauecticut in 1849, and later 
to the bar of Pennsylvania, where he spent si.K 
months in the Towanda office of Ulysses Mercur, 
chief justice of the court of Pennsylvania. In ISfil 
lie resumed his law practice in Connecticut, sellliiig 
at Meriden, where he has .since resided. In ^So.^-.'jli 
he served as clerk of the Connecticut senate, and in 
18.57 was elected secretary of the state. He was 
elected a member of the state senate in 1861-G3, anil 
■was a member of the house in 18(54 and 18ti0, tilling 
the position of speaker during the last-named year. 
In 1877 he was a judge of probate, and was appointed 
state attorney for New Haven county, retaining that 
positiim until 1879, when he was 
elected to the U. S. senate to suc- 
ceed Wm. H. Barnum. He was 
his own successor in 188.5, and 
again in 1890, having been elect- 
ed by the unanimous vote of the 
republican members <if the state 
legislature. He has served on var- 
ious imjiortaut committees dur- 
ing his senatorial career, includ- 
ing the committee on pensions 
and the committee on contingent 
expenses, and was chairman of 
the committee on patents, and act- 
ing chairman of the committee on 
the revision of laws. In the tif- 
tielli and tift_v-first congre.s.ses he 
was chairman of the committee on 
territories, during which time si.v 
new .states were admitted into the 
chairman of the subcommittee 
the "Copyright" bill, passed in 
I'li'orts in committee and on the 
floor of the senate, are due in great part the passage 
of that measure. He is a forcible speaker, his style 
is finished, his words well chosen, and his argu- 
ments logical. In the senate he is regarded as a 
careful legislator, a close student of political ques- 
tions, and a man of sound judgment. He has al- 
ways maintained a high standing in the legal pro- 
fession, doing a large general business, thougli mak- 
ing a .specialty of patent law. He is prominently 
connected with religions and ])hilanthroi)ic works 
of the city of Jleriden, and in a quiet, unostenta- 
tious way is the friend of the needy and troubled, 
who never hesitate to go to him for as.sistauce ami 
advice. The veteran of the war and the soldier's 
wdilow liave no more stanch supporter. In 1887 
Yale conferred upon him the degree of LL.D. 




Au-.Mt^ 



Union. He was 
having in charge 
1891, and to his 




COAN, Titus, missionary, wa.s born in Killing- 
worth, Cdiin., Fell. 1, 1801. He received his educa- 
tion under private tutors, and at the age of eighteen 
taught a country scliool. He continued tlie business 
of instruction for about ten years, when he entered 
the Tlieoliigical Seniiiuiry .'it Auburn, N. Y. Being 
graduated in 1833, he undertook for the Boston Board 
of Missions anexjiloralionof soutlu^rn Patagonia, for 
the purpose of establishing there a mi.ssion. Nar- 
rowly escaping with his life, he returned to this 
country in the following year, and was sent as 
mi.ssiouary to the Sandwicli Islands, where he served 
for forty-eight years. He was re- 
garded by the natives of the islands 
with an aifection that was well-nigh 
veneration, and his work among 
tliem was attended witli tlie most 
important results. In his interesting 
account of a visit to the Sandwicli 
Islands in 1873, Charies Nordholf 
gives the following sketch of his life 
and work: "And in Hilo, when you 
goto visit the volcano, you will hnd 
Dr. Coan, one of the brightest and 
loveliest spirits of them all, the story 
of whose life in the Uniato island, 
whose apostle he was, is as wonderful 
and as touching as that of any of the 
earlier apostles, and shows what great 
works unyielding faith and love can 
dii in redeeming a savage people. 
When Dr. and !Mi's. Coan came to 
the island of Hawaii its shores and woods were popu- 
lous, and through their labors thousantls of men and 
women were in.stnicted in the truths of Chri.stianity, 
inducted into civilized habits of life, and tinally 
brought into the church. Asyou sail along the green 
coast of Hawaii from its nortfiern point to Hilo, you 
will be surprised at the number of quaint little wiiite 
churches which mark the distanirs almost with the 
regularity of milestones; if, later, you ride through 
this district or the one south of Hilo, you will see 
that for every church there is also a school-house; 
you will see native children reading and writing as 
well as our own at home; you may hear them sing- 
ing tunes familiar to our own Sunday-schools; you 
will see the native man and woman sitting down to 
read their newspaper at the close of the day; and if 
you could talk with them, you would find they 
knew almost as much about our late war as you do, 
for they took an intense interest in the war of the re- 
bellion. And you must remember that when, less 
than forty years ago. Dr. and Mrs. Coan came to 
Hilo, the people were naked savages with no 
cliurch and but one school-house in the district; 
without printed books or knowledge of reading. 
They tlocked to hear the Gospel. Thousands re- 
moved from a distance to Hilo, where, in their rapid 
way, they built up a large town, and kept up surely 
the strangest 'protracted meeting' ever held; and 
going back to their homes afler many months Ihey 
took with them knowledge and zeal to build up 
Chri.slian churches and .sdiools of their own. Over 
tliese Dr. Coan has presided these many years, not 
only preaching regularly on Sundays and during the 
week in the large native church at Hilo, and in two 
or tliree neigliboring churclies, but visiting the more 
dislaiit churches at mtervalsto examine and instruct 
the members and keep them all on the right track. 
He has seen a great populali<iii turned from darkness 
to light, a great part of it following his own blame- 
less and loving life as an exam|)le, and very many 
living to old age steadfast and zealous Christians. 
He wrote books on " Patagonia " ami " Life in Ha- 
waii," and numerous contributions to periodicals. He 
continued to reside in the Sandwich Ishiiids until his 
death, which took place in Hilo, Hawaii, Dec. 1, 1883. 



460 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 




JEFFERSON, Joseph, actor, was born in 
PhilaiU'lpliia, Feb. 2(1, 1S29. He was Xhv third (if 
tlie uami', coming of a race of actors. His graiKl- 
fatlier, Joscpli JcllVi'son tlic first, was himself the 
sou of an eminent Enirli.sh actor and manajrcr. He 
was born at Plymouth, Eutr., in 1774. He came to 
this country, and made liis tirst appearance in New 
York Feb." 10, 1796, at the theatre in John street. 
He continued attached to the .same company until 
1803, when he removed to Philadelphia and was 
liermanently eujiaged in that 
city durin.u a period of twenty- 
seven years. He made his last 
appearance in New York at tlie 
Chatham Garden theatre in Au- 
gust, 1824. He died at Harris- 
burg, Pa., Aug. 6, 1832. Mr. 
JetTerson married, in 1800, Miss 
Fortune, by whom he had a 
large family of children. His 
son Joseph, who married Mrs. 
T. Burke, and was the father of 
the sub.iect of this sketch, was 
csiccmed a very excellent aclor 
in 'uld men." He was born in 
I'liiladelphia in 1804, and dieil 
in .Mobile, Ala., Nov. 24, 1842. 
He was educated for a scene- 
]iainter, having a great deal of 
artistic talent, Joseiih Jeffer- 
son the third was brought up in 
the ])recincts of a theatre from 
the time he was an infant. When living in the 
city of Wa.shington. tlie liouse where his father 
resided adjoined the theatre which he managed, and 
the boy luid the run of the e.stablish7nent. Here he 
remenibcred seeing Fanny Kemble, and Tyrone 
Power, the .great Irish comedian. As an infant he 
was frequently taken >ipon the stage where a child 
was required, his tirst pulilic appearance having been 
as the child in " Holla." He was then about three 
years old. He is also said to have appeared in 
an enterlniiimeni of " living statues." T. I). Uice, 
the celebrateil Jim Crow, "had at this time burst 
upon Washington in his remarkable impersonations 
of negro character, then an entire novelty on the 
stage." Little Joseph JetTerson was greatly taken 
with this performance, and imitated him with such 
success that the comedian took him upon the .stage, 
blacked and dressed as a iniiiialure likeness of him- 
self, producin.g him licfore the eyes of the astonished 
audience from the ni<iuth of a bag turned upside 
down. The effect was i(uile startling and a com- 
plete success. Afterward the boy aii]iearcd in New 
York in a combat scene. In 1838 the family started 
west from Alliany and played in Utica and other 
towns, arriving in Chicago, where they played a 
short season, and then went to Galena, Dubiupie and 
other western towns, and so on lo Jlemiihis. In 
Mcmjihis Mr. Jefferson, Sr., obtained a job of decora- 
tion at the estalilishment of a sporting gentleman who 
wanted the ceiling of his card-room frescoed; and 
so, playing and painting, they arrived at Mobile in 
October, 1842, when the yelfow fever was raging, 
and where tlie father of the family died two weeks 
after llieir arrival. Here the mother opened a board 
ing-house. and here young Ji'lVcrson had the oppor- 
tunity of acting with Mr. Macready and the elder 
Booth. From Mobile they went lo Nashville, and 
other towns along the river, playing to small a\i<licnces 
and entering u|)on a course of most primitive acting — 
absolute " barn-storming" — giving entertainments in 
the dining-rooms of hotels, barns and out-hou.ses, or 
anywhere else that otl'ered convenience. In Ibis man- 
ner they traveled through the state of Mississippi, and 
then went to (.Jalveston, where the company with 
which Mrs. Jefferson was engaged played for a short 



season, and thence proceeded through the leading 
towns of Te.\as into Mexico, following the V. S. 
army into the latter territory. Ueturnin.i: to New 
Orleans, Mr. Jefferson resided in Pliiladel|ihia, 
where he appeared at the Arch street theatre under 
the management of Mr. Burton. He afterward con- 
ducted the dramatic performances at Peale's mu.seum 
in Philadelphia, and then .started on his tirst star en- 
.irageinenl, during the continuance of which he 
learned the intelli.irence of his mother's death in 
Philadelphia, to which city he returned. In 1849 
he married Miss Lockyer, an aclres.s, at the time 
under en.iragcment at the Chatham theatre in New 
York. At the age of twenty-two Mr. Jefferson 
played the important part of Marrall in "A New 
Way to Pay (.)ld Debts," the elder Booth playing 
Sir Giles Overreach. He had two seasons of metro- 
politan slock acting, and then went lo Macon and 
Savannah, Ga., in partnership with a friend, where 
they managed for a time the local theatres. During 
the next six years Mr. Jefferson was engaged part 
of the time as an actor and part as stage-manager in 
different cities, in 1853 being slage-nianager at the 
Baltimore mu.seum for Henry C. Jarrett. In the 
next year lie was manager for John T. Ford of the 
theatre in Uichmond, Va., where the romantic drama 
of ■' The Sea of Ice " was produced with great suc- 
cess, and was followed by another show-piece, entitled 
the "Naiad Queen." At this theatre played during 
the season: Agnes Robertson and her husband, Dion 
Boucicault, Edwin Forrest, Edwin Adams, and other 
noted actors. In June, 185(5, Jlr. Jefferson sailed for 
England. In London he made the acquaintance of, 
and was hos]iitably received by, Bobsoii, Wright, 
Compton, Buckslone, Phelps, and other well-known 
players. Fiom London he went to Paris, where he 
remained three weeks, when he sailed for home. At 
the opening of Laura Keene's Iheatic in Broadway, 
New York, in Seiitember, 1857, Mr. Jefferson was en- 
g;iged for the leading comedy characters. He made 
his first apjiearance that season as Dr. Pangloss in 
Coleman's comedy of "The Heir at Law." He was 
rather severely criticised for having interpolated, as 
was alleged, pa.ssages which did not belong to the 
piece, a course for which Mr. Jefferson has since ex- 
cused hiuLself on the ground that it was good art. 
During the season of 1858-59 Tom Taylor's play of 
"Our American Cousin " was produced with the 
most remarkable success of any piece of that jiei'lod. 
The success of lliis play proved to be the turning 
point in the career of Laura Kccne. Sothcrn and Jef- 
ferson. JetTerson iilayed Asa Trenchard, and E. A. 
Sothcrn originated his celebrated impersonation of 
Lord Dundreary, which he eventually extended un- 
til it permeated the whole play and became his great 
.star character. The company at this lime included, 
besides Jliss Keene, herself an admirable actress, 
and Jlr. JetTerson, the late William K. Blake, and 
Edward A. Sothcrn, Charles \V. Couldock. and later, 
Dion lioucicault and Agnes Kobertson. ^Ir. Jeffer- 
son's performance of the shrewd, keen Yankee, Asa 
Trencharil, was an instanceofadmiraljle character-act- 
ing entirely original in his own mind, and a concepti<in 
so different from the customary stage Yankee as to 
evenlually oliliterate that caricature from Ihe stage. 
"Our .\merlcaii Cousin " ran more than MO nights, 
and has conliiuicd lo be a favorite jilay ever since. 
Uefore its tirst .sea.son ended, Mr. Soliiern, as ,Mr. 
Jefferson has acknowledged, had made his ]>art of 
Lord Dundreary Ihe most taking character of Ihe 
piece. During his engagement at Laura Keene's 
theatre, Mr. Jefferson played Newman Noggs, in 
"Nicholas Nickleby;" Caleb Plummer, in "The 
Cricket ini Ihe Hearth;" Dr. Pangloss, in "The 
Heir at Law ; " Bob Acres, in "The Kivals;" and 
Dr. Ollapod, in " The Poor Gentleman." It is doubt- 
ful if any American actor has ever played any one 




■ '1 h"v\ 




Mtt T, WH.Tt A ••. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



463 



of these characters with the careful excellence of 
Mr. Jefferson, while, with the pxception of one or 
two, no Eiiirlish conu'diaii has ever t\ii'lk'il him in 
either of them. After ■ ' Our American ( 'ousln " was 
taken olT the sta.sfe " A Midsummer Nijjht's Dream " 
was produced, and Mr. .Jefferson was to have played 
Bottom, but after rehearsing the part, he .saw that 
he would make a failure in it and accordingly re- 
.signed the cli.nracter. lie then took the play of "Our 
Amerieau Cousin " on a sianing tour, wiih the un- 
derstanding that he would give llie management 
one-half the profits for the use of the Jilay. In ISIJO 
Mr. Jefferson went to California, and .afterward li) 
Australia, meeting with great .success in the latter 
country. At Hobart Town, !Mr. Jefferson played 
" The Ticket-of Leave Man " before a large audi- 
ence, including at least 100 ticket-of-leave men, 
who were quite ready to raze the theatre to the 
ground if one of their kind were ill-treated by either 
playwright or actor. The play, however, was an 
enormous success, and Mr. Jeffersou became very 
popular in Hobart Town, especially among the crim- 
inals, who looked upon him as necessarily one of 
them, since he understood and played the part of 
Bob Brierly with such truth to na- 
ture. In l.^t)."). in May. ^Ir. Jefferson 
left Melbourne and sailed for Eng- 
land i-ia Callao and Panama. On 
arriving in London he met Di(m 
Boucicault. to whom he suggested 
working up the play which has since 
been known as "' Kip Van Winkle." 
!Mr. Jefferson's account of the way 
in which he happened to hit upon 
this part is interesting. During the 
siunmer of 18.i9 he boarded with his 
family at an old Dutch farm-house 
in Pennsylvania, and while there 
came upon the " Life and Letters of 
Washington Irving," and was great- 
ly pleased to find therein a pleasant 
reference to himself by "Sir. Irving, 
who had seen him play Goldfinch in 
"The Road to Ruin" at Laura 
Keene's theatre. Thinking of Wash- 
ington Irving, he thought of the 
" bketch-book," and then of Rip 
Van Winkle. The story had already 
been dramatized three or four times, 
and had been acted in London and 
elsewhere, but without any great suc- 
cess. Mr. Jefferson got toget Iter the 
various dramatizations and out of 
them concocted one which he i)layed 
in Wa.shington, under the niau.-igement of John T. 
Kayniond. The result was not entirely satisfactory, 
but still holding to the possibilities of the play, he 
offered it to Dion Boucicaidt as a theme on his arrival 
in London. Boucicault re-wrote the drama to about 
the condition it has been in ever since. Its first per- 
formance was at the Adelphi theatre, where Jlr. .Jef- 
ferson hail then an engagement wiili Benjamin Web- 
ster, on Mimday, Sept.."). ISd."!. The play ran 1 Tonights. 
At the conclusion of his London engagement he .acted 
in Manchester and Liverpool, and iben look a sailing 
ves.sel for Xew York. " Hip Van Winkle " was pro- 
duced for the first time in America in Mr. Houci- 
cjiult's version at the Olympic theatre. New York, 
Sept. 3, 18G6, with the "following cast : Rip Van 
Winkle, Jose|ih Jefferson ; Derrick Von Be<'kmau, 
Mr. Stoddart : Cockles, Mr. M. C. Daly ; Nicholas 
Vedder. Mr. C. Peters; Clausen. Mr. Burke: Stein, 
Mr. Kenwav; Lillle Ilendriek, Miss L. MaeCormack; 
Hans, .Mr. "Peck: Baty. .Mr (Jillett : Janson, Mr. 
Phalon ; Dame Van Winkle. Mrs. Saunders; Little 
Meenie, Marie LeBrun; Sweasrgner, a dwarf, Mr. J. 
V. Dailey ; Ilendriek Hudson, Mr. T. Hind; Seth, 




Mr. E. T. Sinclair ; Meenie, Miss Kate Newton ; 
Katehen, Miss Alice Harrison : Villager, Mrs. Sin- 
clair; 2il Villager, .Miss Ri-id. This play at iince es- 
tablished itself in tlie hearts of American jjlaygoers, 
and became thereafter the most taking card in .Mr. 
Jefferson's collection. On Dec. 20, lH(i7, in Chica- 
go, Mr. Jeft'er.son married his .second wife, Sarah 
Warren. He played an engagement in Chicago 
and afterward tlirnugh the cities of the West, and 
fnini that lime fnrw.ard. for more than twenty vears, 
this drama w.'is played by .Mr. Jeffeisim through all 
the principal cities of the United States. It is slated 
that Mr. Boucicault received in purchase- money and 
royalties for his work on " Riji Van Winkle" about 
^•i.").!!!)!). In 1.S7.5 Mr. JefTerson made a third visit 
to London and Paris, and ;d.so visited Scotland and 
played at the Tlieatie Royal, CMa.sgow. He visited 
Ireland anil played at the Gaiety theatre, Dublin, 
Init (lid not make a favorable ira])re.ssion uiion the 
Irish audiences there. At Belfast, however, "Rip 
Van Winkle " made a decided hit. A few years be- 
fore making this trip, Mr. .Jefferson jwrchased a 
plantation in Louisiana, on Bayou Teche, where he 
lived during the winter, while he spent the .summer 
on the farm which he purchased in New Jersey. Be- 
sides his remarkalile ability as an actor. ^Ir. Jeffer- 
son made a considerable repulaliun in private as an 
artist of decided ability of the impres-sionist school. 
His paintings are a very pleasing reminder of those 
of the celebrated French artist Corot. In 188!l-90 
]\Ir. Jefferson's autobiography was i)ublislied in the 
"Century Magazine." As an actor. Mr. Jefferson 
is remarkable for having discarded most of the tra- 
ditions of the stage, even in the performance of such 
well-worn charaiters as Bob Acres, Dr. Pangloss, 
Dr. Ollapod, and others of the old Engli.sh comedies. 
He seemed to find imsus])eeted resources in these 
characters, as he did in all of those which he made 
his favorites. His absolute truth to nature in ren- 
dering stage characters has been perhaps his most 
marked quality. In his Asa Trenchard, he placed 
ujion the stage a character whose .simplicity was 
only equaled by its absolute verily as a transcription 
of a certain American type. His Rip Van Winkle 
stands out as one of the most brilliant and beaiuiful 
creations of the stage. Deeply pathetic, at the same 
time vital with a humor peculiarly its own, this char- 
acter perhiips has chained the atlention and seized 
the fancy of the American jieople more than any 
other outside the range of the Shakespearean drama. 

TILGHMAN, Matthew, member of the Con- 
tinental congress, and leader of the patriots in Mary- 
land, was born in Queen Anne county. Jld.. Feb. 17, 
1718. the brother of James Tilghman. He settled in 
Talbot connly. Mil., became a magistrate, and was 
for a time cajitain of a eomjiany to cheek Indian in- 
cursions, lie was a member of the provineial as- 
sembU' from "["i'A, of the coinmittee which drew up 
the protest against the Stamp Act in 1708, anfl speaker 
of the house of delegates, 1773-7.i. As president of 
the convention which exercised the chief authority 
in the province from 1774 until the esiablishmeni of 
the state government, he was steadily active in the 
cause of liberly, being at the head of its eommillee 
of correspondence, council of safety, and delegations 
to congress. Of the latter body he was a member, 
177.5-77. and there, as in the Maryland convention, 
urged separation from (Jreat Britain. He missed the 
honor of signing the decl.aralion nf independence, 
and thereby much of the fame which he deserved, 
by the accident of being called lionu' in June, 1776, 
tii preside in tlie convention which framed a slate 
eonslilulion. He was considered one of the firmest 
and alilesi advocates of civil and religious liberty of 
his dav. He died, profouiidiv and widely respected, 
in Talbot county, Md., May 4, 17'J0. 



464 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 




■J^-Zl 



BROWN, Alexander, banker and founder of 
tlie l>ankinfr liouse of Ak'Niuider Brown «fc Sous, 
Baltimore, Md. ; Brown, Sliipley & Co., Liverpool 
and Loudon, Eng. ; also those of Brown Bros. <fc 
Co., Philadelphia and New York, was born at 
Ballyraena, county Antrim, Ireland, Nov. 17. 1TC4. 
In early life he was euga.^ed in commercial pursuits 
in his "native country. In 179(). leaving his three 
sons, William, John A. and 
George, to be educated in 
England, he emigrated with 
his family to Baltimore, aud 
became prominent, at once, 
as an importer of Irish linens. 
It was before the days of the 
manufacture of cotlOns on a 
larg(^ scale, and these linens 
were a very important arti- 
cle of conuuerce. He grad- 
ually extended the business 
to that of a general commis- 
sion and banking house, and 
soon built up an extensive 
foreign trade in all these 
branches. In IslO William, 
the eldest son, went to Liver- 
pool. Eng., and established 
the banking house of Wil- 
liam and James Brown & 
Co., which subsequently be- 
came that of Brown, Shijiley & Co., with a 1)ranch 
in London. This house soon attained prominence 
and ])ower, and William Brown, in consequence 
of his commercial standing, and by reason of his 
gifts to the city of Liverpool (of a free public 
library and museum with a tine building for its 
accommodation) was cn^ated a baronet by (Jueen 
Victoria, in 1802. He also represented the county 
of Lancashire, for many years, in the English jiar- 
liament. and died in lsii4, leaving a very large for- 
tune. In the year ISll Alexander Brown organized 
in Baltimore, Md., the linn of Alexander Brown & 
Sons. lu 1818 John A. Brown founded the Phila- 
delphia branch, as John A. Brown & Co.; and in 
182.") James Brown estalilished the house in New 
York city, as Brown Bros. & Co. The titles of the 
New York and Philadeljihia houses have continued 
the same. These .sons l)ccame eminent not only in 
liuancial affairs, but also in benevolence, which was 
expres.sed in the most comprehensive and etfcctive 
deeds. During the life of Alexander Brown, the 
Baltimore house was the head((uarters for the others, 
and there it was customary for the brothers to meet 
and consult with their father on important matters. 
The spirit of Alexander Brown was well illu.strated 
by his remark on the occasion of a financial panic — 
"No merchant of Baltimore will be allowed to fail 
who can show that he is .solvent." In the opera- 
tions of the .several houses, he was the guiding and 
ci>ntr(jlliug mind, and decided all difficult questions. 
His early educational opi)ortniiities were limited, 
but his genius for business was iihcnomenal, and his 
uuassailaljle inlegrity made the name of his liouse 
respected in every linancial centn- of the world. 
The commercial bills of the Browns liave for nearlv 
a century been as well known ;ni(l as higlily appre- 
ciated in the markets of the world as the Roths- 
childs. The father and his son George inedieted 
the future of railroads in the United States, saw 
the benefits that woidd result from the construc- 
tion of the Baltimore and Ohio Bailway, and in 
its inception aided it liberally both by their means 
and by llieir jiersonal elforls for its jirosiierily. 
He did a great work for Baltimore in more ways 
than one. He died Dec. 17, 1834, and was suc- 
ceeded in the headship of the Baltimore house by 
his son. 




BROWN, George, was born in Ballvmena, Ire- 
land, Apr. 17. 1787. The firm name of the house, 
Alexander Brown & Sons, was retjiined, aud Mr. 
George Brown, one of the most valuable citizens 
Baltimore ever had, was not only a successful bank- 
er, but foremost in every great and good enterprise. 
The city of his adoption is largely indebted to him 
as well as to his father for the condition of the Bal- 
timore and Ohio Hailroad. Moreover, he not only 
gave liberally of his money 
to the imjiorlant institutions 
of the city, but for many of 
them was an active worker. 
The House of Refuge may 
be named as a niouumenl to 
his beneficence. The inscrip- 
tion on a marble .shaft erect- 
ed to his memory delineates 
his rounded character. It is, 
in part, as follows; — IN ME- 
MOHIAM: George Brown, 
one of the founders, and un- 
til his death, the first presi- 
dent of tliis institution. In 
spirit eminently charitable, 
catitious in judgment, in ac- 
tion prudent, wise in coun- 
sel, an earnest heljier in all 
good works. Frimi his abun- 
dant means he bestowed his gifts with an open 
hand and cheerful heart. Living, he enjoyed the 
consummation of his Chri-stian deeds. Dying, it 
was as a good steward, in htuuble trust of tlie Mas- 
ter's acce])tance and the i)eaceful hope of a Christian's 
immortality. This stone may serve to recall his 
virtues; his best monument is this House of 
Refuge. "&' monumentum qiKr rix, ciixiimspice." 
Jlr. Brown's widow, Isabella Brown, has carried 
out his wishes in the execution of deecls of benevo- 
lence, prominent among her works of this naiin'e 
being the erection of the Brown Memorial Presby- 
terian church, at a cost of $1.")0,000. lie died Aug. 
26. 1859, and was suceeetled in the head of the Bal- 
timore house by his son. 

BROWN, George S., continuing the firm name 
of Alexander Brown A: Sons, was born in Baltimore, 
Md., May 7, 1834, received his education at Mc- 
Naley's Institute in that city, and at the early age of 
sixteen entered u])on his busi- 
ness career in his father's office. 
When he took his jiareiit's place 
as head of the banking house, he 
was the only surviving member 
of the firm, of which be was ad- 
mitted a member while he was 
in his twentieth year. Inherit- 
ing the business acumen of his 
ancestry, he fully sustained the 
reputation of the house. He was 
head of the Baltimore liou.se 
from the year 1859 until his 
death. Very many positions of 
honor and trust, in connectiim 
with benevolent and religious en- 
terjirise.s. were occupiecl liy him. 
The institution for the education 
of the blind was an especial object 
of his care, and he was manager 
of the Maryland Bible Socirty, 
and a trustee of the Peabody 'institute. For many 
years he served as jiaymaster of the state of Mary- 
land, being first ajipoiiited to the office by Gov. 
Swanii lie was president of the Baltimore and 
Havana Steamship Co., a director in tlie National 
Mechanics' Bank, and a city park commissioner. 
For many years he was connected with the Canton 
Co. as director and vice-president. He was for a 




OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



465 



long time identified with the Young Men's Christian 
Association of the city, and was tlie most liberal 
contrilmtor to its support. On several occasions he 
served the city of Baltimore on impoitant com- 
mittees created Dy the niimicipal authorities. Mr. 
Brown was connected with the Presbyterian body, 
but like his ancestors contributed freelj- to tlie erec- 
tion and support of churches of all denominations. 
In politics he was a liberal in the best sense of the 
word. He traveled e.\tensively in Europe, spending 
there aiiout si.x years. !Mr. Brown married Harriet 
Eaton, of New York city, in 1857. A friend of his 
recalls one act which he styles the key to his char- 
acter. A heavy failure occurred in the city, and 
the embarra.ssed parties owed him a large amount 
of money. On the day of the disaster a jiartner in 
the suspended firm called upon him and left a. sealed 
packet, stating that it contained collaterals belong- 
ing to Jlr. Brown. Subsequently the friend who 
noted these facts was aijjiointcd to settle the bank- 
rupt estate, and on his first meeting with Mr. Brown, 
that gentleman .olated the circumstances as to the 
packet which he tendered to the assignee. "I sug- 
gested," says that gentleman, "that lie should con- 
sult his attorney as to his legal rights." His promjit 
reply was. "No, I will not even open it. It does 
not belonir to me." It contained some .§00,000. He 
died in Baltimore May l!i, 1.S90. 

BROWN, Alexander, banker, was born in Bal- 
timore, Md., Oct. 25, 1858. He entered Princeton 
College in 1875. and was graduated in 1878. Whilst 
there he took great interest in atliletics, and in his 
senior year won the first jirize in the gymna.sium, 
also the hurdle race, breaking the Princeton record. 
In 1880 he was taken into business 
with his father, and on thelatter's 
death became head of the banking 
house of Ale.xander Brown & 
Sons,which was established by his 
great-grandfather in isil, and is 
the parent house from which 
sprung the present firms of Brown 
Bros. "& Co., of New York, Phil- 
adelphia and Boston, and Brown, 
Shipley it Co., of London. Mr. 
Brcjwn is also vice-president of the 
Canton Co. : president of the Macon 
& Northern Railroad Co; a direc- 
tor of the National Mechanics 
^g>- Bank; of the Baltimore Storage & 

/^}y^y jn\ Lighterage Co.; of the Merchants 
^^•^^ and JIauufacturers Association; 
"■^™^* of the Norfolk National Bank; of 
the Savings Bank of Baltimore; of 
the House of Refuge; of the Annapolis, AVasliington 
ii Baltimore Railroad Co., and numerous other busi- 
ness organizations. He is also a captain in the 5th 
regiment. JI. N. G. : commodore of the Ballimore 
Yacht Club; and a member of the ;\[aryland, Balti- 
more, Elkridge, Athletic and Jockey clubs. 

ROBINSON, Conway, author, writer on law, 
was b(ini in Richmond, Va., Se])t. 15. 1.805, son of 
John Roliinsou, clerk of the superior conn from 1787, 
and author of "Forms in llic Virginia Courts of 
Law." His ancestor, another John Rnbinson, came 
to York county, Va., in the seventeenth century. 
In youth Conway was a deputy-clerk under his 
father, whose book he republished in 1820. He 
took high rank .at the bar. put forth "Law and 
Eiinity Practice "in three vohinies (18:W-:iO), was re- 
porter to the Virginia court of ajipeals. 1S42— 44, and 
in those years edited two vohiines of its reports. 
He was (me of the revi.sers of the civil and criminal 
code of the .state; but the constitutional convention 
of 1850 made such changes that a further revision 
■was needed. With a view to this he served for a 




time in the legislature, in 1853. He spent some time 
abroad in studies preparatory to his "Principles 
and Practice of Courts in England and the United 
States" (2 vols., 18(iO). His practice being mainly in 
the U. S. supreme coui1, he removed to the suburbs 
of Washington in 18C0. Of his " Hi-story of the 
High Court of Cliancery," etc., the first volume ap- 
peared in 18M2. He was long an otlicer of the Vir- 
ginia Historical .Society, and much interested in 
researches into other than legal antiquities. His 
" Account of the Discoveries of the AVest until 1519; 
and of Voj-ages to and alons the Atlantic Coast 
from 1.520 to 1573" was publislied in 1848, and he 
began but never fini.shed the "Annals of Virginia." 
He was also a contributm' to the "Law Magazine," 
" American Jurist," and "Southern Literarv Mes- 
scn^'er." He died in Pliiladclphia Jan. 30, 1.884. 

PARMENTER, Roswell A., lawyer, was 
born at Pittstown, Rensselaer Co., N. Y., the eldest 
son of Dr. Azel Fitch Parmenter. He passed his 
boj'hood (m a farm working for wages, and by 
teaching school during the winter months, was 
enabled to defray the expense of an academic ed- 
ucation. In 1848 he went to Troy, 
N. Y., and, after .serving the u.sual 
clerkship in a lawyer's ofiice, form- 
ed a partnership with Judge Isaac 
McConihe, and soon acquired a 
large and lucrative jiractice. It was 
not long before Mr. Parmenter at- 
tained a fm-emost place at the Troy 
bar, which he has since ably sus- 
tained. Since 1871, with the excep- 
tion of two _vears, he has been cor- 
l)oration counsel for the city of 
Troy, and has shown vigilance, 
energy and ability in the discharge 
of his official duties. By virtue of 
this ofiice he is the legal advi.ser of 
all the departments of the city gov- 
ernment. In politics Mr. Parmen- 
ter is a democrat. In 1873 he was 
elected to the state senate from the 
senatorial district compri.sing the 
counties of Rensselaer and Washington. While 
in the senate he jierformed his official duties with 
an intelligence and energy and devotion to prin- 
ciple which won the respect of his colleagues, 
and secured the approval of his constituents. He 
declined re-election, and at the close of his sena- 
torial term resumed the active practice of his pro- 
fession. In 187G he was a prominent figure in the 
])olitic,al canvass and took the .stump in behalf 
of Samuel J. Tilden. In the fall of 1.S81 Jlr. Par- 
menter was the democratic candidate for attorney- 
general, but was defeated, and has since given his 
time entirely to the engrossing demands of his pro- 
fession. As a public speaker !Mr. Parmenter is 
particularly liappy. In January, 1889, when the 
centennial anniversary of the city of Troy was cele- 
brated, Mr. Parmenier was selected by the com- 
mittee of arrangements to deliver an address on the 
life and professional character of William A. 
Beach, the closing words of which were as fol- 
lows; "With the exiires.siou of a .single further 
sentiment, entertained in common by the memliers 
of the Troy bar, I have done. In yonder secluded 
nook, on Oakwood's hillside, .selected by his own 
hand as a idace of burial, lovely by nature, and 
made more beautiful by art, where the .shock of 
contending forces would fail to awaken his slum- 
bers, where all the turmoil of Ibis mortal life is 
hushed in jieace and may never more disturb his 
sweet repose, where ))erchance a disenthralled spirit, 
still lingers at the .shrine to catch the echoes of this 
centennial anniversary, there his sincere frienil and 
humble eulogist would cautiously approach and 







466 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOI'.EDIA 




noiselessly enter, and beneath the silent stars of 
heaven, with uncovurcd lieail and on bended knee, 
and with fralerual band, tenderly lay this earnest 
but inadeqate otTerini; upon the toinb of William A. 
Beach." Notwithstaudinj; bis e.xtended praelice, 
and the constant demand for his services as a public 
speaker, he is a diligent student of si'ienee and liter- 
ature. Mr. I'arinenter was married in Peters- 
bursb, Rensselaer Co., N. Y., to Mary L. Reynolds, 
daui^hter of Parley Reynolds of that place. 

CARVER, Jonathan, traveler, was born at 
Stillwater, N. V.. in 1732. When be was only five 
years of age he lost bis father, who was a justice of 
the peace. Beins intended for the i)rofe.s.sion of 
medicine, his earlier .studies were in that direction; 
but having a taste for a military life he engaged in 
the French war. leading a company 
of provincials in the e.\pedilion acro.ss 
the lakes against Canada. He fought 
with credit until the peace of 1763, 
when be formed a resolution to e.v- 
plore the interior of Xorth America, 
from Lake Su|)erior to llie Pacitic 
Ocean Iii-lween llie 48(1 and 4l)lb par- 
allels, lie was of an adventurous dis- 
po.sition, and Ibouglit that the French, 
who knew most about the subject, bad 
intentionally kept other nations igno- 
rant, lie hoped to di.scover a north- 
west passage between Hudson's Bay 
and the Pacific ocean, and thereby 
open a cbaunel for conveying intel- 
ligence to China and the English 
settlements in the East Indies with 
greater expedition than by tlie tedi- 
ous voyage roimtl the Cape of Good Hope or through 
the Straits of Magellan. ]n the autumn of 17(i(i he 
left Micbillimackiiiac. the most westerly of the Brit- 
isli military posts, having received from its comman- 
der an a.ssoi-imeni of goods Id lie distributed as pres- 
ents among the Indians along the route. It was also 
understood that other goods should be sent to him 
at the Falls of St. Anthony. These failed to reach 
him, and in the following spring, having pas.sed the 
winter on the river St. Pierre, 1,400 miles we.st of 
his starting point, be was obliged to return to Prairit 
du Cbien. He then made a new start for the pur- 
po.se of discovering a coiineclion between the bead- 
waters of the Mississippi and Lake Suiierior, and 
spent some time on the norlbern and easleni shores 
of that lake, exploring its base and tributaries, and 
observing the natural products and the habits of the 
Indians. He retuined to IJoston in the autumn of 
17()S. having traveled nearly 7.000 miles. During 
the whole e.xpedition he had been thwarted by his 
inability to obtain the necessary stores and gifts for 
the Indians. He bad been absent two years and 
five months, and had, notwithstanding bis embar- 
ra.ssments, gathered together a vast amout of valu- 
able material. After having adjusted his discov- 
eries, and arranged his journals and charts, be went 
to Enaland for the purpose of publishing the latter. 
He pelilioiied the king for a reirnl)ursenient of what 
be had expended, but judgment on this was referred 
to the lords commfssioners of trade and jilantation.s, 
by whom he was examined in regard to bis discov- 
eries. He obtained permission to publish his papers 
and disposed of them to a books('ller. He was 
obliged, however, by an order in council, to witli- 
draw these and to deliver into the plantation ofiicc 
all his charts and journals and every paper relating 
to the discoveries wbicli he b.ul made. Thus ten 
years elap.scd before he was allowed lo lay his dis. 
coveries before tlie public. Meanwhile, poverty- 
stiicken and disappointed, be earned his living a.sa 
clerk in a lottery office. IJut he lost even this posi- 




^. 



'J ^- 



tion in 1779 because, under the pres.«iire of necessity, 
he disposed of his name to a compilation called 
■'The New Universal Traveler. " His actual publi- 
cations were a tract on the culture of tobacco, and 
"Travels through the Interior Parts of Xorth 
America" (London 1778). He died in abject pov- 
erty in London .Ian. 31, 1780. 

AlKENS, Andrew Jackson, editor and man- 
ufacturer, was born at Barnard. Vl., Oct. 31. 1830. 
His paternal ancestors were Scotch, from .Montrose, 
and on his mother's side he is descended from John 
Howland, the last survivor of those who came over 
in the Mayflower. After being graduated from the 
high school at the age of fifteen, he entered the 
printing office of Charles G. Eastman at WocKlstock, 
and .served an api)renticesbi|) of four years, when he 
was promoted to the editor- 
ship of the paper. He edited 
a weeklj' newspaper at Ben- 
nington, Vt., and afterward 
a weekly at Xorth Adams, 
Mass., whence he went to 
Boston, acting as reporter in 
the .state legislature, and as 
proof-reader in the slat<' ]irint- 
ing office. Going from there 
to New York, he was engaged 
upon the Xew York "Even- 
ing Post " in 18.53, and was 
sent to the western states as 
si)ccial corres])ondent. He 
vi.sited Jlilwaukee in the 
spring of 18.~)4, settled there 
in the early summer, and soon 
after became city editor of 
the "Evening ^Visconsin." 
Jan. 1, 1857, he assumed the 
business management of the 

newspaper and printing departments. In this capacity 
he wascbietly instrumental in building up the "Even- 
ing Wisconsin," until it became one of the most in- 
fluential and iirospenius newspapei's west of the great 
lakes. He has a natural aptitude for mechanics, and 
has exhibited facility in the mechanical matters of 
bis business, many of his mechanical devices and 
methods of work having been sulficicnily novel lo be 
patented. The method of printing newspapers on 
one side at a central office and on the other side at 
the office of publii-alion (commonly called " Patent 
Insides "), originated with Mr. Aikens in 1863. Mr. 
Aikens's improvement upon the English method of 
printing auxiliary newspapers consisted in the addi- 
tion to the general news of the paper of a jiage for 
general advertising; the compensation for this adver- 
tising partly, and sometimes wholly, paying for the 
co.st of the "while paper to the ])ul)iisber. The firm 
of Cramer, .\ikens it Cramer conuuenced the publi- 
cation of the "Patent Insides" with advert iseineuls 
in 1864, being tin' pioneer house in the business. 
There are now 8.000 papers (u-inted upon that plan 
in the L'nited Stales — more llian one-half of all the 
weekly newspapers, at a saving of millions of doUar.s. 
Mr. Aikens's ability, integrity, high character and 
generosity make him popular among all classes of 
peoiile. 

ROBINSON, David, soldier, was born at Hard- 
wii-k. Wovecsli-r Co., Mass., Xov. 4. 17.'>4. son of 
Capt. Samuel Hobinson. He was taken to Benning- 
ton, Vt., in 1761. and with two of his brothei-s fought 
in the compaiiv led bv their brother Sanuiel in the 
battle there, Aug. 16," 1777. He held in succession 
.all the offices in the state militia, ending with that 
of maior-iieneral, 1812-17. He was sheritf of Ben- 
nington county, 1789-1811, U. S. marshal for the 
state, 1811-19,"and a member of the constitutional 
convention of 1828. He outlived his brothers, dying 
in his ninetieth year. Dee. 11, 1843. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



467 



MOORE, Alfred, Mssoiialc justice of the 
U. S. supreme toiiil, was born in Uniuswick 
county, N. C, May 21, 1755, the son of Judge 
Jlaurice Mooie. He was sent to Boston, Mass., 
to he educated, and while there made man}' friends 
and was ollercd a comniissiun in the royal army, 
which he declincil, hut his I'licndship anioMi; the 
ollicers, added to an inherited taste lor arms, led 
him to acquire an accurate knowlcdjre of mil- 
itary tactics. He subsequently returned home, 
and when all hopes of a reconciliation were lost, and 
the contest had coninienced. in August, 1775, the 
state congress at Ililisbomorgani/ed tworcginientsfor 
the Continental establislnncnt. Allred was commis- 
sioned as captain in the 1st regiment, of which his 
Hncle, .lames Moore, was the colonel, marched with 
liis command to Cliarleslon. was on dutylhereat the 
brilliant affair of Fort Moultrie, and distinguished 
himself to such an e.Ment that he was ranked among 
the tirst captains of the day. The s\iddcn deaths (jf 
his uncle, father, brother and brother-in-law ciim- 
]icllcil his resignation from the army in order that he 
miglil take care of the fanuly. suddenly thrown i;;ion 
him forsujiport. But he raised a troop of volunteers, 
and .so annoyed the enemy that JIaj. Craig (after- 
ward Sir James Craig, governor genera! of Canada), 
•when in possession of Wilmington, N C, sent troops 
to plunder Capt. Moore's house, and left him desti- 
tute. After the battle of Guilford Court House. 
March 15, 1781, he, with others, diil good service in 
harassing Lord Cornwallis in his march from Guil- 
ford to Wilmington. In 1782 the general assembly 
elected him attorney-general of the state, as a rec- 
ognition of his services and to alleviate his imme- 
diate wants, for it was known that be had never read 
a law book. But his industrious habits and acute 
penetration supplied all deficiencies, and he soon 
became eminent. He was called to the bench of 
North Carolina in 17!tS. and the following year the 
president ajipointed him one of the .'issociate justices 
of the .supreme court of the United States, which 
position he held for si.\ j'ears with much credit. He 
resigned on account of failing health. He is de- 
scribed as having graceful and winning manners, a 
brilliant wit. and varied accoMijilishments. and has 
'■ handed his memory down to posterity as a tinished 
model of a North Carolina gentleman." .Judge 
Jloore married Su.san Eagles, and left several chil- 
dren. He died at the house of Maj. Waddell, in 
Bladen county, Oct. 1.5, ISIO. 

JOHNSON, William, associate justice of the 
U. S. suineme court, was born in Charleston, 
S. C, Dec. 27, 1771. He was named after his 
father, who was descended from an English Xoneon- 
formist, driven out of his country on the return of 
Charles H., and who .settled in Holland. Here he 
soon learned of the emigration which was going on 
to America, and which was forwarded by the mer- 
chants of Amsterdam, under the protection of the 
Dutch government. Changing his name to Jansen, 
he joined one of these expeditions and settled at New 
Amsicnlam, where he received a considerable grant 
of laud where now is the city of New York. Had 
Jansen retained his Dutch name be would have re- 
tained this property, but after the cession of New 
Amsterdam to the English and its gift by the crown 
to the Duke of York, he resumed liis English name 
of Johnson, whereupon he lost his estate. The family 
removed to South Carolina and settled in Charleston, 
where the tirst William Johnson did good service 
during the revolutionary war. His son William. the 
subject of this sketch, was a child during this period. 
and obtained sucli education as he could until after 
the declaration of peace, when he prepared for col- 
lege. He wasseiiMo Princeton, and wasijradnated in 
17i)0. Beturning to Charleston he entered as a law 
student the oltice of the celebrated Charles Cotcs- 



worlh Pincknev. and in 1793 pas.sed his examination 
and was admitted to practice at the bar. Although 
only just past twenty-one, Mr. Johnson was .sent to 
the slate legislature, where he remained imtil 17118, 
when he was appointed judge of the courl of com- 
mon pleas, and after holding the ollice about live 
years was, in 1S|)4, appointed by Thomas Jefferson 
an as.sociate justici' of the United Slates supreme 
court. While sustaining the political principles of 
Jefferson, Justice Johns'on was immovable so far as 
his view of the law and the right of any case was 
concerned. This trail in his character brought him 
into collision with the president in the matter of the 
celebrated " Embargo "act; while in connection with 
the South Carolina nulliticatiim proceedings be was 
in a decided minority. So marked was the antago- 
nism between the majority of the citizens of South 
Carolina and Justice Johnson with regard to this im- 
portant question, that the latter, for a time, went to 
live in western Pennsylvania ti> avoid having any- 
thin;: to do with it. "This was in 1838, and the fol- 
lowiuL' year he went to Brooklvn, N. Y. Justice 
Johnson" published, in 1822, •'the Life and Corre- 
spondence of Maj. -Gen. Nathaniel Greene." In 1826 
he published aU eulogy on Adams and Jefferson, and 
lie also contributed certain essays to the American 
Philosophical Society. He died in Brooklyn, X. Y., 
Aug. 11. 1H34. 

LIVINGSTON, Henry Brockholst, associate 
justice of the U. S. supreme court, was born 
in New Y'ork city Nov. 2(i, 1757. He was the son 
of William Livingston, governor 
of New Jersey. After due prep- 
aration he entered Princeton Col- 
lege, where he was graduated in 
n74. and two years later was ap- 
jioiuted captain in the American 
army, and soon after was promot- 
ed to be major, and attached to 
the staff of Gen. Philip Schuyler. 
He was present at the siege of Ti- 
conderoga, and in October. 1777, 
took part in the attack by Benedict 
Arnold on Burgoyne's army at 
Saratoga. He was promoted to 
be lieutenant -colonel. In 1779. 
when John Jay, who was his 
brother-in-law, was sent as min- 
ister to Spain, Mr. Livingston 
went with him as his private sec- 
retary. He returned in 1782, and 
on his way back, being captured 
by a British man-of-war, was taken to New Y'ork 
aiul imprisoned, but was soon after set free. 
Mr. Livingston now went to Albany and be- 
came a student in the law office of Peter Yates, 
where he remained for about a year, when he was 
admitted to practice at the bar. In 1802 Mr. Li%-- 
ingston was appointed judge of the state supreme 
court, in which position he remained until 1807, 
when he was appointed an associate justice of the 
United Slates supreme court, tosuccced William I'at- 
terson. He conlinued to retain this position until his 
death. Justice Livingston was a trustee of the New 
York Society Library, an<l a vice president of the 
New York "Historical Society. He received from 
Harvard, in 181S, the degree' of LL.D. It is said 
that Mr. Livingston in early life killed a man in a 
duel, and that tlie memory of this act embillcrcd the 
remainder of his days. He possessed an acute and 
liowcrful mind, ami was distinsuisheii as a .scholar 
and jurist. He died in Washington .March 19, 1823. 

TODD, Thomas, associate justice of the U. 
S. supreme court, was born in King and Queen's 
county, Va.. Jan. 23, 17f>5. He was orphaned 
in childhood, gained an education with dilliculty, 
and served in the later years of the revolutionary 




468 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPiEDIA 




.-^J^uJk^ 



•war. Joinins relatives at Danville. Ky.. he was ad- 
mitted to the bar in 1780, wa-s elerU of .several terri- 
torial conventions, then of the U. 8. dislriet eourl, 
and of the court of appeals from the admission of 
Kentucky as a state in 1799. Two veal's later he he- 
came a judge of this court; while al this post lie was 
instrumental in the revision of the land laws, a labor 
•which he continued in hii;her station. He wasmtide 
chief justice of Iventucky in IsitK. and in Marcli, 
1807, an associate of the t*. S. supreme court. This 
office he held until his death, at Frankfort, Ky., 
Fel). 7. is-jii. 

WASHINGTON, Bushrod, associate justice 
of the I'. S. f.u]ireme court. (See lude.v.) 

DUVAL, Gabriel, associate justice of the U. 
S. supreme court, was born in jlaryland Dec. (i, 
1753, the descendant of a Huguenot family which 
emigrated from France afler the 
revocation of the edict of Xante.s. 
He wa.s thoroughly educated, and 
having chosen the |)rofession of 
law, studied in a local ollice, and 
after passing his examination was 
admitted to inaclice al the bar. 
.lust before the outbreak of the 
revolutionary war he was appoint- 
ed clerk of the Jlarvland legisla- 
ture, but does not appear to have 
been personally active in the mili- 
tarv service during the war. From 
17'.i4 to 17!H) Mr. Duval was a 
member of congress, but he re- 
signed in the spring of the lat- 
ter year, having been appointed 
a judge of the supreme court of 
>Iarvland. He was a ]iresiden- 
tial "elector in 1706 and ]S00. In 
1S()2 he was comptroller of the 
treasury, and ciuitimied in that ollice until No- 
vember. ISll. when President Jladison appoint<'d 
him one of the justices of the Uniteil 8tates .supreme 
court. He continued on the supreme bench until 
1836, •n'hen he resigned on account of his increasing 
age and infirmities. He died at his home in Prince 
Geori.'<' eountv, Md., JIarcIi 6, 1844. 

STORY, Joseph, associate justice of the U. S. 
supreme court, was born in ^larbleliead, Jlass., 
Sept. 18, 1779. He was the sou of Dr. Elisha 
Story, who was one of the persons who threw the tea 
overboard in Boston harbor, and who was afterward 
a surgeon attached to the army during the war of 
the revolution. From Marble- 
head. Story entered Harvard 
in 179."). and on his graduation 
in 1798. he delivere(t the cl.-iss 
poem. He studied law, jiassed 
at the bar, and in 1801 settled in 
Salem, where he began practice. 
In 1805 he was elected to the 
state legislature, where he be- 
came a leader of the republican 
party, being recognized as a ile- 
li.'it<'r of unusual tluency and 
mental resource. He became 
speakerof the house in 1811, and 
in the same year was appointed 
by President Madison an asso- 
ciate justice of tliesuiireme court 
of the United States, an otiice 
which he held during lliirly-foiir 
years, or until his death. Obliged 
to cover a circuit including the 
states of Maine, New Hampshire. Massachuseiis and 
Rhode Island, the cases upon which he had to ad- 
judicate were those complicated ones natural to a 
country with an extended seaboard. They covered 
admiraltv law, the law of salvage, that of marine 



■^^-> 




^^i^yyv^:^ 



insurance, as well as prize law. none of which were 
at that time clearlv understood or interpreted iu 
American jurisprudence, and many of w hich came 
up specially for consideration and judgment in cou- 
neclion with the war of 1812. It is said of Justice 
Story that, as to these departments of jurisprudence 
and also in regard to patent law, he was pra<-tically 
their creator for the United States. As.sociated also 
with the name of Chancellor Kent, that of .Justice 
Story stands high in its relatiou to the foundation of 
the existing system of American equity juiisiuu- 
dence. In 1819, at a lime when New Enuland ports 
were the active centres of the African s^ave trade, 
.Judge Story was prominent in his denuncialiou of 
the trallic. especially in his charges to grand juries 
and wherever the question came up in court. Natu- 
rally, in proceeding in this course of conduct, be 
aroused the enmity of the New England people who 
were interested in the trade, and especially tlie press 
of the seai>oits from which it was conducled. but 
with courage rare and almost unrivaled, .Judge 
Story never swerved from the jiosition which lu'took 
at tiie beginning of his relation with this subject, 
branding the slave trallic not only as a moral and as 
an econcjiiiic crime, but as a violation of the law of 
nations. In his ])olitics .Judge Story was a republi- 
can, and he drew upon himself not a little odium, 
living as he did in the midst of warm federalisls. 
Some of his early statements in regard to sectionalism 
seem almost prophetic. Thus he said; "Virginia 
has ruled us by the old maxim. 'Divide and t'on- 
quer.'" And again; "We have foolishly sutTered 
ourselves to be wheedled by Southern jioliticians 
until we have almost forgotten that the honors and 
the constitution of the Union are as much our birth- 
right and protection as the rest of the Uuileii Slates." 
In the convention of 1820. which rcviseil the I'xisting 
constitiuiou of Massachuseiis. Story took an active 
part, with such men as Webster, tjuincy and I'res- 
coll, and was an important factor in the decisions 
of tlial body. iMany of our important mercantile 
slatiiles and banknipt laws were drawn by him, 
nearly or quite in the form in which they were fi- 
nally" passed by congress. In 18'29. when Nathan 
Dane founded the |u-ofessorsliip of law al Harvard, 
it was stipulated that .Judge Story should be elected 
to fiU the chair. This was accordingly done, and 
Story settled at Cambridge, where he ]iassed the re- 
mainder of his life, the result of his election being to 
attiaci .students from all partsof the country. Jlcan- 
wliile he continued to hold his position as associate 
ju.slice of the suiu'cme court, but it is questionable if 
the greatest .service which he did 1o the couiiliy was 
not, |ierliaps. connecled with the splendid o|>por- 
tunities which his Iciiching afforded to the students 
in the Harvard Law School. The jirofession of 
teaching law was. with .Judge Story, an enthusiasm. 
He delighted in his students; whoni he called "the 
hoys," and sought in every way to instill into Iheir 
minds the highest ideas of the importance of their 
studies in their relation to mankind and tlii' social 
order. His lectures, even upon what are commonly 
consiilered the dry topics of the law, were delivered 
with such earnesine.ss and so much eloquence, and 
so thoroughly illustrated with anecdotes and tilled 
with e])isodes which were .suggested to his active 
mind at almost every step, that tliey becanu' inter- 
esting and even entertaining discourses. His knowl- 
edge of his profession was exceptional in its extent, 
and his abilitv to convey w hat he knew excelled that 
that of any other teacher of his time, if. indeed, there 
hasever been his eipial. In 1831 .Judge Story was of- 
fered the position of chief justice of the slaleof Massa- 
chusetts, which, lunvever, he declined. After the 
death of Chief .lustice ^Marshall, .Judge Story )iresid- 
ed over the deliberations of the supreme court until 
Chief Justice Tanev was confirmed, and he would 



« 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



469 



have succeeded Marshall but for the fact that political- 
ly he was iu opposition to the administration. In 1845 
he intended to resign tioni his position on the su- 
preme court l)eiK-li, and to devote Idmself entirely to 
his duties in tlie lliuvard Law Seliool. Besides bc- 
ini enunent as a judge and pre-eminent as a teacher 
of law. Story ranks among tlie liighest as a writer of 
text-books and autliorilies in jurisprudence. In this 
respect he was almost uneciualed by any legal writer 
of his time. Beginning with liis '■fSeleel ion of Plead- 
ings from Civil Actions," published in Salem iu 1805, 
hewrole: " Commentaries on the Law of Bailments " 
(Cambridge, 1832); " Conunentaries on the Consti- 
tution of the United Stales" (3 vols., 1833); "Com- 
mentaries on the Contliet of Laws" (Boston, 1864); 
"Commentaries on Ecjuitv .Turisprudenee" (3 vols., 
1835-3(3); " Equitv Pleadings ' (is;i8): "Law of 
Agency" (1839); ""Law of Partnership" (1841); 
"Law of Bills of IC.xeliange " (1843); and " Law of 
Promissory Notes" cl845). Besides the.se works, all 
of them authorities as well in British as in Americau 
courts. Judge Story edited: "Chitty on Bills of Ex- 
change and Promissory Notes" (Bo.ston, 1809); 
"Abbot on Shipping" (1810), and "Laws ou As- 
sumpsit " (1811). Thirteen octavo volumes of reports 
by Cranch, Wheaton, Peters and Howard contain 
Story's decisions as a circuit court judge from 1811 to 
1845". The reports of the supreme court during his 
judicial experience occupy thirty-five volumes. He 
contributed to Wheaton's reports 184 closely printed 
pages; he wrote for the " Encyclopedia Americana," 
edited by Dr. Francis Lieber, articles which tilled 
120 pages; he was a frequent contributor to the 
" North American Review," and tinalh' he left un- 
published a "Digest of Law." which exi.sts in the 
Harvard law libraiy in three manuscript folio vol- 
umes. The "Miscellaneous Writings "and "Life 
and Letters" of Judge Story, edited b_v his son, 
William Wetmore Story, were published iu Boston 
in 1851. Judge Story died iu Cambridge, Mass., 
Sept. 10, 1S4.5.'^ 

THOMPSON, Smith, associate justice of the 
U. S. supreme court. (See Index.) 

TRIMBLE, Robert, associate justice of the 
U. S. supreme court, was born in Berkeley coun- 
ty, Ya., in 1777. Taken to Kentucky in 1780, 
he made the most of limited opjiortunities, taught 
school for a time, was admitted to the bar in 
1803. settled at Paris, Ky., and was at once sent to 
the legislature. Declining further preferment ex- 
cept on the lines of his prufcssinn. he l)ecame judge 
of the court of appeals in 1808. chief justice of the 
state 1810, U. S. district attorney 1813, district 
judge 1816-26, and then a justice of the U. S. su- 
preme court. He died Aug. 25. 1828. Trimble 
county. Ivy., was named iu his honor. 

McLEAN, John, associate jirstiee of the U. S. 
supreme court and jiosl master-general, was liorn in 
Morris county, X. J., :March 11, 1785. His father 
was a farmer iu poor circumstances, who, when .John 
was a small boy, emigrated into Virginia, and af- 
terward to Kentucky, settling linally, about the end 
of the last century, iu Warren county. O. Here the 
bo\" assisted his fatlier in farming, picking up such 
schooling as he could in the neighliorbood, and hav- 
ing llnr advaiUage of two years' private tuition. In 
18t)3. having deterndncd to study law, he went to 
Cincinnati, which a]ipeared to oiler the best and 
nearest facilities for that purpose, and there began 
to study, at the same time accepting a clerk.slnp, 
which enabled him to support him.self. He was 
admitted to the bar in 1807, and at once began prac- 
ticing, being remarkably successful fcjr one so young, 
and showing unusu.il talent. In 1812 the democrats 
nominated him for congress and he was elected, and 
re-elected him two years later. While in congress he 
was noted for the interest he took iu all measures cal- 




^^a^^-t— -^^U^ 



culatcd to improve the condition of the poor or un- 
fortunate. He was successful in passing a bill by 
which persons who had their i)roperly seized in pub- 
lic service were properly repaid therefor, and he 
also was earnest iu advocating the pensioning of 
widows of .soldiers. In 1815 he could have gone to 
the U. S. senate, but he declined the nomination, 
and in the following year was elected to the supreme 
court of Ohio. He held this po- 
.sition for six years, when he was 
appointed by President Jlonroe 
to the head "of the general land 
oliice, and in the following year 
postmaster-general. His admin- 
istration of this office was .so sat- 
isfaetoiy, and .so vumsually ener- 
getic, that be held over through 
tlie administration of President 
John Qiiincy Adams, and was 
invited to continue as the head 
of the post-oflice department by 
President Jackson, In 1829 the 
Jacksouian political theory, "to 
the victors belong the spoils, " was 
so repugnant to Mr. McLean's 
ideas that he declined to serve 
iu an administration which was 
being conducted on this princi- 
ple. He therefore declined the 
war and navy portfolios offered him by President 
Jackson, but accepted an associate-justiceship of the 
V . S. supreme court. Judge McLean was soon cel- 
ebrated for his opinions and his charges to grand ju- 
ries while on the circuit. Oue of the most impor- 
tant of his opinions was given in the Dred Scott case, 
in which he dissented from the majority view pre- 
sented by Chief Justice Taney, holding the position 
that slavery was contraiy to right princi])le, antl was 
only sustained by local law. In 1848, being identi- 
fied with the free-soil anti-slavery part}-, Mr. McLean 
was considered as a candidate for the presidency on 
the free-soil ticket. In 1856 at the first reimblican 
national convention, where John C. Fremont was 
nominated. Judge McLean received 196 votes. Iu 
1860, when Lincoln was noiuinated in C'hicago, he 
also received a few votes. Judge McLean is the au- 
thor of ; "Eulogy on James jVIonroe" (1831). He 
died in Cincinnati, O., Apr. 4, 1861. 

BALD'WIN, Henry, associate justice of the 
LT. S. supreme court, was born in New Haven, 
Conn., .Ian. 14, 1780. He studied at the com- 
mon schools of New Haven, was sent to Yale 
College, and was graduated in 1797. He then began 
the study of law, and proved himself quick to learn, 
and after having been admitted to practice, became 
a well-known and respected member of the bar of 
Connecticut. After lu'acticing in New Haven some 
years, he removed irom Connecticut and went to 
Penn.sylvania, where he settled, opening an otHce in 
Pittsburg, and socm acquired a lucrative practice. 
Mr. Baldwin was a federalist in politics, and was 
sent to congress from Penn.sylv.ania in 1817, where 
he remained until 1822, when he resigned. Keturn- 
ing to Pittslnirg he contiinied to practice law until 
18;!0, when he was aiipoiiiled by President Jackson 
associate justice of the supreme court. Judge Bald- 
win pul)lislied, in ls;!7, in I'hiladclphia, a volume, 
entitled "A General View of the Origin and Nature 
of the Constitution and Government of the United 
States." In 18;i0 he received the degree of LL.D. 
from his alma mater. He died in Philadelphia.Pa., 
Apr. 21. IS44. 

■WAYNE, James Moore, associate justice of 
the U. S. suiu-eme court, was born in Savannah, iu 
1790. After having ju-epared for college he was .sent 
to Princeton where he was graduated in 1808. He 
then went into a law olhce in Savannah and studied 



470 



THE NATIOXAL CYCLOP.EDIA 



until his examination, wliich lie passed successfully, 
bein;; u<liuitte(l to jiractiee iu ISIO. lie interested 
liiinself in i»)lilits and was sent to the slate leirisla- 
ture, .and at'teruard, in l^i'i, was elected mayor of 
his native city. From Iti'H to 1.S29 he was jud,u:e of 
the superior court of Savannah, and in the latter 
year was elected a mendier of couirress, remaininj; 
there until l.s;i.i. He was an excellent orator and 
loi^ical in arttumeut. Having .strongly supijorted 
General .Jackson, the latter apjiointed him, in l>*:i.5. 
associate justice of the supreme court. .luslice 
Wayne was a freetrader and an economist, ol)je<t- 
iug strongly to extravagance in the use of the na- 
tional funds and was o])posed to the I'nited Stales 
Bank. He was particularly strong in his knowledge 
of maritime law and admiralty ca.ses. In 1.S4'.) lie 
received from Princeton College tli(! degree of 
LL. D. Justice Wayne interested himself greatly in 
the Indian question and was very intluential in hav- 
ing the Indians placed upon reservations. He died 
in^Washinirton. D. C. Julv -5, 18(!~. 

BARBOUR, Philip Pendleton, a.ssociate just ice 
of the U. S. supreme court, was liorn in Orangeeoun- 
ty, Va., May 2.5, 17S3, the .son of Col. Thomas Bar- 
bour. He received his early education at the schools 
in his native county, read law, and was .sent by his 
father to Kentucky to settle some land claims, in 
which he was unsuccessful, and was thereafter left 
to make his own way in the world. He was 
admitted to the bar. jiracticed law, and subse- 
quently studied atWilliamand MarvCollege. From 
1813 to 1814 he was a member of the legislature, 
and from 1814 to 1821 a member of congress 
from Virginia, when he becamespeakeroftbehon.se 
of representatives. In 1S2.'5 he resigned his position, 
and wa.s appointed judge of the eastern di>irict of 
Virginia. He was in congress again from 1837 to 
1830. was president of the Virginia constitutional 
convention and chairman of the judiciary committee, 
and in 1831 was president of the Philailelpbia free- 
trade convention. In 1836 President .Jackson ap- 
pointed him an associate judge of the supreme court 
of the United Stales. While in congress he opjiosed 
all appropriations for public improvements, antl all 
import duties. He died in Washington, D. C, Feb. 
2.5, 1841. 

CATRON, John, associate justice of the U. S. 
supreme court, was born in Wyihe county, Va.. in 
1778. He was brought up in the western country 
and received only such meagre 
education as was alTorded in the 
common schools of Kciilucky and 
Virginia about the lieginning of 
the present century. In 1812 he 
studied law in Tennessee and in 
1815 commenced practice at the 
bar. At the same time he served 
in a campaign under Gen. .Jack- 
son, and upon llieslrenglh of his 
mililary exploits was elected by 
the legislature of Temiessee, altor- 
ney for the state. In 1818 he re- 
moved to Nashville, and in 1S24 
was elected judge of the supreme 
coiu't of Tennessee. Judge Catron 
took an active part in iMillingiiown 
dueling, which was an ordinary 
pastime among western lawyers. 
Thecustom wasaholished by strik- 
ing a lawyer from the rolls in a 
case which came before the court, and in which Judge 
Catron delivered the opinion and set forth his circuit 
experience, "for whicli homily to my brethren," he 
tells us, " I was scorched with many a racy sarcasm, 
such as, that a .simier who had carried lilank cIi.mI- 
lenges in the crown of his hat. and slept with jjislols 
under his head, was a very proper man to jiut ilown 




Ca~trrh^' 



a vice he so well understood in all its hearings." In 
1836 he lost his ollice under the amended constitu- 
tion of Tennessee. In the year following (1837) he 
was appointed by Presiilcnl J.ieksun justice of the 
U. S. sujireine court, and held the oilice until his 
death in Xashville, Tenn., Jlay 30, 186.5. 

McKINLEY, John, as,sociale justice of the 
U. S. supreme court, was born in Virginia, ]May 1, 
1780. He adopted the profession of the law. aiai af- 
ter passing thron^di the |iroper eonrse of study was 
adinilled to p]a<-ti(e and settled at Louisville, Ky., 
frian wliicli place he removed to Alabama, making 
his residence in Iluntsville. Afterservingasa mem- 
ber of the stale legislature, he was elected U. S. sen- 
ator from Alabama to till a vacancy, and served 
from 1826 to 1S31. Two years later, he look his .seat 
in the house of representatives, where he served un- 
til 183.5, and in 1S37 received the aiipoinlnient of a.s- 
sociate justice of the supreme court from the hands 
of Piesiilent N'.'ui liuren and continued in that po.si- 
tion for the remaiiali'r of his life, .lustice JIcKinley 
dieil in Louisville, Ky.. July 1!), 1.8.52. 

DANIEL, Peter Vivian, associate justice of 
the U. S. supreme court, was born in Virginia, 
Apr. 24, 1784. He came of an old Virginia family 
highly respected and esleemed. and whose connec- 
tion with pulilic alTairs was important and almost 
continuous. Peler V. Daniel was sent to Princeton 
as .soon as he had been jtroperly prepared fora college 
education and was graduated in 1H05. He became 
a student in the ollice of Eilmund Randolph, who 
was atlorneygeneral in 17><'.» and secretary of .slate 
in 171I4. Mr. n.miel married Uandolph's daughter, 
Lucy Nelson K,indol|ih, afler being admilted to the 
bar,. and a year laler entered the privy council of 
Virginia, of which he continued a member until 
183.5. The following year he was appointed a cir- 
cidt judge and in 1841 President Harrison madi' him 
an associate justice of the supreme court, of wliich 
body he continued a memlier until his death, which 
ociaured in Itiiliinond, Va., June 30, 1860. 

NELSON, Samuel, associate justice uf the V. 
S. supreme court, was born at Ileliron. Wnsliinirlon 
Co., N. v., Nov. 10, 1702. His grand fal her, of 
Scotch-Irish lineage, was one of a compiiny of .set- 
tlers who emigrated from the North of Ireland about 
the year 1762, accianpanied by their pastor, and 
settled at Salem, Washington Co. His son, John 
Rogers Nelson, was marr-rd shortly after the end of 
the revolutionary war to Je:iii McCarler, and seltled 
at Hebron. The old homeslead. still in the posses- 
sion of the family, was long occupied by .John Jay 
Nelson, the elder brother of Samuel. The early life 
of the latter was spent on a farm, although he made 
vise of such opporlnnities for instruction as he had, 
by attending the district school, from which he was 
sent to the classical school tit Saleni, and afterward 
to the Granville .Vcademy. where lie was tilted for 
college. In ISll he was sent to Middlebury College, 
Vt.. where he was graiUiated two years later. He 
then entered the ollice of a law tirm, where he re- 
mained as a student during the next two years, 
when the tirm was dissolved, and Mr. Nelson ac- 
companied one of the iiartners to Madison county, 
N. V. He was adinilled to luactice at the bar in 
January, 1817, and soon afler opened an ollice in the 
village" of Corllaiid, Corllaiul Co., his business for 
several years being in justices' c(airts. He estab- 
lished a repulalion as a clear-headed and sngacious 
lawyer, and he soon had a large and remunerative 
practice. He took a deep interest in politics from 
the beginning of his business career, and in 1820 
was chosen a presidential elector on the democratic 
ticket. The same year lie was a|ipointed posliiiiister 
of Corllaiid, and in 1S21 was a deleLrnle from his 
county to the consliiulional convenlion. In the 
meantime, in 1810, he had married Painilla Woods, 



OF AMERICAN BIOGKATIIY. 



471 




f 



daughter of Judge Woods, in ■whose offlre he had 
studied his profession. Mrs. Nelson, unfortunately, 
died tliree years later. In 1823 Jlr. Nelsou was ap- 
pointed by Gov. Yates eirenit .1ud,i;e for the district 
comiirisinii the counties of Broome, (,'heuango, Cort- 
land. Delaware, Otsego, Tioga. Tompkins, Sleul)en 
and Vales. Judge Nelson's jurisdietion embraced 
both civil and criminal (vises, and he conlinn<'d to 
hold this position for eight years. In \'&iXi he was 
married to Catherine A. Kussell, daughter of Judge 
Kussell of C'ooperstown, to which 
place he soon after removed. lu 
1831 Judge Ncl.son was made as- 
sociate judge of the supreme 
court of the state, and in 18;jT, 
\ipon the retirement of Judge 
Savage, Gov. Marcy appointed 
liim chief ju.slice, a position 
which he held for eight years. 
.Vt this period the supreme court 
of tlie state of New York was a 
tribunal renowned for its dignity 
and learning, and whose decisions 
were cited in almost every stale 
in the Union. After the adop- 
tion of the constitution of 1846, 
■ 1 ^ "I when the judges liecame elective, 

/ic-^^^'t^ this reimtatiou departed from the 

court. In 1845 Judge Nelson was 
^ V, nominated by President John 

Tyler to a vacant .seat on the 
U. S. supreme cotirt bench and was confirmed bvthe 
senate. While the e-\perience of Justice Nelson had 
up tothistime been mainly with conunou law, it was 
soon perceived that he was eijuallv well-equipped in 
equity, maritime, admiralty and international juris- 
prudence. Not only did he sustain his reputation, 
but it was very .sckhmi that his decisions from the 
bench of the circuit coiut of New York were ap- 
pealed from. On questions of admiralty and mari- 
time law parlicidarly, he was considered very 
strong authority, and altogether he was awarded the 
first rank as an American Jurist. In 1857 the cele- 
brated "Died Scott" decision was pronounced by 
the supreme court, and Justice Nelson concurretl 
•with Cliief Justice Taney in the conclusion that con- 
gress possessed no power under the constitution to 
abolish or limit the institution of .slavery and that a 
negro ha<l no standing in court. During the civil 
■war Justice Nelson held the entire confidence of the 
republican jiarty, his loyally never bring questioned. 
While he disapproved of the use of what were 
known as " war powers" and other invasions of civ- 
il rights under military aulhority, yet he never in 
any way resisted or obstructed the acts of the gov- 
ernment. Frequently, indeed, his counsel was 
sousht by memliers of the administration upon the 
gravest questions of state. During all the peri(Kl of 
the slavery agitation, from the time of the Mexican 
war and the admission of Te.xas, down to the Mis- 
souri compromise and the troubles in Kansas and 
Nebraska and so on through the civil war — through 
all this perio<l Judge Nelson never forfeited any 
part of the public esteem, and many limes he was 
consulted upon delicate que.sti(ms ari.sing out of the 
crises .if the war. In 1871 Justice Nelson was ap- 
pointed one of the American rommis.sioncrs of the 
joint high commission, which met in Washinglon in 
that ycai^, for the purpose of settling the Alabama 
claims. For his position in this inqiortant body. 
Justice Nelson seemed especially well equipped. He 
possessed remarkable diplomatic tact. Ilie erudition 
and aculeness of the jurist, the sagacity of the states- 
man and the iron will of the executive oflicer. He- 
sides his familiarity with internation.al law. bis gen- 
cr;d learning and his persuasive manners adnu'rably 
fitted him for taking part in the important discus- 



sions of the conimi.ssion. Unfortunately, when the 
sessions of the commission were nearly at an end, 
Ju.slice Nelson became ill, and, imwilling to retain 
his position without performing the duties attached 
to it. he offered his resigiuition from the .supremo 
court, which was reluctantly received by the ju-esi- 
dent and learned wllli deep regret by the members 
of the bar and the general public. Indeed, this nec- 
e.s,sary act on llu' part of Justice Nelson was felt to 
be such a grave misfortune in relation to the inter- 
ests of the country, that on Jan. 17, 1873, a meeting 
of the principal lawyers of the southern district of 
New York, presided over by the dislinguished law- 
3'er, C'harh's O'Conor, was held at the U. S. court 
room in that city, for the purpose of ('.viu'essing the 
.sentiments of the bar of New York on this occa.siou. 
A number of prominent lawyers and judges testified 
to their appreciation of the character ami otlicial ca- 
reer of Judge Nelson. It has been said of Sanuiel 
Nelson that he was " born a judge." His decisions 
have stood the test of time and the searching analy- 
sis of the most able lawyers, and are referred to as 
authority both in England and throughout the Unit- 
ed States. Judge Nelson bore himself always with 
the dignity and urbanity which befitted his position, 
and whether on the bench or in the social circle he 
inspired respect and regard from all who met him 
or had an opportunity of observing his impressive 
manner and imiform courtesy. Although alwaj's dig- 
nified, he never repelled any one, however humble in 
p!)sition, and iierhajis no man ever assumed less, ia 
consequence of his standing in society, than he did. 
Judge Nelson reiuoved in 1829 to the estate known 
as "Fenimore," near Cooperstown, N. Y., which 
place continued to be his home until his death. 
While in Cooperstown, his intimate personal friend 
and associate was llie late James Fenimore Coojier, 
the immortal author of "The Last of the Mohi- 
cans." Judge Nelson always took a deep interest in 
politics, and his name was more than once mentioned 
in connection with the democratic uominaticm for 
the presidency; Gov. Seymour, in particular, repeat- 
edly tried to have this honor conferred upon him. 
Justice Nelson died at his home in Cooperstown 
Dec. 13, 1873. 

WOODBTJKY, Levi, a.ssociate jastice of the 
U. S. supreme ciairt, was born at Frances- 
town, Hillsborough Co., N. H., Dec. 22, 1789. 
His ancestor, John Woodbury, came from Somer- 
setshire to Cape Ann in 1624, and 
settled at Salem two years later. 
Levi was graduated from Dart- 
mouth in 1809. studied law at 
Litchfield, Conn., and in 1812 be- 
gan practice at home. He was 
made cleik of the New Ham]i- 
shire senate in 1816, and the next 
year judge of the New Hamp- 
shire supreme court. With W. 
AI. Kichard.son he ju'cpared Vol, 
II. of its Heports. From 1819 his 
home was at Portsm<iuth. Ik- 
was governor in 1823, and in 
1825 left the legislature, in which 
he was speaker of the hduse, to 
enter the U. S. senate. In the 
debate on S. A. Foote's resolu- 
tion of Jamiary, 1830, which 
called forth the fannius speeches 
of Webster and Ilayne, he took 
a prominent part, and earned from T. II. Ben- 
Ion the title, " Kock of the New England democ- 
racy." He was a cabinet officer for ten consecu- 
tive vears under Jackson and Van Buren, as secre- 
taiyofthenavy 1831-34, and of the treasury 18:54-41. 
Heturning to the .senate in 1841, he was active in de- 
fending the indepen<ient treasury system, which uau 




LCHKj^Uic^ 



472 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPJiDIA 



been introtUicod while he was secretan', and in pro- 
ctirini; the (k'feat of llio banking svstcnis urL't'il bv 
Chi}- and b}^ I'lvsidt-nt T.vlcr. Ik- di'tlinod. while 
in tlie cabini'l, the New HaMipshiivchiff-jnsliccshi|), 
and in 1.S4.") ihe mission toKnj;land. 1ml accciHed tlie 
j)la(e in Ihe U. S. supreme conit vacated bv .Iudi;e 
8toiy's death; this he held from Jamiaiv, 1840. tie 
received the deunec of LL.I). from Dartmouth in 
lH'2'ii. and from Weslcyan riiivcrsity in 1S4:1 Ac- 
cordin.i; to his son-in-law, .Monli;o"mery ISlair, he 
■would have been the next democratic nominee for 
the presidency. His decisions are included in " Ke- 
ports of Cases," edited bv liis son, C. L. Woodburv, 
and G. Minot (3 vols.,"l847-.")2). His "Writings, 
Political. Judicial, and Litcrarv," were collected by 
N. C'apcn. in 8 vols.. 1«.")2. lie died Sept. 4. 1851. 
GBIEB, Robert Cooper, associate justice of 
the U. i5. supreme court, w.-is born in Cumberland 
county, Pa., JIarch 5, 17t)4. He 'vas the eldest 
sou of Uev. Isaac Grier, and on his motlic'-'s side 

frandson of Robert Cooper, both of whom were 
resbyterian ministers. I.stac (irier was at the liead 
of the academy at NortbuiMberlaud, Pa., at the 
same time teaching a grammar .school, preaching to 
three congregations and farming 
his own land. It can be judged 
from the variety of his labors that 
he was an industrious man, while 
as a matter of fact he was a very 
fine scholar. He laught his son 
Robert until ISll. when, having 
thoroughly grounded him for a 
university career he sent tlie boy 
to DicUinsou College, where he 
was gradualcd at the end of the 
year, surpassing all his fellow- 
students in his knowledge of the 
ancient languages, besides excell- 
ing in chemistry. After graduat- 
ing, young Crier remained at col- 
lege as a teacher vmtil a year later, 
. when he returned to Norlhumbcr- 

'— 7/t^-7^.<--3^ land, and, his father's health hav- 
ing failed, he gave his assistance in 
the academy. His father died in 
1815, and Robert Grier succeeded him as ])rincipal, 
lectm-ing on chemistry, astronomy and matbemalics, 
besides teaching Greek and Latin and devoting his 
leisure hours to the study of Law. After proper pre]i- 
aration ;\Ir. Crier was admitted to practice in 1S17, 
and opened an ollice in Bloomsburg, Coluinl)ia Co., 
Pa., but in 1818 removed to Danville in the .same 
county. Here his practice contimied to increa.se un- 
til 1883, when Gov. Wolf appointed him judge 
of the di.strict court of Allegheny county, where- 
upon he .settled in Pittsburg. From the time of 
his lather's death, 3Ir. Crier took charge of his 
brothers and sisters, ten in number, and su|)ported 
them, as well as his mother. He married in 1S'»|. 
Isabella Ro.se, daughter of .Tolin Ko.se, a native of 
Scotland. On Aug. 4. 184(;, Judge Grier was 
nominated by President Polk one ofthe justices of 
the U. 8. supreme court, and was unanimously con- 
firmed by the s(Miate the following day. He coiiiinued 
to reside in Pittsburg until 1S4S. when be removed 
to Philadelphia, wliere he |)assed tin' remainder of 
his life, except while in actual service upon the 
bench. Judge Grier was a democrat, but during 
the civil war opposed secession and supported the 
Union. As a lawyer he was distinguished for his 
fidelity to his clients, and his benevolence to those 
of limited means. Great defcreiHa' was jiaid to his 
decisions l)v members of the bar in general. Judge 
Grier died 'in Pbiladeljihia Sept. '->(;,' ISTO. 

CURTIS, Benjamin Robbins, a.ssociate justice 
of the U. S. supreme court, was born at Walerlown, 
Mass., Nov. 4, 1809, and was descended from William 




Curtis, who married Sarah Eliot, the si.ster of John El- 
iot, and emigrated to Ameriai in the ship Lyon in 
the year lt;;i:.'. .Mr. Curtis received his early educa- 
tion at the schools in his nalive town, and" entered 
Harvard. He took the Uowdoin prize of $'>i) in 
his jimior year, delivered an oration on "The 
t'haracter of Lord Bacon," at commencement, was 
graduated in 1829, and was appointed |)roclorof Ihe 
university. He entered the law .school, studying 
under Judge Story and Prof. J. H. Aslnmm" biit 
left in 18::il, without completing his cour.sc, to lu-ac- 
tice law in Northtield. Mass., where he ri'inained for 
about three years; was admitted to the bar in 1833, 
and on May 8, 1833, married his cousin, Eliza Maiia 
Woodward, daughter of William H. Woodward, 
who, through hei" father, was a lineal descendant of 
Jliles Standish. In 1834 Mr. Curtis was admitted 
as an attorney of the supreme judicial court of Ma.ssa- 
chu.setts at Northampton, and removed to IJoslou in 
the same year, where he entered into a law iiartnership 
with Charles Pelliam Curtis, and soon became emi- 
nent. In July, 1844, he lost his wife, and in Jami- 
ary, 184(>, he married Anna Wroe Curtis, daughter 
of his iiartncr. In 18.")1 he was a member of the 
lower hou.sc of the Massachu.setts Icgi.slature, and iu 
the siune year President Fillmore appointed him one 
of the associate justices of the V. S. supreme court. 
In the famous bred Scott case Justice Curtis dis- 
sented from his associates, and in a powerful argu- 
ment upheld the right of congress lo prohibit 
slavery, and disagreed with the majority of the 
judges in Iheir dictmn that "a person of African 
descent cannot be a citizen of the United Stales." 
His di.ssentiiig opiiuon was praised throughout the 
northern st.ates. Jusliee Curtis resigned his position 
on the supreme bench in 1857, and resumed his 
private practice in Ho.ston. He again bec.ame a wid- 
ower in April. 18(i0, and in August, 18()1. married 
Maria M.alleville Allen, daughtei'of .Jonathan Allen, 
of Pittstield, Mass., and a lineal descendant of Gov. 
Bradford. >Ir. Curtis was counsel for President 
Johnson in 18li8 wlu'ii he was impeachi'd liy con- 
gress. For many years .Mr. Curtis was a Cnilarian, 
but somewhat late in life he became an Episcopalian. 
He died in Newport, R. I., Sept. 15, 1874, leaving 
several children. 

CAMPBELL, John Archibald, associate jus- 
tice of the U. S. suiMcme court, was born in Wash- 
ington, (la., June 24, 1811. He came of a family 
distinguished in American bistoiy, bis grandfather 
having been on the stall of Maj.-Gen. Greene, 
during the revolution, and his father an Indian com- 
missioner. John A. Camiibell received a thorough 
education, being a student in the University of (ieor- 
gia, mitil 182li, when he was graduated, and after- 
ward studying law and being admitted a mendier of 
the bar before he was twenty-one )-ears of age. by 
special legislative act. Having settled in .'\lont- 
gomery. Ala., he eslablisheil liim.self in a good ]irac- 
tice, and was also frequently elected a member of 
the state legislature. In 18.')3 he received from Presi- 
dent Pierce the appointmeiU to an a.s.sociale-justice- 
ship in the supreme court. He continued in this 
position until the outbreak of the civil war. when he 
resigned. While believing in Ihe legality .and right 
of secession. Judge ('am|iliell was opposed to il as a 
jiolitical mov<'nient. On the organization (if the 
Confederate government he was appointed assistant 
secretary of war, and in 1805 was sent to Fortress 
Monroe on a mission of ]>eace, and there met Presi- 
dent Lincoln and Secretary Seward. H(! was ac- 
companied by Alex.ander H. Stephens, vice-presi- 
dent of the Confederacy, and Robert M. T. Hunter, 
and all these parties named held what was known 
as "The Hampton Roads Conference." The dis- 
cussion on Ihe side of the Confederates was in favor 
of an armistice, but to this Mr. Lincoln would not 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



473 



consent, demanding the immediate disbandment of 
the Confoderate armies, the deposition and dis- 
persion of tlie government, the restoration of the 
Union, and the abolilion of slavery. As the Con- 
federate commissioners were not authorized by tlieir 
government to concede these points the conference 
ended with no practical result. The prominence 
■which Judge Camplicll reached through this con- 
ference was prt)bably one reason that at the close of 
the war be was arrcslcd as a .state prisoner and in- 
carcerated in Fort Pulaski. It proved to be, how- 
ever, merely a matter of form, as he was set free on 
Lis own parole, whereupon he .settled in New Or- 
leans, and resumed the jjractice of law. Justice 
Campbell was a man of broad views, an able lawyer 
and an acute and profoimd jurist. He was respect- 
ed for the possessicin of a character absolutely un- 
susceptible lo prejudice or obstinacy, and with tine 
di.scernment of the distinctions between right and 
■wrong. lie died in Baltimore March 12, 1889. 

CLIFFORD, Nathan, associate justice U. S. 
supriiuc court, was burn in Runiney, X. H., Aug. 
18, 1808. While a boy he was .sent to the Haverhill 
(N. H.) Academy, where he was 
prejiared for college, and after- 
ward went to Hampton Acad- 
emy, and remained there until he 
was graduated, paying all his ex- 
penses by means of his own labor. 
After leaving c<illege he began 
to study law, and in due time 
was admitted lo the bar, begin- 
ning practice in York comity. 
Me., when he was twenty -four 
years old. He continued in the 
law business until 1830, when he 
was elected a member of the leg- 
islature of the state of Maine, 
continuing in that position until 
1834 and being speaker half the 
time. From "l834 to 1838 Mr. 
Clifford was attorney-general of 
Maine. In the latter j-ear he 
was elected a member of con- 
gress and re-elected, serving four years. By this 
time Mr. Clifford had become thoroughly launched 
as a democrat in politics, and as he was an eloquent 
orator and very popular, he became important to 
the party. On Dec. 23, 1846, Mr. Clifford entered 
President Polk's cabinet as attorney-general, and at 
the conclusion of the Jle.vicau war he was sent with 
Mr. Trist to Mexico with powers which were after- 
■ward exerted in the arrangement of the treaty of 
Guadalupe-Hidalgo, which was e-xecuted Feb. 2, 
1848, Jlexico being soon after evacuated by the 
United States troops, and California, including 
Utah, being acquired by the United States. Jlr. 
CHfford retired from the attorney-generalship on the 
election of Gen. Taylor, but continued in the per- 
formance of his duties as commissioner until the fall 
of 1849, when he .settled in Maine once more 
to his law practice, in which he contimied until 
1858, when he was appointed by President Buchanan 
an a.s.sociate justice of the U. S. supreme court. In 
1877, imder an act of congress dated Jan. 29, 1877, 
the "electoral commission" was formed to settle 
certain disputed questions in regard to the electoral 
votes of several states in the presidential election of 
1876. This commission included five senators chos- 
en by the senate, five members of the hou.se of rep- 
resentatives chosen by that body, and five associate 
justices of the supreme court, four of whom were 
designated by the act of congress and the fifth se- 
lected by those four. This commission was consti- 
tuted a.s follows: — lusticcs Clifford, Strong, Miller, 
Field and Bradley; Senators Kdnuinds, Morton, 
Freliughuyscu, Thurmau and Bayard, and Rcpre- 




t/l^M^l^oc f£M^<i. 



sentatives Payne, Hawton, Abbott, Garfield and 
Hoar. Justice Clifford being the oldest mcmlier of 
the supreme bench was by law president of the com- 
mission. The result of the deliberations upon the 
confiicting certificates from Florida, Louisiana, Ore- 
gon and South Carolina was a decision by a strict 
party vote of eight to seven in favor of Hayes and 
Wheeler. The senate, ■svhich was republican, con- 
curred in this judgment in every case, while the 
house of repre.sent,'itives, which was democratic, di.s- 
sented. According to the act the conclusion of the 
the commi.ssion was in this case binding, as it could 
not be overthrown except by the agreement of both 
houses of congress. Rutherford B. Hayes and Wil- 
liam A. Wheeler were accordingly found duly elect- 
ed, by a majority of one electoral vote, respectively 
]iresiilent ami vice-president of the United States for 
the term of four years from the 4lh of March, 1877. 
Judge Clifford was a democrat and a confirmed be- 
liever in the election of Samuel J. Tilden, but no 
one ever thought of charging him with anything 
but the most exact impartiality in conducting the 
commission proceedings. Judge Clifford died in 
Cornish, Jle., July 2.5, 1881. 

SWAYNE, Noah H., associate justice of the 
U. S. supreme court. (Sec Index.) 

MILLER, Samuel Freeman, associate jus- 
tice of the U. S. supreme court, was born in 
Richmond, N. Y., Apr. 5. 1816. He came from 
German ancestry on his father's side, although the 
latter was born and reared in Pennsylvania, and em- 
igrated to Kentucky in 1812, where he married. 
They lived surrounded by hardships, and in the 
midst of toil, as at that period the place where they 
had made their home was still on the outskirts of civ- 
ilization. Up to the time when he was twelve years 
of age, young Samuel passed his life on the paternal 
farm. It was only after that period that he could go 
regularly to the town schools of Richmond, and also 
to a very excellent high school, which hail been es- 
tablished there, and between which institutions he 
laid the foundations of his future intellectual cul- 
ture. For a time he acted as clerk in a drug store. 
This set his mind on the study of medicine, which 
he followed, so far as reading "carefully all the med- 
ical books which fell in his way 
until 1836, when he was able to 
enter the medical department 
of the Transylvania University. 
Here he went through the reg- 
ular course and was graduated 
in 1838. Returning to his home 
at Richmond, he began practic- 
ing there, but soon after remov- 
ed to Barboursville, Knox Co., 
Ky., near the Cumberland Gap, 
■niiere he pursued his |irofes- 
sion with success for about eight 
years. He was now past thirty 
years of age, and began to no- 
tice that his ambition and his pre- 
ference were both turning away 
from the profession he had been 
following. Finding at last that 
he experienced an absolute aver- 
.sion for it, he concluded to 
abandon it and undertake the profession of the la'W. 
During the last three years while he was practicing 
at Barboursville, he gave up liis leisure time to the 
study of legal text-books, and so jirepared him.self, 
that in 1847 he was admitted to |iractice at the bar. 
He at onceenlered politics, and in the first presiden- 
tial campaign after he began practicing, he devoted 
him.self very earnestly to promoting the chances for 
election of Gen. Zachaiy Taylor. While his candi- 
d;ile was successful, Mr. .Aliller personally found 
him.self unfortunately at odds with his parly on the 




474 



THE NATIOXAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



question of introducing the emancipation laws in the 
constitution of the state, and, consequent l_v, lie lost 
many of liis former friends. As he himself was 
veiy determined on this question of emancipation, 
he decided to abandon his state, and accordingly 
emiirrated to Iowa, and settled inthecityof Kcoliuk 
in 1H.5(). Here he bcu'an to practice and was soon 
recognized as professionally very strong, while being 
thoroughly reliable as a man of strict integrity and 
honor. lie soon took the position of leader both at 
the bar and in politics, and after the repeal of the 
Missouri compromise his pronounced anti-slavery 
convictions made him one of the pioneers and lead- 
ers of the rc|)ublicaM party. He labored earnestly 
and faithfully in behalf of the new organization, 
until its great success in IHliO brought him into a po- 
sition for which he could hardly have hoped, even as 
a reward of many years of labor. While in Keokuk 
Mr. Miller was the partner of Jlr. Reeve, an able 
lawyer, with whom he sustained most satisfactory 
relations of business and frieii(lshi|). On the death 
of Mr. Reeve Mr. Miller married his widow. In 
filling the vacancies in the judicial .system of the 
country. President Lincoln apjiointcd Sir. Miller as- 
sociate .justice of the su|ireme court of the United 
States, his circuit including the slates of Missouri, 
Iowa, Kansas an<l Minnesota, to which Arkansas, Ne- 
braska and Colorado were afterward added. Al- 
though he was personally on terms of warm friend- 
ship with Mr. Lincoln, it w.as not this alone that 
brought to him this high position. Members of the bar 
of the states within his circuit and a great number of 
the .senators and representatives in congress united 
in recommending him for the appointment, thus 
showing the hi.irh api)reciation in which he was held 
as a jurist. Justice Miller took his .seat on the su- 
preme bench in December, 1862. His commission 
dated from July llith of that year. It was a period 
of great importance in the history of the suju-eme 
court. The civil war was just then becoming recog- 
nized as a condilidn of the gravest imjiort. the end 
of which no man could foresee. Tremendous finan- 
cial questions were sju-inging into existence and had 
to be encountered, and more particularly to be rec- 
ognized by the highest court of judicature in the 
countiy. The bond question created by the expan- 
sion of the railroad system, the evei-present prob- 
lems of ta.xation, the greatly increased volume of 
public and private debt, besides the prominent polit- 
ical issues as to emancipation, reconstruction, con- 
stitutional amendment — all these questions were 
thrown before the .supreme court, and in their dis- 
cussion and decision the fine ability of Justice Mil- 
ler as a jurist was soon discovered to be of the 
utmost importance. In the many opinions in 
which he pronounced the jud.sment of the court, 
as also in the ca.ses concerning which he dis- 
sented from the majoiity, there are to be founil 
a degree of precision and clearness of state- 
ment, and a strength of argument and accuracy of 
definition, which caused them to be frequently cited 
throughout tlu^ country, by both bench and bar. 
As to these, his exposition of the power of congress 
over interstate railroail Irallic, bis <li.s,sent in the 
original legal-tender decision in Hepburn vs. Gris- 
wold, and the review and judgment of the court on 
the relation of civil courts to ecclesiastical tribunals 
in Watson vs. Jones, all to be fouiwl in "Wallace's 
Reports," are admirable .samples. One of the ablest 
opinions ever written by any member of the supreme 
court is generally considered to have been that of 
Justice Miller in the celebrated slaughter-house 
cases in 1872. in which, for the first time, a construc- 
tion of certain provisions in the tliirteeeiUh, four- 
teenth and fifteenth amendments of the federal con- 
stitution was re(|uired in comiection with enabling 
the court to define the limits between the legislative 



power of the state and the inherent personal rights 
of the citizen. In the case of Kilbourn r.*. Thomp- 
son, in which the former had been imprisoned for 
contempt by the house of representatives, for refus- 
ing to testify before one of its eonunitlees, and after- 
ward liberated liy a writ of hubeas corpus. Justice 
Jliller ])ronounced a decision establishing the restric- 
tion of congress in the matter of intlictiug judgment 
for contempt, as no such authority was given by the 
constitution to either house of congress w hich de- 
rives all its powers from that instrument. In the 
matter of the elect onil commission of It'TO-"", Jus- 
tice Miller was one of the live as.s<K-iate justices of 
the supreme couit, appointed by the law designating 
that tribunal, and it wa-s his motion adopted at the 
deliberation of the commission in the first case pre- 
sented, which virtually decided the contest, I)y fore- 
shadowing the final judgment of the conmiission, 
that congress posses.sed no authority to "go behind 
the returns," and that the votes of electors accredited 
by Iheauthorized returningofiicei-sof the state, duly 
certified, nuist be oliicially counted. Through suc- 
cessive ;ind rajiid change in the court. Justice Miller 
became the senior a.ssociate justice on the supreme 
bench. On the occasion of the constilulional cen- 
tennial celebration at Philadelphia, Sejit. 15, 1887, 
Justice Miller was the orator. He died in Wash- 
ington, I). C, Oct. 13, 1890. 

DAVIS, David, associate justice of the U. S. 
supreme court and U. S. senator, was born in Cecil 
comity, Md., March 9, 1815. His family had re- 
sided in America at the time of his birth for more 
than a century. He began his 
early education at his home in 
Cecil county, where he remained 
until he was sent to an academy 
in Delaware for the purpose of 
Ijrepariug him for a regular uni- 
versity course. He entered Ken- 
von t'ollcsic, Ganibier, O., in the 
"latter (lart of ls->8. In 1832 he 
was grailuate<l and adopted the 
law for a profe.s.siou. Youmr Davis 
settled \ipon the town of Xenox, 
Mass.. for the prosec\ition of his 
legal studies, and there entered the 
oltice of the distinguished judge, 
H. W. Bishop. Here he remain- 
ed for two years, after which he 
attended the law school at New 
Haven. Conn, which was imder 
the direction of two eminent jur- 
ists. Judges Daggett and Hitchcock. Here Mr. 
Davis came under the influence of fine legal tuition 
and excellent discipline, wills the result that his 
character was mouliled into that of a lawyer of dear 
and accurate knowledge of legal principles and prec- 
edent. He was admitted to praclii'C in the fall of 
1835, but instead of returnin.s to Jlaryland set his 
face toward the West, and having prospected some- 
what in Illinois, settled in Pekin, Tazewell Co., in 
that state, a town which, on account of its geo- 
graphical ]iosiiion >i|ion the Illinois river, gave 
promise of rapid growth. As a matter of l"ac', Pe- 
kin became a thriving city, capital of its county, and 
the centre of a rich agricultural country, while si.\ 
important railroads met at this point. Ciiforlunately 
for Mr. Davis, at the time when he settled in Pekin 
it was not the healthy city that it has since becimie 
through proper drainage and he was obliged to 
leave it at the end of the year on account of the 
prevalence of fever and ague. He accordingly set- 
tled in the pleasant city of Hloomingtoii. which be- 
came his home thereafter. Soon alter settling at 
IJloominglon Mr. Davis married Sarah Walker, of 
Pillsfield. Mass., a lady possc^ssed of considerable 
fortune, and who contributed verv much to the suc- 




a<S^'^z^-t^' 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



475 



cess of her husband's caicer. She died in Novem- 
ber, 1879. Mr. Davis was a Henry Chiy wliig of 
the mo.st ardent charaeter, but wiUiout mueh taste 
for political life. He estalilislied himself so (irmly, 
however, in the reu:ard of his felluw-eitizens that in 
1844 he was elected to llie legislature of Hlinois 
without any effort or solieilalion on his i>art, and 
tliree years later was made a delegate to the consti- 
tutional convention, and in both these itosilious took 
a prominent part. The new constitution being 
adopted in 1848. it became necessary to elect a new 
judiciary, and .although the circuit in which Mr. Da- 
vis lived was democratic in politics, it was so well 
understood that he was not a ]iartisaii. that he was 
chosen judge by common conseiU of the bar and the 
general pul)lic. It was at this time that Abraham 
Lincoln was in the tirst tlooil-tide of successful prac- 
tice, and while visiting .Judge Davis's circuit formed 
a friendship with him which became life-long. At 
this time .Judge Davis's circuit extended over four- 
teen counties, being the largest and richest of the 
state. Almost evejy year Mr. Lincoln and tlie judge 
rode the circuit together. In 18.")S, when Abraham 
Lincoln was .stumping the state of Illinois against 
Judge Douglas for the U. S. senate. Judge Davis 
did everything in his power, though without avail, 
to secure the honor for his frienil. In 1860, in this 
capacity, he was chosen a delegate to the republican 
national convention at Chicago, where he became 
noted as a successful leader: indeed, it is saiil that 
Mr. Lincoln's nomination as candidate for the presi- 
dency was chiefly due to the strenuous and persistent 
efforts and the admirable skill of Judge Davis. 
When ilr. I^iucoln made his celebrated journey 
from Springtield, 111., to Washington to assume 
tlie reins of ottice. he was accompanied by his friend 
the judge. During the two following years the 
counsel of .Judge Davis was moderate and conserva- 
tive, always with the ho|)e that civil war might be 
averted. .Vfter the inauguration he resumed his du- 
ties on the bench, meanwhile continuing in constant 
communication with the president. WlienGen. Fre- 
mont was in command at St. Louis, Judge Davis, 
■with Gen. Holt and Jlr. Campbell of that city, were 
appointed by the president a commission to investi- 
gate Fremont's administration of his department. In 
the siunmer of 18t)2, a vacancy occurring upon the 
supreme court bench of the L'nited States, President 
Lincoln appointed Judge Davis associate justice. 
Judge Taney was at this time chief justice of the 
supreme court, and there grew up a strong friend- 
ship between these two able men, which continued 
until Taney's death. .Judge Davis remained on the 
bench of the supreme court until early in 1877. In 
1870 he joined with the minority of the supreme 
court in tlie opinion in favor of the constitutionality 
of the acts of congress which made government 
notes a legal tender for the payment of debts. Dur- 
ing the tirst four years of Gen. Grant's administra- 
tion there was a great deal of dissatisfaction in the 
republican party, which eventually took shape in the 
Cincinnati convention of IS'-i, At this time there 
was a coniliinalion of a portion of both ]iarties with 
the labor reform |iarty. which offered .ludge Davis 
the liberal nomination f(n' the candidacy to the pres- 
idency. His name was presented at Cincimiali, but 
Horace Greeley received the nomination and was 
badly defeated. It was in answer to the letter in- 
forming him of his nomination for the presidency by 
the labor-reform party that Judge Davis made use 
of the since celebrati'd exjiression: " the chief mag- 
istracy of the rcpuhlic should neither l)e sought nor 
declined by any American citizen. " .Vt the Cincin- 
nati convention he received ninety-two and ii half 
votes on the tirst ballot. In 1876 the Illinois inde- 
pendents united with the democrats and elected 
Judge Davis a member of the U. S. senate. He 



began his term of service March 4, 1877, and 
throughout the term was notable for maintaining 
strict "independence in his votes, withotit regard to 
party distinctions. He was chosen as a member of 
the judiciary commiltee. and his speech on the Gen- 
eva award bill, rejiorled to the senate by that com- 
mittee, was highly regariled. .Judge Davis was not 
a great orator or speech-maker, but was a very hard- 
working man in the committee-room and in tiie gen- 
eral business of tlie senate. As si rule, he had very- 
little to say on merely political or party questions. 
Under President Garfield he was offered the chair- 
manship of the judiciary committee, but declined it. 
When President Gartieid died, he was elected presi- 
dent of the senate, althougli this, as was the case 
with the other honors that had come to him, was 
un.solicited. In accepting it he informed the senate 
that ■■ if the least party obligation had been made a 
condition, directly or indirectly, he woidd have de- 
clined the compliment." Judge Davis resigned 
from the senate in 1888 and retired to his home near 
the city of Hloomington. 111., where he had one of 
the best cultivated farms in the .slate. Here he resided 
in a mansion whose adornments showed good taste 
and discrimination, which always formed a part of 
the charaeter of the great statesman. His abilities 
and his learning were thoroughly tipprecialed, and 
were recognized by the eouferrence upon him of the 
degree of^LL.D. "by Williams College, Beloit Col- 
lege and by the Wcsleyau University at Blooming- 
toVi. Judge Davis was "a marked character at a time 
and among a group of sl.-itesmen when to be promi- 
nent showetl imusual and jieculiar jiowers. Inde- 
pendent in thought and action, although voting 
most frequently with the tlemocrats, he never fa- 
vored the arts of the politician nor sought an object 
by devious courses. '" Upright and straightforward, 
he has always tiioved openly on a given line of con- 
duct, and lioldly proclaimecl his convictions on pub- 
lic questions. Hence the universal contidence in his 
integrity of character." Up to a peiiod of advanced 
age his mind and body were unimpaired in vigorand 
in elasticity; accustomed to labor, he courted it as 
an agreeable habit and shrank from no ordinary task. 
.Judge Davis died in Bloondngton, 111., June 26, 
1886: 

HUNT, 'Ward, associate justice of the L'. S. 
supreme court, was born at LTtica. N. Y., .June 
14, 1810. His father was Montgomery Hunt, for 
many years cashier of the Bank of 
Utica. and his mother a daughter of 
Capt. .Joseph Stringham of New York 
city. The son studied at Hamilton 
College. N. Y.. but was graduated 
from Union College, N. Y.. in 18'38. 
He at tended the legal lectures of .Judge 
Gould at I^ilchtield. Coim., and con- 
tinued his study with .Judge Hiram 
Denio. afterward judge of the court 
of appeals of the state of Xew York. 
He became Judge Denio's partner in 
law -practice and was his succe.s.sor 
on the same bench. In 1888 he was 
chosen to the Xew York state as- 
sembly, and served for a single term. 
In 1844 he was elected mayor of 
Utica. In the political e.vciiements of the time 
he took ground with that wing of the democrat- 
ic party which opposed the annexation of Texas 
by the United States and the extension of .slavery, 
••ind in 1S48 hail a leailing part in the movement for 
free soil which selected as the nominees of its party 
Van Bureu and Adams. Later, with others, he 
broke away from old lies and became a prime mover 
in the formation of the rejiublican party. In 1865 
he was elected by a majority of 3'2.000 to succeed 
Judge Denio upon the bench of the Xew York state 




476 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



court of appeals, and became chief jiuljre of the 
court in 18(!H. This tribunal having' been recon- 
structed under a ciinslilutioiial anieudnient, Judge 
Hunt was retained as coniniissioner of appeals, 
which position he resigned Jan. 7, 1S73, to accept 
his place as one of the jn.sliees of the supreme court 
of the United iStales, to which ollice he had bi'cn ap- 
pointed by President Grant on the 11th December 
next preceding. In IWIi owing to a failure in 
health he resigned his judgeship. He had a gen- 
erous culture, and was in .-dl relations singularly 
self poised. He w;is faithful to liis principles and 
devoted to his friends. He excelled in juilgnient 
and solidil}- of aciiuirement.s, rather than in bril- 
liancy. Judge Hunt's accomplishments moreover, 
extended beyond his profe.s.sion. for he kejil his eyes 
open to the world of letters and affairs, as well" as 
the narrower sphere of practice and politics. He 
was a communicant in the Protestant Eiiiseopal 
church, and ol'teii sat in its conventions. As a 
thinker he was clear and logical; as a public sjieaker 
he was deliberate, and convinced by argument rath- 
er than ca])tivated by sentiment or ornament. On 
the bench no man labored with more patience and 
earnest zeal for justice than he. His deci.sions are 
simple in diction, forcible in statement, and exhaus- 
tive ill their tivalmeiit of the cases at issue. Both 
Union and Rutgers colleges gave him the degree of 
LL.D. He died at \Vashingtou, D. C, March 
24, 1886. 

WOODS, William Burnham, associate ju.sticc 
of the U. S. sii|ir(iiu' court, was liornin Xewark, O., 
Aug. a. lS-.>4. He was the son of Ezckiel .S. Woods, 
of Kentucky, and came of original Scoteli-Irisli an- 
cestry. William Woods was sent to Western Ue- 
serve College, Hudson, ()., where he was gnidiiiited 
in 1841, iind from there lo Yale College, graduating 
in 1.S45 valedictorian of his class. On leaving col- 
lege he returned to ( )!iio and studied law, being ad- 
mitted to the bar in 1847. He demonstrated" the 
possession of great oratorical pow- 
ers, and being also a skilled law- 
yer he becnnie very popular and 
was elected mayor of Newark in 
1855. Two years later he was 
sent to the (ihio legislature as a 
denificrat, and was speaker in 
1858 -.5!), being re-elected. As 
democratic leailer in the house in 
1861, Mr. Woods succeeded in in- 
fluencing legislative support of 
the war loan for the purpose of 
defending the state. In 1862 he 
joined the army as lieutenant-col- 
onel of the 7()th Ohio regiment, 
and .served until the close of the 
war, when he w.as musti'red out 
with the rank of brigadier -gen- 
eral and brevet major-general. 
In 1866 he settled in Alabama, 
where be became a leading re- 
publican. Under the reconstruction act of 1868, 
Gen. Woods was made state chancellor for six years, 
but after serving in this ])osilioii two years he was 
ap)ioinled circuit judge of tlie Uiiilcd States for the 
fifth district, which ollice he held for a number of 
years, making his residence in .Mobile. In IMSO 
I'resident Hayes ajipoiiiled (ten. Woods associate 
justice of the U. S. supreme court. The war record 
of Gen. Woods was highly creditable to him. He 
participated in the battles of Fort Donelson, Pitts- 
burg Landing, Chickasaw Hayou, Arkansas Post (in 
which he was slightly wounded), Kcsaca, Dallas, 
Atlanta, Jonesboro, Liivejoy Slalion and Heiiloii- 
ville. and in tlie siegesdf N'icksburgand Jncksiin and 
in many minor alfairs and skirmishes. He died in 
Washington May 14, 1887. 




^,^M\rv~^ 





MATTHEWS, Stanley, a.s.sociafc justice of 
the V . S. siipiciiie court, was born in Cincinnati, 
O., July i\. 1S'.34. He attended the common 
schools in his neighborhood, and then went to 
Keuyon College, wliere he was graduated in ls40. 
After leaving college, he stuilled law, was ad- 
mitted to the bar in 1842, and began praetisinir as a 
lawyer. In 1844 he returned to Cincinnati, and the 
following year was appointed assistant prosecuting 
attorney for Hamilton county. He now began to 
display strong auti slavery views, and presently ap- 
peared as editor of an anti-slavery 
pajier, called the Cincinnati "Her- 
ald." This paper, however, was 
soon abandoned, and Mr. Mat- 
thews took the position of clerk 
in the Ohio house of representii- 
tives in 1848 and 1849. lie was 
assumed to be the protege of Sal- 
mon P. Chase, who at that time 
was elected to the U. S. senate. 
In 1850 Jlr. :Matthews returned 
to Cincinnati, having gained con- 
siderable political intluence by 
this time, and was clec^ted a judge .' 
of the court of common ])Ieas 
of llauiiUcai county, and tilled 
this place, showing considerable 
ability, until 18.53. when on ac- 
count of inadequacj- of the sjvl- 
ary, he resigned, and began to 
practice with his law iiartncr un- 
der the firm name of Burlington & JIatthews. 
This lasted only two years, however, for in 1855 
ilr. Alatthews was elecied state .senator. In 185S he 
was appointed by President Buchanan U. S. dis- 
trict attorney for the southern district of Ohio. 
This was looked upon as a remarkable ajipointment 
for a free-soiler from a democratic president, but 
was never explained. It is related of Judge Mat- 
thews, that while he was occujiying this ollice he 
prosecuted a white man under the fugitive slave law 
v.itli .sii mueli bitterness, tliat the act is supposed to 
have defeated him later tai in a contest for congress. 
In 1861 he resigned the dislrict-attiu'iieyshiii. and 
joined the republican party. On the outbreak of the 
civil war, he received a commission as lieutenant- 
colonel of the 23d Ohio regiment, of which Gen. 
Hosecranz was colonel, and Kntherford B. Hayes, 
major. .Soon after he was appointed colonel of the 
51st regiment, in which he served in the army of the 
Cumberland imtil 18113, when he resigned, and left 
the army. In the same year, he was elected judge 
of the supreme court of Cincinnati, iiiid only held 
the position a 3'ear, when he resumed the iiraetice of 
the law in that city. In 18(i4 to 1868 he was presi- 
dential elector on the republican ticket. In 1864 he 
was delegate from the iiresbylerv of Cinciiiiiali to the 
general assembly of the Picsliytcrian church held at 
Newark, N. J., and reported the resolutions which 
were adopted by the assembly on the subject of 
slaveiy. In 1876 Judge Matthews contested the 2d 
district of Ohio for congress, his opponent lieing 
Henry B. Banning. The fight was desperate: 
Col. Hobert G. Ingersoll. at tlial lime the most 
popular siieaker in the West, advocated the election 
of Jlr. ]Mattliew,s. His defeat, as has been already 
mentioned, occurred in consei|Ueiice of an act of 
his while prosecuting attornev. A letter, publisli- 
ed in the ('incinnati "Herald," stated that while he 
held that otlice he prosecuted W. B. Connelly, ii 
white resident of Cincinnati, and the reporter of the 
" Gazette," for giving to a young runaway slave and 
his wife a glass of water and a ]iiece of bread, a 
crime under the fugitive slave law. It was shown 
that the negroes were captured and the man was 
shut in Connelly's room, and w^hile there they were 



v-«!sfe^t5K^ 



i 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



477 



furnished with bread and water. It was further 
shown that a letter written by Connelly, as a master 
Mason to Mr. Matthews, as a brother Mason, in 
wliieh he confessed that he had furnished the ne- 
groes with food, wa.s the means used by the latter 
for bringing out a verdict of guilty against Connelly. 
He was condemned to serve out a sentence of im- 
prisonment. The publication of these facts destroyed 
Judge Matthews's chance for congress. In 1S77 he 
was one of the counsel before the electoral commis- 
sion, oijcuiug the di.scussion in behalf of the republi- 
can electors in the case, making the principal argu- 
ment. In the same year he was elected U. S. sen.a- 
tor in place of .John Sherman, who had resigned. 
He made very little impre.s.sion intlie senate, his only 
personal act being to introduce, and carry through, 
what was known as tlie INIatthews resolution, which 
was introduced December 0, 18T~, and which de- 
clared that all bonds of the United States, issued 
under the various acts of congress to that end, 
were payable, principle and interest, at the option 
of the government of the United States in silver 
pieces of four hundred and twelve and a half grains 
standard silver, and that such payment was not in 
violation of public faith or tlie rights of public 
creditors. In 1881 President Hayes nominated Mr. 
Matthews to be associate jnstice of the U. S. supreme 
court in iilace of Mr. Swayne, who had resigned on 
account of disability. This nomination was bitterly 
opposed throughout the coimtry, especially in the 
East, while it was only in the West and South that 
Mr. Matthews seemed to have any friends. It was 
alleged against Mr. iMallhews that while a member 
of the senate, his action with regard to the Pacific 
railroad fund had been of a character to make it im- 
proper for him to sit on the supreme court bench. 
It was charged that he liad ojienly taUeu sides with 
the railroads, and did all in his power to defeat the 
best interests of the government. He was also op- 
posed because he had been one of the visiting states- 
men to Loui.siana in 1876; but the main objection to 
Mv. Matthews for supreme court justice was the 
fact that he had for years been recognized as an at- 
torney for railroad and other coriiorations. The 
New York Board of Trade and Transportation memo- 
rialized the sen.ate to the intent that the nomination 
should be rejected. Meanwhile the Cleveland Bar 
Association adopted resolutions warmly eulogizing 
Mr. Matthews. It was a remarkable fact that not 
only in this case, but in others, he was .strongly 
supported by democrats. The nomination failed 
with the expiration of the term of congress. On 
JIarch 15th President Gartield .sent "Slv. ilatthews's 
name to the senate again. There the fight was long 
and bitter — Senators Edmunds and Davis leading the 
opposition, while Messrs. Plum. Poor, Lamar and 
Jones of Nevada fought for confirmation. The re- 
svilt was that Mr. Matthews was confirmed on May 
r.2th by a vote of twenty-four to twenty-three, and 
took the oath of oftice on May 17th. It is said as a 
matter of history that to Stanley Alatlhews and 
Charles Foster was due the fact that Mr. Hayes was 
made president, and the country ju-obably saved 
from civil war. This .statement was IjMsed on the 
letter, which was written as a iiledgc. and given to 
Senator Gordon and Keiiresentalive John (i. Brown, 
by Matthews and Poster, the understanding being 
that the democratic governorsof Loin'siana and South 
Carolina woidd be recognized by Jlr. Hayes in case 
lie was declared elected )iresident. As a lawyer, Mr. 
Matthews took liiL'h rank. He died March '.ia. 1880. 
SHIKAS, George, Jr., associ.nte jnstice of the 
I'niled States supreme court, was born in Allegheny 
county. Pa., in 1832. He received an excellent pre- 
liminary education, and at the projier age was sent 
to Yale College, where he was graduated in the 
famous class of 1853 with honor, having for class- 



mates Justices Brewer and Brown, and Chauncey 
M. Depew. He retinned to Pennsylvania after he 
left college and studied law, and being admitted to 
the bar soon established a successful business. As 
his capacity an<l experience developed, Mr. Shiras 
became one of the most highly esteemed lawyers in 
his section of the country, and for many years no im- 
portant law suit has been tried in western Pennsyl- 
vania without his being employed in it as one of the 
counsel. Among the menibeis of a bar highly es- 
teemed, Mr. Shiras succeeded in more th.an holding 
his own, growing con.stantly in ability and in repute. 
Devoting himself entirely to the arduous duties of 
his profession. Mr. Shiras never sought or held pub- 
lic office, although he was at one time a candidate 
before the Pennsylvania legislature for a U. S. .sena- 
torship from that state. Altliongh a pronounced re- 
publican, he has never taken a very active per.sonal 
interest in politics. Annmg those by whom he is 
best known Mr. Shiras has always been esteemed as 
an able and conscieutions lawyer, a courteous and 
aceomiilished gentleman, and a man of wide general 
knowledge and experience. Nonesurpasshim in pro- 
found legal learning or in the 
ready application of familiar le- 
gal principles and the abstruse 
and complicated relations that 
characterize the large commer- 
cial transactions of the present 
day. While a most successful 
lawyer, his manner in court is 
like that of a disinterested friend 
trying to make the matter clear 
to the judges for the .sake of the 
truth, rather th.in a pleader bent 
solely on .securing judgment for 
his client. On the morning of 
Jan. 22. 1892, Justice Jo.seph P. 
Bradley, of the United States 
supreme coiu't, died in Washing- 
ton after a protracted illness. 
Although frequently called up- 
on by the public press to fill 
the important position thus left 
vacant. President Harrison took no public step in 
that direeticm until July 19, 1893, when he nominat- 
ed Jlr. Shiras to the United States senate for justice 
of the supreme court, to fill the vacancy caused by 
the death of Justice Bradley. There was at once ap- 
parent in the senate a ver}' strong effort on the part 
of the Penn.sylvania senators to prevent the confirma- 
tion of Mr. Shiras. No complaint was made con- 
cerning Mr. Shiras on the ground of ability, as the 
testimony laid before the senate commillce in his case 
showed him to be a m.'Ui of high character and au 
able lawyer. It was true that Mr. Shiras had never 
filleil a judicial position, but the answer to this ob- 
jection was that experience shows that law'yers who 
have never had judicial experience often take the 
first rank when tliey are suddenly elevated to high 
judicial position. A notable illustration of this oc- 
curs in the case of .Justice (iray, of the United States 
supreme conn, who was made chief justice of the 
Massachusctis supreme court without having had 
any iirevious service on th(^ bench. Another case is 
th.at of Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase, who never 
held any judicial position until he was appointed to 
that high ofiice. On July 251 h the senate judiciary 
committee decided to report the nomination to the 
senate without recommendation. It was so reported, 
anil after a .session of five minutes the nonunation 
was confirmed. Throughout the couiUry and among 
the press of both parties the nomination was highly 
conunended. The apiiointmeiit of Mr. Shiras gave 
Pennsylvania a rejuesentative in the highest court in 
the United States for the fir.st time .since the retire- 
ment of Judge Strong, on a pension, in 1880. 




478 



THE XATIOXAL CYCLOP. KDIA 



AliCOTT, Amos Bronson, author, was Iwrn 
at Wdlioll, 1(11111.. Xiiv. •,>'.(, ITili), the son of Joseph 
C'halticlil Akdit, of W'olcoti. tOiin.. ami Auua(I{roii- 
son) Alcutt. wliosc lirothcr. l{tv. Dr. Tilloisoii Himi- 
sou, was a ilisliujj;iiishe(l Episcopal fk-iiryiiian lesul- 
ing at Cheshire, Conn. Hronson Alcott was one 
of seveial children and was hrought up on his 
fathers small farm at Spindle Mill amidst scenes 
and inlhieuces which he has descrilu-d in his last 
work, •• Xew Connecticut." published in IJosion. in 
18S7. After studyiiu: at the common schouls of his 
little town he resided for a time with his uncle. Dr. 
Bronson, at Cheshire, where the nephew afterward 
taught a school which became famous. He also en- 
gaged in clock-making, then a new industry in Con- 
necticut, when he was fifteen years old, and at six- 
teen made short excursions in Connecticut and Mas- 
sachusetts as a book agent, selling relJLdous works 
and obtaining subscribers to hisuncle's icliiiious mag- 
azine. From si.xteen to eighteen he read the prayers 
and an occasional sermon at the church service in 
the Spinille Hill school-hou.se, his father and mother 
being Episcopalians. At the age of seventeen he 
■writes in his journal: "I have now borrowed and 
read all the books that are to be had in the neighbor- 
hood for many miles around: 
continue my iliary and my cor- 
respondence witii cousin Wil- 
liam (Dr. M'illiam A. Alcott. af- 
terward a voluminous author) 
and of evenings we meet some- 
times and cijilier. " During all 
these years of boyhood he was 
Working industriously on the 
farm or at basket-making in his 
father's shop, when needed 
there: inirsning his studies as 
he could, occasionally w ith the 
village pastoror with his uncle. 
But at the age of nineteen he 
made a bolder venture to e.\- 
tend his knowledge of the 
world and toaid his father. Sel- 
lini; sail from New Haven in 
Ociober, 181S. lie reached Nor- 
folk in Virginia, Oct. 2()lh, .and ofTered himself as a 
schoolmaster in the nciglilioring country. But as he 
wrote to his parents on ids nineteenth birthday, Nov. 
2!), ISISi. ■■The plan of teaching seemed tube iniprac- 
ticalile," and he adils. "I began on the l-,>th of No- 
vember plodding aliout the city, purchasing my tin- 
ware of 'I'isdale (a Connecticut trader) at liis'sho)) 
on Church street; jieddling is not what I came for, 
but I am unwilling to be idle." In the sprinir of 
1819 he wrote agjun: ■■! left Tisdale .January 2Tth, 
anil beg;in peddling fancy articles, which I tiiidmore 
proMlalile and jileasant." From this cidd excursion 
heri'turned to Wolcolt in Mnj, ISI',1, biinging ^SO 
as the profit of his winter's work, wliicli he paid to 
bis lather. In the autumn of 181iJ lie went to Virginia 
again with his brother, Clialtield .\lcott, and contin- 
ued his ]ieddler's life among the wealthy planters on 
the .James and York rivers. In a lelter home, .Tanu- 
ary, 1820. he wrote: " Wherever we travel we are 
treated with respect and most lios|iilably entertained 
by the pliuiters. Willi our trunks in ha lid or ' toting' 
them at our side we tind <iur way into their houses, 
and the inmates are pleased lolook inside of oiirbo.x 
of trinkets: they seldom ;illow us to leave without 
putting gold and silver in our hands. I take mtich 
satisfaction in conversing with the courtly planters 
and their families; it offers a fine school for the 
study of manners." In this school he contin- 
ued for several years with various fortune, some- 
times earningiiSlOO, and sometimes losing money and 
involving his father in debt. "The costly coat," as 
be writes, "scorns peddling and sinks money fast." 




He finally gave up these southern jounieys in !May, 
1823, having ac(|uired thereby graceful nianners.a 
fair knowledge of the world and much reading in 
good books. As a sample of these take the pa.ssage 
from his diary in March, 182:!: '■ I have a good deal 
of intercourse with Fiiends (Quakers) in Chowan 
and Perquiinons counties (North Carolina); read 
Penn's 'No Cross, no Crown,' Barclaj''s 'Apolo- 
gy,' Fox's ' .lournal.' Clarkson's ' Portraiture of Qua- 
kerism.' AVilliam Law's 'Devout Call,' and other 
serious books. The moral sense now supersedes |)ed- 
dling clearly and finally." He then began school- 
teaching in Connecticut, at first in Bristol, and then 
in 182.") at Cheshire, where he taught the village 
school and lived with his uncle. Dr. Hronson. With- 
out knowing much of PestaUi//i's ideas in education 
>lr. Alcott now fell into or invented for himself 
many of the ways of teaching which Pestalo/.zi had 
favored, and his school at Cheshire w.as reckom-d the 
best for young cliildren at that time in Coiiiiecticut. 
A description of it appeared in William I{us.seirs 
".lournal of Education" in .January, 1828, and in 
June of that year he was invited to Boston by per- 
sons who had seen with favor his original niethod 
at Cheshire. Iletaught in IJoslon for more than two 
years; was married tiicrc in May, 18;i0. to Miss May, 
a daughter of Col. .losi^ph May. and a descendant iif 
the .Sewalls and (Juiiicys; and in Novembi-r. ls:!l), 
opened a school in (Jermantown, near Philadelphia, 
where his daughter Louisa was born in November, 
1832. He returned to Boston in 1834, and there 
opened a selijiol in the Masonic Temple, of which 
Jliss Peabody published an account in 183.") (■■Hec- 
ord of a School." republished by Holierts. 1S74), and 
in wlii<'li Margaret Fuller was for a while a teacher. 
Mr, Alcott had by this time become imbued not 
only with the Quaker opinions coiiceining the ■■In- 
ner Light." but also with certain theories of the mind 
and soul of childhood, akin to the Platonic doctrine 
of memory and lue-existerice. He had read Plato 
and Aristotle, and being himself of a Socratie turn 
he adopted the Socratie method of eliciting truth and 
communication of knowledge by i|Ui'-tions and sug- 
gestions. His strong religious bent led him to make 
much use of the New Teslameiit in his Temple 
School, and when, in 183(i-;iT he published the record 
of his lessons under the name of " Conversations on 
the Gospels," the Boston newspapers and some of the 
Unitarian professors at Cambridgeattackcd him and 
his teachings so sharply that the reputation of his 
school was injured and as he had expended much 
money on its arraiig<^uientshe was financially ruined. 
After struggling for two or three vears against the 
prejudices of Boston he abandoned school-teaching 
and withdrew to Concord in 1S40, where his friend 
Balph Waldo Kmerson and oilier believers in his gen- 
ius aided him, and where he spent a good part of 
his subseipienl life. One of his first objects in Con- 
cord was to extend the new views of himself anil his 
friends (commonly called ■' Transci'iidentiilists ") by 
conversations, conferences, and publications in Amer- 
ica and abroad. It was a period of social upheaval, 
and many reforms were projected and agitated — the 
purification of relii;ion, the abolition of slavery, the 
improvement of education, the removal of intemper- 
ance, a more equitable laliorsystem. and life in com- 
munities, etc. With most of these reforms Mr. Al- 
enlt sympathizi'd. ;ind was accordingly regarded as a 
heretic and a dangerous agitator, even in Concord, 
where heresy and agitation had long lieen known. 
To further his plans for the improvement of .society, 
he visited Engl.-ind in 1842. and there became ac- 
quainted with the followers of Pestalozzi, who had 
established a school near London which they called 
" Alcott House" in his honor, .\fter a few months 
spent there visiting Carlyle and other friends of Em- 
erson, Mr. Alcott returned to Concord, bringing with 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



470 



him an Eiisrlish capitalist, Cliarles Lane, and a friend 
of his, Henry ('. WrJL'liI, who lived for a time in 
Mr. Alcott's"eotta!j;e. The next year, 1843. with his 
family, his English friends, and a lew others, Mr. 
Alcott withdrew to a farm in the town of ILarvard, 
Mass. (which wa.s purchased liy Mr. Lane), where they 
formed a small community and .sup|)orted themselves 
by farm lalior. This arnuiiiement, ,-it lirsl, idyllic, 
proved to be unfortunate; the houschokl containeil 
incompatihle memljers, the tiuauces were not well 
managed and at last in the dead of winter the experi- 
ment was aliandoiied, and Mr. Alcott left his "Fruit- 
lands" in (loverty and despair. Friends again came 
to his aid (1S44| ;uul he returned for a few years to 
Concord, purchasing the estate afterward owned by 
Nathaniel Hawthorne (" The Wayside"), and occu- 
pying himself with gardening and conversation. He 
bild develolied conversation into an art in which he 
was matchless upon his own plane, and with which 
he delighted his hearers for a whole generation. 
The pecuniaiy returns were not large, however, and 
tlie family remained poor until the great and popu- 
lar talent of his daughter, Louisa May Alcott, re- 
stored prosperity by her writings aliout 1S08. hi 
the interval from 1844 to 18ti8 tlity had resided iu 
Concord and Boston, JI.iss., iu Walpole, N. IL, and 
again iu Concord, where Mr. -Vlcott purchased the 
"Orchard House," ad,ioiuing Hawthorne's " Waj'- 
side, "in 18.")7. It was in this house that Miss Alcott 
won her tirsi fame as an author and there her best 
books were written, as well as most of her father's 
volumes. It was in this " Orchard H<iuse " aLsothat 
the Concord School of Philosophy, founded by Mr. 
Alcott in concert with his friends, Emerson, Bartol, 
W. T. Harris, F. B. Sanborn, etc., held its fir.st ses- 
sions in 1870. The next year the small "Hillside 
Chapel " was built, where the .subsequeut sessions 
were held, until Mr. Alcott's death in 1888 led to the 
discontinuance of the .school. As a philosopher Mr. 
Alcott adhered to the type of thinkeis known as 
Neo-Platonists. rather than to Plato himself. His 
central doctrine was the lapse of the soul fi-om holi- 
ness. This he made the principle of explanation for 
the origin of nature. According to his doctrine, 
matter and material things have arisen tlirough the 
defection or lapse of souls from a state of perfection. 
That is to .say, the finite and imperfect come to exist 
primarily not by divine creation, but by the .sin antl 
error of individual souls. A doctrine more at odds 
with the prevailing views of our time could not well 
be conceived. The principle of evolution, adopted 
by thinkers of the nineteenth century, is the oppo- 
site of the principle of emanation, which the lapse 
theory presupposes. Proclus, Plotimis, and .Mr. Al- 
cott presuppose a descending series from );ighest to 
lowest, while Darwin and .Spencer presujipose an as- 
cending series. Mr. .VIcott's position as a thinker 
derives its value from this fact, that he has jiresentcd 
iuan original form the emanation theory, once an all- 
prevailing theory, but now become almost incon- 
ceivable. He furnishes an example of a uund iu 
which the emanation theory is the native point of 
view, and therefore furnishes a valualilc help to con- 
temporary thinkers imuiderstandingthe olderforms 
of mysticism. In fact, Mr. Alcott's writings, and es. 
peeially his Orphic sayings, published iu" The Dial " 
in 1842, and llie four essays iu the second part of 
" Talilets," published in 18(58, furnish a good expo- 
sition in which to study this oriciUal world view — iu 
some respects better than those of .Jacob Boehme 
and Von Baader. Mr. Alcott in his later years not 
only performed uuicli labor in comieetion with the 
school of |ihilosopliy, but traveled extensively 
throughout the Norlli and the Northwest, holding 
conversations, preaching iji churches and lecturing. 
In the last jom-ney of tins kind (1880-81) he was ab- 
sent nearly seven months, journeyed more than 



.5,(101) miles, and addressed audiences on an average 
twice a day, Sundays included. As he had at this 
time jiassed his eightieth year the feat was a remark- 
able one. In the following year (1881-82) he eom- 
])o.sed most of the sonnets which he pid)lished ia 
March, 1882, and the monody on the dea(h of hi.s 
friend Emi'rson ("Ion"), as well as ixirtions of hi.s 
unfiiushed aiitoliiography in vci'.se, " New Connecti- 
cut. " These labors, with his advanced age, and the 
.shock of Emer.son's death, probably led to the apo- 
plectic attack which he had Oct. 34, 1882, and from 
which he never fully recovered, though he survived 
more than five years and engiiged more or less in lit- 
erary revision ilf what he hail written in the intervals 




of his long illness. His death was almost immedi- 
ately followed by that of his daughter Louisa, and 
they are btu-ied side by side in the cemetery at Con- 
cord. His jiublislied works are: "Conversations on 
the Gospels," meutioneil above; "Orphic Sayings" 
(in " The Dial"); "Tablets "(18()8); "Concord "Days" 
(1872); "Table Talk" (1877); "Sonnets and Can- 
zonets" (1882): "Ralph Waldo Emerson; An Esti- 
mate of His Character and Genius "' (1882), and 
" New Connecticut " (1881 and 1887). The house 
shown in the cut is "The Wayside." so well known 
iu connection with the literary life of Concord. Mr. 
Alcott died March 4, isss. 

FATJLKNER, E. Boyd, senator, was bom at 
Martinsburg, Berkeley Co., West Va., Sept. 21, 1847. 
He aecomiianied his father to France, when the lat- 
ter, an eminent man of alTairs, was appointed V. S. 
minister to that country in 18.59, and attended schools 
in Paris and Switzerland. He returned to the L^uited 
States in 1801, and upon the arrest of his father by 
the Federal authorities, for sympathv with the South- 
ern cause, at once went South and in 1801 entered 
the Virginia ^Military Institute at Lexington. He 
served with the institute cadets iu the battle of New- 
market, and later was aid to Gen. .1. C. Breckenridge 
and to Gen. Henry A. AVisc, being present with the 
latter at the surrender at Appomattox. After the 
war he returned to .Martinsburg and commenced the 
study of law under the direction of his father. Ia 
October, 1800, he entered the University of Virginia, 
and was graduated from that institution in .June, 
1808. In September of the same year he was ad- 
mitted to the liar and at once commenced the prac- 
tice of his profession. He practiced for twelve years 
with success and credit, and in I8SI) was elected jiuige 
of the thirteenth judicial district of AVest Virginia. 
In 1HS4 he was a democr.-itic candidate for governor 
of West Virginia, but failed to receive the nomi- 
nation. In 1887 he was elected to the U. S. senate to 
succeed John.sou N. Camden, his term expiring 
March 3, 1893. 



480 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 




CARROLL, Jotin, first R. C. archbishop of the 
archdiocese of Baltimore, was born in Upper Marl- 
boro', Prince George's Co., JId., Jau. 8, 17^5. He 
■was the third son of Daniel Carroll and Eleanor 
Darnall. His fallier eanie to America when hut a 
boy, and was of a highly respectable Catholic family 
in Ireland, that forfeited its property to the crown 
on account of religion. His mother was a daughter 
of Henry Darnall, also a Homan Catholic, who pos- 
sessed larii'e estates in the neigliborhood of Upper 
Marlboro'." Notwithstanding the iienal laws that 
existed in Maryland at the time .John Carroll was 
born, which prohibited Catholics from maintaining 
schools, the .Jesuits had established a small school at 
Herman's Manor of Hohcnna a remote district on the 
eastern shore of Maryland. At this school John Car- 
roll was preiiarcd to enter the Jesuit College of St. 
Omer's in French Flanders, After iiassing six years 
at St.Omer's young Carroll feeling himself called to a 
reliirious life "applied for admission to the Society of 
Jesus, and in September, n.");!. entered I he novitiate of 
that order. The novitiate of the English province w.is 
at that time in the old abbey at Hallon a small town 
about six miles from St, Omer. He was ordained a 
priest in 175!), and was at once apiioinled a jirofessor 
at St. Omer's, and was siibseciueiitly professor of 
philosophy and theology at Liege. On Feb, 2. 1771, 
lie took his tinal vows and became a professed Father. 
In 1771 he was appointed by his sui)eriors to make a 
tour of E\irope as tutor to the sons of Jioril Slouiton, 
-Kho had re<piested that the young American be 
ns.sisrned that duty. In 177:i FiUher Carroll w;is a])- 
pointed prefect at Bruges, and while pursuing his 
duties there the Society of Jesus wiis supjiressed by 
a brief of Pope Clement XIV., dated July ~'l. 1773. 
The English Jesuits of Flanders then went to 



England accompanied l)_v Father Carroll who acted 
as secretary at their meetings and conducted the 
important corresiiondence with the French govern- 
ment which related to the property of the society 
in France, and while thus employed he was ap- 
pointed, chaplain to Lord Arundel and took U]) his 
residence at Wardour castle, about the ndddle of 
Jime, 1774. The leisure and charms of Wardour 
castle did not withdraw the young priest from the 
self-sacrificing duties of his calling. Separated from 
his native laud as lie had been from childhood, hi.s 
heart began to yearn for his old home, and his 
zeal ins))ired him with an anxiety to l.aUe up the 
laborious duties of a jiriest in the new countiT. 
He foresaw that a lime would come when forcible 
measures would be taken and whatever the issue 
might be the patriotic j)riest then resolved to cast his 
lot with the land of his nativity, and conscMpiently 
sailed for America in 1774. arriving there on June 
2()th of thai year on one of the last vessels that cleared 
from England before the revolution. He went at 
once to his mother's home, at Kock creek. .Montgom- 
ery Co., jNId., where he for a time resided and where 
his ministries were temporarily cast. He erected a 
wooden chapel on his father's estate, which luvs 
been replaced by a neat church that still bears the 
name of Carroll's chapel. For a century the laws 
of M.-iryland had b<'en intoler.-uit to Caiholics. the 
celebration of mass was forbidden by law, Hcmian 
Catholic schools were ]ir(ihibiteil. mid members of 
the Catholic church were denied the right to bear 
arms; this. too. in a colony that had been established 
by Catholics under the patronage of the Society of 
Jesus. The CarroUs and other iiitluential members 
of the communily had resolved to leave the prov- 
ince, and liad applied to the king of France for a 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



481 



grant of land in the territory of Louisiana where 
they mieht establisli a new refuse for t'atliolies and 
Jesuit exiles. The issue between England and the 
American colonies opened an avenue for relief and 
Father Carroll threw himself into his country's 
cause with his whole heart in the elfort to secure for 
liis people lil)erty of thought and action. Eminently 
tilted as he was liy conversance with the cliaraetcr 
and thought of the rulinj;- elassc^s of England, and 
the state of those ground down hy her laws, a care- 
ful observer of continental all'airs, intimately ac- 
quainted with the leading statesmen of the times, 
he was prepared to take a prominent part in the 
struggle of America for freedom. At the time he 
arrived in Anieiica there was no jiublic place of 
Catholic worship in Maryland. St. Peter's at Malti- 
morc hail l)een closed Viefore it was coni]ilcted, a 
few private chapels, and tho.se on the Jesuit farms, 
were the only places where Catholics of the prov- 
ince could worship. There were but nineteen Cath- 
olic priests in Maryland, all e.\-Jesuits. Father 
Carroll always maintained the most cordial rela- 
tions with the clergy. Though he had relinquished 
his estates in favor of his family, he declined to 
take a share of the joint revenue of the Maryland 
priests, and devoted himself laboriously to his 
duties, traveling always on horseback, "and fre- 
qucntlv going thirty miles on sick calls, and attend- 
ing monthly the Catholics of Aquia Creek, Va., 
si.\ty miles distant from his church. During the 
progress of the revolutionary war he ilid bis 
country important .service by writing letters to his 
distinguished friends in eveiy part of Europe iind 
enlisting their aid and .symiialhies. On Feb. lo, 
17T6, he was appointed by the Continental congress 
to act as one of the commi.s.sioners to visit Canada 
to secure if possible its active co-operation in the 
struggle, or its neutrality, with promises of mutual 
protec^tion. Congress was iiarlicularly desirous of 
his services, thinking he woulil conciliate the Can- 
adian clergy who were not disposed to advise the 
Canadians to take action. Dr. Franklin, Samuel 
Chase and Charles Carroll of Carrollton were the 
other members of the commission. The mission 
■was unsucces.sful ; as both the clergymen and the 
people leplied that "they had no cause for com- 
plaint against the home government of Great 
Britain." Sanniel Chase and Charles Carroll had to 
remain in Canada to attend to the atfairs of the army, 
but Dr. Franklin's health failed and he was obliged 
to return home; Father Carroll accompanied him, 
and their a.s.sociation at this time was the foundation 
of a life-long friendship. Father Carroll was a strong 
champion of the rights of conscience and as such 
occujiied a prominent jiosition in the history of our 
country. He was |irobably unexcelled as a contro- 
versialist — his writings being chiedy of this nature. 
Prior to the severence of the ties between the 
United States and Great Britain, the Catholic 
clergy of Jlaryland and Pcmisylvania were under 
the ecclesiastical government of the Bishop of 
London, whose representative in the provinces 
was his vicar-general, Kev. Mr. Lewis, wiio had 
been superior of the suppressed Society of Jesus. 
Feeling that this state of things could no longer 
exi.st. Father Carroll and a nuud)er of clergymen 
wrote to Mr. Lewis, reipicsting that the clergy be 
a.ssemlilcd for deliberation on this important subject. 
The resvilt of these delilx-rations was a (letition to 
the Vatican, requesting the appointment of a supe- 
rior directly from Rome invested with the power.s 
necess.ary for the existing emergencies in thi' Amer- 
ican church. The holy sec had, however, wider 
plans for he church in the United States, and was 
at the same time considering the matter of ap- 
pointing a bishop for America. In order to re- 
move all imputations that the Catholic body was 



oppo.sing the civil government. Dr. Franklin was 
requested to submit the matter to congress, which 
replied "that it was unnecessary for the holy 
.see to ask the permission of congress to founll 
a Catholic bishopric in the United States, that all 
religious ilenoininations were at liberty to exercise 
their ecclesiastical functions as they .saw" tit." Father 
Carroll's name was on the list of clergymen .sent to 
Home, from wliich a selection w.ms to be made for 
that im]iortant olH<-e. Tlie papal mnicio at I'aris 
coiisidled with Dr. Fraidiliii on the subject and being 
well acquainted with the superior (lualities of Father 
Carroll, the doctor advised his a|ipoinlment above 
all others, and toward the clo.se of 1784 Dr. Carroll 
received the documenis ajipointing him superior of 
tlic clergy of the United States with all ncces.sary 
jiowers for the iiosiiiou. One of his tirsi iluties was 
to visit the principal cities in his jurisdiction and 
minister to the religious wants of tlie people luider 
the new authority granted him from Home. The 
number of Catholics in Maryland at this time was 
about lO.OUO with 7,000 in Pennsylvania and 2,000 
si-attered in New Jersey and New 'i'ork. The 
number of ])riests was limited, but new missionaries 
were constantly arriving and he was soon able to 
send priests to Boston, Kentucky. Charleston, 
New York and other places. The clergymen of 
America becoming convinced of the necessity of 
establishing an episcopal see in 
the United States petitioned 
Honu- for the favor and selected 
Baltimore as the most suitable 
place for its estalilishment. Dr. 
Carroll was pleased with the 
selection as it was the principal 
town of Maryland, which state 
is the oldest Catholic settlement 
in America. The recommenda- 
tions of the clergy ^vel'e approved 
by the holy see and the selection 
oi' Dr. Carroll received with 
unanimous approbation, and the 
papal bull appointing him the 
tir.st bishop of the United States 
was issued at Home, Nov. 14, 
1789. Dr. Carroll sailed for Eng- . .^ 

land, where be was consecrated 
in London by the Ht. Hev. Charles 'V\'armsly, viear- 
ajiostolic of London. The consecration look place in 
the chapel of Ludworib castle, Aug. l."), 1790, Bishop 
Carroll remained abroad long enough to complete ar- 
rangements for the establishment of a Sulpitian Sem- 
iuarv at Baltimore anil the founding of the George- 
town Academy. For a long time the see of Baltimore 
was the only Catholic bishopric in the United Stales, 
and the administration of this diocese was extremely 
ditticult and laViorious being hampen'd by the scar- 
city of priests uiuil the emigration can.sed b.y the 
French revolution gave him many assistants. The 
church, however, flourished — the English Domini- 
cans .sent a colony which augmented llw nund)er of 
priests, a connnnnity of Carmelite nuns established 
themselves in the diocese, anil another of Poor 
Clares. Georgetown Academy was completed in 1791, 
and through the assistance of his English friends 
in coimcction with it he founded a theological .semi- 
nary which was merged into that of St. Mary's at 
Baltimore in 179'i. Bishop Carroll was elected by 
tlie .state of Maiyland one of the three commi.s.sion- 
ers to found St. John's College at Annapolis, and 
was sub.sequently awarded the degree of LL.D., by 
the faculty; he also received the degree of D.D. and 
LL.D. from other colleges in the Uin'led States. Ue 
presided at the flrst synod of the C'atnolic clergy in 
America, which was held at Haltimore, Nov. 7, 1791. 
The increasing cares of liis diocese compelled him 
to apply to Rome either for a division of his see or 




482 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



the appointment of a coadjutor. His request was 
granted anil in lt<()U Hev. Leonard \eale was nomi- 
nated for tlie position. Bisliop Carroll was unani- 
mously eleeted bj' eongress and the clergy of all 
denominations in the L'uited Stales to deliver a 
panegyric on Washington, on Feb. 22, 1800. His 
lieart responded to his subject and his add ress was 
a masterly oratorical effort and showed the patriot- 
ism of his nature, and his devotion to the govern- 
ment when he .said: " Wi.sdom and experience com- 
bined to blend in a republican form of government 
all the advantages of which other forms are jiro- 
duclive without many of their evils." The establish- 
ment of the sisters of charity by Jlother Seton under 
liis direction was one of the brightest records of his 
administration. The institution was established at 
Emmittsburg, and received always his hearty co- 
operation and support. In 1803 he performed the 
marriage ceremony between Jerome Bonaparte 
and ^liss Patterson of Baltimore. There liad been 
some delay in tilling the engagement caused by 
state considerations, and the bishop becoming inter- 
ested in the ca.se himself performed the ceremony. 
On .Sept. 9. 1M03, he consecrat<'d tlie Brst Catholic 
churcli built in the city of Boston. By 1808 the 
number of priests in the country had increa.sed to 
seventy, who supplied eighty churches. In 180(i he 
laid the foundation of the Baltimore cathedral, and 
April 8, 1808, Baltimore was elevated into an arehi- 
epi.seopa! see liy Pius VII., with four epi.scopal 
sees as suffragans. The new bisho|)s were not con- 
secrated until 1810, on account of the delay in the 
arrival of the bidls for their iuvesture. and the 
piil/inm for Archbishop Carroll. His nephew has 
publislied the life of the late archbishop. He died 
in Oi'or'jetnwn, I). C, Dec. 3, 181,5. 

NEALE, Leonard, second R. C. archbishop of 
Baltimore, was born near I'urt Tobacco, Charles 
Co.. Md., Oct. 15, 1740. His ancestors were among 
the earliest settlers of Maryland, the founder of the 
family in America, Capt. 
James Neale, having emi- 
grated to this country with 
his family before 1642. 
Capt. Xeale had been a 
favorite at the court of 
Charles I., and his wife. 
Madam Anna Xeale, had 
occupied a position in the 
household of Queen Hen- 
rietta Maria. He was also 
Lord Baltimore's negotia- 
tor among the burgo- 
masters of Holland. Upon 
reaching America, he pur- 
chased a vast tract of land 
in Charles county with 
Spanish coins, known as cob dollars, a circumstance 
which gave the name of Cob Xeck to the place where 
he located. He took a prominent part in tlu' affairs of 
the colony, was a member nf the governor's council 
in 1(>43, andiri 1644 was summoned by a special writ 
of Gov. r>eonar(l Calvert to sit in the colonial legis- 
lature. Capt. Xeale's descendant, I>eonard Neale, 
was sent to the College of English Jesuits in St. 
Omer's in French Flanders when but twelve j'ears 
of age; he completed his academic career there, and 
having decided to Ijecome a priest, went to Bruges, 
and afterwards to Liege where he tini.shed his 
course of |)hiloso|ihy and theology and was or- 
dained a priest of the Society of .lesus. He was a 
professor in the Jesuit college of Bruges, when it 
was seized by the Austro-Belgian government and 
w.as expelled with the other Jesuits. He subse- 
(piently had charge of a small congregtition in Eng- 
land; but being endowed with the zeal of an apostle 
he longed for an opportunity to preach the gospel 




..^rr/y- 



to the heathen, and earnestly petitioned for a for- 
eign mission. His request wa.s graiUed. and in 1T79 
he s;iilcd for Demerara a town in British Guiana, 
South Anu-rica, a field in which hardships and dis- 
appointments awaited him. He laboreil there zeal- 
ously until Jamuiry, 1783, when he left for 3Iary- 
land, where he was cordially welcomed by his 
friends and relatives and his brother Jesuits on his ar- 
rival there in April of the sjimeyear. He wsus in good 
season to take part in the organization of the Cath- 
olics of the United States, and occupied an import- 
ant po.sition in the meetings and deliberations of the 
infant church, signing the articles of government 
adopteil. He was stationed at St. Thomas JIanor in 
Charles county until 1793, when he went to Phila- 
delphia to minister to the victims of the yellow 
fever during the epidemic of that year. Regard- 
less of his own delicate health, he labored with a 
strength and cheerfulness quite out of proportion 
to his frail body. In 1797-98 he again displayed 
conspicuously his devotion to those atllicted with 
the fever, laboring with true mis.siouary zeal \uitil 
he finally himself succumbed to the diseiuse. His 
mission in Philadelphia covered si.\ years, during 
which time he also occupied the office of vicar-gen- 
eral to Bishop Carroll, While in Philadelphia he 
attempted to realize a project he had long cher- 
ished, that of the founding of a religious commun- 
ity of females in the United States. He .selected 
Alice Laylor, a native of Queen's county, Ireland, 
as the future superioress of the order, and asso- 
ciated with her two other young women who had 
taken a lively interest in his plans. These two as- 
sociates, however, fell victims to the yellow fever. 
Jliss Laylor opened a .school in Georgetown, D. C, 
under Father Neale's direction, which is now the 
oldest female academy in the United Sl;ites. Bv re- 
newed e.xertiims he induced other women to join"Mi.ss 
Laylor, and the band became known as the " Pious 
Ladies." In 1798 he was apjiointed president of 
Georgetown College, and in addition to the duties of 
that office, for several years discharged those of tutor. 
He was the tirst president to taki> up his residence in 
the institution, which was raised from an academy 
to a college under his adminislnilion. By recpiest 
of Bishoj) Carroll he was nomin;ited !is his coadju- 
tor with right of succession to the see of Baltimore, 
and was con.sccrated liishop of Groytna, i» pindhiis 
infidi'liuin, Dec. 7, 1800, but continued to discharge 
his duties as president of Georgetown College until 
1S06. In 181)5 he purcha.sed the convent projierty of 
the Poor Clares wlio had returned to Eurojie. and on 
June 29tli of that year, installed the "PioMs Ladies" 
in the new establishment. In 1810 he was present 
at the council of bishops held in Baltimore, and took 
a prominent jiart in the meeting, jiarticularly in the 
framing of the rules for the adininistralion of the 
dioceses. In 1815 he became archbishop of the see 
of Baltimore. One of his tirst acts after his acccs- 
siim was to petition Pius VII. for power to eslab- 
li.sh a monastery of the Vi.sitation order at (Jeorge- 
town, clothed with all the rights and privileges 
enjoyed by that order in Europe. His petition 
was granted and the " Pious L.adies" became the 
founders of the Visitation order in the United 
States. In 1816 he received the piillium from Pope 
Piyis VH. He died at Georgetown, D. C, June 15, 
1817. 

MARECHAL, Ambrose, third R. C. archbishop 
of the archdiocese of Baltimore, was born at 
Ingre, near Orleans, France, in 1768, of parents who 
occupied a high social positicm and were able to 
give him every educational advantage. He was 
graduated with distinction from one of the best 
colleges in France. From early youth he evinced 
a remarkable piety and showed a strong inclina- 
tion to consecrate himself to the priesthood. His 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



483 




.-^ i^ t,t,^ -c/ful, .liJrj^ 



paronts. however, opposed liis aspinUious, and iu 
(lel'ereuce to their wishes lie sliidieil law, completing 
llie course with the ability and thoroughness cliar- 
aeteristic of his disposition, anil he thus acquired a 
fund of valuable information 
that eminently fitted him for 
the high position he was des- 
tined to occupy. He tinally 
abandoned the litw, determinefl 
to follow the irresistible voca- 
tion he had for the priesthood, 
and durinj; the stormy period 
of the French revolution en- 
tered the Sulpitiau seminary at 
Orleans. He Wiisduly orilained 
at Bordeaux, having the same 
day escaped from Paris in dis- 
guise. He succeeded in embark- 
ing for America in company 
with Abbes Jlotaignon, Richard 
and C'iquard, and reached Balti- 
more June 24, 1792. The inten- 
tion of the superior of the Sulpitian order to which 
he belonged was to establish an academy in Balti- 
niore under his direction for the instruction of youth 
in mathematics; but as this plan did not matuVe for 
some time, Father Marechal began active missionary 
work; first in St. Maiy's coiuny and afterwards at 
Bohemia. Jleanwhile his order had founded St. 
Mary's College at Baltimore, and iu 1799 he was 
summoned to take the chair of theology in the new 
seminary. In 1803 ho was recalled toTrance by the 
order to assist in the restoration of their eoUeges 
and seminaries and to otherwise aid the elTorts of 
the government under Xapoleon in revivimr the 
religious spirit which had been undermined by the 
revolution. He occupied positions of the utinost 
honor and importance in several of the ecclesia.stical 
institutions, jiarticularly at St. Flour, Lvons, Ai.K 
and at JIaiseilles. Dr." Marechal and wa.s so highly 
esteemed by his theological students that after he was 
created archbishop of Baltimore thev presented him 
as a testimony of their gratitude anil respect with a 
magnificent marble altar that now stands in the cathe- 
dral church of that city. As soon as it was i^racticable 
for him to withdraw "from France he hearkened to 
the appeals of his friends iu America, and in 1812 
returned to Baltimore, resuming his position as 
professor of theology and for a while acting also as 
president of St. Mary's College. He was soon, liow- 
ever, called to resi"gn what'would have been his 
chosen life work and was nominated bv Rome 
bishop of Philadelphia. Naturally of an "humble 
disposition and desiring most earnestly to devote his 
life to teaching, he advanced such reasonable argu- 
ments for being excused from accepting so responsi- 
ble apo.sition, that his petitions were granted, but ina 
short time he was called to fill a far more onerous 
office. Archbishop Neale's health declining, he 
was oliliged to apply to Roine for a coadjutor." Dr. 
Mariiclial was in-esented as the most suitable person 
for the position, and he wa.s accordingly appointed 
by Pope Pius VII. .July 24, 1817, coadjutor to the 
archbishop of Baltimore with title of Bishop Staur- 
opotis. On the death of Arclibisliop Ncale Dr. 
Marechal was consecrated archliishop of Baltimore 
by Bishop Cheverus, Dec. 14. 1817. and immediately 
began the active administration of the affairs of his 
diocese. Soon after his election to the episcopac.v 
he had to face ditliculties of the most trying charac- 
ter to those who exercise ecclesiastical authority. 
Trouble had arisen in various portions of his exten- 
sive sec, that for a lime menaced the church in 
America with the evils that invariably follow ;nsub- 
ordination. 'With an assumed religious zeal certain 
persons had usurped rights whicli belonged exclu- 
sively to the bishop of the diocese, and maide efforts 



life see Clarke's "Lives of the De- 
5, " vol. i. He died at Baltimore, Md., 



to wrest a jiortion of the diocese from the authority 
of its lawful jmstors. Archbishop Marechal evinced 
rare prudence and ability in the management of 
a Hairs at this critical time; and eU'ectually arrested 
the progress of the schism, giving a heavy blow to 
the claim of lay trustees to exerci.se authority in the 
appuinlnieiit of priests. Jlay 31, 1821, assisted by 
the bishops of Boston and I'hi'ladelpliia, he dedicated 
the Baltimore cathednil the corner-stone of which 
had been laid by Arcliliishnp C'lirroll. A number 
of fine paintings, masterpieces in art, were sent to 
the archbishop by high dignitaries in Europe to be 
placed on the walls of the new cathedral, and the 
altar presented by his former students was also 
erected about this time. Archbishop Marechal was 
by nature and taste a student, but never permitted 
his inclinations to affect in any way the zealous dis- 
charge of the functions of ]ii"s ollice. In 1821 he 
visited Rome on business for the diocese. In lS2(iho 
went to Canada, and took other journeys in the 
interests of the church. In 1824 whife visiting 
Emmilt.sburg, Md., he was attacked with the di.sease 
from which he died two years later. He was gifted 
with a high order of talents and possessed varied 
acquirements and charming social qualities. Be- 
sides being tliomughly versed in literature and the- 
ology he was a profound mathematical student, and 
left several valuable manu.scripts on that science. 
His published works are " Pastoral Letters of Arch- 
bishop Carroll to the Congregation of Trinity 
Church, l'hiladelphia."and "l.et"ters of Archbishop 
Marechal to Trinity Church. Xorfolk." For fuller 
detail of his 
ceased Bislmp: 
Jan. 2. is-js. 

■WHITFIELD, James, fourth R. C. archbisliop 
of the archdiocese of Baltimore, was born at Liver- 
pool, England, Nov. 3, 1770. His father was a 
prosperous merchant of that city and gave his son 
a liljeral education but unfortunately iHed when the 
lad was but .seventeen years old. "Mrs. Whitfield 
was feeble at the time, and to diveit her thoughts 
from her trouble as well as in tlie hope of being 
restored to health she went with her son to Italy 
where the latter engaged in business, thereby adding 
materially to the fortune he had received "from his 
father. Returning to England from Italy he was 
taken iirisoiier during his passage through France 
under a law made by Xaiioleon, orderingthe arrest 
of all Englishmen at that time in France." During his 
detention at Lyons he formed an acquaintance with 
Rev. Ambrose JIaivchal, then professor of theology 
in that city, which soon ripened into an intimate 
friendship. This friendship lasted until Marechal's 
death and it was this which directed James AVhit- 
field's thoughts to the priesthood. Having decided 
to study theology he entered 
the seminary at Lyons where 
he liecame distinguished for 
his indefatigable industry and 
sound judgment. In 1809, 
on the completion of his 
studies he was ordained a 
priest at Lyons. His mother 
dying about this time he re- 
turned to England and was 
appointed parish priest in the 
town of Crosby. On being 
made archbishop of Baltimore 
Dr. Marechal earnestly .solic- 
ited his friend Mr. W'hitfield 
in whom he had seen so much 
promise to join him in Amer- 
ica where there was such immediate need for efficient 
priests. .Vccepting the cidi, he reached the United 
Stales in September. 1817. and was at once appointed 
one of the pastors of St. Peter's Church, Baltimore, 




^6tnc.r -^XT^/i./^ 



484 



THK NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



■where he was retained for a number of years. In 
1826, by a special decree from Home, Arclibisliop 
Marechal conferred the degree of l).l). upon him. 
It was also in this year that tlie religious community 
of the Sisters Oblates of St. Francis was approved 
by the archbishop. Dr. Whitlield took an active 
part in placing this institution upon a tirm and 
prosperous fooling, and from that time forward 
maintained a warm interest in the condition of the 
negro. Arclibisliop Marechal placed Dr. Wliilticld's 
name tij-st on the list of candidates when he applied 
to Home for a coadjutor in lS2(i, but the papal t)rief 
appointing him coadjutor with the right of succes- 
sion and the tith' of Bisho]iof .Vjiothonia /« purtihun 
infiiU'liiiia did not arrive until Jan. S, l.sCS. six days 
after Archbishop Marechal's death. Dr. Wliilticld, 
was consecrated archbishop of Baltimore in the 
cathedral of that city by the venerable Bishop 
Flaget, of Kentucky, on Whitsunday, May 25, 
1828. In addition to the cares of his archdiocese 
he was also administrator of the diocese of Kich- 
niond. His own ample fortune he devoted to build- 
ing churches and providing priests for them; to 
erecting institutions of piety, cducalion and cliarity, 
and to generally promoting the cause of religion. 
When his private means were exhausted he ap- 
pealed to the king of France, to the hitter's grand al- 
moner and to the A.ssociation for the l*ro|iagation of 
Faith, as his predecessor had done and advis<Ml him 
to do, for assistance in the great work in which he was 
engaged. His letters in behalf of this object occupy 
a prominent place in the history of the Catholic 
church in America. He received generous responses 
tothe.se appeals. Both Louis XVIH. and Charles 
X. of France sent olferings on several occasions 
through their almoners, while the A.ssociation for 
the Propagation of the Faith contributed 83,000 
francs in nine years (1825-34) besides making liberal 
appropriations for St. Clary's College. On Sept. 11, 

1828, Archbishop Whitlield laid the corner-stone of 
the Orphan Asylum at Baltimore, to which both he 
and Arclibishop Marechal had donated so largely. 
In October and November of that year he made a 
visitation of both dioceses under his charge, and 
overlooking no part of the country where Catholics 
were to be found gave confirmation at many (daces 
to large numbers, among which were numerous 
converts. He was appalled when he reached the 
large diocese of Richmond, which spread over 
an area of 70,000 square miles, with a population 
at that time of 1, 250,000, to tind only three priests 
to minister to its wants. By giving liberally from 
his private purse, and successfully renewing his 
appeals to Catholic Europe for a.ssistance, he was 
soon able to ameliorate the distressing condition of 
affairs in that diocese. The most important event 
of his episcopate was the a.ssemliling of the tir.st 
provincial council held in this cmnitry, which was 
called to meet in the cathedral at Baltimore Oct. 4, 

1829. Bishop Whitfield directed the deliberations, 
and the council closed October 18th after adopting 
thirty-eight decrees. The ]irincipal subjects acted 
upon had to do with discipline, morajs and tlie 
a<lministratiou of the sacraments. The statistics 
given by the bishops of the council from their 
various dioceses estimated the Catholic population 
of America in 1829 at ,500,000, and the numbers 
■were steadily increasing by immigration and con- 
versions. Archbishop Whitfield comiileted one of 
the towers of the cathedral during his adminis- 
tration, having contributed liberally to it from his 

firivate fortune. Another of his niunirtcent dona- 
ions was St. .lames church, Baltimore, which wiis 
erected entirely at his own expense. He also con- 
tributed a considerable amount toward the build- 
ing of the Episcopal residence near the cathe- 
dral. Mount St. Mary's College, Emmittsburg, was 



incorporated during his episcopacy, and a very 
worthy society of the women of Baltimore for the 
relief of the poor and unfortunate, called the JIaria 
Marthian Society, and a number of other Catholic 
oriraiii/atiims and institutions, were also estab- 
lished. t)n Oct. 20. 1838, Arclibisliop Whitfield as- 
sembled the second provincial council at Baltimore. 
Prudence and energy were characteristic traits of 
Archbishop Whitfield's administiation. Beginning a 
wealthy man he died poor in purse, lint left behind 
him manv monuments of his charity. He died 
Oct. 19, l"s:!t. 

ECCLESTON, Samuel, fifth R. C. arch- 
bishop (il th<' archdiocese of Baltimore, was tiorn in 
Kent county, Mil., .June 21. ISdl. His ancestors 
were English and members of the I'rolestant Epis- 
copal church. His father died when he was quite 
young and his mollier was subsecpiently married to 
a Catholic gentleman. It was thus that Samuel 
Eccleston was brought under Catholic infiuence. He 
was sent to St. Mary's College, Baltimore, where he 
embraced the Catholic faith, and, becoming more 
deeply imbued with religious views, he resolved to 
enter the minislry of the Cliurch. in the face of slri>ng 
oppo.sition from his family. He took his ihcol'ij^ical 
course at St. Mary's Seminary and on April 24, 
1825, was ordained a priest by Archbishop Marechal. 
A few months later he went to France for .i more 
advanced cour.se of study in thi' Snlpitian Seminary 
of Issy near Paris. He returned to America in July, 
1827, and was appointed 
vice-president of St. -Mary's 
College and in 1829 was 
elected president. The in- 
stitution prospered under 
his rectorship and became 
one of the leading Catholic 
colleges in the United 
States. In 1S34, when 
only thirty-three years old. 
Dr. Eccleston wasappoint- 
ed coadjutor to Archbishop ^ 
Whitfield with title of. 
Hishcp of Tliirma in ;)«;•- /j'^ 
tibus infideliHin, with right 
of succession, anil in Oct- 
t)ber of thai year succeed- ^ '^ 
ed to the archiepiscopal 
see of Baltimore. One of his first thoughts on taking 
charge was to provide a greater number of Catholic 
schools, and he gave every encouragement to relig- 
ious orders in his iirovince to advance the cause of 
education, and offered inducemenls for others to enter 
the diocese and thus meet the increasing demands 
of the times. Three inslilutions for the education of 
females were est.'iblished by the Visitation nuns. 
The Brothers of St. Patrick entered tne ilioce.se to 
take charge of the manual labor school established 
near Baltimore by the Rev. James Dolan. The 
Redemptorist Fathers were solicited to come to 
Baltimore in 1S41, more especially to minister to 
the rajiiilly increasing German population. They 
have since erected convenis and schools in most of 
the states of the Union. Archbishop Eccleston also 
introduced into the diocese of Baltimore the congre- 
gation of La/.aiists. who settled in his .see in 1850. 
Twelve or thirteen new churches wer<' erected and 
others enlarged and improved. Mount Hope Hospital 
for the Insane was built and jilaced in charge of the 
Sisters of Charity, The Young Catholic Friends' 
Society W.MS established. He also founded St. 
Charles's College, Mil., which is indebted for its 
origin to the liberality of Charles Carroll of Carroll- 
ton. The Christian Brothers also entered the dio- 
cese and many iiarochial .schools were established. 
Archbishop Eccleston presided over five provincial 
councils w iiich were convened during his episcopate. 




/l^..^-..^.^ ^^'I^-.^U, 



OF AMERICAN BIOGKAPIIV. 



485 



The fifth provinciiil council was devoted prim-ipally 
to the (liseussion of tlie ereetiou of uew and sub- 
divisiou of old sees, ami the law also enacted im- 
posing the penalty of excomniuniealion upon 
Catholics who should obtain a civil divorce and 
contract a second marriage. Archliisho|i Ecclcston 
presided with characteristic wisdom and dignity. 
Ou Jan. 18, 1841), he sent a letter to Pius IX. dur- 
ing his c.\ile inviting him to be present at the 
seventh provincial council which was to convene on 
May (ith of that year. He also ordered collections 
taken throughout the diocese for the Holy Father, 
and had the satisfaction of sending him tiie sum of 
$3G,0I)(I. Archbishop Eccle.ston diil nuicli toward 
completing the cathedral at Baltimore and gave 
liberally of his private means for that purpose. He 
died .■it"(;eori;etown, I). ('., Ajiril 22, 1851. 

KENRICK, Francis Patrick, sixth II. C. arch- 
bishop of the aichdiocese of Baltimore, was born in 
Dublin, Ireland, Dec. 3, 179(1 He received the best 
educational advantages and completi'd his classical 
education at the age of eighteen. He pursued his 
ecclesiastical studies at the College of the Propaganda 
at Home where he attained such a reputation for char- 
acter and abilitj- that his name was for years handed 
down as a household word. As soon as he reached 
the canonical age be was ordained a priest and, in 
1831 was assigned to the mis.sions in Kentucky under 
Bishoji Flaget. He was appointed to the chair of 
theology in St. 'I'homas TJieological Seminary at 
Bard.stown, and jiroved a valuable acijuisition to all 
the ednealional institutions in Kentucky, being par- 
ticularly prominent in the founding of St. Joseph's 
College, Bardstown, in which he afterwards tilled 
the chairs of Greek and historv. During the 
jubilee j'ear, 183(i-2T, he attended Bishop Flaget 
in the cjiiscopal visitation of his diocese, de- 
livered a series of lectures on the dogmas of the 
church in answer to objections Protestant clergymen 
had advanced, becoming engaged, in 1828, in a 
polemical discussion with Rev. Dr. Blackburn, presi- 
dent of Centre College, Danville, K_v. Indeed Dr. 
Kenrick was throughout his career an eminent po- 
lemical debater. He was unexcelled as a pulpit 
orator. In 1S29 he accompanieil Bishop Flaget to 
the provincial ccHuicil. at Baltimore, of which he 
served as assistant secretary. In 1830 he was ap- 
pointed co.-idjutor of Philadelphia with the full 
powers of administration and consecrated at Bards- 
town, by Bishop Flaget, on June (i. Bishop of 
Arath in jxirUhiis infiileliiim. Bislio]) Kenrick as- 
smned cluu'ge of his diocese under most trying cir- 
cumstances. The old trouble with the trustees broke 
out afri'sh ami in dealing with them Bisho]i Kenrick 
gave evidence of tine administrative ability. He at 
once declaied himself chief pastor of St. Jlary's and 
expressed bis int<'Ution of assuming charge of the 
congregation. Notwitlistamling the resistance of the 
trustees he occupied the jndpit the following Sunday 
and exjiosed their conduct. The trustees eventually 
learned the nature of the man with whom they liad 
to deal, and suliniilled to bis autboiity. Bishop 
Kenrick required tli;it all new aci|uisilionsof churcli 
propertv should be vested in Ihcbishoii. The catho- 
lics of old St. Paid's Church. Pittsburgh. Pa., de- 
clined at tirst to accejit this ruling but after a bitter 
controversy were brought into submission. Bishop 
Kenrick ultimately obtained his end, and the 
recognition of the ]iropcr tenure of ecclesiastical 
projicrly. One of his tirst acts after disposing of 
the trustee question was to provide clergy for his 
diocese. There were at th.at time five churches and 
two priests in the city of Philaihlphia but the num- 
ber of missionaries in the interior of the state was 
entirely insutlicient to minister to the wants of the 
people. In 1838. the Theological Seminary of St. 
Charles Borromeo which Bishop Kenrick had 




(7:jC^ 



founded was incorporated by an act of the 
legislature and placed in charge of the La- 
zarists under whose care it continued until 
18r)3. During the prevalence of the cholera epi- 
dende of 1832 he was untiring in his spiritual and 
temporal ministrations to his Mock. Ih' liisl con- 
ceived the idea of inducing Father Malliew, the 
temperance apostle, to visit this country, and 
extended to him an invitation to pursue his labors 
in America. He was active in introducing religious 
orders into his iliocese. The order of St. Augustine 
began the erection of their College of St. Tlnimas, 
and the Ladies of the Sacri'd Heart opened a board- 
ing-school for young ladies in 1842; in 1848 the Si.s- 
ters of St. Jo.seph came from St. Louis, while the 
Si.sters of Notre Dame and of the Good Shepherd 
both established institutions, and 
in 18ol the Jesuits founded St. 
Joseph's College. The houses in 
charge of the Sisters of Charity 
were increased to six. and both 
male and female oidcrs were 
given every encouragement. In 
fact, it has been said that "every- 
thing useful in the diocese owed 
its existence to Bishop Kenrick." 
During the anti-Catholic riots at 
Philadelphia in 1844 where many 
of his churches were destroyed 
by the mob he onlered those re- 
maining to be clo.sed and exhorted 
the people to have "peace and 
charity." In 1843 his dioce-se was 
divided and Pittsburgh erected into an episcopal 
see. When Bishop Kenrick took charge of the dio- 
cese of Philailelphia in 1830 it was not only in a dis- 
turbed and inharmonious condition, but it lacked 
almost the very essentials. When he left it he had 
the .satisfaction of seeing it prosperous and harmo- 
nious, and his successor found one hundred and one 
priests, forty -six seminarians, ninety-four chiu'ches, 
eight chapels, besides a tine organization of religious 
orders and Catholic institutions. On Aug. 3, 1851, 
lie was appointed archbishop of Baltimore to succeed 
Archbishop Eceleston, deceased, and on August 
19th of that year apostolic delegate, with right 
to preside over the national councils of the entire 
episcopate of the United States. July 25, 1858, 
Pope Pius IX. confirmed the decree of the sacred 
congregation, giving the archbishops of Baltimore 
supremacy at all ecclesiastical meetings. On May 
9. 1852. Archbishop Kenrick called the bishops of 
the United States to as.semblc in national council, 
being the first in this countr}' to preside as apostolic 
delegate over such an assendjly. He afterwards 
held provincial coiUK'ils every three j'cars. In 1854 
he visited Rome by invitation of Pope Pius IX. to 
participate in the deliberations that defined the 
dogma of the immaculate conception. The archdi- 
ocese of Baltimore received new life during his 
ailministration — religious onlers were introduced, 
while those already in the diocese received every 
assistance and encouragement. The Infant Asylum, 
the .Vged Women's Home. St. Agnes Asylum for 
Destitute Sick, the New Mount Hope, the convent 
of the Sisters of Mercy, the chapel and school of St. 
Laurence, and other similar institutions were estab- 
lished and tlourished imder his fostering care. The 
magnificent church of St. Ignatius was built by the 
Jesuit fathers, the College of Loyola was founded, 
and great care was taken in the education of priests. 
Archliishop Kenrick was a profound scholar, versed 
in both the ancient and modern languages, and per- 
fectly conversant with Hebrew. His seven volumes 
of dognuitic nniral theology, written entirely in Latin, 
would alone stamj) him as a theologian of extraordi- 
nary ability. He hits written a number of other 



486 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



learnoil tlicological books that have been widely cir- 
ciilatiil both iu Europe and Anieriea. lie made a 
careful traiislalion of the original niieinish-Douay 
version of the Bible whieh was edited by Dr. C'hal- 
loner, with abundant notes. It was said of him that 
he had uo sooner completed one book than he began 
another. His life was full of inelhiHl. busy though 
untiring and marked l)y a kinilly eourte.sy to all iu 
the (lischarge of social or ecclesiastical iluties. In 
Clarke's " iLives of the Deceased Uishop.s," vol. ii., 
tind full biographv. He died in Baltimore, Md., 
Julv (i, 18(i;j. 

SPALDING, Martin John, seventh R. C. arch- 
bislii)|i of till- arrhili(.c(>e of IJaltimore, was born at 
Hulling Fork. Ky.. .Alay -'H. ISld. the sou of Hen- 
rietta Hamilton and Kichard Sjiahliug, his ancestors 
being of the l)and of Catliolic pilgrims who founded 
the Maryland colony in Ui:{4. The home of the 
family in England was Lincolnshire where at an 
early dale one of them established the great abbey of 
t^palding under the protection of whicli it is proba- 
ble that the town of Spalding flourished. Martin's 
great-grandmother, Ellen O'Briau. was of Celtic 
origin. He was baptized by the celebrated apostle 
Father Nerinckc. whose biography he subsequently 
wrote, and attended the .school of a"Mr. Merrywethcr, 
in a backwoods log-cabin near Rolling Fork. In 
18'.21 when St. JIarj-'s College, near Lebanon, was 
opened he and his two elder brothers were among 
its tir.st pupils. The founder. Rev. William Byrne, 
held the young student in high esteem and when 
he was but fourteen years of age 
appointed him professor of mathe- 
matics in the institution, a position 
which, notwithstanding his youth, 
he tille<I with ability and (li.stinc- 
tion. He was graduated with honor 
from St. Mary's in l,S2(i, and having 
decided to join the luicsthood eu- 
tereii the tlieological seminary at 
Bardsfown where he was associated 
with many men who afterwards 
attained jirominence in the Ameri- 
can Catholic church. His talents 
were so notable that at the end of 
four years Bishop Flaget resolved 
tosend him to Rome to complete his 
theological studies in the Irbaii College. From this 
institution he received the degree of D.D., after de- 
feni ling for seven hours 2"i<)]>roi)ositions. selected from 
universal theology, church liistoiy and canonical law, 
against some ofVhe ablest theologians in tlie church, 
being the first American student in Rcmie to be 
thus honored. He was ordained a priest Aug. 13, 
1834, and preached his first sermon in America in 
the cathedral of Philadelphia. As soon as he 
returned to Kentucky Dr. S|ialding was appointed 
pastor of the cathedral at Bardstown, a memlicr of 
the board of trustees of St. Joseph's College and 
professor of philosophy in the seminary. Soon 
after the St. Joseph's College " Alinerva " was es- 
tablished, the first Catholic periodical i.ssued in Ken- 
tucky, although nu)re literary than religions in its 
character. I)r. Spalding was its leading contribu- 
tor, making his first tippenrance as an essayist and 
reviewer in its columns. After a year's career the 
" Jlinerva " was abandoned and through Dr. Spald- 
ing's instrumentality the "Catholic Advocate," a 
weekly publication, was started, of which he became 
chief editor. The first numl)er appeared in 1835 
and its able articles speedily attracted the attention 
of the Roman Catholics throughout America. In 
183.') Dr. Spalding ri'luctantly accepted the presi- 
dency of St. Josepli's College and two years later he 
was appointed pa.stor of St. Peter's church in Lex- 
ington, Ky., which was at that time the second city 
in "population in the state. In 1841 the episcopal 




•^jCa£6UMU' 



see w.as removed to Ijouisvillc, when, in order to 
conciliate the nalurall.v aggrieved jieople of Hards- 
town, Dr. Spalding was removed from Le.vinglou 
and made pastor of the old cathedral. In 1844 he 
was called to Louisville to assume the diuies of 
vicar-general of the diocese. Bishop Flaget being 
advanced in age and his coadjutor. Bishop Chabrat, 
resigning .soon after, nearly the entire management 
of the diocese tell upon the shoulders of Dr. Spald- 
ing as vicar-general. The cathedral in Louisville 
was in those days a point of attraction to Protestants 
anil Catholics alike owing to the e.\c<'llcnce of the 
choir and the able orators who filled the puljiit. of 
whom Dr. .Spalding was chief. Dr. Spalding was 
also active as a lecturer and writer, and delivered 
courses of lectures in the cathedral at Louisville on 
general and s]iecial Iheologv and on Catholic wor- 
ship duiiiigthe winters 18-i4-4.'5, 1S4(>-4T. 1847-48, 
which attracted nuich attention, and he also lectured 
again and again in New York, Philadelphia, Balti- 
more, AVa.shingtou, New Orleans, St. Louis, Cin- 
cinnati and otiier cities in the United Slates and 
Canada. Throughiait his career as a i>ublic lecHner 
he niaiut.'iined his jiopularity. He was. if pos.sible, 
even more active as a jireacher. In 1S4S he was 
appointed bishop of Leiigone //( pdrtihiiK infidt'lium 
and coadjutor of the bishop of Louisville c/w^'ura 
sncceKsioiii.i. and w.is consecratcfi on September 10 
of that year by Bishop Flaget. assisted by the bish- 
ops of I'hiladelphia and St. Louis. I'pon the death 
of Bishop F'lagel iu 18.'iO Bishop S])alding .assumed 
entire charge of the diocese of tlie state of Kentucky. 
Shortly after he took control he invited the Jesuits 
to rc-eiUer the diocese, which they did. and con- 
ducted a free school for boys in Louisville, as- 
sumed charge of St. Joseph's College, Bardstown, 
and conducted a college adjoining the free .school. 
The Tnippist monks settled in Kentucky, at Geth- 
seniaiu', dining the early days of his episcopate. He 
erected an orphan Jisylum for boys at St. Thomas 
which was opened in IS.'iO, and another for boys and 
girls of Cerman iiarent;ige in Louisville, I'.alled St. 
Joseph's Orphan Asylum, and. Aug. l."!. l.'<49, laid 
the corner-stone of a new cathedral which was built 
at a co.st of ^T5,()0() and consecrated, Oct. 3, 1852. 
He ])laced the matter of a division of the diocese 
before Archbishoj) Kenrick and, at the reconinien- 
dation of the fathers of the first plenary council of 
Baltimore, Pope Pius IX. created a new diocese in 
Kentucky, which embraced all that part of the state 
situated east of the Kentucky river. The see was 
placed at Covington. In 18.52-.53 he went al)road 
to obtain a.>isistance and inducr new orders to enter 
the diocese. The Xaverian Brothers were among 
the first to avail themselves of the inducenuMits 
offered. Bislio]i .Spalding founded the American 
College at Louv.'iin in 18.'')T, the success of which, 
even during his lifetime, fully realized his anticipa- 
tions. He became engaged in a controversy with 
Geo. D. Prentice during the " Know nothing " move- 
ment, and was active in quelling the riots which 
occurred in Louisville in 18.")5, and which but for his 
influence and interference would have assumed 
much greater m.'ignitnde. It was during the anti- 
Catholic agitation of this period that he published 
his '■ Misccll'inea." In the first, second and third 
provincial couiu-ils convened at Cincinnati he held 
the position of promotor of the council. During his 
admini.slration of the diocese of Louisville five new 
churches, including the calhedral, were built in the 
city of Louisville alone and the number of churches 
in the diocese were dnubled, ]iarochial schools were 
organized, the diocese was well equip|icd with col- 
leges and academies for hii.dier education, con- 
ferences of .St. Vincent de Paul were established 
and the .see was not oidy entirely freed from debt 
but became possessed of property which served as 




OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



487 



a sinking fund and whicli was used in erecting new 
churches ami aiding in worlvs of cliarity. The num- 
ber (if religious women in the diocese who were 
members of the communities reached 000. In 18(J4, 
upon the death of Archl)ishop Kenrick, 15islio]i 
Spalding was called to till the see of Haltiniorc. and 
was installed on July 31st of that year. (Jne of the 
first events of importance after he had assumed his 
new position was the eslablisluucnt of a ccmvent of 
the Good Shepherd in Baltimore by sisters brought 
from the motherdiouse in Louisville. The cathe- 
dral was finished and decorated, and Ihc archiepisco- 
pal residence enlarged. In l.S()4-(io the diocese of 
Charleston, which comprised the two Carolinas, was 
placeil imder Archbishop Spalding's charge during 
the absence of Bishop Lynch in Europe, the latter 
being unable to return on account of the blockade of 
the southern ports. Archbisliop Spalding's sympa- 
thies were stronglv enlisted with the sulferingiieople 
of the South, and he made an ajipeal in their behalf 
which was generously responded to by the Catholics 
of Baltimore. He established a protectory and 
industrial school for boys, which was placed in 
charge of the Xaveriau Brothers, whom he brought 
from Belgium for the purpose. He was success- 
ful in obtaining important contributions for the 
American College at Rome, planned all the work 
accomplished by the second plenary council held 
at Baltimore in 1866, and presided over that 
assembly — the largest of the kind that had been held 
since the general council of Trent. In 1867 he went 
abroad by invitation of the pope, who had invited 
the bisliops of the Catholic world to be present at 
the centenary celebration cjf the martyrdom of St. 
Peter. He gave Father I. T. Hecker elficient aid 
in the establishment of the Catholic publication 
society, writing, himself, the first tract of the series, 
and exhorting all the pastors in his dioc&se to assist 
the parent society by disseminating its publications. 
Oct. '20, 1869, he" sailed for Euro|)e to take part in 
the lecumenical council of the Vatican. He did 
not at tir.st favor the definition of the dogma of the 
pope's infallibility, believing that the time taken was 
inopportune, but he was subseipieutly convinced of 
its advisability. Upon his return to America he 
was welcomed with a demonstration that was a rare 
testimonial to his popularity an<l the reverence in 
which he was held by his people. In Baltimore 
more than .50,000 people assembled to greet him. 
He subsequently gave lectures for the benefit of 
local charities — made a visitation of his diocese — 
commenced the building of the Church of St. Pius, 
and erected handsome parochial schools near the 
cathedral, etc. He took a foremost rank as a re- 
viewer, was for a time editor of tin; "United States 
Catholic JIagazine," and maile many valuable con- 
triliutions to Catholic literature. He was a man of 
beautiful character, and with all his erudition ever 
maintained a childlike simplicity of mind and man- 
ner. His biography has been written bj' the Rt. 
Rev. .1. L. Spalding. He died at Baltimore, Md., 
Feb. 7, 1872. 

BAYLEY, James Roosevelt, eighth R. C. 
archl)ishop of Baltimore, was born in New York 
city Aug. 2;j, 1814. He was tlie grandson of the 
celebrated Dr. Richard Bayley, who was the first 
professor of anatomy of Cohunbia college and the 
originator of the New York system of quarantine 
laws, and who died of a ship's fever while exercis- 
ing his official duties on the (|uarantine grounds. 
The ancestors of the subject of this sketch were 
members of the P. E. church, and he was edu- 
cated first at Mount Pleasant school near Amherst, 
Alass., and subsecpiently at Trinity college. Hart- 
ford, from which he was graduated in 183."). His 
father and grandfather bolh having been prominent 
as physicians, the sou was naturally inclined to 



follow the same profession, and accordingly began 
the study of medicine. At the end of one year he 
gave nj) the idea of being a physician and took up 
tiieology with a view to entering the ministry of the 
Episcopal church. After completing his theological 
course under the direction of Rev. Samuel F. .larvis 
at Middletown, Conn., he was duly ordained and 
placed in charge of the P. E. church in Harlem. Dur- 
ing the cholcia ('iiidemic of 1.S40-41 in New York city 
Mr. Bayley was conspicuous in his minislralions to 
those suffering from the scourge. About this time 
his religious views underwent a chauge, and, dissat- 
isfied with the teachings of the Episcopal church, in 
the latter part of the year 1841 he resigned the 
rectorship of the parisli in Harlem and went abroad. 
He tinally embraced the Roman Catholic faith, and 
was received into the church at Rome in 1843. He 
then weiU to Paris and was there prepared for the 
priesthood of the Catholic church at the Seminary 
of St. Sul|)ice. He returned to New York, where he 
was ordained by Archbishop Hughes (q. v.) March 
2, 1844, and at once appointed vice-president of 
St. John's college, Fordham, N. Y., to the presi- 
dency of which he subsequently succeeded. After 
resigning the latter position, Dr. Bayley was ap- 
pointed private secretary to Archbishop Hughes. 
He ]U(ived a valuable assistant to the archbisho|) and 
contributed materialh' to the success of manj' of his 
undertakings for the advancement 
of the New York diocese. While 
acting in this capacity he wrote a 
" Sketch of the Catholic Church in 
New York," and also the " Life of 
Bishop BrtUe." Upon the recom- 
mendation of Archbishop Hughes, 
Dr. Bavley was appointed, in 18.53, 
first bishop of Newark, N. J., of 
which see he assumed charge on 
Nov. 1st of that year. He found 
the diocese poorly supplied with 
priests, and no Catholic institutions 
of any kind were within its prov- 
ince. In fact, it was an mitillcd 
mi.s.sionary field. Under his admin- 
istration it soon prospered, and in a 
short while became one of the most 
flourishing dioceses in the country. 
His first efforts were devoted to 
the establishment of an educational 
institution, and he acconlingly had the satisfac- 
tion of founding Seton Hall college in 1856. Lat- 
er, having started a theological seminary in con- 
nection with the college, he turned his attention 
to the establishment of an academy for females, and 
for this purpose brought a colony of mms from 
Europe, which were the nucleus of the convent at 
Madi.s(m, N. J. The priory of the Benedictine 
monks in Newark, N. J., was established by him; 
the religious orders of Dominicans, Passionists and 
Augustinians entereil the diocese, and numerous 
academies and educational institutions were started. 
In 1862 he was officially called to Rome for the can- 
onization of the Japanese martyrs, and in 1867 for the 
centenary of the apostles, and in 1869 he was present 
at th(^ di'liberations of the (ecumenical council. 
Bisliop Bayley traveled much abroad, and gave his 
countrymen the result of his experiences in a seiles 
of delightful lectures delivered up(jn his return from 
each trip. In 1872 he was transferred to the archi- 
episcopal .see of Baltimore, and in October of that 
.year he was installed in the cathedral of that city, 
and invested with the pulliinn by Archbishop 
McCloskey of New York. Archbishop Bayley was 
sub.sequeutly created apostolic delegate and ap- 
pointed to confer the insignia of ottic-e on Cardinal 
JlcCloskey. This same year he bestowed the pallium 
on Archbishop Wo(xl of Philadelphia. Bishop Bay- 




uZ^vt^M^c^'^^S^n^^^ 



488 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



ley left Newark with great reluctance, and it was 
only in deference to tlie papal (Ict-rfe tlmt he 
accepted tlie higli dijinilj' of arclibi.shop of Balti- 
more. It is a fact worthy of note tliat in tlie brilliiiiit 
line (if Baltimore areliliisliii]is Arcliliisliop Bayley 
was the third convert tu the Koniau Calliolic faith. 
His administration of the see of Baltimore is mem- 
orable for the dedication of several churches and 
collefres, the layin.;; of the corner stone of others, the 
advent of the Benedictines intii Baltimore, and most 
of all fur the cdiiscci-ation of the cathedral of Balti- 
more. St. .Mary's calhnlral, the tdundation of which 
was laid in ISOO liy Bislui]) Carroll, remained encum- 
bered with debt until May. 187(1, when, through 
Archbisho]) Bayley 's efforts, the debt was entirely 
liquidated, and the latter, the eighth in the line of 
arcldiishoiis, had the distinguished Iionor of con.se- 
crating it to the service of God. In IST-t Archbishop 
Bayley attended the assembly of bishops held at 
Cincinnati, U., and took part in tlu' proceedings 
whereby four sees were made arcliliislioprics and 
several new ones created. At this time his health 
was rapidly failing, and Bisliop Gibbons had been 
appointed his coadjutor. In April, 1877, he again 
went abroad in the hope that the Vichy waters 
would prove beneficial to him, but growing rapidly 
worse he returned to America. For further detail 
see Clarke'.s " History of tlie Deceased Bishops," 
Vol. iii. He died in Newark, N. J., Oct. 3, 1877. 

GIBBONS, James, cardinal, was born in Balti- 
more, .Md.. .Inly 23, 1834. llispai-ents,who were Irish, 
took him when he was quite young to the old home 
in Ireland where he remained 
until he was about seventeen 
years of age. In 18ol he re- 
turned to America and ob- 
tained employment in Balti- 
more as a clerk ; but deciding 
to devote his life to the min- 
istry of the Roman Catholic 
church he aljaudoned his mer- 
cantile career and entered St. 
Charles College. Maryland, 
where be pursued liis studies 
under the .Sul|iicians. He was 
graduated with di.stinction, and 
went to St. Mary's College, Balti- 
more, to complete his theologi- 
cal course. He was ordained a 
priest in tlie cathedral of that 
city, June 30, 1861, and was immediately ajipointed 
assistant to the Rev. James Dolan, rector of St. 
Patrick's church, subsequently being transferred to 
St. Bridget's church. Canton, a suburb of Balti- 
more. In both parishes he endeared himself to the 
people, and showed marked ability. Archbishop 
Spalding, who was at that time the head of the 
church in America, was not blind to the lirilliant 
qualities of the j'oung priest, and called him from 
parish work to become his private secrelary as 
chancellor of the diocese and a member of the epis- 
copal household. When the .secoiiil plenary coun- 
cil of the Roman Catholic church assembled at 
Baltimore in 180(i, Father Gilibons was made assist- 
ant chancellor, an ollice of m.arked distinction to be 
conferred on so young a priest. The ability with 
which he filled the position showed the wisdom of 
his appointment. He was consecrated in the Balti- 
more cathedral by .Vrchbishop S]i,-ddiiig. liishop of 
Adramytum /ft ;»()•<//(«.•< iitjide/iuin and vicar-apos- 
tolic of North Carolina, Aug. Ki, 1868. and in- 
stalled in his new vicariate on Nov. 1st of that 
year. The outlook of the work before him in the 
South was extremely discouraging; there were only 
two or three priests in the diocese, and about the 
same number of unpretentious churches, with liut 
one thousand Catholics scattered throughout North 




^a-^. ,^^*,a^^z^ 



Carolina. His visitations of his see were untiring, 
he traveling night and day, by every available mocSe 
of conveyance. He became acquainted personally 
with all the adult Catholics in the .state, adminis- 
tering the sacraments in garrets and basements of 
houses, and preaching and lecturing on all suitable 
occa-sious. Accordingly, it was not long before he 
there, as he had elsewhere, endeared himself to 
the people and made their interest his own. 
Bisho]) Gibbou.s opened a .school in which he him- 
self taught, established the Benedictine order in 
North Carolina, the Sisters of Mercy in Wilmington, 
erected si.\ churches, ordained a dozen or more 
priests, and received many converts into the church. 
He won the admiration of all by his liberal and con- 
siderate conduct; and, reganllcss of sect or creed, 
Carolinians from the mountain to the seashore were 
proud of the Catholic bishop of North Carolina. 
Without refiectiiig upon tlio.se who preceded or fol- 
lowed him in the administration of the affairs of the 
diocese, it is only fair to .say that the work accom- 
plished during the four years of his bishopric is un- 
paralleled in the history of the church in North 
Carolina. To the regret of all the members of his 
former diocese, he was selected to till the vacant 
see of Richmonil, and. Oct. 20, 1872, was duly in- 
stalled in his new position. His five years .service 
in that diocese was a record of well-planned, well- 
e.\ecuted work througliout the wide area of his 
iuri.sdiction. Within that short time he erected five 
churches, founded and successfully placed in opera- 
tion the institution known as St. Peter's Catholic 
Male Acaih'my. St. Sophia's Home for the Aged iu 
charge of the Little Sisters of the Poor, a jiarochial 
school for boys and girls at Petersburg, Va., and 
one for girls only at Portsmouth, Va. St. .losejib's 
orphan asylum was enlarged and other institutions 
were established or improved. Archbishoji Bayley, 
of Baltimore, finding his health .seriously imjiaired, 
applied to Rome for a coadjutor, in 1872, and sug 
gested the name of Bishop Gibbons for the position. 
His request was granted, and on Jlay 20, 1877, 
Bishop Gibbons was nominated coadjutor, with 
right of succession to the .see of Baltimore. Bishop 
Bayley died a few months afterwards, and on Oct. 
3, 1877, the new coadjutor was elevated to what 
was then the highest ecclesiastical dignity in the 
United States, and consecrated archbishop of Balti- 
more, which being the oldest is, consequently, the 
primary see. The years of his episcopate in that 
city showed but a rejictition on a broader scale of 
the wonderful executive ability displayed in his 
former administrations and witnessed the most ac- 
curate perception of the demands of the church. 
He was one of the delegation of American prelates 
who went to Rome in the fall of 1883 to discuss the 
affairs of the chtirch in the United States, and to out- 
line the work of the third jilenary council, which 
was to convene the following year. Pope Leo 
XIII. .appointed Archbishop Gibbons to preside 
over the third plenary council, and showed him 
other marks of preferment. The general impression 
made by the archbishop at the convocation, 
together with the honor and attention paid him in 
public and private assemblies, made it evident that 
greater honors awaited him at the Vatican. Upon 
his return to America he issued a jiastoral upon the 
"Confiscation of the American College in Rome by 
the Italian Government." This college belongs 
neither to Rome nor to the Italian government, but 
is the propesly of the American residents in Rome 
and the Catholics of the United States. The third 
plenary council, which convened at Baltimore, in 
November, 1884, wa.'* one of the most imjiortant 
meetings of bishops in the history of the church in 
America. This council was made neces.saiy by the 
progress and development of Catholicism, which 





J 



f Oi^ ♦^'^'-'^ 



^-irzy^J^i^ 



conrniOHT, lan, uv jahii t. whitc a oo- 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



491 



naturally augmented the importance of church 
alfairs and church government, and necessitated 
new laws and regulations suited to the changes of 
time and circumstances. Archbishop Gil)l)ons, as 
apostolic delegate, jiresided at the council with 
grace and ability. The acts and decrees were sub- 
mitted to Home, where they were approved by the 
ecclesiastical authorities after mature deliberation. 
Leo XIII. expressed at the time his ajiprobation of 
Archbishop Gil)bons's course, and shortl.v afterwards 
gave a more substantial recognition when he nomi- 
nated him for the office of cardinal. The nomina- 
tion was immediatel.v and unanimously confirmed, 
though both Archbishoiis C'orrigau and Williams 
had been named as worthy to wear the cardinal's 
hat, and the sees of New York and Boston as suit- 
able for a cardinalate. Baltimore held the primary 
right, and it was felt that there was but one course 
for Rome to adopt, which she did in elevating 
Archbishop Gibbous to be a prince of the church. 
Born in Baltimore, educated there, baptized in the 
cathedral of that city, made priest, bishop, and 
archbishop in the same cathedral, it was eminently 
fitting that he should reign there as cardinal. He 
was not only eminent in the cluu'ch, but was also 
well known throughout the United States as a 
thorough American citizen, devoted to the country's 
cause — a man first iu thought, lirst in progress, and 
in every sense worthy to be the primate of the 
American hierarchy. His actions have fully jiisti- 
fied the wisdom of the authorities who selected him 
to be the standard-bearer of the church in the 
United States. Broad and liberal in his ideas, 
gentle and gracious in his manners, sound and 
statesmanlike in his public measures, and thor- 
oughly abreast of the times, no movement for the 
advancement of the church or state lacks his co- 
operation or indorsement. Archbishop Gibbons 
selected June 30, l!i8(j, the twenty-fifth anniversary 
of his ordination as a priest, as the day most suita- 
ble for liim to be invested with the insignia of the 
rank of cardinal. The ceremonies took place in 
the Baltimore cathedral with all the pomp and bril- 
liancy that the occasion demanded. The Pope's 
embassy brought the following message from Leo 
XIII.: " Present to Cardinal Gibbons our affection- 
ate paternal benediction, ^^'e remember him with 
the most cordial esteem, and believe we coidd not 
confer the hat upon a more worthy prelate." Arch- 
bishop Kenrick, of St. Louis, was delegated by 
the Pope to act as his representative, and bestow the 
insignia of his office upon the newly made cardinal. 
The ceremonies of investiture being concluded in 
America, it was obligatory that Cardinal Gibbons 
shoidd visit Home and present himself in person be- 
fore the Holy Father to receive the apostolic benedic- 
tion as the closing act of his admission to member- 
ship in the college of cardinals. He accordingly 
sailed for Europe Jan. 39, 1887. During his stay 
abroad he was the recipient of many honors, and held 
conferences with the highest church dignitaries on 
suV)jects relating to Catholics in America. Among the 
prominent questions discussed was that of the agita- 
tion concerning fbe knights of labor organization. 
The settlement of the subject receivecl universal 
approlmtion, and time has fully sustained the wisdom 
of Cardinal Gibbons's course; and it is probable 
that he can never do a greater service to the Catho- 
lic church, the country and the workingmen of 
America than he did in sliajiing the course of Home 
in defense of the knights of labor. He look his 
stand at a time when it seemed that the dominant 
political powers woulil fail to conciliate the labor 
element, and that a political revolution at the polls 
would make li'bor the sovereign power in this coun- 
try. It required ^he courage of an American citi- 
zen of the stamina of Cardinal Gibbons to place this 



matter satisfactorily before the Vatican court. His 
views on this question are clearly defined and in 
thorougli harnumy with the democratic spirit of 
American Catholicism. He nudntains that hone.st 
labor is Ijolh honorable and dignified in this coun- 
try ; tliat the nation strengthens its hands as it uii- 
holds labor, which has its .sacred rights and privi- 
leges ; that laboring classes are justified in organiz- 
ing for their mutual protection and benefit. The 
cardinal also holds the highest regard for the rights 
and authority of employers. He .says: "There 
should not lie and need not be any conflict between 
capital and labor, since both are nece.ssar}' for the 
public good and each depends upon the co-oiieration 
of the other." The cardinal's argument, given to 
the propaganda, on tlie knights of labor ques- 
tion, has been widely commented uiion bj- the press 
of the United States, and almost unanimously ap- 
proved. His interpretation of American institutions 
is worthy of the prelate who.se office outranks all 
others iu the Catholic church of the United States, 
and it is a gratification to his countrymen that he 
expressed himself with the freedom and bravery 
that becomes the cardinal of an American republic. 
Cardinal Gibbons was installed as pastor of his titu- 
lar church on March 25, 1887. He was assigned to 
the church of Santa Maria in Trastevere, which is 
of great antiquity, situated beyond the Tiber on a 
strip of land environed by the Aurelian wall. It is 
supposed to be the first eliurch pidjlicly consecrated 
to divine worship under the patronage of the Mother 
of Jesus, and is known as a basilica. It was given 
a cardinal's title long before America was discover- 
ed. Cardinal Gibbons glories in the name of Amer- 
ican citizen, and his address on the occasion of his 
installation was a patriotic tribute to 
his country. He arrived in America 
on his return from this triji abroad 
Kov. 10, 1887, and was enthusiasti- 
cally welcomed by all classes. On May 
24, 1888, assisted by a number of dis- 
tinguished ecclesiastics, he laid the 
corner-stone of the new Catholic 
university, of which he is chancellor, 
and Nov. 18, 1889, dedicated the divin- 
ity building of the univer.sity. He 
delivered the closing prayer and pro- 
nounced the benediction at the ctmclusion of the exer- 
cises commemorative of the centenary of the American 
constitution, held at Philadelphia, Pa., Sept.. 1888; 
and on Nov. 10. 1889, celebrated with great magnifi- 
cence at the Baltimore cathedral, the centeimial of 
the Catholic hierarchy of the United States. On the 
11th and 12th of that month he called together the 
Catholic congress — an assemblage of laymen — the 
first of its kind ever convened in the United States. 
The cardinal's administration has been full of in- 
teresting and important incidents which have multi- 
plied as the years have gone by. His life is busy 
and methodical, clo.sely united with the history of 
the church and of the times. Cardinal Gibbons 
occupies the place of an historic character of the 
century. His writings like his deeds resjiond to 
the needs of the times and are in accord with the 
progress of the age. Besides mnuerous short arti- 
cles upon the pertinent questions of the day he has 
published two books that have had an enormous 
.sale. His "Faith of our Fathers" has reached its 
onelnuidred and eightieth thousand, and has been 
translated into French, German. Italian and Norwe- 
gian, while thirty tliou.sand copies of " Our Chris- 
tian Heritage" were sold in one month. Cardinal 
Gibbons has a h.appy combination of faculties ; he 
is an ascetic of the type fiamd in the early church, 
and is at the same time a practical orgamzer and 
administrator, seeing clearly what is needed, and 
gaining it in the best way possible. 




492 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



WlIiLABD, Frances Elizabeth, a\ilhnr and 
reformer, was born in C'lmrcliville, near Hochcster, 
N. Y., Sept. 28, 1839. She is of the ninth gener- 
ation in descent from Maj. Simon 'Willard, founder 
and for forty years a leading resident of Concord, 
Mass. He was a Puritan from Kent, in England. 
Her great-iirandfather, ]{ev. Elijah Williird, fought 
in the revolution, and was for fort v veais pastor at 
Dublin, N. H. Her father, Josiah" E. Willard, and 
mother, Mary Thompson Hill, were born in Caledo- 
nia county, Vt., in IHOo, and both removing to west- 
ern New "York in 181G, were married in 1831. They 
went to Oberlin, O., to attend college in 1840, re- 
maining there until 184G, when they became pio- 
neers in Wisconsin, ten years in advance of railroads. 
Her mother was for eleven years a teacher; her fa- 
ther was engaged in farming and politics in Wiscon- 
sin, being a niemberof the legislature in 1849, and 
for several years president of the .state agricultural 
society. He helped to found the free-soil i)arty, and 
votedfor John C. Fremont. Miss Willard's early 
bfe was |)as.sed almost wholly out of doors, her fond- 
ness for riding, tishing, reading, .sketching and 
climbing trees being unusual, and her wise mother 
permitti^ig these pursuits which laid the foundation 
for life-hiug health of body and mind. At fourteen 
she first attended school, Mr. Hodge of Oberlin 
College, a Yale graduate, being her teacher. At 
si.xtceri she received a pri/.e from the Illinois Agricul- 
tural Society for an es.say on "Country Home.s." 
Later, in 18oT, she went to Mihvaidice College for 
Women, founded by Catharine Beecher, and in 1859 
was graduated from what is 
now the Women's College of 
Northwestern University, at 
Evanston. 111., on the shore of 
Lake Michigan, the cliicf su- 
liurb of Chicago. Here her 
home hasliecn since 1S,58. She 
began teaching in 1801, and 
rose to be dean of the college, 
and professor of festhetics iu 
her alma mater. This was in 
1870-74. Meanwhile she was 
preceptress at Lima, N. Y. 
(Genesee Wesleyan Seminary), 
in 186(>-67, and traveled and 
studied languages and history 
of the tine arts iu Europe and 
the East from 1868 to 1870, 
going north to Helsingfoi-s, 
east to Dama.scus and south to N>d)ia. She wrote, 
in 1803, ■■ Nineteen Heautiful Years " — astory of her 
only sister's life. It has been jiublisbed in England, 
translated into French and Danish, and a new edi- 
tion, wjtii preface by .John G. Whittier, was brought 
o>it by the Women's Tcm])erance Publication Associa- 
tion in Chicago. "How to Win," preface by Rose 
Elizabeth Cleveland, was published in 188(i; " Wo- 
man in the Pulpit," introduction by Rev. Dr. 
Talmage and Revs. .Tosepli Parker and Jo.seph 
Cook. "Woman and Tem]ierauee." with an in 
troduction by Miss Mary A. Lathbury; "Hints 
and Helps in Temperance Work " are among her 
liooks, and in 1887 was jiublished " Glimp.ses of 
Fifty Years," her autobiography (700 pp.). written 
by request of the National Women's Christian Tem- 
perance Union of which she has lieeu pri'sidenl since 
1879. Thisbook is introduced by Mrs. Hannah Whilall 
Smith, of liOudon, Eng., and an English edilion is 
being brought out by Ladv Somerset, |)resident of the 
W. v.. T. U. of Great Hril'aiii. Fifty thou.sand copies 
arc in circulation. Miss Willard seems to live with 
pen in hand, writing cliietly for the religious and 
philantbroi)ic press, and largely without her own 
name. " Harper's Magazine " has had her articles, 
thcN.Y." Independent," "Christian Union," "Chau- 




tauquan," " Golden Rule," "Woman's Journal" and 
N. Y. " Witness, " but chieflv " The Union Signal," 
Chicago, published by the }fational W. C. T. L'., a 
weekly |ierio<lical, conducted wholly by women, 
and the literary outgrowth of the \\"^om"en's Tem- 
perance Crusade of 1m74. This publishing house, 
all of whose directors and editors are women, sent 
out 12."),0t)0.0()l) pages of literature in 1889. Miss 
AVillard early became the leader of the new move- 
ment of the modern temperance reform, when it 
had reached the periixi of sober second thought, that 
is, of orgaiu'zatiou and systematic work, and for six- 
teen years she has traveled almo.st constantly in its 
interest (having resigned her position in the "North- 
western University soon after the crusade) and vis- 
ited every town in the United States having KJ.OOO 
inhabitants, and most of tlio.se having 5,000. In 
1883 she worked and spoke in every .slate and terri- 
tory of the reimblic. Miss Willard spoke once a day 
on an average for the first ten years of her teiniierance 
work, and attended sometimes twenty state conven- 
tions yearly. She has made eight trips to the southern 
states, brought together the women of the two sec- 
tions under the white llag of the W. C. T. U. with 
the now famous motto, "For God and Hemic and 
Native Land." She lias participated in almost all 
the proliiliilion campaigns for constitutional 
amcndmeiils, was president of the commission that 
placed the memorial portrait of Mrs. Lucy Webb 
Hayes in the White Hnuse; also of the committee 
that as an act of fraternity secured the portrait of 
Mrs. President Polk for the White House. She ed- 
ited the Chicago "Daily Post " from 1888 until it 
was merged in the Chicago " News." She was with 
Dw ight L. Jloody in his Boston meetings in 1877, 
and spoke in his tabernacle and iu tlie leading 
churches of Boston, holding meetings daily in Park 
street church. Miss Willard's specialty for the la.st 
si.Nteen years has been the develoinueiit of woman 
and temperance. The society of which she is pres- 
ident has forty national superintendents of as many 
di.stinct lines of work, dassitied as preventive, ed- 
ucational, evangelistic, social and legal, total absti- 
nence, national prohibition, political prohibition, 
prohibition through woman's ballot — these are all 
methods Id which she is devoted. The World's 
W. C. T. U. was projected by her and .she is its presi- 
dent. It is now organized in thirty-five countries as 
a national institution. Its great petition against le- 
galizing the sale of alcoholic beverages and opium 
is being signed in all parts of the world, and a com- 
mission of women will soon convey it to all govern- 
ments. A white ribbon is the ba<lge of the society, 
and it observes the noontide hour for special prayer. 
The While Cniss and White Shield is Miss Willard's 
special deparlinent of work. On this .suliject (the 
promotion of .social virtue) she has lectured in every 
city and large town of the United States and Can- 
ada, and her leaHets " A White Life for Two," 
"Tlie White Cro.ss Manual," etc.. have had wide 
circul.'ilion. She has for years favored the prolii- 
liiliiiii parly as the nucleus nf llial reform in pnliiics 
which will bring the liesi elements of the nation to 
bear upon its social problems. She is an earnest ad- 
vocate of the labor niovenient, and her leafiet on 
"The Coming Brotherhood" predicts the time 
when, not by strikes and violence, but through the 
peaceful melliods of ]niblic education and the bal- 
lot box, the dilHculties belween caiiilal and labor 
will beadjusled. She is a Melhodisl, and was, with 
other ladies, elected to the general conference of 
her denomination in 188.S. but they were all thrown 
out on a teehnicality. Mfss Willard is president of 
the National Council of Women, organized at 
Wa.shington, D. C, in 1888. and designed to feder- 
ate all national women's societies for consultation, 
and for suc^h works as may be agreed upon. The 




5^. 



'£ui/^itL£^^t=cc^C_::> 



CO*^ttlOKT, IMS, •▼ J«HtS t- WMiTI & CO. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY 



495 



National TV. C. T. IT. is the largest society ever 
organized, offlcered and controlled wholly Ijy wom- 
en, numbering 200,000 members, with a following 
of half a million. Its publishing house. National 
Temperance Hospital, and TVomaus Temperance 
Temple (the latter now being erected in Chicago, 111., 
and intended to cost over ^1,0(X).0()()) reiuescnt the 
high-water mark of what woman's work lias 
achieved. Its 10,000 local societies, scientitic in- 
struction in the laws of temperance in nearly all the 
states; laws for the better protection of women; 
industrial homes for girls; homes for fallen wom- 
en ; and a score of other helpful enactments and 
enterprises, illustrate applied Christianity as hardly 
any other single object-lesson in this country has 
yet done. 

FRANCIS, David Rowland, governor of 
Missouri, was born iu Madison county, near Rich- 
mond, Ky., Oct. 1, 1850. Going to" Missouri as 
a youth, he entered Washington University, St. 
Louis, at the age of sixteen, and was graduated iu 
the cla.ss of 1870. He was em- 
ployed shortly thereafter as a 
shipping clerk by the whole- 
sale grocery house of Shiyock 
& Rowland — Sir. Rowlanil be- 
ing his uncle — and was ad- 
vanced to a partnership in the 
house in a few years. In 18T7, 
having in the meantime mar 
ried a daughter of a leading 
banker iu St. Louis, a woman 
of rare beauty and culture, he 
opened a commission-house on 
his own account, and in his 
own name. His business ven- 
ture was successful froni the 
beginning, owing to his abil- 
ity, energy and industry, and 
he soon came to be recog- 
nized as one of the leading 
business men of the cit}'. He 
took a conspicuous part in public demonstrations 
on "change," and was elected first, director, then 
vice-president, and, finally, president of the E.\- 
change. He had, as chairman of the transportation 
committee of that body, given a great deal of atlen 
tion to the question of freight rates, from inequali- 
ties in which St. Louis was considered by its mer- 
chants to be suffering at the time. As president of 
the Exchange he found a fine field for the exercise 
of his abilities as a speaker, an organizer and a man 
of fertile resource and intelligent action. His admin 
istration brought him to the front in municipal af 
fairs. After his selection as a delegate to the national 
democratic convention of 188-1 — his first recognition 
in a political way — he was made, in the sjiring of 
1885 by the democratic city convention, a candidate 
for the mayoralty. He defeated the republican c^ul- 
didate, who was mayor at the time, and proceeded, 
upon his inauguration, to administer the affairs of 
the city with the intelligence and close bu.siness 
methods which had gained for him such prominence 
in mercantile circles. He gave St. Louis a clean, 
honest, capable city government, and thereby gained 
such repute, not only in the city, but through 
out the state, that inAugu.st, 1888. the democratic 
party, in convention assembled, nominated him unan- 
imously for the office of governor. He was elected 
governor in Xovember following, and was iiiaugu- 
nited at .lefferson City. Ian. 14, 1889, thus becoming 
the youngest governor in the United States. His 
administration of the affairs of the .state was highly 
successful, being marked by the inauguration of a 
number of reforms. Mr. Francis is affable iu man- 
ner, ready in speech and quick in action. He has an 
agreeable presence and is very popular among the 




people of the state. He looks personally after the 
welfare of distinguished visitors to Missouri, and 
makes it a point to acquaint the people of the coun- 
try with the resources and fertility of the state when- 
ever he sees an opportunity to do so. While mayor 
of St. Louis, acting on the knowledge gained during 
his official connection with the Merchants' Exchange, 
Mr. Francis associated with himself a number of 
prominent and influential merchants, and secured 
from congress a franchise for the erection of a 
bridge across the Mississippi river at St. Louis. This 
bridge was built with capital raised by these gentle- 
men, and is now being operated by a number of rail- 
roads that had not been able to obtain entrance to St. 
Louis on advantageous terms before this time. 

DtrCHESNE, Leon Chesnier, journalist, was 
born iu Caldwell parish. La., Feb. 7, 1840. His 
grandfather, Francois Xavier Alexander Chesnier 
Duchesne, had two brothers, Alexander Chesnier 
and Romain Chesnier. Alexander was a baron 
and a colonel in the 
French army, com- 
manded as general at 
one time during the 
revolution, and was 
at the battle of Water- 
Ion. Romain was a 
proprietor.and to him 
descended the ancient 
domain of his fath- 
er, Stanislas Xavier 
Chesnier Duchesne, 
a wealthy and dis- 
tinguished advocate 
of the seventeenth 
century, who was de- 
spoiled of neai-ly all 
his wealth by the rev- 
olution, and .so left 
his sons only 300,000 
francs to be divid- 
ed equally between 

them. Leon's grandfather, Fran(;ois Xavier Chesnier 
Duchesne, aide-de-camp to the celebrated general, 
Charette (the Vendean chief and leader of the Bour- 
bon cause in the war of La Veudee against the repub- 
lic ), for and in consideration of his services to the royal 
cause, received the grade of colonel of infantry, and 
a decoration (the cross of St. Louis). He died in 
1824, at the age of sixty years, leaving four children, 
three sous and one daughter, Camille, Leon, Alexan- 
der, and Leonide. Camille was a professor of mathe- 
matics in some iu.stitutiou of learning in France. 
Leon was at the taking of Algiers by the French in 
1830, since which time he has been iu the govern- 
ment senice as tax collector. Ambroise Alexander 
Chesnier, Leon's father, was born in 1813. at Sainte 
Departemeut de la Charient Inferieiu', France, and 
was educated at Paris; served in the French and 
English merchant navy .seven years, visiting the 
greater part of the world. He landed in New Orleans, 
La., iu ls:i5, and a short tune Iheivafter settled in 
Caldwell parish. La., was married four times, and 
had fifteen children. He was a farmer and mer- 
chant by occupation, and held a captain's commis- 
sion of militia imder Gov. .Johnson. He died iu 
May, 1872, ftn honest and exemplary citizen, who 
never violated his oath of allegiance to the constitu- 
tion of the United States during the civil war. 
Leon's mother comes of an old family of the early 
settlers of St. Louis, Mo., by the name of Roy or 
Roe, many of whom are now living in that city. 
The subject of this sketch was the offspring of his 
father's second marriage. He was raised on a farm, 
and received such a common-school education as the 
county afforded at the time. In September, 1HG2, 




c^iejkcuL^ 



496 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



he enlisted in the Confederate service, against his in- 
clination, with the understanding that he was not to 
go out of the state. Aug. 24, 181)3, after the fall of 
Vicksburg, Port Hudson and the invasion of the 
Mi.ssi.ssippi by the Federal forces, he surrendered 
at Natchez, Sliss., whence he went North, and re- 
mained until nearly the end of the war. After the war 
lie served as mercantile clerk ; engaged in business for 
himself; took an active part in the reconstruction of 
!Mississippi in 1868-69; was apiiointed registrar of 
voters for his county under the reconstruction acts of 
congress, and a member of the public school board 
directory for Adams county, after the readnu'ssion of 
the state to the Union, and the reorganization of 
the state govenimenl, which po.sition he held until 
the board was legislated out of power, and abolished. 
In 1874 he was nominated county assessor by a re- 
publican convention, and elected by over 1,000 
majority, receivinii a large white vole, but on being 
renominated in 18T(), was defeated by ninety-si.\ 
voles. In 1880 he established, as a tri-weekly Jiaper, 
the Natchez " Banner," which he has sold out .since. 
He is now- proprietor .-ind publisher of the Natchez 
" Republican, "and publisher of the " Baptist Signal- 
Messenger." Hew.a.s nominated for the.") 1st congress 
by the republicans of the sixth Mississipjii di.strict, and 
received 4, .500 votes, 2, .500 of w hich were from his 
own count}', the largest republican vote cast in the 
coimty since the days of reconstruction. Mr. Du- 
chesne is married, and has si.\ living children, four 
girls and two boys. 

ADLER, Felix, reformer, w-as born at Alzey, 
Germany, Aug. 13, l.S,51, and came to New York in 
1857. ile was graduated from Columbia College in 
1870, and took the degree of Ph.D. at Heidelberg in 
1873. After occupying the chair of Hebrew and 
oriental literature at Cornell University for three 
years, he retireil and began the 
work of organizing a religious so 
ciety which should be free from 
any theological or dogmatic bias. 
His efforts resulted in the formation 
of the Society for Ethical Culture 
in ]s7(i with the motto " Deed, not 
Creed." Sister societies have since 
been formed in Chicago, Philadel 
phia, St. Louis, and London. A sin- 
cere de.siie to aid in the work of 
moral regeneration is the only re- 
quirement necessary for adnn.ssion. 
The aims of the Ethical movement 
are defined as being: 1. " To teach 
the supremacy of the moral ends 
above all human ends and inter- 
ests," 2. "To teach that the moral 
law has an immediate authority 
not contingent on the truth of relig- 
ious beliefs, or of pliiloso])liical theories." 3. " To ad- 
vance the science and art of right living." While the 
society as an organization confines its attention to the 
moral life, and does not take sides for or against re 
ligious doctrines, the members are free to express 
whatever religious beliefs best .satisfy them. Closely 
allied with the religions work of the society are its 
charitable enterprises, which were, in their incejrtion, 
the pioneers of theit kind, and have since nuilliplied 
in many parts of the country. Such was the free 
kindergarten, founded in 1876, the first free kinder 
garten in the United Sl.'iles. In the same year Mr. 
Adier also organized the first free kindergarten west 
of the Hocky Mountains — in the city of San Fran 
Cisco, which had a large and generous growth, and 
started a new educational and philanthropic move 
ment on the Pacific coast. District nursing to s\;p 
l>lement dispensary work amoni; the tenenienl-lionse 
))oor, and the regular employment of trained nurses 
for this ollice, is a part of the society's work, whicii 




was begun in 1878. Among other enterprises which 
have been the outcome of Mr. Adler's agitation in 
New York, may be mentioned the Tenement House 
Building Co., differing from other companies of the 
kind, in that it ajjplies a part of the income as an in- 
.s\irance fund for the tenants, and has a well-ap- 
pointed kindergarten for the children of tenants; also 
the free Sunday concerts for working jieople in 
Cooper Union, where the best cla.ssical nuisic is ren- 
dered. Jlr. Adler's most important undertaking, 
through the society, has been the attempt to reform 
educational methods, primarily for the benetil of the 
working clas.ses. To this end the Workingman's 
School was founded, and now, after an existence of 
ten years, may be considered a most successful e.\- 
])erinient in the direction of school reform. This 
school, acconnnodating 400 children whose i)arent3 
are unable to pay tuition, aims to Ije a model .school 
for general education, as well as for .special technical 
training. The emjiloyment of the kindergarten meth- 
od in higher stages of in.st ruction is the distinctive 
feature of the training. A corps of tweni v-t wo teach- 
ers is employed, each one a specialist and an enthu- 
siast in his subject. No text-ljooks are used in the 
class-room by eitliei- teacher or pniiil. The teacher, 
po.s.sessing an exhaustive knowledge of his sid)ject, 
gains by the Socratie method every fact po.sse.s.si'd by 
the child. Everything is jircsented to the eye of the 
pupil. Should the lesson in natural history be on the 
elephant, the cl.-iss is taken to Central Park. Tliere 
the pupil's eyes observe, and his ears listen, as his 
teacher calls attention to point after point. Iixc\ir- 
sions to places where manufacturing is carried on are 
also often made. Phy.sical ctdture, including dan- 
cing, is taught; vi.sits are made to the .^lelropolitan 
!Mirseum. in connection with lectures on art. and at- 
tendance at the opera of forty of these children at a 
time is not unn.sual. Those .above the age of seven 
are taught the u.se of tools. Jliiid and hand are thus 
harmoniously developed, and the art sense carefidly 
stimulated. 

GOULD, Thomas B., .sculptor, was born in 
Boston, JIass., in 1818. Together with his brother, 
he carried on a large and successful dry-goods busi- 
ness in his native city, and up to his ihirtieth year 
art was for the most part a jiastime. The oidy ar- 
tistic instruction he received was given him by Set h 
Cheney, an engraver and crayonist, and one of the 
first American artists to achieve a real success in 
black and white, his works being still sought by col- 
lectors. In Mr. Cheney's studio Mr. Gould did his 
first modeling, in 1851. " When, in 1863, he exhibited 
the two colo.s.sal heads, "Christ" and "Satjui," at 
the Boston Athenicum, it was generally recognized 
that a powerfid and truly creative imagination was 
at work. In 1868 Mr. Gould went to Italy, and set- 
tled in Florence, devoting himself entirely to art. 
To the centennial celebration of the battle of Lex- 
ington, in 1.87.5, he sent a iiortrail-stalue of .lohn 
Hancock, which was set u]) in the town-hall of Lex- 
ington, and at the World's Kxposiiion in I'liiladel- 
jiliia, 1876, he exhibited thi' famous statue, "The 
West Wind," This statue was finished in 1874, and 
immediately caused an animated controversy, on the 
ground that it was partially a copy of Canova's 
"Hebe." This the artist absolutely denied, and the 
closer and more penelr.aling the ex.nmination became, 
the more plainly it ajipeared that tlw .accusation was 
completely baselrss. During a visit to Boston in 
1878. Mr. Gould exhibited a very characteristic alto- 
relievo, "The Ghost in Hamlet, " and modeled two 
other alti-relievi, " Steam " and "Electricity, " which 
are now in the vestibule of the Boston Herald build- 
ing. Among his other .statues are "Cleopatra," 
" Tinion of Athens," and "Ariel, " and ;inioiig his 
portrait-busts is Emerson, in the Harvard I'niversitv 
libiary. He died in Florence, Italy, Nov. 20. ].'s^l. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



497 



-'/, 






%Um' .n P rf 3 .1 J ill ii ^, ifii \ . . \ , 

''I'^Old.BrfcKRow-- ^^-- 




,/' 'j# 



NT' \r! 






DAVENPORT, John, clergyman, and pro- 
jector of a colleire at New Haven, was horn iu Cov- 
entry, Eng., in 1597. He was the leader of the com- 
pany of Englishmen who were the tirst settlers of the 
colony of New Haven, in 1638, and the pioneer to 
whose early labors is due the subsequent foinidation 
of Yale College in 1700. Having been educated at 
0.\ford, he began in 1616, when nineteen years of 
age, to preach in London as curate of 8t. Lawrence 
Jewry, and in 1624 became vicar of St. Ste])heu's, 
Coleman street. In consequence of 
his Puritan sympathies, he was re- 
garded with suspicion by Laud when 
he became bi.shop of London. Dav- 
enport still further e.xcited the dis- 
pleasure of this prelate by his activ- 
ity in the counsels of a sort of home 
missionary society, which was form- 
ed for the purpose of buying the 
rights of patronage to churcli bene- 
fices, in order that their jirivileges 
might be employed in establishing 
lectureships in those parishes where 
Puritans could not get control of the 
presentationto the vicarage. In 1633. 
Laud having become arclibishop of 
Canterbury, Davenport tied in dis- 
guise to Holland, where he was en- 
gaged to assist Paget in the English 
church at Amsterdam. Differing 
from him on the subject of administering baptism to 
the children of parents not members of the church, 
lie was oljliged to leave. Before quitting England, 
Davenport had been an early patron of the Mas.sa- 
chusetls colony, and a friend of .lohn Cotton, by 
whose argun\ents he had been induced to become a 
Non-conformist. It is probable that while residing 
in Holland he formed the conception of estab- 
lishing a colony in New England. Ketuniing to 
England in 1636, he induced a number of nierchants 
among his former parishioners to carry out his 
iileas. Others joined them, and they left England 
in 1637, reached Boston .Inne 26th, and remained 
there nine months, while engaged in selecting a site 
for the proposed colony. During his slay in Boston, 
Davenport was invited to be a member of an im- 
portant ecclesiastical. synod, to take into consideration 
the case of Mrs. Ann Hutchinson, and he was associ 
ated with the committee which had been appointed to 
eslablLsh the college afterward known as Harvard. 
In April, 1638, the colouv reached Quiimiiiiac, to 
■which they gave the uamelNew Haven. Davenport's 




f^oAurpixi(jn.^ai^ 






.special idea was to found a self-supporting common 
wealth, which should be entirely independent of 
England, in which "the common welfare of all" 
was to be secured by placing all civil power in the 
hands of men whose Christian character was certitied 
b}" their being members of the church which they had 
established. Jlembersliijiin the church wastobe es- 
sential to the exercise of civil power.though not to the 
enjoyment of civil rights and privileges. Davenport's 
statesmanship was particularly shown iu his judicial 
code. If the laws of England were adopted, it was 
feared that the colony might be subjected to the 
government of England, from which they had fled. 
There was no time to make a new code. Acoord- 
ingly it was agreed, that until they coidd frame a 
code branching out into particulars, the law in all 
the courts of their jurisdiction should be the laws of 
Mo.ses, as found in the Old Testament, excluding 
whatever is typical, local, ceremonial, or having ref- 
erence to the Canaanites, and that these laws should 




"OldlouK. 



be administered by magistrates whom the people 
elected yearly. This was a system of laws which 
was in every man's baud, and which every man read 
dailj' iu his family. In 1656 the more formal code, 
which they had contemplated from the first, was 
adopted. As a safeguard for the proper mninle- 
nance of their govermnent, Davenport devi.sed a .sy.s- 
tem of education without a parallel at that lime iu 
au}' part of the world. Il contemplated an English 



498 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



school for all, a Latin school for such as desired it, 
a public library, and a collcjie iu which youth niiirht 
be fitted for jniblic service in church and coniiuoii- 
wcalth. From the first, the idea that New Haven 
was to be a colleire town was never lost sijrht of; but 
the establishnienl of the collesie wa.s deferred in con- 
sequence of a reinonslraucc from Boston, to tlie ef- 
fect that a sec<ind colleire in New Euirland would en- 
danger Harvaril. In lOOO, liowcver, encouraired by 
a bequest in the will of Gov. Hopkins, the collejre 
that was to crown Davenjiort's system was founded. 
The Hopkins Colleire. tliough declared to have been 
"already founded an<l begun," never rose, in fact, 
above the grade of a grammar school, but as such 
has continued without interruption to this day. For 
forty years it kept alive anioUL' the people of "the col- 
ony the idea of I)aveiq)orl that New Haven was to 
be a college town. How higlily Davenport was es- 
teemed in Knglaiid appears from the fact that in the 
first years of the great revohilion in the mother- 
couatry. .several members of botli houses of jiarlia- 
ment invited biiu to return, with .John Cotton, of 
Boston, and Thomas Hooker, of Hartford, to assist 
in the settlement of .some of the important (lueslious 
with regard to whicli there was a division of opinion. 
But none of these men could be spared from New 
England. In KilU Davenport gave protection and 
offered au asylum to the regicides, Edward Whalley 




cKRov/ 



and "WilliaiTi Goffe. At this time, the separate exist- 
ence of the colony was threatened. Gov. Winthroj), 
of Coimecticut. who had been .sent to England to 
obtain a charier for that colony, had succeeded, 
while there, in jircvailing upon Charles II. to grant 
a royal charter, and this charter included the terri- 
tory of the colony of New Haven. After a .struggle 
of two or three years. New Haven was forced to 
yield, and to the great mortification and grief of tlio 
people, was absorbed by the Connecticut colony, in 
June. Kit)."). For some years New England ha<l been 
agitate<l by a controversy on the (|Ueslicin wlKtlii-r 
the cbildren of those wlio were not clinr<'li members 
should be baptized, .lohn \VilM)n, minister of lint 
First church in lioston, who had been a leader among 
those who were op])osed to the i)ractico. was removed 
by death in KUiT, and Davenport seemed tlie most 
suitable man to be called to his place. He was 
accordingly chosen to succe<'d him. The people of 
New Haven were very reluctant to give their con- 
sent; but as he himself felt, although he was an old 
man, that it was his ihity to accept, the .separation 
took place. Ilis a]>pearance on the scene of confiict 
stirred the flames of controversy anew. The result 
of the division of o])inioii in the First church of 
Boston led to the formation of what is now the Old 




'CO*Tn./vi 



South church. Davenport .sur\iveil only until March 
11. I()70. and died in his seventy-third year. His 
tomb is in the burviiiij-groimd of King's Chapel. 

PIERPONT, "James, clergymaiV, ami one of 
the tiiiuidcrs (if Yale College, was born in JIas.sa- 
chn.setts in lljOl. After graduating from Harvard in 
lliT'.t. he became, in .July. 1G8.5. pastor of tlie church 
which had been founded by John Davenport, and 
found himself among a people in whose minds the 
Hopkins School had kept alive the tradition that a 
college was to be established in 
New Haven. He married tlie 
granddaughter of John Daven- 
port, and became the heir of the 
liopes and plans of the family. 
A period of prosperity had suc- 
ceeded the treaty of Hyswick in 
KitlT, and in concert with An- 
drew and Russell, his ecclesias- 
tical neighbors, who had been 
his a.ssociates at Harvard, it was 
determined to make another ef- 
fort to establi.sh a college. It had 
been early realized that New 
Haven .alone was not .strong 
enough todothis, and it had been 
suggested, even in 16.52. that co- 
operation should be sought from 
Coimecticut; but New Haven 
was jealous politically of that 
colony for having secured its annexation, contrary 
to its own wishes. There was also an ecclesia.sti- 
cal difference. Connecticut was solicitous to in- 
troduce a stronger church system, and desired an 
ecclesiastical establishment. New Haven feared 
that the churches would thus be subjected to the 
civil power, and that religion would be secularized. 
The operation of the "half-way covenant " was do- 
ing away with the antithesis between the churc h and 
the world. The necessity of an area for the college 
larger than New Haven led the promoters of the 
]ilaii to a.sk the co-operation of Connecticut. There 
the ]ilan was favored partly as a means of helping 
forward a new ecclesiastical constitution for the 
colony, and this difference in the views of the New 
H.-iv<'n and Connecticut founders explains much of 
the di.ssension in the early history of the college, and 
much of the phra.seology in the historical sketcli of 
the college by President Clap, who was in .synii?a- 
thy with the views of the Connecticut party." The 
college was at length founded in 1700. The school 
was located provisionally at Saybrook, as a compro- 
mise between New Haven and Connecticut. Mr. 
Pierpont, to the end of his life, was the principal 
person in tiie direction of the institution. He con- 
ducted the correspondence relating to its affairs, 
and an unconfirmed assertion of S. E. Dwight credits 
him with giving instniction iu the school. At the 
stigge.stion of Jeremiah Dunnner he .solicited aid from 
Elihu Yale, whose first gift of books arrived about 
tlie time of Pierpoiit's ileatii. He was the reputed 
.•lullior of the celebrated •■Saybrook Platform," 
adopted in 1708. He published" a single sermon in 
17K', and died at New Haven Nov. 14, 1714. One of 
liis daughters became the wife of Jonathan Edwards: 
among his numerous descendants were two eminent 
great-grandsons— Rev. John Pierpont, the poet, and 
Edwanls Pierrepont. 

DUMMEB, Jeremiah, colonial agent, born in 
Boston about l(17;i, was a younger brother of Lieut. - 
Gov. Win. Duniuur. He was graduated from Har- 
vard in lOO'.t, went to Utrecht for further stu<lics; 
and tlicn put forth certain Latin di.sserlations on 
theological and philosophical topics, and took a 
doctor's degree. Changing liis original plan, which 
had pointed toward the" ministry, in 1710 he became 
agent at London for the jjroviu'ce of Ma.s.siichusetts, 



■*^-L-Zt''-ti04ti- 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



499 



and hold the post until 1721. Ho was a schiilarly 
and thoughtful man, and showed nnich aclivilj- and 
feeling in procuring gifts for the nascent college at 
Sayhrook. The first suggestion of Gov. Yale's future 
bcuefaetious is found in a letter from Duninter, May 
22, 1711, to Rev. James Pierpont. of New Haven, 
the chief promoter of the enterprise, in which he 
speaks of Yale's intenlion to impon an heir from the 
province, "and to bestow a charity upon some 
college in Oxford," and adds, "I think he should 
nuuli rather do it to your college, seeing he i.s a 
New England, and I think a t'onnectieut man. 
If, therefore, when his kinsman come on. you will 
write him a proper letter on that subject. I will take 
care to -press it home." He kept his word, and in 
1714-1.'), ehieti}' in consequence of liis efforts, nearly 
1,0011 books were sent to the college library. Among 
the donors were Yale. Bentley, C'alamy, Whiston, 
Matthew Henrj', Sir R. Steele, Sir I. TN'ewton, and Sir 
R. Blackmore. He was further instrumental in 
obtaining viov. Yale's donations of 171S. In 1712 
he publisheil a "Letter to a Noble Lord Concerning 
the Expedition to Canada." setting forth the etforts 
made by his province fin' its comiuest. controverting 
the claim of Sir Hoveuden Walker that the cause of 
this failiu-e of the e.xpedition against Canada was 
due to the lack of co-operatiou on the part of the 
colonies. In his late years he fell into (iisrepute at 
home, and was accused of imbiljing tlie views and 
imitating the practices of Lord Bolingbroke. who 
employed him inijiplomatic affairs, and amused him 
with proini.scs which were not fulfilled. However 
far he might depart from the Puritan opinions, he 
never forgot his coimtry. In 1728 he jirinted a 
vigorous "Defense of the New England Charters." 
opposing the plan of uniting the colonies tmder a 
viceroy. This tract, which was reprinted in 17(i(i, 
was considered a marvel of style for a colonist. He 
never returned to America, but died at Plaistow, 
May 19, 17:i!l. 

SALTONSTALL, Gurdon, colonial governor 
of (\innecticut, was born at Haverhill, Mass., March 
27, 1()(!(). He was graduated from Harvard in 1684, 
and ordained in New London in 1G91. In 1707 the 
governor of Connecticut, Fitz John 
Winthrop, having died while in 
office, it was found tliat for a long 
time his illness had incapacitated 
him for business, and he had in- 
trusted all his official correspond- 
ence to Mr. Saltonstall. There were 
many complicated questions which 
required immediate attention, and 
he was the only jierson who imder- 
stood them. In particular, letters 
were received from the colony's 
agent at London, asking for fresh 
advice on a matter of nuich impcn't- 
ance. J[r. Saltonstall had conduct- 
ed the whole correspondence on the 
subject. and had drawn up all the in- 
structions in regard to it. It was just- 
ly thought necessary that the further 
conduct of the case shindd be left 
in his hands. He was accordingly 
elected by the a.ssistants to fill the 
unexpired term of Gov. Winthrop. and was after- 
ward annually elected governor for over sixteen 
ycai-s — a longer term than any other person, berore 
or since. lie had been strongly in favor of an 
ecciesia.stical con.stitution for the colony, and under 
his influence an order was issued at once for the 
meeting of a synod at Saybrook in 1707, to which 
the matter should be intrusted. The "Saybrook 
platform" which was drawn up by this syuixl was 
accepted as the ecclesiastical constitution of the 
colony. The New Haven divines, who were opposed 




to anything which would affect the liberty of the 
churches, at once put on record a statement of the 
way that they should interpret it, in conformity 
with their own views. After the death of Rector 
Pierson in 1708. and of Mr. Pierpont in 1714, it 
began to be seen that the college was worth some- 
thing to the town where it was located, and that it 
was a juize to be coveted. There ensued a lively 
contest on the question where the institution, still in 
the weakness of infancy, should have its permanent 
abode. Saybrook desired to retain it, but Hartford 
was the principal claimant. The iiretensions of 
Hartford were supported by the lower house in the 
legislatm-e. Even after the trustees, in 1710, had 
voted that the site of the college should be in New 
Haven, the contest was not given up. Wetherstield 
was the town in which some would place it, and 
Middletown entered the lists as another competitor. 
But Saltonstall cast his influence on the .side of New 
]Iaven, maintaining that tlu^ tru.stees had the right 
to decide the point, and that their action was reg- 
ular and valid. T\u- ujiper house followed his 
o])inion, and the lower house finally yielded. In 
1718, a memorable commencement was held in New 
Haven, the occasion borrowing no small (lart of its 
('elat from the august presence of the governor, who 
had erected a stately mansion in the vicinity of New 
Haven, near the lake called by his name. Partly 
by special favors from the legislature, Hartford 
was at length pacified, and all parties were brought 
together iri .support of the institution. Gov. Salton- 
stall inged the conipiest of Canada, and supplied 
troops for the expedition under Sir Hovenden 
Walker in 1712. The first printing press in the 
New- Haven colony was set ui) in his liou.se as early 
as 1709, and in every way he proved himself an 
able, progressive, and enterprising man; as long as 
he lived, he was the firm friend of the college, and 
took a chief part in the direction of its affairs. He 
died at New London, Conn., Sept. 20. 1724. 

YALE, Elihu, patron of Yale College, was born 
jirobalily in Boston in l(i48; son of David Yale, who 
came to Boston in 1637 with his step father, The- 
ophilus Eaton, and thence, the next year, to New 
Haven, where Mr. Eaton was made governor of the 
new colony. Elihu went to India 
about l(j7(')toseek his fortune, en- 
tered the service of the East India 
Co., rose raiiidlj- therein, and was 
governor of the main British set- 
tlement at Madras, or Fort St. 
George, from 1687 to 1692. Im- 
|iroving his opportimities, he mar- 
ried a native lady, who bore him 
three daughters, and he went hack 
to Englaiid in 1699 with "a pro- 
digious estate " and a vast quan- 
tity of native fabrics, many of 
which he is said to have sold by 
auction, introducing this practice 
in 1700. Having no'son, he in 1711 
sent for a relative from Connecti- 
cut to make him his heir. Jere- 
miah I)uinmer(q. v.) now tried to i ^" 
arouse his interest in the .school at 
Saybrook, and advised its friends at home to aiiply to 
hiiii for aid. In 171.'> he joined a munber of other per- 
sons in makiniragift of hooks. In Jamiaiy, 1718, Cot- 
ton Matlier wrote to him frimi Boston in behalf of 
"a college without a collegian's way of living." and 
made this important suggestion; " If what is form- 
ing at New Haven migiit wear the name of Yale 
College, it would be better than a name of sous and 
daugiiters." In response to this hint, backed bv the 
zealous Dunimer, he sent, " for the benefit of the 
collegiate school at New Haven," a cargo of pres- 
ents, which arrived in August, 1718. They included 





500 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



rare books, a portrait, of George I., and a quantity 
of gootis from the East Indies, wliicli were inven- 
toried at £20(), but, on tieing sold in Boston, brought 
£562 12s. This amount went toward the exiieuse 
of the building erected in 1717-18 at New Haven, 
which forthwith was called " Yale College," a name 
extended to the institution in 1745. Two or three 
years later, he sent a small sum, which covered one- 
fifth of the costs of the rector's house, finished in 
1722. He attained the dignities of Fellow nf the 
Royal Society and governor of the East India Co., 
before his death. His tomb in Wrexham, Dcnbig- 
shire, Wales, whence his family had come, bears the 
celebrated lines: 

■■ liiirn in America, in Europe bred, 
In Africa travelled, and in Asia wed." 
Three of these statements are known to be true, 
and the one about Africa may be so. He could have 
preserved no recollection of the lauil of his birth; 
but his memorj' is associated with one of its finest 
instltutiims of learning. It must be admitted that 
Y'ale purchased his fame cheaply; but his gifts were 
of real value in that day of small beginnings, and 
also helped to settle the vexed question of location. 
A cojiy of his portrait, presented by his last descend- 
ant, in 1789, is preserved by the college. He died 
in Enirland Julv s, 1721. 

PIERSON/Abraham, first rector (1701-1707) 
of what afterward became Yale College, was born 
at Lynn, Mass., in 1641. His father, of the same name 
(1608-78), came to Boston in 1639, and was pastor at 
Southampton, L. I., Branford, Conn., and Newark, 
N. J. Abraham was graduated from Harvard in 1668, 
was ordained as colleague of 
his father at Newark March 4, 
1672, and was minister of Kil- 
lingworth. Conn., from 1694. 
After James Pierpont (q. v.) 
be was the most active of the 
foimders of the collegiate 
school at Saybrook. The 
founders of New Haven liad 
cherished the idea of a college 
of their own from the begin- 
ning of their .settlement in 1638, 
l)ut in 1652 it was not unreason- 
abl}' judged to be "too great a 
charge for us of this jurisdic- 
tion." The plan is said to have 
been revived in 1698, and was 
certainly taken up with great 
zeal by thetwoministers,.James 
Pierpont, of New Haven, and 
Pierson, both graduates of Har- 
vard. A meeting was held at 
Branford in September, 1701. at 
the hou.se of Rev. Samuel Ru.s- 
sell, and some books donated 
for a library. Pierpont had sent 
suggestions to Gov. Isaac Ad- 
:, dington and Hon. 8. Sewall. of 
Boston, who prepared a draft 
for a charter. The legislature 
met Oct. 9th. and some days 
later, probably on the 16th, 
passed "An Act for Liberty to erect a Collegiate 
School." In the next month seven trustees met at 
Saybrook, and voted to establish the school there, 
■with Mr. Pierson as rector. This office he dis- 
charged from his parish, nine miles distant, and its 
duties can hardly have been arduous. The fir.st 
student, Jacob Heminway, came in JIareh, 1702; in 
September seven more were added, a tutor chosen, 
and a commencement held at Saybrook Point, when 
N. Lynde gave the use of a house. On tliis occasion 
the degree of M. A. was conferred on Nat. Ch.umcey 
of Stratford, who had been privately taught, and on 




.LBfitCilBttSV'lfBij 




"»"•*»«,?«*«■• 



four graduates of Harvard. At this time the entire 
revenue of the school, apart from fees for tuition, 
was a grant from the legislature of £120 yearly in 
"country pay," equal to about £80 in cash. " Pierson 
was much respected as a scholar and admini-slrator; 
he wrote a text-book on Natural Philosojihy, which 
was used for twenty-five years. While Pierson was 
rector, the college was at the beginning of its exist- 
ence, and there were few graduates. One of them 
was Jonathan Dickin.sou (1706). who became presi- 
dent of the College of New Jersey. The statue 
shown in the sketch is by Launt Thompson, and 
stands on the college campus. Rector Pierson died 
in New Haven March 5, 1707. 

ANDREW, Samuel, second rector (1707-19) of 
Y'ale Colli'ge, was bom at Cambindge, Mass., 1656. 
He was giadmitetl from Harvard in 1675, served as 
ttitor there for several years, and gained repute as a 
scholar and instructor. In 1685 lie was ordained 
pastor at Milford. Conn., wliere he married the 
daughter of Geo. R. Treat, one of his iiarishionei-s. 
Certain divisions among his people were healed un- 
der his ministrv, which lasted through his life. 
With Pierpont, I'ierscm, and others he took part in 
founding the collegiate school at vSaybrock, was one 
of its first trust ees,and attended the first meetiusrof the 




K^oi^'^^'..;*3^5'^a. 



corporation. Nov. 11, 1701. On Mr. Pierson's death 
in Slarch, 1707, he was chosen rector ;wo k'lii,, and 
taught the senior class at his house at Milford, the 
other classes beinir instnicted at Savbrook bv tutors 
Fisk and Hall, the college librarj-,whicli had hith- 
erto been kcjit in Jlr. Pierson's house at Kenilworth, 
was now taken to Saybrook. The rector exercised 
a sort of general su]iervision by letters, and went 
annually to "moderate" the commencement, at 
which not less than two nor more than three were 
graduated. It was the day of .small things with the 
school, and during the Indian wars, 1709-13, the 
youth of the colony were more eager to fight the 
"French and the savages, than to seek collegiate 
training. The Saybrook council was called by the 
assembly urged by <!<iv. Saltonstidl, and met at 
theconunencenu'nt in Scplcmlier, 170S. Mr. .\ndrew 
was one of its twelve members, eight more of whom 
were trustees of the college. They fiamed, and the 
as.sembly at its next .se.s.sion adopted, the "Saybrook 
Platform." which at once became the constitution of 
the Connecticut churches. The gift of books from 
England in 1714-15 was followed in 1715 by a grant 
of £500 from the assen\l)ly for a building. Very 
serious dilliculties arose as to location, settled in 
October. 1716. in favor of New Haven, which offered 
larger inducements than its rivals. One of the 
newly elected tutors took charge of some twelve 
students at New Haven, the other with a somewhat 
larger number started a scliool at AVetherslield, 
which held its own for three years; and meantime 
three or four students remained at Saybrook, and 
were cared for by the minister there, a former tutor. 
The Hartford parlv did not give up their design 
until a college building was begun in the fall of 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



501 



1717 at New Haven, where cisht aores had been 
given. The first commencement at Xew Haven was 
held in October, 1717, and five students frraduated. 
The building was completed and occujiied in Oc- 
tober, 1718, on ground which is now tlii' college 
campus. Following a plan of Gov. Saltonstall it had 
three stories and an attic, with a length of about 170 
feet and a depth of twenty-two, and contained a 
library, a chapel and dining-hall in one. and twenty- 
two sets of rooms, which coidd hold three students 
each. In September. 1718. ten sluiUnits were grad- 
uated, and five at a rival commencement at Wetlu^rs- 
fleld ; the names of the latter were afterwaril included 
in the New Haven list. The properly at Saybrook, 
after several vain efforts to secure it, was removed 
under much violent opposition, anil by the aid of the 
sheriti, with the loss of all the reconls and some 300 
of the 13,000 volumes in the library. During the 
fifteen years at Saybrook. fifty-six jiersous received 
the degree of B. A. Through all these years Mr. 
Andrew's rectorship had been regardeil as merely 
temporary, and his care for the college as secondary 
to his parochial duties. Its interests now plainly de- 
manded the election of a resident rector, and in 
March, 1719, the place was taken by his .son-in-law, 
T. Cutler. Three years later Jlr. Andrew again 
took nominal charge for a brief peiiod. Among the 
pupils of Rector Andrew stands the name of Samuel 
Johnson, who received honorary degrees at Oxford 
and Cambridge, and was president of Columbia 
College He "was graduated in 1714. Jlr. Andrew 
died Jan. 24, 1738. 

CUTLER, Timothy, third rector of Yale Col- 
lege(1719-'.22),was born at Chark'siown.Mass.,inl683. 
He was graduated from Harvard in 1701, was ordain- 
ed Jan. 11. 1709, as minister of Stratford, Conn., and 
preached there for ten 3"ears ■nnth much acceptance. 
In March, 1719, he entered upon his brief rector- 
ship at the College of New Haven, 
the chief event of which was the 
building of a house for him. This 
was completed in 1723. and was used 
by his successors until the end of the 
century; about half of the cost was 
supplied liy the assembly from the 
tax on rum, and tlie rest came from 
subscriptions, collections in the 
churches, and a gift by Gov. Yale. 
Meantime his views, and those of his 
tutor, S. Johnson, had undergone a 
change, ascribed chiefly to tlie peru- 
sal of books in the college library; 
these had mostly come from Eng- 
land, and many of them were the 
works of divines of the established 
church. The converts now made 
no secret of their preference for Episcopacy, and 
\fere "excused from all further service," at. or 
soon after, the commencement in September, 1722. 
Cutler sailed for England two months later with 
his friends. Johnson and Browne, received Ejiiscopal 
orders in March. 1723, was honored with the degree 
of D. D. by both universities, and made missionary 
of the S.P.G., and returned to become rector of the 
new Christ church, Boston, a charge which he held 
with much repute and usefulness for nearly forty- 
two years. He put forth a few sermons, and occu- 
pied a liigh place among the few clergy of his faith 
in the northern colonies. His defection, as that of 
the head of a school founded chiefly to defend and 
promote the Congre.sational system, caused much 
dismay, and had influence in inducing others to fol- 
low his example. Its immediate results in the col- 
lege were an "additional act " of October, 1723. 
making the rector a trustee, and requiring a test of 
soundness in doctrines to be signed by all its teach- 
ers; this in some form was in force for a century. 




9^l*IJ>t^M<-! (^Oc^\_ 



It was during Cutler's brief term of service that one 
of the most illustrious of all the sons of Yale grad- 
uated. Jonathan Edwards received the Bachelor's 
degree in 1720. Dr. Cutler died in Boston Aug. 17, 
1765. 

■WILLIAMS, Elisha, fourth rector or, more 
propcrlv, president of Yale College (1725-39), was born 
Aug. 24. 1694, at Hatfield. Hampshire Co., Mass., 
where his father, William (166.>-1741), was pastor 
from 1685. He was grandson of 
Isaac (1638-17t)8), the second son of 
Robert Williams, who came from 
Norwich to Roxbury. Jlass.. in 
1638. He was graduated from Har- 
vard in 1711, studied law, and he- 
came clerk of the Connecticut as- 
sembly. In 1716, on the removal 
of the school from Saybrook to 
New Haven, he gave his help to 
the tutor who had taken .some four- 
teen malcontent students to Wetli- 
ersfield. and received the chief cred- 
it for their instruction, until 1719. 
In 1721 he was ordained minister 
of Newington, near Wethersfield 
and Hartford, and in September, 
1725, he became rector of the 
college, which he " reformed very 
mucii, and advanced useful anci 
polite literature." Further grants were made by the 
legislature, a second tiuor was added in 1728, and in 
1737 the trustees appoii:lcd from their own number a 
standing committee, out of which grew the prudential 
committee, some sixty years later. The gifts of 
George Berkelev,deau of Derry.and aftcr-nard bishop 
of Cloyne, resident at Newport (1724-31), may have 
been suagested by his friend S. Johnson, who had 
been tutor under"Cutler and who was then an Epis- 
copal missionary at Stratford. They included 
some 900 volumes, many of which were text-books, 
and his estate of ^Vhitehall near Newport, which 
would be to-day a valuable possession to the college, 





illeaeC^"] 



if it h.ad not been leased in 1763 for a period of 999 
years. The small income from this source. |55, 
iroes toward the Berkeley scholarships. 



Williams 



iield the rectorshi]) with inuch repute for fourteen 
years. When he resigned in October, 1739. the 
number of irraduates was 386. anil the college was 
firndy established, and fairly prosperous. Among 
the graduates while Williams was rector we find a 



502 



TUE NATIOXAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



number of divines who were famous in tlieirtime; 
amonj^ lliem. Aaron Hurr (ITU")), president of New 
Jersey College, and Rev. (,'liaiineey Wliilllesey (ITJW). 
Among the civilians was David Ogden. siipreine eourt 
judge in New Jersey. After ictiring from Yale 
Williams left the usual walks of I lie iniuistry, and 
developed a versatiliiy wliieh a<-corded wiUi the 
manners of the time; as Dr. John Kliot siiys, he 
"made a conspicuous tigure after he went into the 
civil line." He was nuieli in the assembly, became 
a judge of the superior court, ])ublished "in 1044 a 
tract on the "Hights and i^iberiies of I'rotesianls." 
was chaplain of Conneclicnt forces in the expedition 
which look Louisburg in 1745, and the ne.\t year 
colonel of a regiment inlendcd to act against Canada, 
but which proceeded no further than Aew London. 
In lT4i( he went to England to get the ])ay due to his 
men, was nuich valiic(l by the best dissenting socicly, 
and in IT.'Jl married IClizabeth 8cott (1708-70), the 
hynui -writer, daughter of l{ev, T. Scott, of Norwich. 
Dr. Doddridge, who had introduced him lo his wife, 
thought him " one of the mo.st valualile men on 
earth," and credited him with "solid learning, con- 
summate prudence, great candor and sweetness of 
temper, and a certain nobleness of sonl, capable of 
conceiving and ac'ling the greatest things, without 
seeming to be conscious of having done them." 
Mr. Williams returncii to America in .\pril. 17.J3, 
and dieil at Welherstiehl, Conn., July 24, 175.5. 

CLAP, Thomas, (iflh rector or president (1740- 
66) of Yale College, was born at Scituate, PlynmiUh 
Co., Ma.s.s., June36, 170;i, where his great-grandl'alhcr 
of the .same uaiue (1.5!J7-1684) had set I led in 1040. 
having emigrated in 1030. He was graduated fiom 
Harvard in 1732, became minister at Windham, 
Conn., in 1730. and in October, 1739. was elected 
rector of the college. His tiock was loth to lose him, 
and the assembly, on the report of a committee ap- 
pointed to estimate the v.alue of their loss, voted them 
£•58 as compensation. In April, 1740. he began an 
administration destined to be the longest in the his- 
tory of the college, except that of President Day. He 



^;.•,...•^'V^^' 




was an able and vigorous n:.in. fimd of In's own way 
and resolute to have it, and a scholar of note, partic- 
ularly in mathematics, astronomy and natural phil- 
osophy. He constructed the "first orrerv in the 
colonies, jmt forth in 1743 a classified catalogue of 
the library which then had about 3,000 vohune.s, 
and drafted a new charter, which was granted May 
9, 174.5, incorporating the " President and Fellow's 
of Yale College in New Haven," with Ihe power of 
removing from and adding to their membership. 
This was a distinct and important step forward. 
Others were taken in the erection, in 1750-,53. of 
what is now South Jliddle College, the oldest of the 
college liuildings rcmaininL^ the creation of a chair 
of divinity, tilled in 1755 by N,'i]ihlali D.Mggett. and 
the holding of .se|iaralc services on Sunday in the col- 
lege hall from November, 1753; the buildingiu 1757- 



58 of a house for the ]u-ofe.s.sor of divinity (who was 
the first l<i bear that title), and in 1701-03"of a chapel 
and library, called the Alheneum. In all the.se 
proceedings Presi<lent Clap was the ruling spirit, and 
in most of them he met vehement oppiv.-iilion. The 
stand which he took against Whiiefield and revival- 
ism, his difference with J. Noyes. pastor of the 
First church, and especially his "withdrawal of the 



•^ ^'W-^ 




5lieff"!la s, 



<:'er,t.ficScll°° 



students from attendance there, and tlie holding of 
regular religious services in College Hall, which was 
denounced as an act of schi.siu, led to a loss, in 1766, 
of the usual grant from the assembly, and to a pro- 
posal, made in 1758, by some disafl'ected members 
of the corporation, and embodied in a memorial to 
the Icgisl.Mture in 1703, of a visitation by the colonial 
authorities. This Ihe ])residcnt .sfcaUly and suecess- 
fullv resisted, in an arginnent which anticipated 
some of the jioiiUs made in the famous Dartmouth 
College ca.se of 1817. but his uniiopulaiity increa.sed 
chicfiy by reason of these contests, and partly from 
his stanch conservatism which involved him in 
several doctrin.al controversies. A spirit of revolt 
spread among the students, who were now numerous, 
757 graduating under him, an average of twenty- 
eight eai'h year. He resigned in Se|i|cniber, 1706. 
He ]iublislicd sundry .sermons, lellers, and tracts, 
including Ihe " Keligious Constitution of Colleges" 
(17.54). and a " Ili.sfory and Vindication of the Doc- 
trines ]{e<'eived and E.sfablished in the Churches of 
New Engl.and " (1755), besides the valuable "Annals 
of Yale College " (1700). The (leriod of his rule, 
however full of strife, was one of the most moment- 
ous and ])rogressive in the life of Ihe iiislilulion. 
Among ils nu'nor eveiils was the fornialion of the 
first society among Ihe .sludents, the Linonian, in 
1753. President Clap had many pupils who attained 
to eminence. Chief graduates among llien\. in civil 
life, were (Jov. 'Williani Livingston (1741), of New 
Jersey, Williani Samuel Johnson (1744), a states- 
man of high disiiiiclion. President of Columbia 
College. (Jov. ()li\cr AVolcotI (1747). of Conneelicut, 
Judge Theodore Sedgwick (17(i5), of ^Ia,s.sachusetts. 
On the list of divines who were his iiu])ils are Dr. 
Samuel Hopkins (1741), President Ezra Stiles (1745), 
Ki,sliop Samuel Scabury (1748), Rev. Eli/.ur Good- 
rich (1753). Hector Clap died in New Haven Jan. 
7, 1707. 

DAGGETT, Naphtali, acting .si.xtli ( 1706-77) 
president o*' Yale, was born at Attlcborough, Mass,, 
Sept. 8, 1737, He was graduated from Yale in 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



503 



1748, was Presbyterian pastor at Smitbtown, Suf- 
folk Co., L. I., ITol-oo, and in tlie laller year was 
called to tbe first cbair founded at bis alma mater 
{apart from tbe presidency), tbat of diviiiily. He 
wasaeeejitable as a jjreacber. and on Ibe resiiination 
of President Clap, and tbe rrlusal of Kev. James 
Lockwood to take tbe vaeaut ollice, was made pres- 
ident pra tern., in October, lT(i6. The next year be 
abolisbed tbe strange and aristocratic metbod of 
listing the students according to tbe supposed im- 
portance of their families, and introduced ibe aljjba- 
betical order. A new literary society, tbe Brothers in 
Unity, was formed in 17<is, and in 177(1, a second 
cbair, that of mathematics, was estalilisbed, and 
filled by !{ev. N. Strong, until 1781. J. Howe, J. 
Trumbull, T. Dwight, and J. Buckminster, were 
able and eltieient tutors during this jieriod, and 330 
students graduated. But the college was in financial 
straits; much of tbe former disaffection remained 
■within and without it.s walls. Mr. Daggett's abili- 
ties were not e.-ipeciallj' of the executive order, and it 
was felt by hini.self and others tbat his rule was 
merely temporary. He received tbe degree of D.D. 
from Princeton in 1774, and in JIarch, 1777, declined 
to act longer as president, and fell back on his form- 
er post. Patriotism impelled him to take uji a mus- 
ket, and join in the attempt to repel tbe British d(^ 
scent on tbe town on a very hot day in .July, 1779, 
but his .strength was unequal to the task, and be 
fell into the bands of tbe enemy, who forced him to 
act as guide, and prodded him brutally with their 
bayonets, so that he never recovered. He published 
a few sermons, and an account of tbe " Dark Day," 
INIay IS), 1780. While Daggett acted as jire-sideut, 
not a few distingiusbed men graduated. Such were 
President Timothy Dwight (1769); Rev. .Josepb 
Buckminster (1770); Hev. Nathaniel Enmions (1767); 
Gov. John Treadwell (1767); David Humphreys 
(1771): Abraham Baldwin (1772), president of liie 
Uuiversitv of Georgia, and senator from that state. 
Dr. Daggett died in New Haven Nov. 'in, 1880. 

STILES, Ezra, sevenfli president of Yale Col- 
lege (1778-9.')), was born at North Haven, Conu., 
Dec. 1.5, 1727, where his father was mini.ster. Ezra 
was graduated from Yale in 174.5, and was tutor 
there 1749-5.5, meanwhile studying law and practic- 
ing it during the two latter years. He made what 
were said to be the first electrical 
experiments in New England, with 
an apparatus presented by Frank- 
lin, and when tbat eminent man 
visited New Haven, in February, 
17.55, gave a Latin oration in his 
honor, and formed relations of per- 
manent intimacy. While pastor at 
Newport, R. I., 17.5.5-77, be master- 
ed a number of oriental languages, 
corres|)onded with Greek bishops, 
Spanish Jesuits, and Iravelcns and 
savants in all jiarts of tbe globe. 
After the British occupation of 
New]iort, he, in 1777, look a charge 
at Portsmcaitb, N. H., whence his 
fame as tbe most ^\idely and vari- 
ously learned clergyman in Amer- 
ica caused him to be presently call- 
ed to Yale. Though attac beil look! forms, his opinions 
both in theology and politics were nnire advanced I ban 
those of President Clap had been, and he windd not 
accept the position vmtil the severe test of orthodoxy, 
enforced after President Culler's defect ion in 1722, 
■was reduced loan a.s.sent tothe "Saybrook I'lalform." 
It was also understood that far more cordial rela- 
tions with the state should be reached. He entered 
on his duties in June, 1778. and discharged them 
with great judgment and etliciency until his death, 
bringing to the college no little increase of strength 




-^Z^rXLjkyMU 



and honor. He bad already the degree of D.D., 
conferred by the University of Edinburgh in 1765; 
it came also from Dartmouth in 1780,' and from 
Princeton, wilb ihat of LL.I)., in 1784. Abundantly 
able to le;u-b in any department, be soon liad nearly 
all the work lo do, except such as could be carried 
on by Ibe lulors. Tbe chair of matbemalics, va- 
cated in December, 1781, by Prof. Stning, was left 
empty for thirteen years, ai"id M. S. Wales, who took 
Dr. Daggett'.s place in 1782, was partially di.sabled 
tbe next year. Tbe president did nui'cli of the 
preaching, eked out the course in tbeolosrv, then 




taken by students as ■w-ell as graduates, lectured 
statedly on mathematics, natural philosophy and 
astronomy, inslructed tbe .seniors in mentid and 
moral pbilosopby, and tilled his own chair of eccle- 
siastical hislnry. which bad been created at his de- 
sire. A fii'm patriot, he found the college greatly 
emljarrassed by the war, which in various ways bad 
disturbed its order, narrowing the finances, scatter- 
ing the clas.ses, and calling many of tbe students to 
bear a musket or wear a sword. The places of these 
were more than taken by a less desirable class, -nho 
put their names on the roll to gain exemption from 
enforced service in the war; tbe number of students 
which in 1 777 was 1 32 had swollen to 270 in 1783, and 
four vears later sank to 139. The library dwindled 
from" 4.000 volumes in 1766, to 2,700 in" 1791; the 
building of 1718 bad gone lo decay for lack of re- 
pairs, and lieen partly pulled down in 1776. Amid 
these discouragements President Stilessteered bis way 
with painful prudence and resolule hoije, cheered by 
a few small trifis or bequests which came in from 
R. Salter, D.D., in 1781; from D. Lalbrop, D.D., in 
1782, and from S. Lockwood, D.D., in 1787 and 1791. 
Tbe college was still mainly clen'eal, and clergymen 
were its chief friends. But this was soon to be 
modified by a healthful process of partial seculariza- 
tion. In 1792 a close alliance was effected with the 
state, tbe details of tbe plan coming from the treas- 
nrerof the college, James Ilillbouse. The legislature 
made a grant in 1792, which was increased in 1796 
to .^40,000. Ibe largest sum bestowed up to tliat lime, 
and tbe governor, tbe lieutenant governor and the 
six .senior members of the council or upper hou.se 
became cr-o/ftV/o members of tbe corporation. A 
dining hall and kilchen, afterward used as a labor- 
atory, had been pnl up in 1782, taking the place of 
tbe last remains of the original building; in 179;J-94a 
dormitory was erected, the present South College In 
October, 1794. J. Meigs was made profes.sor of math- 
ematics and natural pbilosojiby — the first layman to 
enter the faculty. Dr. Stiles pul)lisbed a number of 
sermons, an " .\ecount of the Sclllemenl of Bristol, 
R. I." (17.85), and a " History of Three of ihc Judges 
of Charles I." (1794). He began, but left incomplete. 



604 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 




an " Ecclesiastical History of New Enpfland." The 
collei^e has forlytive voliinies of his MSS.. iueludiiii: 
a liiarv. His life was wiilten bv his son-inlaw, 
Abiel llolmes. D.D. (1708), aniibyl'rof. J. L. Kiiip*- 
ley, for 8parks's "American Hiojrraiihy " (secomi 
series, vol. iv.) Under his rule 009 students were 
graduated, a yearly average of thirty-seven. Presi- 
dent Stiles conferred the bachelor's degree on some 
of the most eminent of American lawyers. One of 
them was .James Kent (17S1); auotherwas Jeremiah 
Mason (1788). Gov. Oliver Wolcott graduated in 
1778; Gov. Roger Griswold. in 1780; .Judge David 
Daggett, in 1783; Timothy Pitkin, in 178o. Noah 
Wet)ster was a class-mate of Wolcott. Among the 
divines who were his pupils were Dr. Abiel Holmes 
(1783). Dr. .Jedediah Morse (178:i). ijie author of the 

feography; Dr. Edward I). (Trillin {171)0); President 
. Atwater (1793), of Dickinson f'ollege. President 
Stiles died in New Haven, May 1:3, 1795, leaving an 
eminent record as a preacher, scholar, teacher, and 
administrator. 

DWIGHT, Timothy, eighth president {M'J'i- 
1S17) <it' Yale ('nllege, was bi.rn at Xorthaini>ton, 
M.-iss., .May IS, H.Ti, a, descendant of .lolm Dwight, 
an early settler of Dedham. His father, of the same 
name, was a graduate of Yali' and a merchant; his 
mother, a daughter of .Jonatlian Edwards, gave him 
careful early (raining. He was grad- 
uated from" Yale with high honors 
in 17()9, taught for two years in a 
school at New Haven, aiid for si.\ 
years in the college with such bril- 
liant success that the students signed 
a petition that he shoidd be called 
to the presidency. At his request it 
was not presented to the corporation. 
Duriugayearaschaiilain in thearmy, 
he was known as a writer of patriotic 
songs; his poem "America" had ap- 
;peared in 1772. From 1778 he was 
. t'ariiiing, |)reaehing. and conducting 
,^ a school at Northamjiton, until No- 
vemlier, 1783, when he became pastor 
at Greenfiehl. a parish of Fairfield, 
7^77 "^^f/Conn. While here he published, in 
Uiy-uAyh/h; xn^^ ins epic. "The Conquest of 
' Canaan," folluuiny it with a pastoral, 

"Greenfield Hill " (1794), in which he described the 
liurning of Fairfield liy the British. He received the 
degree of D.D. from Princetcm in 1787. He estab- 
lished at Greenfield a most successful academy, in 
■whi(;h girls received the .same training as boys,' and 
the course went much farther than a mere prepara- 
tion for college. When called to the presidency of 
Y'ale, on the death of Dr. Stiles, he was already" not 
merely a man of imle. but distinguished asa scholar, 
a preacher and an educator. I lis long and vigorous 
administration witnes.sed a great development of the 
college, and certain radical changes. Hitherto it 
had been in sidjstance a one-man-power and old- 
fashioned school, with an autocratic head-master, 
and a few subordinates. Dr. Dwight was probably 
the ablest, certainly the most impressive and elliciciit 
man. who had yet been at its liead. He was pro- 
gressive, and had to some extent the modern idea of 
a university. The first step was to revise the colleire 
rules, and associate the facidty with himself in its 
internal government; this wasdonc in 179.5. Fag- 
ging was .abolished in 1804, and fines soon after, aiid 
the relation of the .students to the faculty was reg- 
ulated by the rules which govern the inl"ercour.se of 
gentlemen. Besides teaching ethics and mental 
philosoiihy to the seniors, he e'reat<'d and tilled a de- 
partment of rhetoric and Enijlish literature, dis- 
charged the duties of the chair of divinity, which 
■was his in due form from 180.5, and exerted on the 
students a more healthful and direct intluence than 




that of his predecessors. Though stout in main- 
taining the Congregational .system, his theology was 
somewhat gentler than that of Dr. Stiles, whic"h had 
been an advance on that of President Clap. He 
brought in three professors who long survived him, 
J. Day, to the chair of mathematics, in 1801, and B. 
Sillinmn (1803-.53), and .]. L. Kingsley (180.5-51), to 
the new departments of chemi.siry aiul ancient lan- 
guages. He procured the establishment, in 1801, of 
a law profes.sorship, filled, until 1810, by E. Go(k1- 
rich, which was the beginning of the "law school 
organized at a later date, and that of a Medical 
School, toward which the fir.st steps were taken iu 
1806, and which commenced work, in 1813, with 
three professors, Drs. N. Smith. E. Ives, and J. 
Knight, graduating a cla.ss of three the next year. 
A grant of !f20, 000 from the state, in 1814, eoveix-d 
the purchase of a building (now Shellield Hall) for 
the Medical School. JIucli additional ground had 
been bought in 179(i. a new house erected for the 
president'in 1797-99, and a dormitoiy, now North 
Jliddle College, and a Lyceum for v.arious uses, iu 
1801-3. Dr. Dwight's large plans included alsoa sep- 
arate divinity school, which came into being in 1823. 










He was thus the moviiii: cause of the expan.sion of 
Yale from a collegiate scIkioI to a imiver.sity. Be- 
yond the grants of the state in 179lj and 1814, and 
another of soiiu' !i;9,00l) in l.'slG, little financial aid 
came in; but the resources on hand were wisely ex- 
pended, and the library much enlarged. The presi- 
dent's reputation caused a large accession of .students; 
as, against 115 in 1790, there were 217 in 1800, and 
313 in 1817. The luunber of graduates during this 
period, besides thirty-two in medicine, was 1,137. an 
amiual average of nearly fifty-two. As a vehement 
Federalist, and ojiposed to everything F'reuch, Dr. 
Dwight came into collision with Prof. Meigs and 
some others; but his views were the prevalent ones 
in his region, and his intluence. alike powerful and 
beneficial, far outla.sted his life He received the 
degree of LL.D. in 1810, from Harvard. Beyond the 
poems of his early life, a n\imber of sennous, and a 
versitication. in 1800, of the Psalms omitted by Dr. 
Watts (one of which, "I love thy kingdom. Lord. " 
is in almost universal u.se), he published little, leaving- 
his chief works to appear posthumously. Of these, 
"Theology Explained and Defended "in a Series of 
One Huntlred and Seventy-three .Sermons" (five 
vols. .1818), went through a vast mimber of editions, 
to one of which (1841)) was prefixc<l a memoir bv his 
son. S. E. Dwight, D.D. His "Travels in New 
England and New York " (four vols., 1821), from 
notes taken during a .series of vacations from 1796, 
have been highly valued. Another sketch of his 
life, by W. B. Sprague, D.D., is in Sparks's " Amer- 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



505 



ican Biography," second series, vol. iv. ; see also 
Spnigue's "Aimals," vol. ii. A number of his 
brothers, sons, and grandsons altaiued distinction, 
and one of tlie latter, named from him, became 
president of Yale in 18S(). During the administra- 
tion of President Dwight, there were trained at Vale 
many men who held high places in church and 
state. Glancing along the catalogue, we tind among 
the graduates in ITOti, the name of Benjamin Silli- 
man; in 1797, the names of Lyman Heeeher, Gov. 
S. A. Foot, and James Murdock; in 1799, of Dr. 
Eli Ives, James L. Kinuslev, and JIoscs Stuart; 
in 1801, of Gov. Joseph Trumbull; in 1S03, of 
Chief Justice Church; in 1804, of John C. Calhoun 
and Bishop C. E. Gadsden and John Picrpimt; in 
180.5, of Dr. Gardiner Spring and Dr. Thomas M. 
Gallaudet; in 1807, of Dr. Alexander II. Stevens 
and Dr. Nathaniel W. Taylor; in 1808, of Hon. 
Ralph I. Ingersoll; in 1809, of Prof. J. W. Gibbs 
and Judi^e Henry M. Waite, father of the late chief 
justice; m 1810, of Samuel F. B. Moisc, Judge W. 
W. Ellsworlh, Prof. Eleazar T. Fitch, and Prof. 
Chauncey A. Goodrich; in 1811, Gov, K. S. Baldwin 
and J. i^. Worcester, the le.xicographer; in 1813, of 
George E. Badger and Prof. Denison Olmsted; in 
1814, of Dr. Samuel H. Dickson, and of Jud^s 
J. K. Kane and W. L. Storrs; in 181.5, of John M. 
Clayton, James G. Percival, and Dr. William B. 
Sprague. President Dwight died in New Haven 
Jan.ll. 1817. 

DAY, Jeremiah, ninth president of Yale Col- 
lege (1817-40) was born Aug. 3, 1773, at New Pres- 
ton, Litchfield Co., Conn., where his father, of the 
same name, was pastor. He was descended from 
Robert Day. an emigrant of 1634, and one of the first 
settlers of Hartford. Graduating from Vale in 179.5, 
_ he took charge of Dr. Dwight's 

school at Greeutield, was a tutor 
at Williams College, 1790-98, and 
then returned to his alma mater, 
where he was made [n-ofessor of 
mathematics in ISOl. While hold- 
ing this post he put forth an " In- 
troduction to Algebra" (1814), 
which was widely used, and re- 
vised by the author ami Prof. A. 
D. Stanley in 1852, besides text- 
books on mensuration (1814), 
plane trigonometry (1815), and 
navigation and surveying (1817). 
His theological bent was shown in 
later life in a defence of President 
Edwards's doctrine of the will, and 
a refutation of Cousin on the same 
subject. These, with some con- 
tributions to the periodical press, 
were his only publications. President Dwight, it was 
believed, had marked bira out as his successor, but he 
would not accejjt the place until it had been declined 
byH. Davi.s,D.D., of .Middlebury College, Vt. A cler- 
ical character was still considered essential in a col- 
lege president. He had contcmiilated ami prcjiared 
for the ministry long before, and was ordained and 
inducted into "his new office at the .same time. His 
degree of LIj.D. came from Williams and Jliddle- 
bury in 1817, and that of D.D. from Union in 1S18, 
and from Harvard in 1831. However he might lack 
the prestige and impressiveness of Dr. Dwight, his 
rule was ellicieut. happy, and the longest in the his- 
tory of the college. A quiet man. never strong in 
health, grave, calm and reticent, he won sreat re- 
spect by his unobtrusive virtues, and carried out the 
plans of his predecessor with cautious wisdom. With 
him came an immediate increase of the fa<iilty. and 
a gradual admis.sion of the all-important principle 
that this bmiy constituted the best counselors and, in 
effect, the governors, in all college matters. His for- 




mer chair of mathematics was filled by A. M. Fisher, 
that of divinity by E. T. Fitch, while rhetoric, pre- 
viously taught b3' Dr. Dwight, was made a new 
chair under E. C. Goodrich. The lormer was suc- 
ceeded by M. H. Dutton in 1822, and he in 1825 by 
D. 01m.slead, who, on the division of the chair iu 
1830, retained natural philosophy and astronomy, 
while A. D. Stanley took mathematics. Greek was 
made a separate tiepartment in 1831, and taken by 
T. D. Woolsey, Latin being still taught by Prof. 
Kingsley, who in 1843 received as a.ssistant T. A. 
Thatcher. In 1839 W. A. Larned succeeded Prof. 
Goodrich.who was transferred to the Divinity School. 
These additions to the teaching force brought with 




them large improvements in the curriculum. Sub- 
jects belonging properly to the preparatory schools 
were excluded, grammar and geography in 1826, and 
arithmetic in 1830. French. German, political econ- 
omy and other advanced studies were brought in; 
and the standard of requirements for entrance was 
raised, to keep pace with the better and more varied 
work after admission. A most obvious and needed 
reform was made in 1830, at the urgency of Horace 
Bushnell. then one of the tutors, in releasing him 
and his colleagues from the drudgery of teachmgall 
subjects at the same time, and assigning each to a 
special department of his own. In 1828 it was vainly 
proposed to abandon Latin and Greek. The med- 
ical faculty was enlarged, on the death of Dr. N. 
Smith in 1829, by the apjiointment of three new pro- 
fessors— Drs. T. "Hubbard, W. Tully and T. B. Beers; 
the two former were succeeded by Dr. C. Hooker iu 
18.88, and Dr. H. Bronson in 1841. The Law School 
was revived in 1826 by the induction of David Dag- 
gett into the chair vacant from 1810. He and S. .7. 
Hitchcock had for two preceding years conducted a 
private law school founded by S. P. Staples, which 
had a nominal connection with Vale. The connec- 
tion was now avowed; a third instructor was secured 
in 1842, and the degree of LL. B., first given in 1843. 
The Divinity School, to prepare graduates for the 
ministry, was begun in 1822 with the famous N. W. 
Taylor as professor of didactic theology. His intiu- 
ence and attractive power were great. He was aided 
for two years by Prof. Kingsley. and for a much 
longer period by Profs. Fitch and Goodrich, the lat- 
ter in 1839 endowing and taking the chair of pa.stor- 
al theology. That of Sacred Literature was founded 
in 1S20 for .J. AV. Gibbs, who for two years had been 
lecturer oi\ this branch. The formation of tlii-s- 
school jierhaps stimulated that of Washinjjton (now 
Trinity) College, at Hartford, in 1823. and of Wes- 
leyan "University, at Middlelown, in 1832. During 
this period several new buildings were erected — a 
dining-hall in 1818-19, siven over to other uses ia 
lS42;"North College in l'820-21; a chajH-l in 1823-24, 
the upper .stories being useil for dormitories and the 
library; the Trumbull .srallery, later the Treasury, 
1831-32, to hold the paintings of Col. John Trum- 



506 



THE NATIOXAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



bull, first loaned and afterward sold to the colleire. 
The liist Divinity Hall was Imilt in l!S3.5-3li; and ihu 
Library, which cost ij!;54.()0(), in lf>43— J(j. For these 
and olher ex])euses the alumni gave $11)0. (KID in 
1831-36, chieHy through the elTorts of W. Warner, 
treasurer from" l!S32. The library was much in- 
creased from Or. A. E. Perkins's legacy of $10,000 
in 1830 and .several smaller gifts. The .stale gave 
$7,000 in 1831. Po.st graduate and e.\tra-|irofes.si(')nal 
instruction began in 1841 with Prof. E. E. Salisbury 
in the unsiilaried chair of Arabic and Sanscrit. Dur- 
ing these twenty-nine years twenty-live lawyers were 
sent forth. Slit physicians, and in the academic de- 
partment 2,308, a yearly average of nearly eighty. 
President Day resigned in 184<i, having completed liis 
seventy-third year, lie was made one of the corpor- 
ation, and as such remained, though alwaysin feeble 
health, imtil his death in New Haven at the great 
age of ninety-four years, having lived through the 
■war of independence and that for the preservation of 
the Union. The number of distinguished graduates 
during President Day's adminislratiou was .so great, 
that it is hardly worth while to mention the names 
of even a portion of them. In the class of 1820 alone 
we find the names of Dr. Leonard Bacon, Gov. Jla- 
son Brown, and President Theodore D. AVoolscy. 
Passinsr on to 1838, we notice the names of Presideiit 
F. A. P. Barnard, Prof. H. X. Day, Gov. W. W. 
Hoppin, and Judge William Strong, of the supreme 
court. JIakiug a long leap forward to the cla.ss of 
1837, we [jerceive the names of Win. M. Evarts, 
Chief Justice Morriscm K. Waite, Judge Edwards 
Pierrcpont, Prof. Benjamin Silliinaii„ Jr." Profs. C.S. 
Lyman and B. X. Jlar'tin, and President A. L. Chapiu. 
Pre.sident Dav died in Xew Haven, Aui;. 22, 1807. 

■WOOLSEY, Theodore Dwight," tenth presi- 
dent of Yale College (1840-71), was born Oct. 31, 1801, 
in New York city, where his father, Wm. W. Wool- 
sey, was a merchant. His ancestor came to America 
in the seventeenth century; his mother was a sister 
of Kev. Timothy Dwiglit. eighth president of the col- 
lege. He was graduated from Yale 
in 1820. sjient a year in legal and 
two years in theological studies, 
and returned to his alma mater 
where, iluringthe two years of his 
tutorship he awed the "most disor- 
derly students. The years 1827-30 
were spent in Europe, chiefly at 
Leipsic. Bonn and Berlin in the 
study of (ireek. In 1831 he took 
the iiew chair of Greek at Yale, 
and entered on his work with 
nuich enthusiasm. His edition of 
the "Alcestis of Euripides" (1834) 
has not yet been surpassed or 
set aside. He al.so edited the 
"Antigone" and "Electra" of 
Sophocles (1835-37), the "Prome- 
theus" of .Eschylus (1837), and 
the " Gorgias " of Plato (1843). He 
was one of the founders of the "New Euglander " 
in 1843, and wrote more tluui sixty papers for its 
coUuims, besides a inunbcr for olher reviews. In 
1845 he visited Athens, and the same year received 
the degree of LL.D. from Wesleyan University. It 
was again bestowed in 18S(> liy I'larvard. whie'h had 
given him that of D.I), in 1847. Like his predeces- 
sor. Dr. Day, he received ordination at his entrance 
into the presidency in October, 1840. Noted for 
wide and exact .scholarship, he had also a direct, 
maidy and scicntitic mind, great teaching and exec- 
utive ability, .•ind a cbaracter strong and .self-re- 
strained. Self-seeking and self-assertion were far 
from him: he cared to be known only in his work. 
Giving over Greek to Prof. James Hadley ((j. v.). 
he took the new department of history," i)olitical 




Jfu<r^in£.Sr^Llv^^, 



science, and international law, in which he attained 
great eminence. The twcntv-tive years of his rule 
saw not only a great and rap'id i;ro"wth in all direc- 
tions, but a strenuous uplifting "of standards. The 
lower cla.s.ses were graded in sections, and the work 
of the .senior year reorganized. Jloral jihilosophy 
and metaphysics, hitherto tausrhl bv the i)rcsideut, 
were in 1 847 committed to Prof." Noah Porter. ()i her 
new chairs were inslittued: that of geoloiry in 1850 
under J. D. Dana; that of historv, "endowed bv B 
M. C. Durfee. in 1805, under A. JI. Wheeler; a 
second chair of Greek in 1803, under L. H. i^ick- 
ard; and lh;it of modern languages, endowed by A 
H. Street in 1804, and occupied by E. B. Cile in 
1807. G. P. Fisher succeeded Dr. "Filch as college 
pastor in 18.54: this chair some years later received 
an endowment of $.50,000 froiu S. B. Chittenden 
Pri>f. Stanley's place was taken by H. A. Newton 
in 1853. and Prof. ()lmste,-id's by"Elias Loomis in 
1800. Scholarships were founded, and the animal 
charge for liiitioii. hitherto $33, was raised by suc- 
cessive stages to $90 in 1870. The Alumni Hall was 



',gj,^M-:'Miftm 




wS^itca 



built in 18.52-.53, the gyrana-shmi in 18.59, and the art 
school in 1804-00. the' latter by A. R. Street, who 
also endowed two chairs of art, tilled in 1800 by 
J. F. Weir, and D. C. Eaton. Farnam and Durfee 
Colleges arose in 18()9-71. In addition to these 
benefactions, a fund of $106,000 was raised in 1N.54, 
most of which went to the academical department, 
making possible an increase in the salaries of i)ro- 
fes.sors; from 1817 they had received but $1,100 
each. The library received some cash and many 
books: the number of voluiues which, in 18.50 was 
21,000, had risen to 3.8,000 in 1860, and in 1870 lo 
.55.000. The librarians were E. C. Ilerriek until 
18.58. then I). C. Gilman until 1805. and .since then 
A. Van Dame, as.sisted by F. B. Dexter. The 
Divinity School lost its early professors betweeu 
18.58 and 1801, but received valuable aeeessiotis in 
Timothy Dwight in 18.58, G. P. Fisher and J. M. 
Hoppin in 1801. G. E. Day an<l Leonard Bacon, 
D.I)., in \SiW. and Samuel" Harris. D.I)., in 1.S71. 
In 1860 Gov. W. A. Buckini;ham gave $25,000; a 
be(|uest of $50,000 from A. H. Street endowed the 
chair of ecclesiastical history: the degree of B. D. 
was lirst conferred; and an effort was bei;un which 
resulted in the raising of $133,000 to build East 
Divinity Hall in 1809-70. In 1871 a chapel was add- 
ed by "F. Manpiand, and $10,000 given by H. W. 
Sage to foimd the lectureship on preaching, the 
results of which arc known far beyond New Haven. 
The Medical School received a new Iniilding in 
1800, and an entire new staff between l.'<4() and 
1871. Its added professors were Drs. AV. Hooker, 
in 18.52, B. Silliman, Jr., in 18.53, P. A. Jewett, 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



507 



in 1856, C. A. Lindsley in 1860, L. J. Saiiford in 
1863, F. Brtccni and S. G. Hiil)ljiiid in 1SU4, M. C. 
Wliitc, G. F. Btu-luT, and C. L. Ivos in 1867. 
Thoic were 314 graduates during l.liis piniod, an 
annual average of over twelve. The Ijaw School 
was eared for by Gov. (.'. Hissell. 184T-.")."), Menry 
Dutton, 1847-69," T. B. Osborne, ly.M-6.^. It hail 
184 graduates and did not increase. Most important 
of all the changes during these twenty-live years 
■was the development from small beginnings, in the 
latter years of President Day's rule, of graduate 
instruction not leading lo what were of old called 
"the three learned prolessioiis. " Two new chairs 
were established in August, 1846, and J. P. Norton 
appointed to that of agricultural cheiuistry, whUe 




NJo'-tTSheffleldHall- 



B. Silliman, Jr., became professor of practical and 
apiJlieil chemistry, A chemical laboratory was 
opened in what was the jiresideut's house, and several 
courses in philosophy, iihilology and science were 
added by some of the older professors. In 1852 the 
desree of Ph.D. was lirst given, and a chair of 
civil engineering founded, under AV. A. Norton. 
Prof. J. P. Norton was now succeeded ijy J. A. 
Porter, whose chair was divi(ied in 1856, be retain- 
ing organic chemistry, and S. W. .Johnson taking 
agricultural and applied chemistry. \V. I). Whit- 
ney became professor of Sanscrit in 1854. Prof. 
Salisbury retaining Arabic until 1856, anil in 1870 
furnishing the chair of Sanscrit with an endowment 
of |50,000. Another great step was taken in 18.54, 
in setting off the instruction in chemistry and en- 
gineering as the Yale Scientific School, A chair of 
metallurgy was added in -1855 and given to G. J. 
Brush: another, of industrial mechanics and iihvsics, 
■was tille<l in 18.59 by C. S. [.yman. In is.5!) J. E. 
Sheflield bought the old build'intr used by the Med- 
ical College, enlarged it. pnnided it with the neces- 
.sary apparatus, and presented it to the Scientific 
School, which took Ids name the next year. In 
1863 it received ^135.000 througli the state' from the 
sale of United States lands under the act of 1862, on 
condition of giving free tuition to a certain nmnber 
of Connecticut pupils. From this time the Sheffield 
School grew and throve apace, increasinj; its coiirses 
of studies from two to seven, and granting their 
various degrees. Its chief benefactor expended 
some ijl.50,000 on an enlargement of the building in 
1865. and gave SIO.OOO for its library: a few years 
later he furnished some ^80.000 for endowments, 



and erected a second home. North Sheffield Hall, 
completed in 1873 at a co.st of $115,000. About 
jf;100.000 had come in meanwhile from other sources, 
including $28,000 from Mrs. S. K. lliggin, of Liver- 
pool, to endow a chair of dynamical engineering, 
tilled in 1870 by W. P. Trowbridge. Other chairs 
with their incund)ents were physical and political 
geography, D. C. Gilman, 1863; agriculture, W. H. 
Brew-er, 1864; 7.oc')logy, A. E. Verrill, 1864; botany, 
D. C. Eaton, 1864; mining, A. P. Rockwell, 186.5- 
08; English, T. K. Loun'sljury, 1.S71; metallurgy, 
Q. ]). Allen, 1871. In 1856" Geo, I'eabody gave 
$1.50,(300 to found and maintain a nuiscum of natu- 
r,al history in connection with the college, but gov- 
erned by trustees of its own. In the .same year a 
chair of" paleontology was established and tilled by 
O. C. Marsh. In.Iidy, 1871, the legislature agreed 
to a change in the corporation, displacing the si.x 
senior senators by as many alunmi, to serve six 
years, one to be elected at each conunencenient. 
Under this administration no less thsm 2,3.59 .stu- 
dents received the degree of A.B., an annual average 
of over 120. Dr. Woolsey retired from the presi- 
dency in 1^71, and was for the next ten years chair- 
man of the American compaH.y of revision of the 
New Testament. His "Introduction to the Study 
of International Law " (1860) is highly valued. He 
also publislied besides several discourses and editions 
(1871) of F. Lieber's "Manual of Political Ethics," 
and "Civil Liberty and Self-government," "Essays 
on Divorce and Divorce Legislation " (1869) ; "Re- 
ligion of the Present and of the Future " (sermons, 
1871); "Communism and Socialism" (1880); "Help- 
ful Thoughts" (18,S2). "Political Science" (two 
vols., 1877) is the most elaborate but not the most 
intiueutial of his works. He died, sreatly honored, 
at New Haven July 1, 1889. (See a "sketch by 
J. II. Thayer in the "Atlantic Monthly" for Oc- 
tober, 1889.") 

PORTER, Noah, eleventh president of Yale Col- 
lege (1871-86), was born Dec.14, 1811, at Farminglon, 
C(nm., where his family had settled in 1640, and of 
which his father was minister 1806-66. Graduating 
from Yale in 1831. he had charge 
of the Hopkins School at New 
Haven for two years, served as 
tutor at the college for two more, 
was pastor at New Milford 1836- 
46, and at Springfield, Mass., 1843- 
46. At Dr. Woolsey 's assumption 
of the presidency of Yale, Mr. 
Porter was called to the new chair 
of moral |ihilosopliy and metaphys- 
ics, which was endowed by the 
proceeds of a fund given in 1823 
by S. Clark. In this branch of 
knowledge he won distinction by 
his large work on "The Human 
Intellect" (1868) and his widely 
used textbook. "Elements of In- 
tellectuid Science "(1S7n. Among 
liis other wrilimrs are a discourse 
on the 200th anniversary of the 
settlement of bis native town, 1841: a prize essay 
on "The Educational Sy.stems of the Puritans 
and .Tesuits" (1851); " .\merican Colleges and the 
American Public" (1870): " Books and Reading" 
(1870): " Science <if Nature r.«. the Science of Man " 
(1871);" Science and Sentiment" (1882);" F.ViUigeline, 
the Place, the Story and the Poem" (1H82); a" Life 
of Bishop George Berkeley" (188.5): "The Elements 
of Moral Science." (1885); and a " Critical Kxposition 
of Kant's F.lhics" (1886). He was the chief editorof 
the revised editions. 1864 and 1890. of Xoah Web- 
ster's Diition.'irv. His degree of D.D. was conferred 
by the University of the City of New York in 18.58, 
aiid by that of Edinburgh in 1886; Western Reserve 




<yvrVrac 



508 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOI'JOUIA 



College, Ohio, gave him the degree of LL.D. in 
1870, ami Trinity iu 1S7I. lie retained his chair on 
assuming the presideney in 1871. His administra- 
tion was a period of great iirosperity and rapid 
growth. In 1873 all the departments except those 
of theology, medicine and law were uniteil under 
the connnon title of the department of philosophy 
and the arts. A number of chairs were addeil, 
made permanent, or tilled by new incumbents; the 
chief of these were mathematical physics, J. W. 
Gibbs, 1871; chemistry wil h molecular physics, A. W. 
Wright, 1871; German, Franklin Carter,"l872; polit- 
ical and social science, W. G. Sumner, 1872; supple- 
mentary ehaire of Latin, H. P. Wright, 1871 and T. 











Peck in 1880; of mathematics, E. L. Richards. 1871, 
ami A. W. Phillips. 1881; of Emrlish literature, II. 
AV. Hcers, 1874; of mental pbilosophv, G. T. Ladd, 
1881; and of natural iihilos(i|)]iy, E."S. Dana, 1879; 
divinilv, W. :\[. liarbour, P.D., 1877; American 
history, F. B. Dexter, 1877; Greek, T. B. Seymour, 
1880; law. E. .]. Phelps, 1881; modern languages, 
W. I. Kna])]!, 18711. For the academical depart- 
ment a iiermancut fund of some )j!l(J3,000 was raised 
early in this period, the funds being farther in- 
creased I)v larire irifls and be(|uests, among them 
$1 1.->,000 from Dr.'T. D. Porter. !j;8(;.000 fron'i II. T. 
Morgan, and *.")().000 from H. L. Ellsworth; the in- 
come of the two latter being for the aid of needy 
students. The Batlell chaiicl was erected iu 1874- 
7(), the physical laboratory by II. T. & T. C. Sloane 
in 18,s-3 iiiid 188;5, and the l,awrence Colle>re and 
Dwight Hall in 188.5-8t>, the latter liy E. D. Jlonroe. 
Previous gifts provided in whole or part for the 
erecting of the Peabody Museum in 1870, and for 
the observatory, which aro.se in 1883 on ground 
bought by O. F. Winchester, at a cost of .$100,(100 
in 187!). The lil)rary funds were greatly increased 
by various gifts, and its books by the "transfer in 
1^*71-73 of the libraries of the two old societies, the 
Linonian and the Brolhers in I'nily. In 18,s0 the 
number of volnmes hail risen to 130.000 and in 1887 
to KiO.OOO, a growth far beyond that of the past. 
In the ShelTield Seientitic School live new chairs 
were, founded : mathematics, .1. E. Clark, 1873; 
chemistry, W. F. Mixter. 187r); comparative anat- 
omy, S. I. Smith, 187.5 ; physioloirieal chemistry, R. 
H. 'Chittenden, 1883; and'phvsics, C. S. H.-istinu's, 
18,84. II. W. Farnan, A. .l.Dii Bois. ami C. B. 
Richards took the places of Profs. Walker, Trow- 
bridge and W. A. Norton. A large addition to the 
funds was bequeathed by Jlr. Shellield who died in 
1883. The number of students was nearly doubled 
during these fifteen years : (171 took the decree of 
Ph. 1!., sixty tliat of Ph.D., nineteen C.E. and ten 
]\I.1C. The An School advanced in its work, admit- 
ting pupils of both .sexes. .1. II. Niemeyer took the 
new chair of drawing in 1871. and Prof. .1. M. Hop- 
pin s<iceceded Prof. Eaton in 1879. A collection of 



paintings and casts was founded. The Divinity 
School gained a po.st-graduate ciairse of a fourth 
year, a graduate fellowship, two new buildini:s, 
NVest Divinity Hall, 1873-74, and the Bacon memo- 
rial (reference) library in 1881, besides a new chair 
of Biblical theology, "tilled by J. E. Russell in 188.5. 
In that year L. O. Brastow, D.D., took the place 
vacated by Prof, lloppin in 1879. Large gifts came 
in from F. Manpiand, H. Winkleyand A. Otis. No 
less than 378 gradualt's received the dcL'ree of B.D. 
— over twenty-five annually. The Law School was 
reorgauized, and for the tiist time made thonaiyhly 
ethcient. W. C. Robinson, S. E. Bald\vin and J. T. 
Piatt, who had had charge of it from 18()9, were, 
with Francis Wayland, made full professors in 1873; 
$3.5,000 was rai.sed for the library, and a permanent 
fund of ^10,000 given by J. E". English. An ad- 
vanced course for graduates was provided in 1876, 
with the degree of ]M.L. after one year's study, and 
D.C.L. after two. Two more chairs were added: 
international law, T. S. Woolsey, 1878; and plead- 
ing, W. K. Townsend, 1881. L."S. Foster, who died 
in 1880, left .|;00,(IO() to found a chairof comnnju law. 
The number of graduates was 387, an amuial aver- 
age of nearly twenty six. Thirty-eight took the de- 
gree of ALL. and eight that of D.C.L. The course 
of study in the l\Iedical School was reorganized and 
eulargeil in 1879. The adilitions to the faculty were 
Dr. D. P. Smith, 1873-80, who left his library and 
instruments to the school; Dr. L. S. Wilcox, "1877- 
81, and Drs. W. H. Carmalt, and .1. K. Tliacher, 
1879, F. E. Beckwifh, 1880, T. H. Ru.ssell. 1883, 
H. E. Smith, 188.5, and J. Canii>bell, 188(;>. The 
degree of M.D. was taken by 137 persons during 
this period, a yearly average of eight. Elective 
studies made less progress at Yale than elsewhere, 
partly becau.se of the iloubts of the president as to 
the wisdom of such a change from the old order. 
A small liberty of choice during the jiniior year was 
granted to the aeadenucal deinirtment under Presi- 




dent Woolsey, and this was extended In 1876 to 
nearly half the work of the higher classes. In 1884 
more than half the junior studies and most of those 
in the senior year were made eleclive. In 1886 the 
post-graduiite work was eidarged by the accession of 
Dr. W. R. Harper and A. T. I ladley as professors of 
Semitic languages .-md iiolitical s<-ience. In 1886- 
Dr. Porter retired from the presidency of the insti- 
tution, but retained his chair of moral phil(iso])hy, 
although increasing intirmities did not jiermit many 
more years of labor. 



OP AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



509' 




DWIGHT, Timothy, twelfth prosidcnt of Yale 
Univcrsit)' (188(}- ), was bom iu Norwicli, Comi., 
Nov. 16, 1828. He was a son of .James, tlie third 
son of Timothy Dwitjht, pi'esideiil of Yale College 
from 1795 to 1817. The father was born in 1784, and 
died in 1803, having been a snceessful nienhant. 
The subject of this sketch was graduated from Vale 
College in 1849 as the salutatorian of his class. Fnmi 
1851 to 1855 he served as tutor at Ids alma mater, 
studying theology during the last two years of that 
period at the Vide Theological Sem- 
inary. In 185(5-.")8 he studied at the 
I'uivcrsitics of Bonn and lierliu iu 
Germany. Sept. Hi. 18.58, he was 
elected professor of sacred litera- 
ture in Yale Tlicological Seminary, 
and Sept. 1.5, 18()1, was ordained to 
the ministiy of the gospel. In 
April, 1809, CUiicago Theological 
Seminary gave him the degree of 
D.D. He received the same degree 
from Yale ('(illcge in 18S(i, anil the 
degree of LL. I), from Harvard Uni- 
versity in 1870, and from Prince- 
ton College in 1888. In 1880 he was 
^ ' ^ .7 "^y^ y^t chosen president of Yale College, 
fi*'7»'t6VMX.^''^^y^ and was inducted inte office .Iidy 
l.st of that year. In the " New Eng- 
lauder" (now the "New Englander and Yale He- 
view "), of which he became an editor in 1856, he 
published iu 1870-71 a .series of articles on "The 
True Ideal of an American University," which was 
republished and widely read, and doubtless had very 
much to do with the changes by which the institu- 
tion at New Haven, Conn., ha.s, during his adminis- 
tration of its affairs, passed from the status of a col- 
lege to that of a university. This was effected through 
the passage by the Connecticut legislature, .January, 
1887, of the following resolution: " Resolved, by 
this assembly tluit the use of the title, Y.\i.B Uni- 
versity, liy the corporation existing under the name 
of the President and Fellows of Yale College in 
New Haven, is hereby authorized, and all gifts to, 
contracts with, conveyances to or by, or other acts 
affecting said corporation by cither of said names, 
shall be valid ; and the acceptance of t his act by said 
corporation shall not operate to subject its charter to 
repeal, alteration or amendment without its consent." 
This act was accepted by the President and I^'ellows 
of the college May 35. 1887. It may be said that 
no alumnus of the in.stitution has devoted more 
thought, time and strength to the promotion of the 
development of this great educational centre than 
has its ]>resent presiding officer. The exertions he 
lias made, moreover, have not only attested his 
zeal for its welfare, but have been abundantly 
rewarded during his presidency by the gro\\th 
of the university in resources and in usefulness. 
At the beginning of the first year of President 
Dwight's incumbency, the new building, named 
Dwight Hall, was opened for tlie religious interests 
of file university, and for the Christian work of its 
youngmen, the gift of Elbert B. Monroe, of Connecti 
cut. The opening of the .same year witnessed the 
completion of a new dornutory, named in commem- 
oration of T. G. Lawrance, a member, then deceased, 
of the coUegt class of 1884. In his first annual re- 
j)ort, however. President Dwight, with his well- 
known regard for the truth of history, comiecled 
these two benefactions, which came to fruitage at the 
time which has been named, with the record of the 
administration of President Porter, his immediate 
in-edecessor, as he also did the benefaction of Albert 
E. Kent of the Yale class of 1.8.53, whose gift of 
lS75,0(M) was for the purpose of providing the institu- 
tion with a new chemical laboratoiy. During the 
same year S. B. Chittenden, of Brooklyn, If. Y., 



gave 1100,000, afterward increa.sed to $125,000, to 
provide a new building for the university library. 
Another friend of the institution offered to it at least 
$125,000 for a building to be used for lecture and 
recitation rooms. This friend, Mrs. Miriam A. Ofi- 
born, of New York, afterward increased her gift 
to $180,000. The courses of study in political science 
were also increased. The number of students pur- 
sviing courses iu the graduate de|)arlmcnt was fifty- 
six. The students in the academical tleiiartment num- 
bered 570. Various smaller donations were received, 
for encouraging the .study of classical languages 
and of mathematics in this department, anil $.5.()00 
for the purpose of the Slonne Lalioratoiy. Tlic Shef- 
field Scientific School completed the forlielhyearof its 
existence and began its work with a larger class (104) 
than it had ever had. The funds of the law depart- 
ment were augmented by a conti-ibution of $25,000 
to found a inofes.siirshiii of cianmercial law and con- 
tracts, and its teaching facilities were also increased: 
1.54 pupils altiaided the school of Fine Arts. Kev. 
George B. Stevens took the cliaii' of New Testament 
criticism and interpretation, and the lectures in the 
Lyman Beecher coiuse. aiul other courses, by eminent 
specialists before the Divinity School, were valuable 
additions to its regular curriculum. Students in the 
divinity department numbered 108. By the end of the 
third year of President Dwight's administration the 
total number of studentscomiected witli i lie \uijversity 
had ri,scu to 1,305, seventy-nine of them lieing in the 
department of philosophy and the arts. Prof. George 
B. Adams took the Larned professorship of American 
history. Students in the academical depaHment 
numbered 688. Additional gifts were made tor the 




furtherance of study in the classical languages and 
mathematics. An elective course in biology was also 
opened to the students here. The Sheltic'ld Scientific 
School continued to grow, its pn|iils numbering 308, 
while the Divinity Si-hool had 133. ;uid its funds for 
the aid of needy slmlents rose in gratifying degree. 
Clinical facilities in cimneclion with the ^ledical 
School were largely ad<led to bv the comiiletion of a 
new operating theater at the I>Iew Haven Hospital. 
Prof AV. K. Towiisend was chosen to the Edward J. 
Phelps in-ofessorship of law, and there were 106 stu- 
dents of law in atti'udanee, with sixty-seven ait .stu- 
dents and 100 special students in d'rawiiig. Lega- 
cies fell to the imiversily during the year, which 
were expected, when realized, to amount to $200,- 
000. The work of education at the university was 
now carried on in seven depaitinents — the colle- 
giate or academical, the scientific, the theological, 
till' medical, law, art. and graduate studies. By the 
end of the fourth yearafler his entry ujion ottice, the 
income of the first six of these departments was 
$330,649.61, and the expenses $334,404.08. Begin- 



610 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPJEDIA 



nings wfro made for tlie erection of a new gymnasi- 
um, subscii|)ti(ins tor land anil Ijiiildinir anionnlinir 
to more tliau ^.")0.()()ll being received. The Baltell 
professoi'sliip of music was estal)lished. Students in 
the graduate courses numbered eiglity-one. E. J. 
Plielps, LL. D., resumed tlie duties of the professor- 
sliipof law, and ^50.000 was given by friends to es- 
tablisli a professorship for the study of tlie Englisli 
IJible. Prof. Albert S. Cooli became professor of 
English literature. Prof. Elias Loomis, who had 




>'• I 



long tilled the chair of natural iihiloso]ihy and as- 
tronomy, having .served the college ancl university 
for Iweuty-nine years, died, and made to it by will 
one of the largest donations ever given to the institu- 
tion by a single individual since its foundation, the 
principal of the Loomis fund being above .$300,000. 
Nearly or (piite ijJliJO.OOO came in from the estate of 
Mr. Philip Marett. The Ellsworth scholarship fund, 
for the aid of students ui the academical deiiartment, 
was increased by $13,000, and stood at !J;i)4,Sl(i.05. 
A fellowship was established by the gift of .$10,000 
from Mr. .lolm Sloane of Xew York city for graduates 
of the academical department who had shown marked 
proticieucy in thestu<ly of plivsics, and who promised 
further progress in the same line. The Sheffield 
Scientific School came into possession of the grounds 
and mansion formerlj' owned and occupied by Jo- 
seph E. Sliellield, its founder, and the latter wa.s" con- 
verted into a biological laboratory, with other lab- 
oratories of physiological chemistry, comparative 
anatomy and botany. Tlie eudovvmctit of the pro- 
fessorship oC Hebrew language and literature in the 
Divinity School was increased l)y a gill of $14,001). 
The department of the Peabody Mu.seum, devoted to 
geology and paleontology, received important addi- 
tions. The total of nifts to the university for the year 
(1889) was $71(i.()()(). 13, making the agsregate of do- 
nations to it since .luly 1, IS.SO, $1,244,39(1. There- 
port of the presidcMit for the year ending Dec. 31, 
1890, mentioned the formal dedication (.tune 23 of 
that year) of the Oliittenden Lilirary building. The 
university library fund was increased during the 
twelvemonth by the sum of $20,000. The old cab- 
inet building, erected in 1819, was taken down and 
removed, and plans were announced for lliebuilding 
of another new dormitory, the gift of P. N. Weleli, 
of New Haven. The treasurer's report for the year 
showed a balance of income over expense in every 
department save the Medical School, the Elias 
Loomis fund having reached $312,415.51, and then 



realizing for the univerMty the income of one-third 
of this ainounl, the s;ime being u.sed for the purpose 
of the astronomical observatory. The Alumni L'ni- 
versitj' Fund, a new movement, had brought to the 
institution the sum of $9,238 in its tii-st year of opera- 
tion. A bequest of $300,000 by Mr. Uavid H. Fay- 
erwealher, of New York city, was announced, 
two-thirds of which was to go to the general fund of 
the university, and one-third to the Sheffield Scien- 
tific Sc'hool. The university, it was staled, would re- 
ceive fnrlher sums from his estate, viz., the sura of 
$l.'50,00(t lor a building to be erected in cimimemora- 
tion of .Mr. Fayerweatlier, and aUso one-tenth of the 
residue of what may remain of the estate when its 
other legacies to individuals and institutions shall 
have been naid. The total sum thus coming to 
Y'ale will hardly be less than $.'500,000. The gen- 
eral fund of the university was also increa.sed by 
$1.'),000 from Jlrs. H. T." Leavenworth, of Syra- 
cuse, N. Y.. and stood at $380,475.09, not reckon- 
ing the last-mentioned gift. In.structiou in music 
had been carried fonvard with gratifying success. 
The total of university students aggregated 1,645; 
104 of them were in the graduate department, fifty- 
two of tlu'in from other institutions of learning. 
E. T. McLaughlin was elected a.s.sistant professor of 
the English language and literature. Prof. Charles 
H. Smith took the chair of American history, and 
Prof. Edward B. t'lapp was made assistant professor 
of the Greek language and literature. 119 elective 
courses of study were open to the academical stu- 
dents in the senior and .junior years. $40,000 were re- 
ceived for the Thomas Glasby NVaterman scholarship. 
Annonncement was made of a legacy of $20,000 from 
the late Gov. James E. Engli.sh. of C'oimecticul, fora 
profe.s.sorsliip of mathematics in the Scientific School, 
and that school also tiecarae the beneficiary of the 
act of the U. S. congress donating public lands "to 
the several states ancl tenitories which may provide 




colleges, for the benefit of Agriculture and the Me- 
chanic Arts."' 139 students were in the Theological 
Seminary, of whom sixteen were tnembeis of the grad- 
uate or fourth-year class. A leiraey of $40,000 for the 
endowment of .scholarships in aid of its .students was 
received and $9,000 from the estate of Mrs. E. AV. 
("olton. .$.50,000 were given by .A.ciriis Iv. Jcsui), of 
New Y'orkcity, for the "Charles J esup Fund, "in con- 
nection with the seminary, designed for its general 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



511 



uses. A fine pipe organ was donated for tlie .Marqiiand 
Chapel. T, M. Cociley, LL.l).. of jMiclii.nan, wa.s tlic 
Storrs lecturer in Uie" law department, and 111 stu- 
dents were enrolled tlicieiii. ISl stiKlent.s received in- 
struction in the Art School. The libraiy of the uni- 
versity received 1.800 volumes by IcRaey from II. M. 
Dexter. D.D., of Boston, JIass.. abunda"ntly illustrat- 
ing early Conjfregatioualism in New England, and 
the life of the Pilgrims of the Plymoutli (Mass.) col- 
ony. The total of gifts in money to the univcr.<ity for 
the year was $3867372.81. and with the becjuesls for 
the Siime jieriod, were greater in amount than in any 
previous year in the college history. The number 




Upvlo^Ha" 



of students in 1891 was 1,784. President Dwight was 
a member of the American committee for the revision 
of the English version of the Bible from 1873 to its 
completion in 1885. He is accredited by the latest 
authority as author of the following publication, in 
addition" to "The True Ideal of an American Uni- 
versity, " already noted: ■' Commentary on the Gos- 
pel of John, translated from the French of F. Godet, 
with Preface, Introductory Suggestions and Atl- 
ditional Notes." He was al.so the editor of several 
volumes of the American edition of Meyer's " (~'om- 
mentary on tlie New Testament," to which he added 
extended notes. 

HADLEY, James, scholar and educator, was 
born at Faiiticld, N. Y., March ;!(), 1831. His fathi^r 
was professor of chemistry in the medical institution 
which existed there for many years. He received 
his early education and his training for college from 
Kev. Dr. David Chassel, a man of Scotch descent and 
Scotch characteristics, who had charge of an academy 
in his native village. When nine years of age he was 
Hlllietcd with a white swclliiig on his knee, in con.se- 
quence of a casual injury, wliich disabled him for 
life, and this event is held to have been of service in 
turning his mental activity toward, as well as in 
stimulating his pursuit of, study. He edited a literary 
newspaper at a tender age. At fifteen he ]iicked up 
a Hebrew Chri^stomathy. and with .some help taught 
himself IheelemeiUs of the language. At this time, 
al.so, he occa.sionally heard the recitations of his own 
class. A little later, Dr. Chassel made him his as- 
sistant in hearing other clas.ses. At the age of nine- 
teen and a half years he entered Yale College, in the 
junior class, and was graduated in 1843. He pursued 
special stuiiies in almost every term — in one term 
German: in another, Sjiauish: in another, the cal- 
culus; in another, Hebrew. Devoting a year to fur- 
ther special study, after his graduation, he entered 
the theological department of the college, and there 
spent two years, save that from September, 1844, to 




ci/yyri^ .<^«<CC£-^ 



April, 184.5, he acted as tutor in Middlebury College, 
Vt. In September, 1845, he ln'came tutor in Yale 
College, an<l held tlial jxisition until he was made 
its assistant professor of Greek in 1S48. In 1851 he 
was elected Greek professor at his alma mater, 
after the resignation of that iirofessorshiji by Pres. 
T. D. Woolsey, and was married on the 13th of Au- 
gust of that year. February, 1865, he was pros- 
trated by an insidious disease' which necessitated re- 
lease from all active service. In September, 1866, a 
surgical oiieration 'jecame necessary, which was fol- 
lowed by long-conliuued debility. 
In January, 1868, he resumed col- 
lege work. Early in 1871 a severe 
cold induced jiartial relaxation of 
his vocal organs, and in the begin- 
ning of 1873 he was the victim of 
a similar alTcction. As a scholar 
Prof, lladley was remarkable for 
the extent of his accpiisitions. In 
addition to familiarity with Latin, 
Greek and Hebrew, as well as the 
principal modern languages, in- 
cluding Swedish, he knew the 
Arabic and Armenian, several 
Celtic tongues, the Sanskrit and 
the ditTerent forms of the Gothic. 
And in this extent of linguistic 
study he was uniformly exact. 

The variety of his knowledge was, O /, 

moreover, as remarkable as its exactness. He had 
a special delight in pure mathematics, and the late 
Prof. Pierce, of Harvard University, said he cotdd 
never forgive Yale College for making the man pro- 
fessor of Greek who sliould have been the first 
mathematician in the eoniUiy. In chronology and 
history he was pre-eminent. He was attracted to 
the history of Roman law, and jirepared a course of 
lectures upon it, which never failed to command re- 
spect, even from those to whom juri.sprndence was 
the study of a lifetime. When he was a youth, in- 
deed, the boys of his village uniformly and unani- 
mously submitted all their ilis]iutes to his arbitration 
as Hnal. He had a strong interest in political science. 
For the last two years of his life he was ])resident of 
the American Oriental Society. His miial was broad 
as well as varied in its knowledge, responding as 
readily to the achievements of Faraday, as to the 
sentiment and diction of Tenny.son. His knowledge 
of English liteniturc was exhaustive: as a critic he 
was surpassed by few, if by any, and the energy 
of his mind, it li.-is been declared, was as surprising 
as the spontaneity of its action. This was disiilayed 
in his self-reliance, his coolne.s,s, his patience in 
labor, his supreme and honest devotion to truth, and 
his sense of justice. These qualities gave him great 
authority among scholars in this country. He was 
not brought into personal contact with transatlantic 
.scholars, nor did lie lollow the German method of 
introducing himself to the scholastic world by writing 
books, but none who knew his powers and resources 
ever doubted his capacity for .securing a leading rank 
among European men of study, or of producing 
written works of high and jiermanent place in any 
department of human culture in which he might .set 
his hand. The especial reason for his repute being 
ci.satlantic was. that the tield of his usefulness and 
fame always lay in the direction of instructing 
others. He accepted this field and wrought in it, 
embracing it as the noblest calling to which he might 
a.spire. As a college officer, the testimony of one 
who knew him intimately was. that while " his soul 
was like a star and dwelt ajiart," it was no less true 
that "his heart the lowliest duties on itself did lay." 
In every sphere of action he was prompt, perse- 
vering and thoughtless of himself. While con.serva- 
tive in temperament, he was as ready for change as 



512 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPAEDIA 



the most ardent of liis loss cxiu-rienced coUeas'ies, 
provided auy chaiii;e could lie jiisiilied to his juds;- 
ineut. And with all his abilities and aequisitious. It 
is to he added that Prof. Iladley was a man whose 
highest and best iutelleetual aehievemeuts were 
rooted in character — his whole iiersonality exemiili- 
fjing the truth of the remark of Lord fiacon, tliat 
one cannot truly enter the temple of science, any 
more llian tlie Uinudom of heaven, except he shall 
tirst become as a little cliild in his docility to the 
truth. Moreover, his character was formed and 
sustained by a .steadfa.sl and earnest Christian faith. 
At the age often he became a communicant 
in the Presbyterian church. At the age of 
eighteen the death of a brother awoke his 
faith, then slumbering, to vigorous activity. 
The last work of his life was in the inter- 
est of the revision of the New Testament, for 
which he marked with a |)encil the phrases and 
words re(|uiringaIteratioii, in the tirst three chapters. 
Prof. Hadley's "Greek Grammar for Schools and 
Colleges" was published in lyGO (X. Y.); his " Brief 
History of the English Language " was contributed 
as an introduction to the edition of " Webster's 
American IJictionary of the English Language," 
published at Springtield, Mass., in iHiH. and his 
" Elements of the Greek Language "was issued at 
New York in 1869. Jlis son Aithur, professor of 
political economy in Yale, inherited much of his 
father's ability. Prof. Iladlev died in Kew Haven 
Nov. 14. 1872. 

BACON, Leonard, clergyman, was born in De- 
troit, Jlieh., where his father was then a missionary 
to the Indian.s, Feb. 19, 1802. The father died in 
1817, leaving three sons and four daughters. Leon- 
ard's pre])aratory education was obtained at Hart- 
ford, Conn. During the year of his father's death 
he entered the sophomore class in Yale College, and 
was graduated thence in 
1830. In 1824 young Bacon 
was graduate<l fmm An- 
dover (Jlass.) Theological 
Seminary, his term of study 
tliere being a year longer 
than the usual course. In 
1825 he was ordained and 
installed jiastor of the Cen- 
ter Congregational church. 
New Ilaven, Conn. This 
was his only pastorate, and 
he held the relation in one 
''■-. form or another for lifty- 
seven years, and until his 
death, "in September, 1806, 
he became acting professor 
of revealed theology in Yale 
Tlieologi('al Seminary, be- 
C(Huing i)astor emeritus of 
the Center church. In 1871 
lie was chosen lecturer on ecclesiastical polity and 
American church history at the same seminary. 
Dr. Bacon was a distinguished chamiiion of New 
England Congregationalism, and of the traditions 
and practices of the I'uritan fathers. As a sermon- 
izer he has been characterized as "able but not bril- 
liant. But when any subject of coulempcirarv in- 
terest engaged his attention and aroused his enthu- 
siasm, his discourses were able and convincing. 
Thus, he was a man of much force and of decided 
individuality, who succeeded in directing the cur- 
rents of popular thought on many important ques- 
tions. He loved an argument, no! fur the .sak<' of 
displaying his dialectic skill, wliieh was by no means 
small, but beeau.sc lie was thoroughly in earnest in 
what he believed and thought, and regarded it as a 
con.scientious duty to argue his case with the heat 
and vigor of genuine conviction. In his views of 




„^4-£»^C-«--C'«^'»52<,C»^l^^ 



Congregational polity and ecclesiastical government 
he was ranked as a conservative, and he had an an- 
tiquarian taste which |iredispo.scd him to habits of 
special research; but he always kept abreast of the 
time, and was often eon.siderably in advance of it." 
His connection with the jiress was long and credit- 
able. From 1826 to 1838 lie was an "editor of the 
"Christian Spectator,"a religious magazine publish- 
ed in New Haven. In 184;i he aided in establi.-hing 
"Tlie New Euglander "(now "The New Enghiuder 
and Yale Review "), a bi-monthly, and kept u]) his 
eomieetiou with it until his death." In company with 
Hev. Drs. Richard S. Storrs, of Brooklyn, N. Y., 
and Joseph P. Thompson, of New Yoi"k city, he 
fotinded the "Independent," a religious weekly of 
New York city, and for sixteen years was one (if its 
regular working editors. In 1,868 he retired from its 
active managemeut.allhough he afterward frequently 
contributed to its columns. The iieenliar charactcr- 
i.sties given to the papier by Dr. Bacon continued to 
mark its career for many years. In March, 1874, he 
was one of the moderators of the council of Congre- 
gational churches, which met at Brooklyn, N. Y., and 
took part in jireparinga rebuke to I'lyhuiulli church 
in that city. Rev. Henry AVaul lieeeiier, pastor, for 
dropping Theodore Tilton from its roll of member- 
ship without formal trial. In Februaiy, 1876, he 
was also moderator of the advisory council convened 
in Brooklyn, at the call of the Plymouth church, in 
regard to the not altogether savory .scandal then well 
known throughout the country. The views held liy 
Dr. Bacon on the question of slavery were well de- 
fined and vigorou.sly promulgated, "being in tin's, 
as in many other questions of the day, far ahead 
of his associates. He esjioused the scheme for 
colonization of the negroes in America at an early 
stage in his career, and was at one lime the pillar 
of the American Colonization Society in New 
England. He had decided ability as a plalfurm 
.speaker, and used that talent arducmsly in oiipusiiiou 
to the abdlitionists and their belief, as expounded by 
"William Lloyd Garrison. About the year 18.")0 his 
view's on colonization were materiaily modilicd. 
During the civil war he took the most pronounced 
stand in support of the U. S. governnieul, and occu- 
pied common ground with the aboliticaiists. For 
many j'ears he was connected with the coriioration 
of Yale College, and was a conservative in regard to 
its management. He was genial in manner, and had 
a quiet humor which made his letters ,-ind controver- 
sial articles interesting to a wider circle than a de- 
nominational preacher usually commands. It was 
said of him when he died: "Leonard Bacon will hold 
an honorable place in the records of the nineteenth 
century, and it may be doubled if there be anyone 
in the Congregalionalist bodv who can adequately 
supply his loss," He was knciwn during his 1,-iter 
years, as the "Nestor" of Congregationali.sm. Be- 
sides innumerable pani|>hlets and reviews. Dr. 
Bacon printed: "Select Practical "Writings of 
Richard Baxter," with life of the author (New 
Haven, 1831; .second edition, 1836, 2 vols.); "A 
Manual for Young Church Members" (is;!3); 
"Thirteen Historieid Discourses on the Completion 
of Two Hundred Years from tlie Beginning of the 
First Church in New Ilaven" (is;j9); " Slaveiy Dis- 
cussed in Occasional Essa_vs from 1833 to 1846," of 
which he once .said that to know that it moidded 
Abraham Lincoln's opinions on slavery was .satisfac- 
tion enough for having written it; "Christian Self- 
Culture; or. Counsels for the Beginning and Prog- 
ress of a Chiistian Life" (1863); "Historical Dis- 
course at Worcester, Mass., Sept. 22, 18(i3;" "The 
Genesis of the New England Churches" (New York, 
1874), illustrated; " Sketch of the Rev. David Ba- 
con" (1876). He died at New Haven, C<ain., Dec, 
24, 1881. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



513 




BEACH, Moses Yale, journalist, was born at 
Walliugforil, Conn., Jan. 1, ISDO. His paternal 
ancestors were amonj; the first settlers of Stratford, 
Conn., and on liis motlier's side he was descended 
from tlie family of Elihu Yale, the liencfaelor of 
Yale ('oUege. He was early a])prenticecl toaeabinet- 
maker at Hartford, Conn. lie was ambitious and 
full of eneriiy, and before the e.xpiration of his ap- 
prenticeshiii purchased his release and bej;an busi- 
ness for himself at Northampton, Mass. He secured 
a partner in his trade, and won sulise(|uently I he 
first premium of the Franklin Institute for the best 
cabinet ware exhibited. ^Ir. lieaeli had inventive 
talent, and was associated with 
Thomas Hlancliard in the inven- 
tion of the stein-wheel steamboat. 
He also invented a machine for cut- 
ting rags, which is now geuerally 
used in paper mills, but owing to 
delay in obtaining the (latent lie did 
not derive any considerable renui- 
neraliou from the invention. In 
1837 he removed willi his family 
to Saugerties on the Hud-son, where 
he was for a time engaged in the 
paper-mill business. Mr. Beach 
had, in 1821, married Xancy Day, 
a sister of the founder of the New 
York "8\ui." and in is;!.") he pur- 
chased an interest in that pa|)er, of 
which he subsequently became jiro- 
pvietor. From the start, his native 
energy and enterjjrise told upon the 
"Sun." New features were intro- 
duced and original methods adopted for securing 
the tirst tidings of important events. E.xpress trains 
were run between various points at Jtr. Beach's ex- 
pense, and prior to the introduction of the telegraph 
he employed carrier pigeons to bring early European 
news from incoming steamers, as well as from 
political gatherings, racetracks, etc. He assisted 
Clark and Locke in the preparation of the "Moou 
Hoax," which first appeared in the "Sun," baffled 
the scientific world, and caused much comment in 
the journals of both hemispheres. During the Mex- 
ican war he found the means of transmitting news 
so slow that he establi.shed a fast express, by 
which the time between Mobile and ]\Iontgoniery, 
Ala., was reduced (me-third. He laid the mat- 
ter bef(.)re his fellow-publishers, who agreed to share 
the expense of the undertaking, and this was the 
origin of the alliance known as the " A.s.sociatcd 
Press." Realizing the demoralizing elTects of war 
on the country, he visited Mexico in iy4S, at the 
urgent request of President Polk, and secured the 
interviews and agreements which were the basis of 
the sid)sequent treaty of peace. During the trip 
Mr. Bc^ach received the first lueiuonition of the paral- 
j-sis which eventually terminaled bis life. Finding, 
after a eonsidcr.able struggle that he could not over- 
come Ibis disease, he gave up busiiu'ss in 1840, an<l 
returned to his native town where he jiassed quietly 
the remainder of his life. He was always nu active 
worker in public matters and an earnest advocate of 
]iopular education. He died at Wallingford, Comi., 
Jan. li), 18()8. 

DANA, Charles Anderson, journalist, was 
born at Hin.sdale, N. H., Aug. 8, 18ii). His Amer- 
ican .ancestry is traced toUichard Dana, from whom 
Chief Ju.stice Dana and I he two Hiehard Henry Da- 
nas were descenili-d, and who is inenlioned as early 
as KUO. AVhencpiitc a boy. Charles was .sent to Buf- 
falo, N. Y., where he was a clerk in a store until he 
was eighteen years of age, by which time he had 
fitted himself for college. He entereil Harv.ard in 
1889, but a serious trouble with his sight temiiorarilv 
disabled him and prevented his tiuishiug the um- 




vcrsity course. After two years in college, he be- 
came enamored of the eonnnunislic ideas which 
were being carried into effect at " Brook Farm," and 
probably with the notion that open-air living, such 
as he would get under the regulations of that institu- 
tion, was the best lliing for liis jie.allh, be joined in 
the experiment with a number of educated and cul- 
tivated associates, among whom may be mentioned: 
Theodore Parker, AVilliam Henry Channing, George 
William Curlis, Nalh.anicl llawiliorne, George Kip- 
ley and JIargarel Fuller. The Brook Farm A.s.so- 
(■iiuion of Education and Agriculture was an ex- 
prcs.sion not only of Ihe Iransccndentalism wliich 
from 182.5 to 184.") attracted |ihilosophical minds in 
the region of Boston, but also of the Fourier com- 
numisfic movement in Europe. The experiment was, 
in many of ils jihases, a prcjlest 
against ihe Calvinism which had 
long dominated New England 
thought and action. The organ- 
ization was iiractically a stock 
conqiany. A farm of abiail 200 
acres was ])urchased at West Hox- 
biuy, now a i^art of Boston, where 
the transcendentalists hoped to sup- 
ply their material needs by farm- 
ing, and tostinndale their spiritual 
and intellectual lifeby the associa- 
tion of cultured minds. Enier.son 
was interested in it for a time, and 
so was Bronson Aleott, but not 
practically. Those who lived on 
the farm plowed, hoed and made 
hay, and tried to make butter. The 
sale to an outside market of any extra materi.al pro- 
ducts proved to be a delusion. By 1843 the comm\m- 
ity had become quite Fourierite, and a year later it 
was ])rogressing rapidly irilo Swedenborgianism. 
The whole undertaking collapsed, finally, when the 
" phalanstery " of Brook Farm (.see illustration) was 
destroyed by fire on March 3, 1846. Of this whole 
groupdf hopeful transcendentalists. Jlr. Dana is said 
to have been Ihe only one who had the practical busi- 
ness nature to attack the complicated economic ques- 
tions brought to his notice. He was only twenty- 
three years of age at the time, and although his ex- 
])eriment was a practical failure, it was not without 
advantage to him as a matter of association. His 
fir.st newspajier training was obtained about this time 
in connection with a social journal called the " Har- 
binger." He also worked for a time on the " Chro- 
notype," which was published in Boston by Klizur 
Wright. Thus a certain amount of bias was given 
him in the direction of a po.ssil)le reform of social in- 
accuracies, which probably alTccted his after editorial 
history. In 1847 he settled in New York, and w&s 
a meiirber of the editorial .staff of Ihe N. Y. "Trib- 
une " from that time down to bSUl. during a con.sid- 
crable portion of which he was ils managing idilor 
and the man most trusted by its eminent founder, 
Horace Greeley. During the period immediately 
lireeeding the war of the'rebellion. Ihe ■■Tribune" 
undoubtedlv owed very much of its success in Ihe 
matter of circulation and advertising patronage to 
ilr. Dana's natural gift for the live edilorial super- 
vision of a irreal daily. In the meantime he did not 
fail to use liis valuable acquirements in literary work, 
being employed by I). Appleton iV Co. as a reader 
for several years alter he went on the stall of the 
'■Tribune. "" In 18,"),"). with Georg(^ Uipley, he plaiuietl 
and edited for the same house the " New American 
Cyclopedia." which was completed in 1803, ami ten 
years later was thoroughly revised and is.sucd in a 
"new edition under Ihe title of the "Amc'iican Cyclo- 
l)edia"(l(ivols., 1873-71)). In 18.")7 was first p\iblished 
bv Ihe.Vppletons Mr. Dana's " Hou.sehold Book of 
Poetry," a coUectiou of the best minor poems of the 



514 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 



English lan!riia<ie. one of the most pk-asing coiiipila- 
tious of its kiiiil ever mafic; it passed through nu- 
merous editions .•iiiil conlinues to he ]>opular. Tlie 
fifteen _vears of Mr. Dana's iniiiorlanl and inlhiential 
association with llie "Tribune " ended in 1801, when, 
disagreeing witli Mr. Greeley a.s to the proper conduct 
of the war, he resigned. Jlr. Dana was at once olfered 
by the secretary of war, Edwin M. Stanton, a iiositiou 
of importance in lliat department, and in 1H63 was 
appointed assistant secretary of war. an ottice which 
he held until after the surrender at Appomattox. In 
the war department, the |)owers given to Mr. Dana 
and the conlidencc placed in liim enabled him to l)e 
of the greatest .service to tlie Federal cause and to 
exercise an appreciable intluence upon the progress 
of the war. He possessed the rare and valuable 
faculty of judging men, his discernment being un- 
erring in regard to the appointment of officers to 




high positions and their assignment to grave and 
important duties. To Gen." Grant he "proved a 
firm friend at a time when most powerful influ- 
ences were at work to do him injury. Jlr. Dana's 
duties obliged him to make frequent rapid jour- 
neys to different parts of the coimtry for the 
purpose of observing and reporting to Mr. Lincoln 
and Mr. Stanton the condition of affairs. During 
the campaigns of northern Mississippi and Vicks- 
burg and at Chattsuiooga, he was in the saddle at 
the front most of the time. At the close of the war 
he was invited to become the editor of a new paper 
in Chicago, the " Hepubliean," an invitation which 
he accepted. He stayed there only a short time, 
liowever, as the paper in question failed, owing to 
causes quite outside of his connection with it. He 
returned to New York and oi-ganized a company 
which purchased the "Sun," at that lime an old and 
moribund pro|)erty. Its subsequent succe.ss has been 
continuous and remarkable. Mr. Dana issued the 
first number of the ".Sun" under his editorial su- 
pervision Jan. 27, 1868, jvs a democratic newspaper, 
and from that time it was an important factor in 
political journalism. He soon showed I lie purpose 
which has ever .since actuated him, of making his 
paper a sharp, aggressive instrument, indi'penileiit 
of party limitations and unbound by party leading- 
strings. At the same lime be lias carried it on as a 
newspaper remarkal)le for the completeness of its 
arrangements for the leathering of news, and for the 
e.xcellence with wiiich lli.il news has been present- 
ed to the public. Neither money nor pains were 
spared in ohtaininsthe very b"st editorial talent, the 
success of the "Sun" a.s.souation being notable. 
Mr. Dana, being a man of strong character, with 
pronounced opinions of his own, has succeetled in 
making a sufficient number of enemies to keep the 
"Sim " constantly before the public. Occasional 
eccentricity in its management has added to the gen- 
eral interest with which the couree of the paper is 



viewed ; such, for instance, as its sudden change 
of base in the matter of the Beecher trial, and such, 
again, a.s its advocacy of Gen. B. F. Butler for presi- 
dent of the United Slates during the campaign of 
1884. Mr. Dana's vigorous personality has invari- 
ably domiimted every interest or movement with 
which he has been connected, and the suc<:ess of tlie 
" Sun " has been due in large measure to his remark- 
able intellectual power and extraordinary editorial 
gifts. Besides the literary works alreaily inentioued, 
he wrote, in a.s,socialion with Gen. James H. Wilson, 
a "Life of Ulys.ses S. Grant" (S]>ringtield, 1808). 
Afterward, when Gen. Grant was i)resideut, Mr. 
Dana did not hesitate to make the "Sun " the medi- 
um for the most incisive and severe criticism of the 
administration. The "Sun" supported Jlr. Tildeu 
for the presidency, and was bilR-r over the manner in 
which theelection of 1876 teriuiuated. always there- 
after styling Rutherford B. Hayes, in its columns, the 
"Fraud president." In 1880, when Gen. Winfield 
Scott Hancock was the candidate of the democratic 
party for president, Jlr. Dana did not give the can- 
didate his support, a most important eontribniion to 
the literature of that campaign being the statement 
in the columns of the "Sun "that ilie democratic 
candidate for president was "agoinl man and weighs 
two hundred and tifty pounds." In the campaign 
of 1884, the " Sun " was pronounced in its opposition 
to Grover Clevelan<l, the democratic candidate, and 
effusive in its expressions of confidence in the suc- 
cess of Benj. F. Butler, who received at that election 
from the combined greenliack and anti-monopolist 
parties 133,835 out of 10,1)00,000 votes. A man of 
notable personal appearance, Mr. Dana has gained a 
high character as a public man. and is freely called 
upon in connection with imporl.iiit occasions. Re- 
taining always his interest in intellectual employ- 
ment, he keeps himself surrounded, at his luxurious 
home on Long Island, with valuable works of art 
and choice books, devoting his leisure tliere to con- 
genial pursuits. He has been frequently mentioned 
for political honors, but has prefei-red the editorial 
career, in which he has made himself eminent. 

PALMER, Albert Marshman, theatrical man- 
ager, was born at North Stouington, Conn., July 27, 
1838. He is of a Puritan lineage which goes back 
to the earliest colonial davs of Connecticut. His 
father Rev. A. G. Palmeri D.D., one of the best- 
known preachers of eastern Connecticut, was set- 
tled for more than fifty years over 
the Baptist church in Stouington 
borough. His mother's family was 
of Scotch descent, her maiden name 
being Sara A. Langworlhy. Albert 
was educated in private schools and 
at the Connecticut Literary Institute, 
Suffleld. He came to New York city 
in 1859 to enter the law department 
of the New York rniversity, from 
which he was graduated in istil, and 
upon his graduation he was admitted 
to the New York bar. He siienl only a 
year in a lawyer's olfice, however, find- 
ing more congenial employment in the 
public service until, in is(!S. he was 
made librarian of the Merc-uilile 
Library. Here he remained four 
years. In 1872 he entered upon theat- 
rical management, taking control in 
year, of the Union S<|uare theatre. 
was immediate, and for ten years, until he retired, 
the house maintained a singular reputation for uni- 
form prosperity in the plays presented. The .scenic 
effects were remarkable for their ai)pro]iriatene.ss and 
truth, and the company was the sliongest ever got 
together in New York for dramas of modern society. 




June of that 
His success 



OF AMERICAN BIOGBAPIIY. 



515 



or for robust pieces with a romantic and melodra- 
matic turu. Dviriug one- season Mr. Palmer luul in 
his stock company and actively engaifcd in the i)lays 
prodnced byliinr Charles Tliorne, Jr., J. }I. Stud- 
tlart, Mclvec lianlim. Stuart Uobsou, John Parselle, 
Fredericli Hobinson, F. F. JIackty, Clara Morris, 
Charlotte Thomp.son, Hose Eyiinge. Fanny Morant, 
Maude Granger, Ivate Cla.xton, ICilty IJlauehard, 
Marie Wilkius, Sara Jewett, Maud Harrison and 
Ida Vernon. At various times in his companirs. at 
the Union Square theatre or at the Maili.son Square, 
or Palmer's, which lie afterward managed, appeared 
a very large i^roportion of the actors of the period, 
including Agues Booth, Mrs. E. J. Philli|is, Agnes 
Ethel, jiark\Smith, Welsh Edwards. G. F. Rc)\ve, 
Richard !Manstield, Fraidi Mordauut, Louis James, 
James O'Xeil, E. M, Holland, \V. J. Le Moyne, 
M. ]5. Curtis, J. B. Polk, Joseph Wheelock, 'and 
J. B. Studly. Among American dramatists fostered 
at this tlieatre was Bronson Howard, who gained his 
first great financial reward in " The Banker's Daugli- 
ter," though not until after that play was reshaped 
in accordance with the minute coun.sel of Mr. 
Pahner, and the help of the playwright, A. R. 
Cazauran. Bartley Campbell's "My Partner" was 
produced at the Union Square in 1ST!), a play from 
the success of which home aiuhors gained a new era 
of encouragement and productivity. Many other 
American plays have been introduced by Jlr. Palmer 
during his career, while he has given careful con- 
sideration to many hundreds that have been sent to 
him by authors. "The Geneva Cro.ss" was written 
for him by George Fawcett Rowe. on an order given 
after a discussion of the theme and the outline <if 
the story. The first work of adaptation that brought 
Mr. Steele Mackaj-e into pronn'nence and gave him 
a career, was " Rose Michel," which was conlided to 
him by Mr. Palmer with instruitious. Mr. Palmer 
as manager had often to use the courage of his con- 
victions in refusing plays that lacked acting qual- 
ities. Thus he permitted, but ilid not share in the 
production of Bret Harte's "Two Men of Sandy 
Bar." He also sought to give encouragement to 
American writers by a series of authors' matinees 
at the* Madison Sijuare theatre, where plays by 
W. D. Howells. Brander Matthews, and others were 
produced; but in Ihealrical management, art mu.st 
be recognized as universal, and he has made it a 
point to entertain the public with the best products 
of the genius of the day, wherever written. For 
in.stance: one of the most j^rotitable plays ever 
brought to America was "The Two Orphans," by 
D'Enuery, produced at the Union Square, Dec. 17, 
1874. It was ad.apted with sucli skill, and the 
changes made were so bold and advantageous, that 
its American popularity is largely confined to the 
Union Square version. "Agnes." "Led Astray," 
"Ro,se Michel," "The Danlchetfs," "The Ran- 
zaus," and "A Parisian Romance," are a few of 
the notable productions of the house. This ten 
years of management is likely to become very not- 
able, for, in addition to Mr. Palmer's own remini.s- 
cences, a minute record of it lias been prepared, 
which embraces many volumes of autobiographies 
in tlie manu.script of the actors and authors, photo- 
graphs and engravings, the play bills, newspaper 
criticisms, etc., all inlaid by the finest process on 
sheets of uniform size. These memoraljilia, jire- 
served, as they will be, by some a.s.sociation like the 
Players' Club or the Aelore' Fund, will be valuable 
and interesting alike to the future hislrion and his- 
torian. In June. 1SS4, Mr. Palmer assumed the 
management of the Madison .Square theatre, and in 
1888 secured control of Wallack's. which has .since 
been called Palmer's. Among the plays that reached 
great popularity at the Madison Square, and which 
were made known throughout the country by Mr. 



Palmer's traveling companies, may be mentioned, 
"Jim the Penman," "Saints and Sinners," "A Pair 
of SiiectacU-s," and "Elaine." Tlie ojiening of the 
regular .season at Palmer's theatre, in IS'Jl, was 
marked by the jiroduetion of "Alabama," the most 
conspicuous and successful of native dramas, based 
on .Vmerican life, and treating in a Inqjpy way of 
nalinnal .sentiment. In 1882 he originated the idea of 
eslablishing a new charity, and was the principal fac- 
tor in fouiuling Ihe Actors' Vnml of .\meiica, of which 
he has for many years been tlie iircsident. The Actors' 
Fund cares for every professional player in distress, 
having since its foundation, according to Mr. Palmer's 
rejiort in bS'.ll, afforded relief to ■2,.')71 sick and indi- 
gent, and given burial to 509. It had e.vpended in that 
time |1:W,;)I4.43. The total assets were |75,0H1..51. 
The " Fund " has a burial plot of its own in Ever- 
greens Cemetery. It is altogether the most powerful 
organization of its kind in the world, and with its 
receipts increasing each year, from the .systematic 
series of benefits, its power for good and for the 
general elevation of the dramatic profession is not " 
to be easily estimated. 

McCIJTCHEN, Cicero Decatur, lawyer, was 
born in Hall county, Ga.. Oct. 31, 1824. His father, 
Benjamin R., born in Elbert county, Ga., was of 
Scotch-Irish, and his mother, Jane Bell, born in 
Jackson county, Ga., of English descent. Cicero 
received an academic education at Lafayette, Walker 
Co., Ga., was admitted to the 
bar there, and began to prac- 
tice law in 1846. "in 1854 he 
moved to Dalton, Ga., where 
he continued to )>ractice suc- 
cessfully until the civil war. 
He entered the Confederate 
service in October, 1863, as 
lieutenant of the 4th Georgia 
cavalry, rising to be captain, 
and fighting gallantly in the 
fierce cam|iaigns of the West. 
In the spring of 1864 he re- 
signed from the service, ow- 
ing to his election as state 
senator in the previous Octo- 
ber, the Confederate author- 
ities refu.sing in that year to 
furlough olificers to attend 
the legi-slature. In the sen- 
ate he zealously defended the 
war policy of the Confed- 
erate government and the constitutionality of the 
conscrii>t law, both of which were rigorously assailed 
by the dominant imrly. At the end of the war he re- 
.sumed his law practice at Dalton, and wasai>pointed 
judge of the superior court by Gov. Smith in 1.S72, 
and ivaiipointed by Gov. Col<|uitt in 1877. Declining 
further service on the bench he returned to the |irac- 
tice of his ]irofessiiiu in 1881. In December, 1890, 
he was ap))ointed by Gov. Northen a member of the 
judicial commission created by a .special act of the 
legislature to adjudicate matters in controversy be- 
tween the le.s,sees of the Western iV Atlantic railroad 
and the state of Georgia. This commission ended its 
labors and rendered its judgment May 23, 18!tl. A 
brave soldier, model citizen and able legislator. 
Judge >IcCutchen has also been one of the most emi- 
nent lawyers and jurists of his slate, having been 
retained in the heaviest litigation in his seclicai. He 
made so signal an administralion on the bench that 
his name was prominently mentidued for the .stale 
supreme court. His characler is \v(ll-rounde<I and 
his life blameless. He married, in 1N.54, Frances C. 
Kelly, a noble woman, who lias done her full share 
in making their home a most harmonious one for 
themselves and for their chiltlieu. 




^,.d:ikS^^Z^ 



516 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 




^iCiift^ ^^^'^^ 



HISCOX, David, pharmaceutical chemist, was 
born in New Jersey Oct. 4, 1837. He is descended 
from Matthias Hitchcock who came to ]5oston from 
London in 1635 in the Susan and Ellen, and the 
same year became one of the proprietors of the 
New llaven colony. The great-grandfather of the 
subject of this sketch went to Massachusetts with 
the Connecticnt troops at the Le.xinirtim alarm, was 
afterward ensiirn '.if tlie 7th 
companj', Col. Doui^lass's bat- 
talion, and took part in the 
battle ol Lonj; Island. In 
1778 he was first lieutenant in 
Col. McClellan's Cambridge 
regiment. David Hi.scox was 
educated princijially in the 
public .schools and at the 
Free Academy of New York; 
but was compelh'd to leave 
the latter before completing 
the course on accoiml of fail- 
ing health. He entered his 
father's otlice soon after and 
„ .. ^^ . , was for some time engaged 

^, 9 , ' ,. IY ''^ in the ship timber business. 

^^ ' ■ ' '' His father, becoming financi- 

ally embarras.sed, went West 
and left the business in charge 
of the son, who managed it so 
judiciou.sly, that, in connection with his real estate 
operations, he accumulated a snug little fortune of 
$10,000, besides supporting the family during the 
father's absence. In order to enable "his father to 
start anew in business, David disposed of his real 
estate and liquidjUed his father's debts. Having a 
natural fondness for art, he achieved some success 
as a painter, but for lack of funds was unable to con- 
tinue in that line. He then entered the house of U. 
Van Duzer, wholesale druggist, and remained for 
ten years, acquiring in the" meantime a knowledge 
of pharmaceutical chemistry. Having accuuudated 
a small capital, he organized in 1875 the firm of 
Hiscox & Co. for the manufacture of specialties in 
proprietary articles, four of which were from his 
own formulas. For several years he has occupied a 
leading position in his profession, and is a member 
of the National Wholesale Druggists' Association, 
and of the Association of Manufacturers and Deal- 
ers in Proprietaiy Articles. 

SAJNT GATJDENS, Augustus, sculptor, was 
born in Dublin, Irehuul, Jlareli 1, 1848, but was 
brought to New York while still 
an infant. He received his fir.st 
lessons in drawing at Cooper In- 
stitute, New York city, in 1861, 
and studied afterward'(186.")-66). 
in the National Academy, model- 
ing when be was able to find the 
time, and working at the same 
time as a cameo-cutter. From 
18(i7 to 1870 he lived in P.^ris, 
where he studied in the Eeole 
(h-s Beniix Arttt. imder Fraufois 
.loufTroy. .and from 1S70 to 1872 
in Home, where he made his first 
statue, "Hiawatha." ]{eturning 
to America in 1872, he settled in 
New York city, where he has 
since re.sideil. He occupies a 
prominent jiosition among Amer- 
ican sculptors. One of his most « idcly known, as 
well as one of his most characteristic- works, is his 
statue of Adm. Farragut (1880). which stands in :Mad- 
Ison Square, New York city. When this statue is ap- 
proached from behind, it resembles nothing so much 
as a man standing on the top of a wall. Hut it is 




not designed to be seen from behind, and in a few 
years its back will be i)rotected by a massive group 
of trees. When seen from the front it is very im- 
pressive. The figure, vigorous both in conception 
and execution, stands free, natural, and command- 
ing, while the pedestal, whose two wings are washed 
over, as it were, with half-ieliefs, produces an archi- 
tecionic and even pictorial ell'ect. The eye is ar- 
rested immediately, and when the work i.s closely 
examined it is found richly and subtly suggestive. 
This Ipicture.sque or tableau-like effect is \"ery con- 
sjncuous in some of his most excellent works; for 
in.stancc, the bas-relief, "Adoration of the Cross by 
Angels," in St. Thomas's church. New York city, 
and "Lincoln," in Lincoln park, Chicago (188f). 
Among his other works arc ])ortrait busts of William 
JI. Evarts (1873). Theodore I). Wool.sey (1876), 
(shown in the vignette); Gen. Sherman (1888), and 
medallions of Bastien le Page (187!)), and IJobert L. 
Stevenson (1887). The decoration of Trinity clnirch, 
Boston, and the monument to LeRoy King, New port. 
B. I., are the joint works of Mr. St. Gaudcns and 
John La Farge. 

LOGAN, Thomas M., soldier, lawyer and rail- 
road ollicer, was born in Charleston, S. C. Nov. 3, 
1840. and is descended from the Logan family of 
Rcstalrig, Scotland, an account of which is given in 
"Tylers History of Scotland." He is the son of 
Judge George William and Eliza Staun (Yonge) 
Logan, and grandson, on his moth- 
er's side, of Dr. Jo.se|)h Glover, of 
Charleston, George William Logan 
has left an interesting " Reconl of 
the Logan Family " dating back to 
the time of the distinguislied Scot- 
tish wit known as " The Lairil of 
Logan," who was born at " Logan 
House" in 1739. Having previ- 
ously been sent to good private 
schools, the .subject of this sketch 
was graduated from .South Carolina 
College fir.st in the class of 1860. 
He served as private in the Wash- 
ington Light Infantryat the siege of 
Fort Sumter in 1861; helpeil to or- 
ganizecompany A, Hampl<in legion, 
and was elected its second lieuten- 
ant; was present with that company 
at the first liattle of .Manassas, and 
shortly thereafter was elected its 
captain; was wounded at Gaines's Jlill, and although 
.still lame, commanded his company at second Manas- 
sas. For conspicuous gallantry at Shariisbui'g he was 
promoted to the rank of ma jor.and subsequently trans- 
ferred to Jenkin's South Carolina brigade, with the 
rankof lieutenant-colonel, taking jiart with his com- 
mand in the .Sullolk and lilackwater campaigns under 
Long-street. Having been especially selected by Gen. 
I). H. Hill for that purjiose, he rendered him valuable 
service in the .summer of 1863 by a reconnoissanc-e in 
force fifteen miles in advan<-eof hislinctodevi-lopthe 
position and strength of tin- i-neuiv then tbreatening 
Richmond, acccanplisbing the undertaking with liut 
slight loss. In command (^f the sliarpshooleis with 
liOngstreet in the Chattanooga and Knowille eam- 
]>aign. he added to his n-putation as a daring and skill- 
fid skirmish fighter. Having been promoted to the 
rank of colonel in the sunuuer of 1864. he was again 
severely wounded in ;i skirmish with a sujierior force 
at Riddle's or AVhitlock's Store; was promoted to the 
rank of brigadier-general (tin- youngest in the Con- 
feder,-Me ;u-uiy) in I)i-(-eiiib(-r. 1S(!4: was assigned at 
tlie solii-ilatio'n of .Maj.-Gen. 51. C. Butler to that gen- 
eral's old brigade, and conunanded it at Beiitonville, 
N.C., making, on the retreat of theConfederate army, 
the last charge of the war at the head of a squad- 
ron of Keill's battalion. After the war. Gen. Logan 





^^^^^^::>>.:^^^^ 



COPYRIGHT. 1B92. BV JAMES T. WMITt 1 CO. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



519 



began the study of law in Biohmond, Vu., and after- 
ward practiced" successfully for ten or twelve years. 
Becoming interested in railroad projierties, he con- 
ceived, and with the co-operation of friends success- 
fully carried out, the idea of consolidating various 
railroads into a complete whole known as the IJich- 
raond ifc Danville system, wliich subsciiucntly con- 
trolled more than 9,000 miles of road. Tliough 
obliged, as vice-president of this far-reaching .sy.stem, 
to spend much of his time in New York, his home 
is in Virginia — in winter at Richmond, and in sum- 
mer at his estate, " Algoma," in Buckingham coun- 
ty. Gen. Logan was Quarried in 1805 to Kate V. 
Co.v. They have had nine childien. 

ABBOTT, Lyman, auther.editorand clergyman, 
was born in Roxbury, Mass., Dec. 18, 18:5.5. the third 
son of Jacob Abbott (q. v.). He was grHiluated from 
the University of New York, and soon afterward, 
being admitted to the bar, engaged with his two 
older brothers in the practice of law. Wliile thus em- 
ployed he wrote, in collaboration with Ihem, the two 
novels, "t'onecnt L'orner.s, " 
and "Hatthew Caniljy." 
But the ministry was more 
to his taste than the legal 
profession, and after study- 
ing theology under his 
uncle, John 8. C. Abbott, 
he was ordained in l.SOO a 
clergyman of the Congre- 
gational church. His tiret 
charge was in Terre Haute, 
Ind., where he remained 
until 1865, greatly beloved 
by his people. Then he 
became discouraged. He 
thought the .seed he had 
sown had not sprung up, 
and concluding he was not 
fitted for pastoral work, re- 
signed his charge, and ac- 
cepted the secretaryship 
of the American Freed- 
men's Commission. This 
took him to New York 
city, but visiting Terre Haute subsequently during 
a revival, he found that the seed he had thought to 
be uufruitfid was yielding an abundant harvest. 
This encouraged him to persevere in the work of the 
ministry, andhe assumed the pastorate of the New 
England church in New York city, at the same 
time (after 1868) conducting the " Literary Record " 
of " Harper's JIagazine," and editing the "Ilhis- 
trated Christian Weekly." This la.st named position 
he at length resigned to become associated with 
Henry Ward Beecher in the editorship of the ' ' Chris- 
tian Union," of which iutiuential journal he has 
for several years been editor-in-chief. In Octo- 
ber, 1887, he was elected temporary succes.sor to 
Henry Ward Beecher in the ])a.storate of PlynunUh 
church, Brooklyn, and not long afterward perma- 
nent pastor. With all his other duties be has been 
an inilustrious author. His first indepemlent work 
was " Jesus of Nazareth " (1869), a narrative fouiiihMi 
strictly on the four gospels, but illustrated by refer- 
ences "to the customs, beliefs, and political institutions 
of the lime, A year later he wrote " Old Teslanunt 
Shadows of New Testament Truths." and in 1873, in 
collaboration with Thomas J. Conant, a " Dictionary 
of Religious Knowledge." In 1875 he began a series 
of commentaries on the separate books of the New 
Testament, six volumes of which have already been 
issued; and in 1880 he wrote, in connection with 
James R. Gilmore, "The Gospel Commentary," a 
connected narrative of the life of Christ, woven 
from the te.\t of the four evangelists, with copious 




notes,origiual and selected. His later books have been: 
a "Life of Henry Ward Beecher," a "Manual for 
Family Worship," and a work entitled "In Aid of 
Faith." He has also edited two volumes of Henry 
Ward Beecher's sermons, and written numerous 
pamphlets and contributions to the magazines. All 
of his writings are distinguished for lucidity of 
thought and simplicity of expression, and his scrip- 
tural commentaries especially are characterized by 
soiuid common sense. ac(-iirale .scholarly knowledge 
and gemiine s]iirituality. H(^ is one of the prominent 
exponents of the so-called liberal theology, and, the 
able son of an able father, he will, if he lives to that 
father's age, exert a deep and lasting intluence upon 
the thought of his time. 

HOWELL, Clark, Joucnalist, was born in Bam- 
well district, S. ('.. Sept. 31, 1863. His great-grand- 
father moved to Milton eouiny, Ga.,in 1830; his fa- 
ther was Capt. Kvan 1'. Howell, ;uid his mother Julia 
Erwin. The Howells were Welsh ijeojile who came to 
North Carolina in 1750, and furnished .some brave rev- 
olutionary soldiers. Clark was luught in the public 
schools of Atlanta, was graduated from the University 
of Georgia in 1883, served a jour- 
nalistic apprenticeship after grad- 
uation as reporter of tlie New 
York "Times, "and telegraph edi- 
tor of the Philadelphia " Press,' 
became night editor of the At 
lanta "Constitution" in 1884 un- 
der Henry W. Grady, assistant 
managing editor to !Mr. Grady in 
1887, and managing editor in 
December, 1889, on the death of 
the lattej. In 1886, before he 
was twenty-one, he was nomin- 
ated for the Georgia legislature. 
He was elected a few days after 
his birthday, re-elected in 1888 
and in 1890", and chosen speaker 
of the house for 1890-91, being 
the youngest man to hold this 
important place in the history 
of the commonwealth. To be 
at twentv-seven years of age 
of the leading journal of the South and presiding 
officer of the Georgia general assembly, is certainly 
evidence of exceptional ability. In his journalistic 
relations Jlr. Howell is a strong and fluent writer, 
and an enterprising and .sagacious manager. As a 
legislator he possesses a grasp of public subjects, a 
mastery of men, and jiarliamentary .skill. He liaa 
administered his great new.sjiaper and the legislative 
body alike with consummate ea.se and power. He 
married, in 1887, Hattie Barrett, of Augusta, Ga., and 
has two daughters. 

ROBINSON, Samuel, jiioneer, was born at 
Cambridge, Mass., Apr. 4. 1707; grandson of Wil- 
liam Roliin.son, an early .settler there, said to be re- 
lated to the pastor of the Pilgrims, lie removed to 
Hardwick, JIa.ss., in 17:il), became town-clerk, 
selectman, and a.s.se.ssor, and was a captain in the 
colonial war with the French, 175.5-.59. In 1761 ha 
founded Bennington, Vt., having been struck by 
the .situation when passing after an expedition to 
Canada. He was the chief man of the jilace. and 
received Feb. 8. 1763, from Gov. Benuing Went- 
worth of New Ham])shire, the lirst civil commission 
given for Vermont, that of justice of the peace. 
The rival claims of New York and New Hampshire 
to that region soon iiressed upon the settlers, and be 
was deputed to go to Englan<I and petition the king 
in the matter. 'After some eight months in London 
he died there of small-pox Oct. 27, 17G7. A monu- 
ment preserves his memory in the town which he 
founded, and four of his sons attained eminence there. 




i!%i>k^0^ 



editorial manaser 



520 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOP.EDIA 



oMd. 



BROOKS, Phillips, P. E bishop of Massa- 
chusclts, was born in Huston, Mass., Dec. 13, 1N35. 
Ilis father was a liiirlily respected, old -time mer- 
chant, who trausacled l)usniess ou Dock Square, 
Boston, for upwards of lialf a century. He gave 
his son every educational advantaj;e, and at the 
age of twenty lie wa.s .sraduated from Han'anl. 
Then for four years he studied theology at a Prot- 
eslaul Ejiiscopal seminary, and in is.VJ, having 
been admitted to holy orders, he was appointed 
rector of the Church of the Advent in Philadel- 
phia. Five years later he assumed the rectorship 
of the Church of the Holy Trinity, in the same city, 
and in 1809 accepted the rectorship of Trinity church, 
Boston, the largest and wealthiest congregation of 
Episcopalians in Slas.sachusetts. This position he 
continued to hold, though nipiuiwhile he was ten- 
dered a profe.s.sorship in Harvard University and 
elected assistant bishop of the diocese of Pensylvania, 
both of which honors he declined. These few facts 
coverihe entire careerof Phillips Brook.s, but they by 
no me.-ms comprise his biography or explain the deep 
and wide intiucnce lie ise.xerting upfin society in one 
of the most cultured states of the Union. The man 
who.se church is crowded — its every seat and aisle- 
Sunday after Sunday by the most intelligent men 
and women of the country, and who has the ability 
to draw, for si.\ successive week- 
days and during the busiest hours 
of those days, thousands of the 
foremost financiers and business 
men of the metropolis, to hear 
the simple .story of redemption 
to which, with dull ears, they 
had listened over and over a.L'ain 
ever since they were boys, nnist 
possess some remarkable quality, 
some marvelous power that is 
not defined by any known sy.stem 
of logic, rhetoric, or psychology. 
A biography of Phillips Brooks 
would have to explain this power. 
It does not lie in his thought, 
though that is often fresh, some- 
times striking, and occasionally 
brilliant. It is not in his .style, 
which, though it has a ceriain 
pictorial element, is singularly simjile and deficient 
in general rhetorical finish. It is not in his ut- 
terance, which is very rapid — so rajiid at times that 
he is difficult to folhiw. Nor is it in any of the ac- 
cepted graces of oratory. There are few preach- 
ers who are not as good speakers as he, m.any who 
are masters of as fine a style, and the American 
pulpit is full of men who are his intellectual equals. 
Ilis power lies in another and a totally different 
combination of qualities — a combination jiotent alike 
with the rich and the poor, the learned and the 
ignorant, and which made great preachers of 
men of .such diverse intellectual training as John 
Weslej- and Jonathan Edwards. George Whitefield, 
and Peter Carlwright. This power is the result of 
intense earnestness, and profound spirituality, fu.sed 
together and set on fire by a burning desire to lift his 
fellow-men to a higher life than they are now living. 
To him life is a great and solemn fact, and every 
man, however humble, is a son of the Almighty 
Father, with a possible destiny of inconceivable 
grandeur and beauty. This conviction in him is so 
strong, and his desire to win back the prodigal takes 
at times such overma.stering pos.sessioii of him, that 
his voice becomes tremulous with emotion, and he is 
forced to pause in the midst of his most earnest ap- 
peals; but he quickly recovers himself and goes on, 
his tone at times as lio.'nse as the sound of a strong 
■wind movin": through the trees, and again at times 
as gentle and sympathetic as the lullaby of a young 




^ 



c^CjSt^ 'Z^i7'--en>-^ 



mother over her child. There are two methods of 
moving an audience. One is by the exitression, the 
other by the repression, of feeling. In one the orator 
.seems to aban<loii his self-control and to let his emo- 
tions have full vent, hoping thereby to carry his 
liearers with him. This was the method of Henry 
Ward Beecher and his celebrated father. In the 
other method the speaker merely allows hints to 
escape him of the eiiKition that is swelling wilhin 
him. The imagination of the hearer is thus aroused, 
and his sympathy excited by the feeling the speaker 
seeks to hide. His attempt to suppress the natural 
expression of his emotions becomes in Dr. Brook.s 
the latter method. He merely suggests the depth 
and fullness of his feeling, and is constantly curbing 
its manifestation. He avoids all dramatic action, 
usually speaks in a low tone, seldom gesticulates, 
and seldom gives way to overpowering excileinent, 
but when he does, his words rush from him with the 
speed of a train of cars descending the Sierra moun- 
tains, one word pressing upon another in ea.irer ha.ste 
to find vent for itself in expression. To some, the 
sermons of Dr. Brooks seem like a new revelation. 
But they are not. They are the siime old truths that 
have stirred men ever since the day of Pentecost. 
They seem new because on him has descended a 
tongue of fire, like unto those that abode on the 
apostles. He has wiitlen books, sjiirilual and up- 
lifting, but none of them have the power thai dwells 
in his .spoken utterances. In the sjuiiig of 1S91 
Bishop Paddock, of the diocese of JIassachusetts, 
died and in the diocesan convention that assembled 
shortly after his funeral, to elect his successor, 
Phillips Brooks was chosen by a large majority and 
his election subsequently aiijiroved. as provided by 
canon law of the Protestant Episcopal church, by 
the voles of the .standing committees and bishops of 
a majority of the dioceses of the United States. The 
new bishop of the diocese of >Ia.s.sachu.setts is a man 
of magnificent i)liysiquc, about six feet four tall, and 
of proportionate build. He is entirely free from .self- 
con.sciousness and artificial maiuwrisms, full of sym- 
pathy for all that is human, hopeful toa remarkable 
degree, delighting in all things gocd and beautiful, 
and tolerant of all. Bishop Brooks is deservedly 
popular with all the denominations. He is truly a 
magnetic man, and his election to the bishopric of 
Massachusetts was received with a perfect hurricane 
of enthusiam by men of all .shades of religious 
opinions. He has published a number of books, 
among which are three volumes of his sermons 
preached in Engli.sh and American churches. In 
England his first sermons were delivered in West- 
minster Abbey and in St. Margaret's church. After- 
ward he ))reached Ijefore the queen an<l at Ijoth the 
universitii's. 

CURTIS, George, banker, was born in Massa- 
ehu.setts about the year 1793, and at an early age 
went to Providence, K. 1., where he subsequently 
became the cashier of the Exchange Bank, a member 
of the common council of that city, and a member 
of the stale legislature, of which he was also pre- 
siding officer. He removed to New York city in 
1S30, and became cashier of the Bank of Commerce. 
When the Continental Bank of New York was or- 
ganized Jlr. Curtis was apiiointed president, and 
retained that |>osition until his death. Air. Ctirtis 
was a successful banker, and had studit-d banking in 
all its pha.ses. He had clear insight, .sound jud.g- 
meiit. great business ability, which, with his unsul- 
lied reputation for integritv, caused him to be much 
in demand in matters pertaining to financial trusts. 
He took a jirominent part in the establishment of the 
New York Clearing House. He married a daughter 
of J.imes Burrill, I.L.D., at one time chief justice of 
Rhode Island. Mr. Curtis died in Jacksonville, 
Fla., in 1856. 





C^ cJl<^ 




V 



COPYRIGHT. 1693, 8V J*UI3 T. WklTf K CO. 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



523 




;^^7>^2^ 



WEBB, William Henry, slii]il)uililer, was born 
iu Now York fily .luiie Ul. ISKi, of ])iiiTnt.s whose 
pateruiil ancestors were Enj;lisli and HuLTuenots, and 
the maternal, Huj^uenots and Seoteh. The former 
had settled in Connecticut and llie latter in New 
York, long before the war of tli<' American revolu- 
tion. At theage of thirteen, during a sunnner v;ica- 
tion, young Webb built his first lioat, a small sUilf, 
Other boats were built during the vacations of the 
following two years, one of them being a paddle 
boat. He then devoted nearly 
six years of work by day, and 
hard study liy night to making 
himself a master of the art of 
slii|iliuil(liiig, during which 
time he was entrusted with the 
jiractical direction of ]irincipal 
portions of the work iu the 
building of ship.s and the man- 
agemeiit of men. At twenty 
years of age he undertook, 
under a sub contract made with 
his father, a prominent .ship- 
builder, to build tlie packet ship 
Oxford, of the old Hlack Kail 
Line, running between New- 
York city and Liverpool, Eng., 
and conlituu'd to do business 
in const met iiig ve.s.sels, as .sub- 
contractor, until the age of 
twentv- three. It was at this 
period that he built the 'Havre packet Duchesse 
d'Orleaas, which in 1801 was still doing good ser- 
vice. Apr. 7, 1H40, he formed a business partner- 
ship with his father's former associate, under the 
name of Webb & Allen, which lasted three years. 
jMr. Webb then began shipbuilding alone, and con- 
tinued it on his own account lunii IStiS. When he 
closed his active connection with it, he had built over 
150 vessels of all sizes, including London, Liverpool, 
and Havre packets, as well as steamships and vessels 
of war of the largest tonnage. Both in the number of 
vessels and aggregate toniiage, the output of his ship- 
yard was far greater than that of any other yard in 
the country. He built vessels only "upon contract. 
He was engaged to construct the first steamships 
that ran between New York and Savannah, Ga. ; 
built the first large steamer for the New Orleans 
trade, as well as for the Pacific Mail Steamship Co., 
carrying the U, S. mail between Panama and San 
Francisco ; the first steamer, the California, that 
passed thriaigh the "Golden Gate " into the harbor 
of San Francisco, and the first three steamers selected 
to carry the V. S. mail from New York to China, 
via Aspinwall, Panama, and San Francisco. About 
the year 1850 he conceived the idea of constructing 
a model vessel of war for the L^. S. navy, and made 
application at Washington witli this in view. Fail- 
ing there, he made the same ajiiilication to the em- 
peror of the French (Napoleon III.), witli the same 
result. His negotiations, personally conducted, with 
the Kussian government resulted favorably, and 
the issue was the General Admiral, a screw frig- 
ate of 7,000 tons dis])lacement, launched Sept. 21. 
18.58, at 3Ir. Webb's yard in one year's time from the 
laying of her keel. The General Admiral, which 
made the passage from New York to Cherbourg, 
France, iu the unim'cedented time, for a war vessel, 
of eleven days and eight hours, mostly under steam 
alone, has proved to be the fastest vessel of war yet 
built except the steam ram Dunderberg, also from 
the yard of Mr. Webb. For it he received testi- 
monials of the most complimentary character from 
the Ru.s-sian government. He then built forthe Ital- 
ian government two iron-clad screw-frigates, each of 
thirty-six guns of huge calibre, and G,000 tons dis- 
placement, the lie d' Italia and the Re di Portgallo. 



The former of these was the first iron-clad steamer 
that ever cros.sed the Atlantic ocean, and ga\e proof 
of extraordinary sea-going qualities and speed, mak- 
ing the psissage from New York to Naples, a dis- 
tance of over ,5.000 miles, iu winter, in eighteen days 
and twenty hours, mostly without .sails. The com- 
pletion and delivery of these v(ssels was .so satis- 
factory to the ptirchascr.s, that King Victor Emamiel 
conferred upon Mr. Webb the order of Saints 
Maurice and Lazarus, one of the oldi'st in Europe, 
as a token of this satisfaction and of his own es- 
teem. It was at this time that Mr. Webl) received 
an order from the V. S. government to build a .screw 
ram of large tonnage, expressly adapted for the 
heaviest armaments, to possess unexampled speed 
and .sea-going (lualities, combined with others never 
before .secured, the models and plans to be designed 
by himself. But dilliculties arose between himself 
and the chief of the U. S. bureaus of construction 
and engineering, which illustrated anew the inveter- 
ate prejudices of ollicials and their disposition and 
power alike, to prevent the execution of the orders 
of sujieriors. These dilliculties were only overcome 
by the interventicni of Gideon Welles, the .secretary 
oi' the U. S. navy. The result of Mr. Webb's efforts 
was the remarkable vessel Dunderberg. Its dimen- 
sions are: 378 ft. deck, 68 ft. breadth of beam, and 
33 ft. depth of hold. It has a displacement of 7.300 
tons, the largest ironclad that had been built at that 
lime. It afl:'orded more space for fuel, stores and 
provisions, as well as aicommodations forolliccrs and 
crew, with much lighter draft of water than any 
other large armored vessel of war. This ship sur- 
prisetl the navy ilepartmeut and the country, sur- 
pa.ssing as it did all previously made by Mr. Webb, 
as well as the retpiirements of the contract. Her 
speed, 15\ knots at sea, ftdly armed, has not yet been 
equaled by any armored vessel of war. As she was 
not completed, however, when the civil war was 




.^5«r 



ended, her builder was allowed by his own gov- 
ernment to sell her to the emjierorof France (Na- 
poleon III.) which he did, receiving a very nnich 
larger sum than the U. S. government ha<l aiireed to 
(lay. The I)im<lerbcrg was finally delivered to the 
French iiurchaser at Cherbourg, France, by Mr. 
Webb in person, after a rough passage of fourteen 
days. The vessel is now known as Rocliambeaii. 
Among other vessels built by Mr. Webb since the 
construction of the Dunderberg, are the steamers 
Bristol and Providence, of the Fall Hiver Line. 
Their models were mii generiK; and experts conse- 
quently objected to them, and their performances 



524 



THE NATIONAL CVCLOPyEDIA 



■were awaited with nuich interest. At their first trials 
they surpassed in speed all steamers previously built. 
With eapacity fur over 1,0(10 tuns of freiL'lit on deck 
alone, Ihcy had also spacious and splendid saloons, 
large diniugroonis, and berths for 1,200 lirst-elass 
passeugers. Mr. Webb also built for the Faeitic 
Mail Steainslup Co. the model steamer afterward 
called The China, which accommodates 1,200 pa.s- 
sengers, and at the same time carries about 2,000 tons 
of freight. His Guy Mannering, a Liverpool packet, 
■wa.s the first full three-decked merchant vessel built 
in this counir}-. while the Ocean Monarch po.sses.sed 
the greatest freight capacity of any constructed up to 
that time. It took on board over 7,000 bales of cot- 
ton at one loading, and drew no more than 18 ft. G 
inches of water. Among the clipper ships built by 
Mr. Webb may Ije mentioned the Challenge, Comet, 
Invincible, Young America, and Black Hawk. The 




Comet has made the voyage from San Francisco to 
New York in seventy si.\ days, the quickest passage 
ever made between those ports. Mr. Webb has not, 
however, confined himself .solely to the construction 
of vessels, but has had more or less to do with vast 
business enlerprise.s, among them the Pacific Mail 
Steamship Co., and the building of the Panama rail- 
road. When he retired from active business (1868) 
he became an extensive vessel -owner, and ran an op- 
position line of steamers for years between New- 
York and San Francisco. Other steamship lines in 
various parts of the world have also engaged his at- 
tention, and been su.stained by his money. Though 
not without a zealous care for the jiublic welfare, he 
has never been a |iar|jcjp.-uil in political life, having 
three times declined the nominaliun for the mayor- 
alty of the city of New York from ditTerent political 
parties. He was president for fourteen years of the 
New York City Council of Political Reform, and one 
of the greatest achievements in his semi-public life was 
the complete defeat of the New York city aqueduct 
commissioners, in conse(pience of which it was pro- 
vided through legislative action that instead of a sin- 
gle dam at the mouth of the Croton river (the .source 
of water supply for the eily). several small dams 
should be constructed at the head waters, thereby 
rendering the body of water comp.-iralively free from 
impurities. He has been eonneeled for many years 
as officer or director with org;ini/.ations, corporations, 
and benevolent institutions, and is rich in the respect 
and esteem of Ihous.'uidsof bis fellow-citizens. What 
may be the closing enterpri.se of a long, busy and 
beneficent life, and, if so, one well worthy to round 
out what has preeedcfl it, is his scheme, which is now 
being carried into elTect. for the erection, entirely by 
his own gift, at Fordliam Heights, Westchester Co., 
N. Y., of Webb's Academy and Home for ship- 
builders, to be under the care and aduuni.stration of 
trustees, duly chosen with regaril to their special fit- 
ness for the management of an institution which is 



authorized by its charter to hold property to the 
amounl of ^2,000,000. Here, when it is finished and 
in working order, worthy young men from every 
pari of lliis countiy may acquire an education in any 
branch of shiii-building and marine engineering free 
of cost, even for board. Here, too, will bealiomc 
where aged and decrepit ship-carpenters and engine- 
buililt-rs may .spend their remaining days in comfort 
and liajipiness. The institution will not be restricted 
to single men, nor will man and wife be separated. 

CABELL, Samuel Jordan, member of con- 
gress, was born in Amherst county, Ya., Dec. 15, 
1756. He came from an eminent family, whose an- 
cestor. Dr. William Cabell, .settled in Yirginia in 1723 
and purch.ised large estates, which have remained 
in the fanuly. His father was Col. Wm. Cabell, 
who held many responsible po.sitions in the state. He 
early received a classical education, and entered Wil- 
liam and .Mary College in 177;!, but his studies were 
inlerrupted by Ilie breakingout of hostilities. He left 
college and raised the first armed corps in Yirginia, 
■with which he achieved distinction in the northern 
campaigns, especially at the battle of Saratoga. He 
rose rapidly to the rank of lieutenaiU-eolonel, and 
with his regiment .served under Gen. Greene in the 
southern campaign luitil the fall of Charleston. where 
he was taken prisoner, and remained on parole until 
the close of the war. On his return to Yirginia he 
was for many years a member of the slate legislature. 
In 1788 he was a delegate, with his father, to the 
constitutional convention, where both voted against 
the ratification of the national constitution. In 1785 
he was elected to congress and served until 1803. 
He die<l in Yirginia Aug. 4, 1818. 

BALBACH, Leopold, metallurgist, was born at 
Karlsruhe in Baden, Germany, March 17, 1847, and 
came to the United States in 1851. His family is one 
of the oldest belonging to the nobil- 
ity of ]5aden. their ancestral ca.stle 
in" the feudal times of that country 
being siluated about nn'dway be- 
tween the villages of Upper and 
Lower Balbach, both of which be- 
longed to their pos.sessions. During 
the thirly years' war, 1716-46, all 
the adult male portion of the family 
were slain, and the women and chil- 
dren put iiilo bondage. After the 
war the family was reinstated and 
held high governmental office for 
many years afterward. Leopold B. 
studied metallurgy at the smelting 
and refining works at Newark, 
N. J., and then with others found- 
ed and incorporated the Omaha 
Smelling and IJefining Co., at Oma- 
ha, Neb., whose works are the larg- 
est of the kind in the United States. 
He then established similar works at Chicago, III., and 
at Denver, Col. For some years past he has been an 
extensive mine operator. 

DAWSON, John, member of congress, was 

born in N'irginia in 17()2. He was graduated from 
Harvard in 1782, and after pursuing a law course 
was admilled to the bar, but devoted himself chiefiy 
to jiolitical affairs. In 17U3 he was a presidential 
eleclor, voting for Washington. He served Yirginia 
in the .state legislature, and in the executive council. 
He was elected to congress in 1797. holding his 
seal through succe.s.sive re-elections until 1814. Pres- 
ident .\dams made him bearer of dispatches to France 
in 1801, and in thewarof 1S12 he rendered impor- 
l:uil services as aide lo Gen. .Jackson. He died in 
Washington, while holding his seat in congress, 
March 30, 1814. 




OF AMERICAN liUHiliA I'll Y. 



525 



CHAPIN, Alfred Clark, mayor of Brooklyn, 

K. v., WHS liorii iit Soutli lladlcy. Mass., March 8, 
184S. In Stearns Park, Siiiiniil'K'ld, Mass.. slanils a 
striking statiR' modeled by AugtistusSl. Ciaiidiais Uic 
young American sculptor who h.as recently so suc- 
cessfully executed a .statue of Abraham Lincoln for 
the city of Chicago. It is the pielure of a tall, stal- 
w.-irl man past middle life and clad in the Hurilaii 
garh of '2M years ago — a hroad-lirimiued, steeple- 
crowned hat ; a long chi.se-tilting doublet ; bagged 
lireeches fastened at the knees; and over all the 
enormous cloak of that period. The tlirown-back 
folds of this cloak reveal in the statue's left hand 
a l;irge bible with brass nails and iron dasjis, and 
in its right hand a ])onderous oak stalT planted 
firmly on the ground as the statue .seems to be mov- 
ing fca-ward. This is the tigure and costume of the 
man intended to be represented as they are given ill 
the tradition now current among his descendants; 
but of his fa<'e and features there is neither portrait 
nor oral or written record in existence. In their 
absence the artist has formed a composite face from 
the features of some of the old Purit.-m's living pos- 
terity. Tlie result is a striking 
physiognomy — no diaibt a true 
conception of that grand race of 
men who "feared God and 
kept their powder dry." The 
face is massive, the nose straight 
and prominent, the chin broad 
and determined, the mouth 
larg' and compressed, and so 
miicli as can l)e seen 




cli as can be seen of the 
foreiiead is bold and protrud- 
ing. He clutches tii;hlly his 
oak n staff and as he strides for- 
ward there is a fixed, resolute 
loo'.v in his face and downcast 
eyes as if the weight of the 
coluny were on liis shoulders, 
but he felt fully able to sup- 
port it. 
This statue is intended to represent Samviel Chapiu 
who emigrated to New England (irior to Ui^O, and 
settled at Agawam, now Springlicld. in llUl. From 
him were descended Calvin Cliapin, D.I)., one of 
the organizers of the American board of com- 
missioners for foreign missions, and for thirty-two 
years its secretary ; the Rev. Dr. Kilwin II. Chai)in, 
the eloquent New York preacher ; the late Chester 
AV. Chajiin the railroad magnati' of Massachusetts ; 
Dr. Aaron L. Chapin, president of Bcloit College, 
"Wi.sccnsin ; and the subject of this sketch, Alfred 
C. Chapin, tit present (1891) mayor of Brooklyn, 
!N. Y. The last named is also descended on his 
mother's side from Lieut. 'William Clark who emi- 
grated to New En.irland in l(!:il), settled at Northamp- 
ton in 1().")7, and became the aiici'stor of a family 
which ha.s occupied an honorable jHisition in the 
Comiecticut valley for nearly two and a half cen- 
turies. Alfred C. Chapin was taken l]y his ]>arents 
when an infant to Springfield, .Mass., whence they 
removed in 1S.V3 to Keene, N. II., and thence after 
ti'U years to UiUland, Vt. In these two latter places 
he attended various private and public schools imtil 
ISI).") when he entered Williams College, where he 
was giiulualed in 18l)t1. He linn pursued a course 
of law studies at the Harvard Law School where 
he was graduated iu 1871. The following year he 
spent in a lawyer's office In New York city, and 
was there admitted to the bar in 1872. 

^Ir. Chapin look up liis residence iu Brooklyn in 
187i!, and was soon elected the tirst ))residcTit of the 
young men's democratic club of that city. But 
though holding tliis position he took lio more than 
a citizen's interest in jiolitics. devoting liimsclf 
closely to his profession and becoming noted for his 



industry, lionorable methods and attention to the 

interest of his clients. He was fast attaining a liighly 
honorable piisition at the bar when, iu l«sl. he re- 
ceived the demdcralie nomination for assemblyman 
frian the eleventh district of KiiiL's county and was 
elected by 1,'2IH) ma.jority, though the republicans 
carri<Hi tlie remaindei- of the ticket by 3,4t)U. This 
would indicate that he was not regarded as a strict 
party candidate. biU was sujjported by bolli repub- 
licans and democrats in tlie expectation that lie 
would antagonize the corrupt rings that were then 
dominant in the New York legislaliire. He was 
known to be a young man of high character, thor- 
ough training, Itiborious habits and superior abili- 
ties, but he appeared in the assembly without any 
of the intluences and surroundings which politicians 
regard as indispensable to success. He had no strong 
local backing, no recognized jilace in the jiiililical 
field, but he at ouee applied himself diligently to the 
work in hand, studied the legislation before the as- 
sembly and .so mastered the business of that body as 
to be able to act with intelligence upon each meas- 
tire as it arose. He took an active and conspicuous 
part in all the more important legislation of the .ses- 
sion, exposed every corrupt scheme and held himself 
aloof from all conibiiiatious. He advocated the prin- 
cijile of home rule for Brooklyn and the constitu. 
tioiial ameiidment restricting the debt-making 
power of cities; he also secured the pa.ssa.sic of the 
act known as the Chapin primary law, and being 
appointed chairman of a special committee to inves- 
tigate the receiverships of insolvent insurance com- 
panies, received universal commendation from all 
parties for the fearless ability of his report. At the 
close of the term he was given a complimentary din- 
ner at which Mayor Low, a repul)licaii, spoke of 
him as "iu the full sense representative" of Brook- 
lyn. 

Keturning to his constituents with a state reputa- 
tion, he was in 1882 renominaleil and re-elected to 
the assembly by the increased majority of ',).{>'>{) — 
a deciiled recognition of his faithful and important 
.services. In 188;i he was cho.sen by a two-thirds 
vote speaker of the assembly and in conunentiii-j 
upon this the Albany " Evening .lournal." the lead- 
ing repul)lican org.-in remarked that: " Such election 
was the highest jiossible guarantee timt good and 
healthful legislation was intended." The first duly 
that awaited him iu this important position — the ap- 
pointment of committees — would hiive wrecked any 
man who had not both high courage and a cool 
brain. The task w as one of supreme dilliculty, and 
in view of his youth and limited legislative experi- 
ence, even tlio.se who best knew his sterling quali 
ties felt misgivings as to his succes.s. But he kept 
his own counsel, held aloof from pressing advisers 
and did his work so well as to excite g(,'neral ad- 
miration for his able management of the material iu 
his htiuds. 

In 1883 he was elected state com])troller by a 
majority of IG.DDO over his reiniblican competitor 
while tli(^ camlidate for secretary of state on the 
same ticket with himself was defeated by 10,01)0. 
He adininislered the alfairs of the otlice with con- 
spicuous .ibilily. realized higher rates of interest, and 
from the premium of the bonds sold by him. paid 
into the state treasury no less a sum than .slIMl.dlH). 
Heceiving a unanimous renomination he w as re-elec- 
ted c(miiit roller, and during this second term per- 
formed an act of fearless duly by enforcing the law 
against a gigantic corporation. The Wcvslern I'liion 
Telegrai)li C'o. had refused to pay its taxes and when 
the juilgnient had been oblained tlicexeculion issued 
was returned " unsalislied. " ."Mr. Chapin lluii cirew 
and secured the i>.issage through the hgislalure of 
a bill which forced llu' company to disclose its prop- 
erty, and within twenty four hours after the i>as,sago 



526 



THE NATIONAL C'VCLOI'^DIA 



of this bill llic corporation paid >;1 40.000 of delin- 
quent taxes lo the slate. 

In ISST .Mr. (.'Iiapin wa.s unaiiiinowsly nominated 
for mayor ol Urooklvn and after a very e.\eilin;;eaii- 
vass in wliieli tiie labor caiidiilate polled not less 
than 13.000 votes, lie wa.s elected by a plurality of 
8«3. At the close of his term, in ISSK. he was ri- 
noMiinaled and re-elected by a majority vole of over 
H.OIIO. thel:iri;est ever sriven for a mayor of Brooklyn. 
Tins fact siiliiciciilly indicates his great popularity 
Willi both parlies and all cla.s.ses. A bare enumer- 
alion of .some of his ollicial acts will sliow that his 
popularity is well f<iuiided. IIi' laid more miles of 
trraiiitc pavement llian all Ids predece.s.sorscdiubined; 
lie built more scIiooI-Ik.uscs lliaii had been erec- 
ted duriiij; any three previous administrations: he 
increased the police force of the city more than 
one-third; he opened small atlractive parks in 
dilTereut localities and thus gave healthful resorts 
and addilional breathinj; spaces lo the people; and 
lie iiiauiturated the erection of a memorial arch 
to the memory of the Kederal dead, more magiiili- 
cent than any yet pro.iecb'd by any other city in 
the country— "and all lliis he did williout laying' 
anv aildilioiial burden upon the lax jiayers. Sucli 
aeiiievcmenls attest his great aliilily and l)ublic 
spirit and he being still a young man tliey foretell for 
him a brilliant career of future u.sefuliiess. Jlr. C'ha- 
pin at the clo.sc of his .second term as mayor of 
Brooklyn was chosen lo represent his district in the 
fifty -second congress, in pl.aee of David A. Boody, 
■who succeedi'd liim in the mayoralty. 

GRADY, Henry Woodfin, journalist and n.a- 
tional pacirtcalor. was born in Alliens. Ga., Jlay 24, 
1850. His father, Col. (irady, was a North Caro- 
linian by birth and the most successful merchant 
of Northeast Georgia., a gentlemen of large inean.s 
Who was killed at Petersburg 
gallantly le;iiliiig his regiment, 
ilis mother was Miss Ann E. 
(iarlrell a pious and noble 
woman whom he cherished with 
a hiving and beautiful rever- 
ence. He graduated atthe state 
university of (ieorgia in 18(iS, 
and took a po.st -graduate course 
at the University of Virginia 
until 1S70. when he returned to 
Athens. While at college in 
Airginia lie wrote a letter for 
publication signed " King 
Hans "to the Atlanta "Con- 
til ution," then edited by Col. 
n.s 




JIJJEw' 



>r stilution, tnen euiteti uy l;oi. 

■'Tjk^H^.'Jkf ^^ I- ^ ■ Avery, whose hobby wa.s 
/ ' ^^/''^ to cultivate good corrcspondeiils. 
(' n That letter written by Jlr.Grady, 

then ayoulh of 10, had the marks 
that sigiiali/i'd him in the maturity of his powers, the 
Sjiarklc, rare vein of thoughl, allluciil diction, de- 
scriptive verity, delicious humor and luxuriant im- 
agination; and the editor recognizing the talent of 
tile writer published the letter and invited more, 
and the imperial boy bec.'imc the lead<'r of a galaxy 
of line contributors. The letter turned his career. 
In ISTO Col. K. Hurlburl. manager of the Western 
and Atlantic H. H., the state road of Georgia orgin- 
aletl the tirst press excursion, that potent and popu- 
lar factor of public growth, and the " Conslilution" 
editor, having in mind Mr. (Jrady's brilliance as a 
Idler writer, lelegraiihed to him at .\tlieiis to repre- 
sent the ]iaiier on the trip. The inexperienced youth 
eclipsed the entire press gang, and his reports, brist- 
ling with fact, fancy and fun, were adoptc<l over 
the whole stale, and the incident probably decided 
him to journalism, his right field. He immediately 
began editing the Home, Ga., " Courier " for Mr. 



Dwinell, its proprietor, and then owned and edited 
for a while tlie Home '"Commercial." Hi' w;is the 
youngest iiicniber of the Georgia press conventioD 
that met in Augusta in 1H70. and made a iiright 
speech at the baiKpiet. In 1S7I he moved to Atlanta 
and became till' Georgia representative of the New- 
York "Herald." In the same year he bought an 
interest in the Atlanta ■' Herald ' the only .soulhern 
Jiaper that ever used a special engine and ran it wilh 
8l. Clair Abrams, then with Abranis and Uobcrt 
A. Alston, ami in 1874 7.") with Alston and Col, J. 
AV. Avery, and on Avery's withdrawal from ill 
health, the l)aper was cliange<l intoa stock coinpany, 
and suspended in lS7i;. In issil lie boughl a fourih 
interest in the Atlanta "Constitution "and remaiti' 
ed a part owner and editor of that paper until his 
death. Mr. (irady was a great journalist, author 
and i)hilanthropist. He had genius of the highest 
order. In journalism he (lid wonderful work. 
Some of hi.? feats of correspondence for the New 
York "Herald" were remarkable. His leders fnmi 
Florida descriptive of the presidential cmliroglio of 
lS7(i when the famous returning board was in its 
throes were rare ]iieees of reporlorial writing. And 
his narrative of the Hamburg riots in Soulii Caro- 
lina, composed without making a note of his investi- 
gations, and covering ten columns of small typB 
written in one night was a phciiomeiial achieve- 
iiient. His capacity for rapid work was amazing 
while his fertility in conceiving ncwspa|ier 
cnterpri.ses was audacious anil prolific. His writ- 
ings of every kind were full of a sp;irkle all his 
own. and had a vividness and velvety splendor 
peculiar to him.self. The Atlanta " Herald " was 
a coruscatiim of bold surpri.ses. His best gift 
was his eloquence, which a coin|)eteut judge 
who had heard every great orator since 1S.")0. in- 
cluding Everett and CJioate, Web.ster. Clay. Hill 
and Prentiss, .said was unsurpassed. His tirst nota- 
ble iniiiressiiin was made when he gave in Atlanta 
his lecture "Just Human." His first national sjieech 
was Dec. 23, 1881!, at the annual banquet of the 
New England society in New York city, that made 
him, from being unknown, the most noted 
man of the country. An extract from his speech 
on this occasion gives a fair illustration of his 
style : 

"The South has nothing for which to ajiologize. 
She believes that the lalesiruggle bet ween the slates 
was war and not rebellion, revolution and not con- 
spiracy, and that her convictions were as honest 
as yours. I should be unjust to the daunt less 
spirit of the South and to my own convictions if 
I did not ni.'ike this jilain in this presence. The 
South has nothing to t;ikc back. In my native 
town of .Vtliens is a momnneiit that crowns its 
central hills — a plain Avliite shaft. Deep cut in its 
shining side is a name dear to nie above the names 
of men, that of a brave and simple man who <lied 
in brave and sim|)le faith. Not for all the glories of 
New England — from Plymouth Hock all the way — 
would I exchange the heritage he left me in his .sold- 
iers death. To the foot of that shaft I shall .send my 
children's chihlreii lo reverence him who ennobled 
their name with his heroic blood. But, sir, speaking 
from the shadow of that memory, which I honor as 
I do nothing else on earth, 1 say that the cause in 
which he suffered and for which he gave his life, 
was adjudged by higher and fuller wisdom than 
his or mine, and I am glad that the omniscient God 
held the balance of battle in his .Vlmighty hand, 
and that human sl-iverv w;is swept forever from 
American soil — the American Union saved from the 
wreck of war." 

Then followed his great prohibition speech in 
Atlanta in 1SS7 ; his address at the Texas state 
fair in Dallas to 25,000 people in October 1888 ; his 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



527 



oration to the societies of the Virjrinia University, 
Charlottesville, June 24, 188!), aml'hia tiiial address, 
the greatest of his life, and the cause of his death, 
in December, 1889. before the merchants' association 
of Boston. Jlr. Grady was a composile <haraeter. 
With a fervent nature, boundless eneriiy when inter- 
ested and intense self will, he had a steady and 
thoughtful conservatism. Of a ulntering imagina- 
tion, he was self-poised, tactful and just. Passion 




never governed him in large ma-tters and he subor- 
dinated prejudice and temper to success with a tirm 
will. He met trying occasions with consummate 
control and judgment. He was a cool user of 
needed discretion, and his self-command was mar- 
velous. He put wonderful restraints on his impetu- 
ous nature. The deliberate effort with which he 
wrought results was extraordinaiy. He had a bent 
to large matters. The whole tendency of his thought 
and lal)or was to great public achievements. He 
aided beyond any other man the southern C'hautau- 
(|ua scheme now in full bla.st, the getting up and 
success of two vast Atlanta expo.sitionsof 1887 
and 1S8!), the Young Men's Christian Association 
building in valuable use, the election of Gen. 
Gordon as governor, the Confederate Veterans' 
Home, the ruiming of the weekly "Constitution" 
to l.")(l,tHH) subscribers, and other projects equally 
important. But his crowning act, giving him sud- 
den national fame and evincing genuine statcsman- 
slii|i, w:is the invasion of the North with mighty sec- 
tional questions, and their discus.sion with such tact, 
eloipience and ability as to capture the pi'ople 
while illuminating the subject, and doing more than 
any other for national pacitication. He never utter- 
ed an imprudent word, conclusive test of his well- 
balanced genius. It .showed his power that he 
competed at the North with the most distinguished 
st.alesmen and orators of the nation, put ting his sect ion 
jiniperly and without olfense brfoic the country. 
His oiatoiy was captivating, boldiug his hearers 
enthused and eleclritied from the liist to the last 
word, and ending in a lilaze of patriotism. He w;is 
cbarmiiiL' in private conversation .-ind at (linings and 
otiier times showed his wonderful gift of atlraclive 
talk. In social coteries with scntilors, governors, 
judges and their wives he held tlieni encbaiiK'd with 
his humorous .and eloquent utterances which tliev 
delighledly allowed him to engross. He had .au un- 
failing ]iublic spirit and was lavishly liberal in 
charity, aid and sympathy. He never spoke un- 
kindly of anyone. He had a boyish sportiveness 
that was always displaying itself in contagious ways. 
He joined the Methodist clauch when young and 
rejoined in Atlanta in l.S(s(!. under the Hev. Dr. H. 
C. Morrison and became a steward. He married 
October, 1872, Jidia King at Athens. Ga. The 
expression of regret at his death was universal over 
the country. He bad made himself the largest 



young national figure under this groat government. 
The extent of Mr. Grady's work and the reach of 
his utterances cjinnot be in>w measiu-ed. Put- 
ting the war behind, he directed thought to the 
united future. He did the mi.ssion of a national 
lieacemaker as no other American has, and one of 
the .strongest feelings at his .sad dcMiiise was that he 
had been taken at the very threshold of his fame and 
genius from a public usefulness that no mortal could 
measure. He slcaclily refu.sed ]iul)lic oHice, though 
a strong public .sentiiiient named him for the U. S. 
senate, and had he lived he would have been sent 
to that august body. Of his ■■ Life and Speeches," 
in one volinne, an immen.se edition was sold. A 
fund of over $20.0(1(1 contriliutcd from all parts of the 
countiT erecleil a momunent in Atlanta, wdiich was 
unveiled with imposing cerenmiu'es on Oct. 21, 189], 
and which gives thi' date of his death Dec. 2;i[ 1889! 
PIKE, Albert, lawy.sr, poet, iihilologist, and 
the highest Masonic dignitaiy in the United States, 
was liorn in Boston, Ma.ss., Dec. 29, 1809. In early 
childhood he removed to Newbuiyport in the same 
state, at which i)lace and at Framingham he re- 
crivcd his early education. In 1825 he entered 
Harvard College, supporting himself at the .same 
time liy teaching. Having studied at home for the 
junior class, and passed the cxamin.-ition to enter 
in 1826, he found that the tuition of the two pre- 
vious years was recpnred to be paid, and declining 
to do this, he completed his own education, teach- 
ing the meanwhile at Fairhaven and Newbuiyport, 
where he was principal of the grammar schoo'l, and 
afterwards had a private school of his own. In 
later years the degree of master of arts was con- 
ferred on him by the Harvard lacultv. In .March, 
1831, he went to the West, and thence with a trad- 
ing party to Santa Fe. 
In September, 1833, he 
joined a trapping iiarty 
at Taos, with which lu; 
went down the Pecos 
river and into the Staked 
Plains, where with four 
others he left the party 
and traveling for the 
most part on foot, reached 
Fort Smith. Ark., Dec. 
10, 1832. His adventures 
dining these expeditions 
in which he underwent 
many hardshijis are relat- 
ed in a volume of " Prose 
Sketches and Poems, " 
published in 1834. While 
teaching, in 1833. below 
Van Buren and on Little 
Pincy river, he conlrib- 
ulcd' articles to the Little 

which attracted the alteiuion of Hobert Crittenden, 
through whom he was made a.ssistant editor of 
that paper, which he afterwards owned for 
upwards of two years. In 1835 he was ad- 
milted to the bar, having read only the first vol- 
ume of Blackstone. the ju<lge of the territorial 
su|ierior court .saying as hi' gave the license that it 
was not like giving a medical diploma, because as 
a Lawyer he could not lake anyone's lite. He sub- 
seciucntly made an extensive study of the law, 
being his own teacher, and practiced until the out- 
break of the Mexican war. when lie recruited a 
company of cavalry, and was present at the liatlle 
of Bueiia Vista, iieiiig attached to Col. Charles 
May's squ.'idroii of dragoons. In 1848 he fought a 
duel with (tov. .John S. Koane. on the occa-sion of 
an account of that bailie written by him. and which 
Gov. Roane considered reflected unjustly on the 
Arkansas rcgiiueut. In 1849 he was admitted to 




Rock "Advocate," 



ms 



THE NATIONAL CYCLOP>rEDIA 



the bar of the supreme court of tlic United Stales, 
at tlie same lime witli Aliiaham laiicdln and Ilan- 
uilial Ilandiu. A famous ease pleaded by liim be- 
fore lliat tribunal wastlie claim of Henry -M. Keetor 
for llie II(it Spriiijrs. In IH.'ia he transferred his 
law oltiee to New Orleans, liavin;;, in pre[)aralion 
for practice before the courts of Louisiana, read the 
"I'andects," makinga translation into Kn^disli of the 
(irst volume, as well as numerous French author- 
ities, aiKf he lias also written an unpulilislied work 
in three volumes upon "The Maxims of the Honian 
and French Law." He resumed ])ractice in Arkan- 
sas in IS")?. In 18r)9, havinir been lor many years 
nitornev for the Choctaw Indians, he, with "three 
others. "secured the award by the U. S. senate to 
that tribe of .t;'.2.'.)SL2-l7. He "was the tirst jn-oposer 
of !i I'acilic railroad convention, and was sent as 
delegate to several conventions of the kind before 
the war, at one lime obtaininir fnmi the Loui.siana 
legislature a charter for a road with termini at San 
Francisco and Ouaymas. Durintr the war of seces- 
sion he was sent liy the Confedenite irovernment to 
neirotiate with the live civilized tribes in Indian 
territory to .secure their alliance and adhesion, and 
eonunanded a l)riu:adc of Cherokees at the battle of 
Pea Hidge. He was also for a short time on the 
supreme bench of Arkansas. In 18(37 he edited tlie 
"Appeal" at Memphis, and in 18(>8 he removed to 
■Washington, I). C, where he has since resided, 
practicing before the courts until 1880. From this 
time lie lias devoted hiniseir to literary pursuits and 
to masonry. In his twentieth year Gen. Pike coin- 
po.sed the"" Hviuns to the Gods," [loenis published 
in "Blackwood's iMaga/.ine" in 18;i9, and included 
in "Nugae," a volume of poems iirivatcly printed 
in 18.i4. In 18T3 and 1882 he printed, also private- 
ly, two other collections of poems. In 1840-45 he 
\vas the author of live volumes of Fiavv Keports, in 
184r) of the "Arkansas Form-Book," in 1859 of 
"Masonic .Statutes and Uegiilations," ami in 1870 
of " .Morals and Dogma of Freemasonry." Un- 
published translations of the Rig Veda, the Zend 
Avesta, and other works of Aryan literature (with 
comments) upon which at an advaiu'ud age he is 
still engaged, till .seventeen or eighteen volumes of 
maiiu.scri|it, without blemish or erasure. He has 
composed numerous masonic rituals, and replied to 
Pojie Leo XIII's bull against masonry. Since 18.59 
lie was grand commander for life of the supreme 
council of the thirtv-third degree for the southern 
jurisdiction of the" United "States, the mother 
suiireme council of the world. He was also at 
the head of the royal order of Scotland in the 
Unitc'd States. His residence was in the Holy House 
of the Temple, corner of Third and E streets, N, 
^y.. Washington, D. C, where he died April 2, 
1891. 

CALHOUN, Patrick, H. R. president was born 
at Fort Hill, PeiidUlon district, S. ('., .March 21, 
185(), at the home of .lolin C. Calhoun, who was his 
grandfather. His mother was a daughter of the noted 
Gen. Dutr Green di. v.). He was left fatherless in 
18(!5, and rode on horseback to Gen. Greens home 
at Dalton, Ga., in 1871. He was admitted to 
the bar at Dalton at the age of nineteen, and in 
the following year engagei'l in the iiractice of his 
profession at''St. Louis, landing therewith but two 
dollars in his pocket. At the end of two years he 
relini|uished practi(^e on account of broken health, 
and retired to a farm of his brother's in Arkansas. 
On reciiveriniT his strength he settled in Atlanta, 
Ga, (.Inly, 1878), and began there the practice of 
law, which he has since continueii. Soon after this 
time he was active in organizing the " Callioun 
Land Co." and the "Florence Planting Co." for 
the pur])ose of raising cotton in the Mi.ssi.ssippi val- 
ley, and in 188(j at the age of thirty he conceived 




'''~7^^/^C^^#*^«0 



and consummated a plan by which lie and his 
friends gained control of the Central Railroad Co., 
of Georgia, the wealthiest corporation in the state, 
electing Gen. E. 1'. Alexander (q. v.) its president, 
and advancing the market 
value of its .shares from lj;70 
to !!;l;i5. He also devised 
ami helped to carry out the 
im]iorlaiit negotiations con- 
nected with tlie great Term- 
inal Co. of the South, which 
controls over 8,(11)0 miles of 
railroad; and in 18S9 he was 
appointed general counsel for 
tile Terminal Co., and the 
Central Railroad Co. Jlr. 
Calhoun has inherited many 
of .lolin C. Calhoun's intel- 
lectual traits, together with 
Dutf Green's large concep- 
tions and bold, adventurous 
spirit. It was an unusual 
tiling for a young man of 
thirty, without means or 
friends, to plan and carry out 
successfully the capture of > 

two extensive railway systems, enlisting in his aid 
the ablest railroad men and richest capitalists. Tlie 
case has no iiarallel in liusiiie.ss alfairs. and it is n<it 
suriirising that the alteiitioii of a powerful party in 
Georgia should have been fixed on him as the "rep- 
resentative of the state in the U. S. .senate. Mr. 
Calhoiui is an able lawyer and a philosophical stu- 
dent, and with his ancestral prestige and high capa- 
cities a brilliant career is before him. 

DEPE'W, Chauncey Mitchell, R. R. president, 

was lioni at Pc'ekskiil, X. V., .Vpril ■-';!, 18:34, in the 
old liomcslead which lias been in the po.sse.ssion of 
the Depew family for over two hundred years. On 
his father's side he descended from old" Huguenot 
stock, his ancestors having been among the emi- 
grants from France, who after the revocation of 
the Edict of Nantes, in l(i85, came to .\nierica and 
settled in Westchester county, naming New Ro- 
chelle after La Rochelle, Fiance, immortalized in 
connection with Henri of Navarre, in .Mae.aulay's 
poem "Ivry." On his mother's side, .Mr. Dejiew 
descended from Roger Sherman, the signer of the 
Declaration of Independence, and grand-uncle of 
Mr. Depew's mother. Martha .Mitchell, daughter of 
Chauncey R. ^Mitchell. Late in the .seventeenth 
century, the family .settled in I'eekskill and pur- 
cli.i.sed the farm where the old homestead stands 
and which is still the property of Jlr. Depew. As 
a boy, Mr. Depew went to .school in his native vil- 
lage, where he was more noted for his ability as an 
athlete and for his humor and fun than for special 
inihi.stry in study. He was, however. |iroperly 
l)reiiared for college anil at the age of eighteen 
entered Vale, graduating in 185(>. This was the 
year of the lirst candidate for the presidency of- 
fered by the new republican |iarty and the young 
student's interest was at once awakened in politics, 
especially in the direction of the new movement, 
which he joined. Determining to study law as a 
profession, he went into the ollice of Hon. William 
Nelson in Pi-ekskill. and in 18.58 was admitted to 
the bar. .\ltlioui,di still so young a m:in he had 
gained recognition among tlie leading ]ioliticiaiis 
and was esteemed a valuable adherent to the new 
republican cause, and was .sent as a delegate to the 
republican state convention in that year, 18,5u. In 
18.59 he began practice, but though he was a good 
worker his attention was soon drawn off by the 
political situation, out of which was presently to 
dawn the exciting camiuugn of 1800, which was 



OF AMERICAN BIOGKAPIIT. 



f)29 




CLujuuuL%Si^uiir: 



to give Abraham Lincoln to the coiintry. Jlr. Dcpew 
took the stump during tliat period, and especially 
through the ninth congressional district of the 
state of ?s^ew York he addressed large and enthusi- 
astic audiences and made a very deep impression up- 
on them both as an orator and as a logician. Despite 
)iis interest in the sportsandpleasuresof student life, 
Jlr. Depew had none the less 
succeeded in obtaining a very 
thorough education ami parlic- 
vilarl^v in classic lore, a fact 
which made him more than 
usually well equipped for public 
oratory and supplied him with 
illustrations and the tools of 
his trade, so to speak, by his 
readily accepted draughts upon 
the master minds of ancient 
Greece and Koine This cam- 
]iaign resulted for Mr. Depew 
in a series of marvelous forensic 
triumphs, which, while in the 
highest degree comiilimentary to 
his power of holding a large 
number of people by his elo- 
quence also did excellent service 
to the party he was supporting. 
In the following year, Sir. Depew ran for the as- 
sembly and by his personal i>opidarit_v alone suc- 
ceeded in obtaining his election in a democratic 
district, by a majority of 2.59. In 1802, he was re- 
elected, and during this session was appointed chair- 
man of the committee on ways and means. At the 
close of his term in the asseinbly, a nunilier of prom- 
inent business men in New York city teniiered to 
Mr. I)e|)ew a public banquet. In 18ti3. the repub- 
lican jiarty of Xew York nominated Sir. Depew for 
secretary of state, and throughout this campaign 
his industry and his capacity for the exhausting 
work were shown to be unusual. During si.\ con- 
secutive weeks he spoke twice a day, the result 
being that he gained a remarkable victory, being 
electeti by a majority of 30,001). During the begin- 
ning of President Johnson's occupancy of the pres 
idential chair, he had it in mind to aiipoiut Mr, 
Depew collector of the port of Xew York, but a 
personal dillicultv with one of the senators from that 
state caused him to change his mind. At a later 
period, Sir. Depew was offered the position of 
United States minister to Japan, but declined the 
office, after having had the commission in his pos- 
session for a month. Sir. Depew had by this time 
about decided to go out of polities, and in 18(i(), the 
offer by Com. Vanderbilt of the appointment of 
attorney for the New York tt Harlem Railroad Co. 
decided him in this conclusion. He at once entered 
upon the duties of his new position with all his 
energy ami industry and discarded from his mind 
all ideas of political preferment. In 18159 occurred 
the important consolidation of the New York Cen- 
tral with llie New York it Harlem Railroad, when 
Mr. IK'pcw was appointed attorney of the new or- 
ganization, which was called the New York Cen- 
tral it Hudson River Railroad Co. Mr. Depew's 
rise in the business of railroad managing was 
tliroughout unique; as, unlike such men as Tliom- 
as A. Scott. Samuel Sloan, Robert Garrett, 
George R. Blauchard and .James H. Ruttcr, 
Sir. Depew had no practical experience in rail- 
roading. He was lifted up to the elevated position 
to wliich lie attained simply on account of his 
character, ability and standing as a man of affairs 
and as a capable and highly qualitied lawyer. The 
growth of the Vanderbilt .system represents one of 
the most extraordinary movements in the transport- 
ation interests in this country and Mr. Depew grew 
with it. Ten years after his entrance into the sys- 



tem as attorney for a .single line, he was holding the 
oltice of general counsel of all roads, while he was 
a director in each of them, including the Lake 
Shore it Slichigan SoiMhern, Slichigau Central, 
Chicago it Northwestern, St. PauT it Omaha, 
West Shore it Nickel I'hite. In 1873, a tcmjiorary 
disrujition in the republican ])arly cau.sed iIk' intro- 
duction into iiolitics of the organization known as 
the " in<lepen<lent Jiarly " with Horace Greeley as 
the candi<lale for the presidency — and Sir. D("pew 
permitted his name to go iq)on the stale ticket of 
that jiarly as a candidate for the lieutenant-govern- 
orship. The entire movement went down into 
oblivion with the celerity with which it had been 
origin.-ited and Mr. Depew's candidacy went with 
it. In 1874, Sir. Dejiew was made a regent of the 
state university and a member of the commission 
aiipointed to su]ierintend the erection of the capitol 
at Albany. These positions he accciited and their 
duties he fulfilled, biU the constantly increasing 
strain of toil which fell to him in hi.s' capacity as 
general counsel of llie Vanderbilt roads was such 
that he was unable to devote much time or attention 
to anything else, especially as in this connection he 
was frequently an advocates before the courts and 
particularly the supreme court of the United States 
in the interests of the company which he served. 
On such occasions, the amiouncement tliat he would 
present an argument was always followed by the 
gathering of an audience quite outside the character 
of tho.se who generally asse.nbled in the .supreme 
court-room. Few men could more surely engage and 
hold the attention of the justices of the .supreme court 
than he, and his success before them was considered 
phenomenal. During all these years of active work, 
before the public and in tlie courts and in other 
places where he was frequently reported in the daily 
press, Sir. Depew had naturally impressed the state 
and city of New York with a verj' warm apprecia- 
tion of his ability as a public speaker. Particularly, 
ho had gained a reputation such as has been achiev- 
ed by few in this coimtry as an after-dinner orator, 
whose brillianc}- and humor made it a great pleasure 




l/i\Ior\Les 



to listen to him. It soon began to be understood 
that no public banquet or other festival was com- 
jilete without the presence of Sir. Depew. How- 
ever pleasing and interesting this re|nitation might 
have been to him, however, it was a fact that Sir. 
Depew tised such gatherings mainly for the pur- 
po.se of relieving his mind from the .severe strain of 
mental labor to whidi it was put in the natural 
course of his regular duties. Outside of these 
duties, with the exception of such festive oc- 
casions as have been suggested, Sir. Depew seldom 
appeared publicly, except on the occasion of a 



530 



THE NATIOXAL CYCLOI'.EDIA 



political emprjrpnoy. Such liarl heen the case wlien 
Mr. Lincoln was nuniinatcii for the presi- 
dency in IHliO : airain there appeared to l)e 
reason for callin.ir upon liini at the time of 
the independent nKjvenient in 1H73, and in ISMl, the 
resijrnation of the two senators from the stale of 
New York, Roscoe Conkling and Thomas C. 
Piatt, resulted in a factional .struggle in the re- 
puhlican party between the " stalwarts" and "half- 




breeds" as they were termed, -niiich brought Mr. 
Depew again to the front, this time as a candidate 
for the U. S. senatorship. The balloting in the 
as.send)ly of the slate of New York began on !May 
31st, and there being a majority of republicans in 
each house, after the first ballot "they went into joint 
convention with eighteen names before them as can- 
didates. On the democralic side tlie bidlots were 
cast luianiniously for Hon. Francis Kernan as siu'- 
ccssor to Mr. Plait and John t'. Jacobs to succeed 
Mr. Conkling. up to the twenty-.second ballot after 
■which they settled upon Clarlison N. Potter, On 
the .secoiifi joint ballot Mr. I)e]iew tied Jlr. Piatt; 
on the tliird he led by two. and he kept on increasing 
until on the fourlecnih liallot he leil by twenty-niiK^ 
and on the srveiiteeiUli and on the twenly-fourlh lie 
only lacked ten votes of election. The termination 
of this extraordinary struggle, one of the most re- 
markable ever known in the political history of the 
state was tinallv iirecipilated bv the assas.siuation of 
President Oarlicld on July 2, 1881, by Charles 
Guiteau. This tragedy made it necessary that the 
stale of New York should no longer remain unrej)- 
resenteil in llie senate of llie Union and in order lo 
effect this, Mr. Depew delermined to retire from the 
struggle and withdrew his name ; this broke the 
deadlock which was held for some weeks, and on 
July 8th, Hon. Warner Miller was nominated in 
caucus and the nomination w.as ratitied in the joint 
convention on the forty-eighth ballot. In 1882, on 
the resignation of 5Ir. William H. Vanderbilt from 
the presidency of the New York Central juid llud- 
sou Kiver Uailroad Co., the accession lo that oM'.ce 
of Jlr. James H. Putter, >Ir. Depew was made 
second vice-president and eonlunied to hold that 
position until the ilealh of Mr. Uutter in ]ss."), when 
he was raised to the presidency of the road and thus 
became the executive head of one of the greatest 
railroad corporations in the world. Jlr. Depew con- 
tinues lo liohl this ollice up to the time of the 
present writing. Mi'.anuhile his repulalion and 
intluence as a man of all'airs has continued lospread 
and he was regarded as one of the most prominent 
statesmen of the time in America. His <lofiuence 
as an orator was nol by any means contined to tho.se 
characteristic speeches which belong to after-dinner 
oratory. In ])ublie addres.ses on grave occasions : 
the unveiling of soldiers' niouumeuts, at grand army 



meetings, on the occa.sions of gatherings of notable 
citizens for llie purpose of discu.ssing .some import, 
ant political or other incident or occurrence, Mr. 
De]iew was always Ihonglil of among the lirst 
chosen to achlress the public on wliatever topic might 
be presented. It was recognized that his general 
mental equipment, quickness of understanding and 
aptness of perception of the principle ijoints in any 
queslion jjresented to him were quite unusual, while 
his self-pos.session and his wit rendered him a 
dangerous antagonist in political discussion and a 
most popular orator under any circumslaiices. As a, 
mere s\igge.slion of the character of his oratory, 
the following from a speech of Mr. Depew, 
before a reunion of the army of the Potomac 
in 1887, may be olfered : " This is a republic and 
neither Mammon nor anarchy shall be king. The 
American asks only for a fair field and an e(|ual 
chance. Her believes tliat every m,-in is enlilled for 
himself and his cliildren to the full enjoyment 
of all he lioneslly earns, but he will seek and linil a 
means for eradicating the conditions which liope- 
lessly handicap him from the start. In Ibis contest 
lie does not want the as,sistance of the red Hag and 
he regards with equal ho.stilily those who m.-irch im- 
der that banner and those who furnish argunient and 
excuse for its existence." To quote again from -Mr. 
Depew and illuslratiiig the many-side<lness of his 
mental ei|ui|inient : " The bullet of Guiieau struck 
down President Garfield and in the whirlwind of re- 
sentment and revenge, Gen. Arthur, by the very 
nalure of his position became the object of 
the most cruel suspicion and a.ssault. In that hour 
the real greatness of his character became resplend- 
ent. The ]iolitician gave place to the statesman and 
the partisan to the president." Of Gen. Hancock, .Mr. 
Depew spoke thus : "Of all our generals he was 
ill appearance, the ideal soldier. His s|)lfiidi(l 
physiipie, his martial bearing and his chivalric car- 
riage made him the idol of his troops and endeared 
him to his countiynien. He .stood like a wall at 
Gettysburg and saved the North from invasion : he 
charged like a crusader at the Wilderness and 
snatched victory from defeat. I remember as it 
was but ycslerday, J[<C'lellan's dispatch to his wife 
which thrilled the country : ' Hancock. was superb 
to-day.' And when the accounts came of the con- 
flict we learned that it was a bayonet-charge, led liy 
himself which turned the tide of liattle and ,saved 
the army." t>peaking of Thomas JelTerson. Mr. 
Deiiew .said : "Doubt and debate are the .safrly- 
valves of freedom and Thomas Jelfer.son created 
both. He feared the loss of popular rights in cen- 
tralization and liclievcd that the reserved powers of 
thestates were the only guarantees of the liberties of 
the jieojile. He stands supreme in our hi.story as a 
political leader and left no successor." Kefore the 
convention of the reiniblican jiarly at Chicago, 
in 1888, Jlr. Depew was a lU'omincnt candidate for 
the presidency. On the first ballot, he received 
ninety-nine votes to Harrison's eighty. Sherman 
leading with 229. On ti.e second ballot, Harrison 
had gained eleven votes and Depew held his own. 
On tlie third ballot a push was made for Alger and 
Mr. Dc'iiew droppeil eight votes. It being obvious 
that a nomination was not iio.ssible under the exist- 
ing conditions, as Mr. Depew concentrated the 
full strength of his slate, he withdrew his name as 
a candidate, whereupon the larger part of the New 
York vole went for Harrison and an adjourn- 
ment taking jilace over Sunday, he was nominal ed 
on the Monday following. It will thus be seen that 
in tlie interests of the party Mr. Depew had practic- 
ally given up the senatorship of the slate of 
New York and an excellent chance for the presi- 
dency of the ''niled States. Mr. Depew's public 
positions were numerous and important. Beside* 



OF AMEKICAN BIOOKAPHY. 



531 




.:Mfi 



'u-<-axc 



beinjr president of the New York Central and Hud- 
son liivcr Hiiilroad Co.. and tlie West Sliore Hail- 
road Co.. lie was also president of tile I'liion Leaj,'ii(^ 
Club of New York, and of the Vale Aluiuni Asso- 
ciation of tliat city, a member of the New York 
Chamber of Commerce, a director of the Union 
Trust Co. of New Y'ork, of the Western Union 
Telegraph Co., of the Kquitable Lite A.ssuranee 
Society, and of St. Luke's Hospital. Mr. Depew 
was married on Nov. 9, 1871, to Alice liegemen. 

RUTTER, James H, president of the New 
Y'ork Ciiilral Kailroad Co., was born in Jjowell, 
Mass., Feb. 3, 1836. His father removed to Provi- 
dence, K. L. wlien he was .still 
an infant; and there he ob- 
tained most of his education at 
the common schools, after- 
wards passing through a class- 
ical course in the Scholield 
Commercial College, in wliic'h 
he i-emained until the latter 
part of 1853. In the meantime 
ids parents had removed to 
Elmira, N. Y'., where they 
settled in 1850. Having coni- 
pleted his education, he joined 
them; and in 18.54 obtained a 
clerkship in the freight otlice of 
the Erie railroad, at Elmira, in 
which he continued until 1855, 
when he was apiiointed cashier 
of the \Villiams]i(irt and lOlniiia 
freight office at Williamsport, Pa. Here Jlr. 
Rutter remained until late in the autumn of 
1857. when he received an offer to enter the 
service of the Jlichigan Southern and Northern 
Indiana road, and was established as a clerk in their 
freight office at Chicago; and in Jlarch, 1858, he 
was appointed freight agent at Chicago of the Chi- 
cago and Milwaukee road. In the meantime Mr. 
Kutter's earliiT employers on the Erie road had not 
lost .sight of him. and recognizing the ability with 
which he disehar.ired his duties with other roads, 
oifered him the position of freight agent at Elmira, 
N. Y'., which he assumed in December, 1859, and 
held until March, 18(54. He was then transferred to 
Buffalo to hold a similar position, but of much 
greater imiiortanee and with duties more laborious 
and more res|)oiisible. Two years later Mr. Rutter 
was transferred to tlie position of assistant general 
freight agent at New Y'lirk, and this position he 
continued to hold until 1873. By this time Jlr. 
Rutter's (juite unusual ability had come under the 
observation of most of the trunk lines, and Com. 
Vanderbilt induced him to accept the posit inn of 
gen(^ral freight agent of the New York Central. In 
June, 1ST7. he was made general trallie manager; 
and in ISSO the olhce of third vice-president of (he 
New York Central was created for the purpose of 
giving Mr. Rutter the appointment. While hold- 
ing this position he had charge of the extensive 
and costlv iniproveinents made by the companv at 
Rochester. N. Y. In May. 1883. Win. H. Vanderbilt 
determined to retire from active duty as president of 
the New York Central, and after due consideration 
decided to place Mr, Rutter in that office. The 
result of this action was to put a thoroughly e.vperi- 
enced and competent railroad man, trained to the 
lmsines.s. especially in its freight department, in 
place of Mr. Vanderliilt, who was chictly a capital- 
ist and tinancier; and the practical effeel was an 
ininiediate and marki'd increase in the volume of 
business which came to the road. Mr. KiUler was 
a man of original idea.s and made many improve- 
ments — not the least of which was the establishment 
of the now well-kiiowu "Bureau of luformatiou " in 



the Grand Central Depot of New York. Sir. Rutter's 
thoroughness in the carrying out of the heavy re- 
.s|i(insibilities which had' fallen to him, and the 
tidelity to bis employers which was a dominating 
feature of his character, cau.sed a .strain uiion his fac- 
ulties and upon his physical capacity which proved 
to be more than they could bear. " His health be- 
.gan to fail in 1884; and although he gave up busi- 
ness for a time and traveled, and .sought to renew 
his lie.-illh in Florida and other health resorts, the 
inroa<ls (if disea.M- had gone too far, and he died 
June 27. is.s.-,. .M,-s. Rutter, who had been ill for 
.some time, died witiiin a few days of her husband, 
and tlu! two were buried at the same time and in 
the same grave. 

DUVAL, Horace Clark, secretarv, was born 
in Hiixiklyii. N. V., July 4, 1851, anel has always 
resided in that city. On bis father's side he came 
from a Huguenot family which .settled in Vir- 
ginia in the eiglileenth century, and on his nicither's 
from old revolutionary stock" two of his maternal 
ancestors having been officers in the Continental 
army. Y'oung Duval was graduated from college 
in 18(i7 and at first started in the banking business 
in Wall street, but left that for the railroad busi- 
ness. On the dissdlution of the trunk line pool, of 
wliich he had been made secretary in 1874. he ac- 
cepted an invitation from J. H." Rutter. at that 
time traffic manager and afterwards president of 
the New Y'ork Central Railroad, to become his pri- 
vate .secretary. Ever since that time he has been 
private secii'iary of the president of the New York 
Cent nil, having been retained in that po.sition by 
Chauiicey M. Depew. who sueeeeded to the presi- 
dency on' the death of .Mr. Rutter. To the fullill- 
ment of the ardmais, exacting and responsible duties 
of his orticial position, Mr. Duval brought acombina- 
tion of qualities of rare intellectual and tempera- 
mental excellence. Quick and alert in his mental 
action, unusually aecuniti! in his judgment of men, 
and endowed with a vivid perceiition of the neces- 
sities involved in any order or instruction which 
might be given him by his superior olbcer; he has 
also distingui.shed himself by a suavity of manner 
and ;in amiability and luLseltishness of character 
which have given him unusual popularity and the 
reputation among his friends of being a "charming 
conipaniou. Serving a man 
with so many and such var- 
ious calls upon his time and 
attention as Mr. Depew, Mr. 
Duval has .-^hown the po.s- 
session of exactly the cpial- 
ities needed for one .standing 
between such a |)rominent 
]>ersoiiality and tlii^ |)iiblic. 
Jlr. Duval isan enthusiastic 
j-acblsman .■uul eiiually en- 
thusiastic in his devotion to 
the militia, having won the 
gold cross of honor for 
twenty years service. He is 
first lieutenant of company 
1 7th reuiment N. (i., (4. r= S^ / ' /^/^ 

N. V. While his business ^*— ''^'^-^t^-C^C^^-cV;*^ . 
duties lie in the (Jrand Cen- // 

tral depot of New York, he is none the less a true 
citizen of Brooklyn, being trea.siurr of the Brooklyn 
Club and vice-president iif the Excelsior Club aiid 
one of the earnest "young republicans" of that city. 
He is also a member of the New York Athletic Club, 
the (';iluniet. (he Atlantic Yacht Club, the Alcyone 
Boat Club and the Mountain Toboiriran Clubof "Cen- 
tral Valley, N. Y. He married, in 1878. Ida Liv- 
ingston, !i beautiful ;iiid intellectual girl, descend 
ed from the New York Livingston . ■stock which 
originiited with Robert Livingston, the first " lord 




532 



TEE NATIONAL CYCLOPEDIA 




ftA^^s^M-. 



of the manor," who died in Albany in lT3o. They 
Lave one child, a son, Olive Livingston, ■who is 
the youngest living representative of the direct 
Livingston stock. Besides his official duties and 
correspondence, Mr. Duval has charge of the private 
accounts of Mr. Depew as well as of the issuing of 
all passes from the president's deinirtment. Despite 
the exhaustion of his time by his numerous official 
and social duties, Mr. Duval has given evidence of 
being a writer of very bright and original poetry, 
some of which has been contributed by him to tlie 
columns of the leading humorous and other peri- 
odicals. 

WEBB, William Seward, corporation president, 
and pliysician, was born in New York city Jan. 31, 
1851. He is the son of James Watson Webb and 
Laura Virginia, daughter of 
Jacob L. Cram, New York mer- 
chant. His grandfather n-as 
Gen. Samuel B. Webblq.v.),who 
was born in western Connecti- 
cut, Puritan stock, (ien. Webb, 
who was a "minute man" took 
an active part in the .Vmeriean 
revolution, partieijiating in the 
battle of Bunker Hill.'with his 
own regiment. He « as also an 
aide-de-cani]) to Gen. Israel Put- 
man, and aide-ile-camji and in- 
timate friend of Wasliingtou. In 
1800 William Sewaril went to 
Brazil with his father and 
mother, the former being U. 8. 
minister to that country in 1801- 
69. The son returned to the 
United States in 18(54, however, 
and attended Col. Churchill's Military School at Sing 
Sing for live years, and then took a two years' course 
at Columbia" College, New Y'ork city, and after- 
wards studied medicine in Vienna, Austria, for 
two years, spending also a year in France and 
England, and tiually took a two years' course of 
study in medicine at the New York College of 
Phy.sicians and Surgeons. He secured through 
competitive examination an appointment as phys- 
ician at St. Luke's Hospital in New York city, 
remaining there for two years and a half, at the end 
of which he began practice as a physieiiui in New 
York, but soon gave it up to do business in Wall 
street. Three years later he married Lila Osgood, 
a daughter of "William H. Vanderbilt, and iu"l883 
at Mr Vanderl)ill's request, lie took tlie management 
of the Wagner Palace Car Co. in New York, which 
company he reorganized becoming its presii.lent. 
He is now a director in several raih'oad eomiiauie.s, 
and has been appointed a colonel on the staff of tlie 
governor of Vermont, in which slate he is also in- 
spector-general of rifle practice. 

KINNERSLEY, Ebenezer, electrician and pro- 
fessor of EiigHsli and natural pliilosojihy in the 
College of Pliiladelphia from Yl'h'S to 1773, was born 
in Gloucester, Kngland, N'ov. 30, 1711. He came to 
America witli his parents in 1714, wlien Ids father, 
AVilliam Kinnersley, became pastor of the tirst Bap- 
tist cliurch organized in Pennsylvania. The .son 
was educated by liis father, and for a brief time 
engaged in teacliiiig school. In 1739 he married a 
si.ster of Edward I)uHi<'ld, an associate in making 
scientitic experiments witli Benjamin Fninkliii. witli 
whom Mr. Kinnersley was tlieii lirouglil into close 
companionship. Franklin after returning from a 
visit to Boston, where lie had observed the effects 
produced by Dr. Speiice experimenting with a gla.ss 
tube and silk, communicated this iiifornialion to his 
Pliiladelphia friends, among whom were Kinnersley, 
Duliield and Philip Syng. In 174C Mr. Kinnersley 



became so much interested in pursuing his investi- 
gations on this subject Ithat he devoted all his time 
to it. Their famous "Philadelphia experiments" 
were published in Loudon, and the discoveries 
revealed in them astonished the learned men of all 
Europe. The properties of "electric tire," as it was 
called, engrossed the attention of all scientitie schol- 
ars of that day, and the discoveries of Franklin and 
Kinnersley made their names famous. In 1848 
Kinnersley demonstrated that the electric fluid could 
be made to pa.ss through water, and about the same 
time invented tlie "magical picture" and produced 
the ringing of chimes in belLs. In 1751 he delivered 
lectures in Philadelphia on " The Newly Discovered 
Electrical Fire," the lirst experimentai lectures on 
electricity ever given in America or Europe. He 
explained the nature and projierties of "the won- 
derful element" wilii remarkable success. He went 
to Boston soon after and repeated the same lectures 
in Faneuil Hall. While in that city he discovered 
the difference between electricity that was produced 
by the glass and by suliihur globes. Previously the 
theory of Du Fay as to vitri-ous and resinous elec- 
tricity was generally accepted, but Kinnersley's 
proved that the positive and negative theory was 
correct. In March, 1752, three months before 
Franklin drew electricity from the clouds. Mr. Kin- 
nersley in lectures delivered at Newport . H. I. , ]iroved 
that houses and b.-iiiis iiiiglit be jirotected from light- 
ning. The fame he had achieved induced the trus- 
tees to elect him head-master of tlie English depart- 
ment in the College of Philadelphia in 1753, and 
from 1755 to YiVi he tilled the eliair of English, 
including natural jihilosophy and oratory. In 1757 
Mr. Kinnersley invented an electrical thermometer, 
and that year was the lirst to prove that heat could 
be produced by electricity. There is a window in 
his niemorv at Ihe Uiiiversitv of Peims\lvania. Ho 
died July 4. 177s in Philadelphia. 

WOODFORD, Stewart Lyndon, lawyer, was 
born in New York eily Sept. 3, 1S35. He" studied 
at Yale College and also at Columbia, graduating 
from the latter institution in 1854. In l.sr)7 he eoni- 
meneed the practice of law in New Y'ork. He was 
successful as a lawyer and soon began to make him- 
self prominent in iiolilies. In 18(i0 he was appointed 
messenger of the electoral college of his state to 
convey to Washinglon the vote of New York in 
favor of Abraham Lincoln for president. The fol- 
lowing year Mr. Woodford became assistant United 
States district attorney for the southern district of 
New Y'ork. He remained in this office until 1S(;2 
when he volunteered in the Union army. After 
service in Virginia he was tiansl'iTred to South 
Carolina, and became chief of stall to (!en. <\. A. 
Gilinore. He was subsequently made military 
commandant at Charleslon and then at Savannah 
and rose to the brevet rank of brigadier-general of 
volunteers. At the dose of the war he reliirned to 
New York and in lS()5was nominated on the re- 
publican ticket for lieutenanl-gnvcrnor. He was 
elected and continued to hold thai office until 18(i8. 
In 1870 he was nominated for the guverncirsliip but 
was defeated by John T. HofTinan. In 1872 he was 
elected to congress, was also chosen presidential 
elector-at-larjje, and was president of the electoral 
college of New Y'ork, which cast the vote of the 
state for Gen. Grant on his .second election to the 
presidency. Til 1S77 Gen. Woodford w;is appointed 
P. S. district attorney for the snutliein •district of 
New York, in wide h he had been assistant sixteen 
years before. On retiring froiii that (iltice he again 
engaged in the practice of law in which he has since 
remained. lie has been active in educational mat- 
ters, is tru.stee of Cornell University, and has re- 
ceived the degree of .\.M. from Yale and Columbia 
and of LL.D. from Trinity. 





eo^nrxtoHT, !•:», »r 4 



OF AMEKICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



535 




WHITTIER, John Greenleaf, poet, was bora 
near Ilaverliill, Mass., Dec, 17, 1S()7, lie was (ie- 
sceuded from Thomas Whittier, a memlicr of the 
Society of Friends, wlio settled at Haverhill in 1C47. 
The phice is only thirty miles north <if Host on, but 
at that period it was on the extreme frontier, and 
peculiarl}- exposed to incursions from the Indian.s. 
Twice they descended upon it, once in 1797, when 
they carried away Hannah Du.stin (q. v.), whose 
tlirilling story was told in every scliool-reader in the 
country forty }'ears a.sro; and asain in 17ilH, when 
they killed and captured forty of the inlial)itants. 
But thousjh the Whittier family, as (Quakers, were 
exposed to the perseculion of their wliile ncij.'lib()rs, 
who then applied the lasli and the braiKliiiir iron to 
the peace-loving sect, they wcr<' never molested by 
the unchristian red men. Thou.sih their dwellini^ 
was on the outskirts of the town, they slept with 
imbarred doors and windows, and even in the most 
perilous times refu.sed to re.sort to the loi; lilock- 
liouse for protection, yet they dwelt in safety. 
AVilh frcsli scalps danirlinu' at liis belt, and hands 
still red with the blood of their neiuhbors, the sav- 
age would pass their home in jieaee. oi-, if he jjaused 
at all, would merely exchange n friendly greeting 
with his " white brother " and his family. He had 
been subdued by brotherly kindne.ss. Hut kindli- 
ness was not the only prominent trait of the early 
Whittiers. They had a strong devotion to truth, a 
stern sense of right, a dceji dis- 
dain for wrong, an inKjues- 
tioning reli.gious faith, and 
that clear vision which .sees 
in every man — be he red, 
white or black — a beloved son 
of the all-loving, imiversal 
Father. It was these qualities, 
nurtured in rugged times, and 
descending through two cen- 
luries, from father to son, 
which, bursting at last into 
song, made John Greenleaf 
AVhittier the most American 
of all American poets. It took 
seven generations of saintly 
clergymen to form an Emer- 
son; it required as many gen- 
erations of sturdy, liberty- 
loving, God-fearing yeomen 
lo ]iroduee a Whittier. Tlie 
father of Whittier cultivated a 
small farm in the eastern part 
ot Haverhill, and lived there in an ample old farm-, 
house, which is still standing. He was in comfort- 
able circumstances, but like most farmer's boys of 
the time, his son was brought up to work on the 
place during summer, and to attend the district 
school in winter, varying his studies at that season 
by an occasional job in the shoemaker's sho]i, which 
seventy years ago was considered an indispensable ad- 
junct to a farmer's dwelling. The school was taught 
by the somewhat singular genius whom Whittier has 
described in his lines, "To My Old Schoolmaster," 
and it was held in a dilapidated, one-storied shanty, 
standing not far from the Whittier homestead. This 
shanty was the dwelling of the schoolmaster, whose 
s]iouse — somewhat overfond of toddy — tended her 
little ones in a room adjoining the school apartment. 
Occasionally the inebriated lady would hold a do- 
mestic discussion with her hushand. and then 
"Through the cracked and crazy wall, 
Came the cradle rock and sfpiall. 
And the good man's voice at strife 
With his shrill and tipsy wife." 
But the master was a "genial pedagogue," who, 
though the ferule was then the universal fashion, 
lured his scholars to their studies 




CJfivt(:^ii^^i^^&i;i>^ 



" By stories old 

With a comic unction told. 

More than by the elo(iuence 

Of terse birchen arguments." 
There Whittier accpiired the English rudiments, 
and at honie he ind)ibed a taste of literature from 
the "Pilgrim's Progress." and a few other religious 
works that composed the family lil)raiy. But in 
neither of these was there aught to awaken his 
youthful genius. What tirst aroused his imagina- 
tion was a volume of Hums, which, by a happy 
chance, fell into his h.uids in his early bovhood. It 
completely fa.scinaled him, and engros,sei{ his every 
spare momi-nl. He read it at niglit while seated by 
the kitclien tire, and at noonday when resting from 
his work in the shadow of llie stone wall he wa.s 
building on his father's farm. The music of its 
.songs .sank into his soul, and he felt a new life 
throbbing in his veins. Everything now — all nature 
and our human life— took on for him a hue of poetry, 
awakening new thoughts, which, born poet as he 
was. .sought expression in riiytlunieal language. 
But his verse-writing was discouraged by his lather, 
whose practical sense .saw in it nothinir but poverty. 
He plead and argued with his son that its practice 
would unfit him for useful work; but he might as 
well have .sought to check the boy's breathing, and 
have expected that he would still" remain a sentient 
being. At stolen moments the lad continued his 
e.xerciscs at rhyming, and at length, when a little 
past his eighteenth year, with manv misgivings, 
sent "The'Exile's Departure" to '\Villiam Lloyd 
Garrison, who was then the editor of the "Free 
Pre.s,s," an obscure journal printed in the neighbor- 
ing town of Newburyport. The poetical market 
was as largely overstocked then as it is now, and 
this poem came to Garrison with no alluring dress 
or accompaniments. It was written in blue ink on 
the coarsest kind of paper, and having been thrust 
under the door on the previous night, was found by 
Garrison on the floor when he entered his oltice the 
following morning. He glanced over the dingy 
paper, and was about to toss it into his waste basket, 
when a Sudden impulse stayed his hand and led to 
his giving it a conscientious reading. He detected 
in it the water-marks of genuine poetry, and laid it 
aside for future publication, but it did not appear 
until June 1, 1826. In the meanwhile, with a beat- 
ing heart and a trembling hand, young Whittier 
opened the "Free Press" as it came weekly to his 
father's dwelling, but only to be disappointed week 
after week. When at last he saw the lines in "the 
poet's corner," he was dazed, thrilled, and yet 
strangely elated. Henceforth for him there could 
be but one destiny. He continued to send poems to 
the " Free Press, " all of which in due time appeared, 
and at last Garrison, encountering the mes,senger, 
asked from whom they came. "From a farmer's 
boy. named Whittier. living at East Haverhill," was 
the answer. "I will ride over and see that boy," 
sjiid Garrison. He found the father iUid son work- 
ing side by side in the tield; such was the tirst meet- 
ing of those two men who for more than fifty years 
were to labor together in forwarding a movement 
whose influence will be felt upon this eouiilry and 
the world as long as both shall endure. This visit 
of Garrison deciiled the career of Whittier. Garri- 
son was but two years the senior of the fanner lad, 
l)ut he had seen much moiv of the world, was a 
man of decided opinions, and accustomed to impress 
his views upon others. He now strongly urged the 
elder Whittier not to hamper his sou's genius, but 
to give him a more libend education, and thus tit 
him for acting an honorable part in the world. The 
father heeded this advice; but his means were nar- 
row, and he coidd afford his sou no mori> than two 
years' tuition at an academy. With this slender 



636 



THE NATION^AL CYCLOPAEDIA 



outfit youns Whittier, before he hatl arrived at the 
age f)f twcuty-iiiK'. repaired to Bostim, and engaged 
in journalism, contributing to and editing, for about 
two years, the "American Manufacturer." Tlien 
he returned to Ilaverliill, where lie employed him- 
Keif in editing tlie Haverhill "Gazette," and in writ- 
ing verse during the long, solitary walks that he took 
amid the beautiful country on the banks of the Merri- 
mack. His pen was never idle, and it was at this time 
that he wrote in prose and verse some of those beau- 
tifnl tales of Indian tradition, and of the old-time 
superstitions which hang like a shadowy nust over the 
ancient town of Haverliill. Then he was called to 
Hartford, Conn., to edit the "New England Weekly 
Review," but in 1S33 he retnrned to his Haverhill 
home, to resume his connection with the "Gazette," 
and his long, thoughtful strolls beside the waters of 
his native river. There he now remained during 
four years — years which were, in one respect, the 
most imjiortant in his career, for iu them he found 
his life-work, which was to sonnd a bugle-blast that 
nerved a great nation to a tinal struggle for freedom. 
It was at this ]ieriod that the anti-slavery agitation 
may be said to have begun to .stir the counlry fully. 
Whittier saw the full import of the movement, and 



. <irC ^' 







his sympathies went out strongly for tlie fnin' mil- 
lions of his fellowmen who were then held in bond- 
age. At this lime be wrote those "Voices of Free- 
dom," which, like the exhortation of a true prophet, 
stirred the hearts of men, and awakened a public 
sentiment which spread until it included a wdiole 
people. ^Meanwhile lie wjis elected to the Massa- 
chusetts legislature in 1S3.5, and in the following 
year was chosen secretary of the National Anti- 
Slavery Society. Two years later be was ajipointed 
editor of the " I^cnnsylvania Freeman," but bis out- 
spoken utterances in this journal soon aroused so 
bitter an opposition among conservative Philadel 
phians, (hat its presses and the buiUling in which it 
was published were attacked and destroyed by a mob. 
After this be removed to Amesbury, a town adjoin- 
ing Haverhill, and there, except during a i)rief 
period in 1M(4, when he conducted the "Middlesex 
Standard " at Lowell, he has since resided. For 
sixty years — ever since his first contribution in ISiG 
to Garrison's "Free Press" — Whittier has never 
been idle. Of both prose and poetry he has been a 
constant contributor to various journals, and, in- 
deed, all of his books, with the single exception of 
"Leaves from Margaret Smith's .lournal," have 
first been published in some form in a periodical. 
But he cannot be said to have had a national repu- 



tation until 1S37. In that year was begun his con- 
uecti(ai with the "National Era," 'iin abolition 
journal, which, on account of its publication at 
Washington, was widely known both in the North 
and in the South. To this journal, though he con- 
tinued to reside at Amesbury, he contributed regu- 
larly for twelve years, and he wnjte frc(pientlv for 
the " Atlantic Jlonthly " after it was .started in is."i7. 
In tlie.se two publications, both before and during 
the civil war, he had a platform from which bis 
voice could be heard throughout the nation, and 
there is no estimating the influence of bis utterances 
at this time on the "Northern mind, or their eftcct 
on the course of events that decideil the fate of this 
country. The pen is .said to be mightier than the 
sword, and it is certain that iu some <if Whitlier's 
lines at this period there was a power that moved 
the North from JIaine to California. The collected 
edition of his poems which appeared in 1857. and 
his earlier contributions to the "Atlantic Monthly," 
gave him his tirst wide recognition as a poet; l)u"t it 
was not until the jiublication of "Snow Bound" iu 
bSUU that he came to be universally regarded as one 
of the great writers of American poetiy. I'niil 
then his genius had been under restraint, cramped 
by a severe sense of duly to give his whole .strength 
to an earnest advocacy of political reform. He had 
no lei.sure to delight himself in be.-iuty. but. those 
reforms effected, lie was free to indulge his testhetic 
inclinations. Hence it is by "Snow Bound " and 
his later writings that he must be ineasured to ascer- 
tain his real stature as a poet; and tliough he has 
written pro.sc that is in all respects admirable, it is 
as a poet that in the coming time he will be most 
honored and longest remembered. This is not the 
place to enter into any critical analysis of his poetry, 
nor is one needed, since his rank among the poets of 
the century is fixed beyond alteration. He is uni- 
versally recogni/id as the prophet poet — the one 
among us who best interprets the divine voice that 
is to be heard iu uature and in the soul of man. In 
him is revived the spirit which breathes through the 
Book of Isaiah and the best Hebrew poetry; and in 
his rugged strength and simplicity he is not unlike 
those great barils w bo have uplifted the world with 
their songs for nearly thirty centuries. Whittier 
has had the rare felicity to .see his songs embodied 
in the nation's law, and while vet alive to receive 
honor as the prophet who warned his country 
again.st the giant vice threatening its destruction. 
But more is be to be honored for bis selection of 
tho.se profounder themes that bear on human exist- 
ence and lead the mind away from tlic transient and 
the superticial. to the transcemiciit and the un- 
changeable. Therefore, if these interior and unseen 
elements of life form an enduring liasis in poetry, 
some of his verse is likely to live as long as hia 
country's language. Agassi/, once said to a friend 
who offereil liim a share in a inotitable .specnl.-ition, 
"I have no time to give to mere money-getting." 
Doubtless the same wcaild have been .said by Whit- 
tier at any period in his career. He has never been 
in other than moderate circnnistaiiees. His house 
at Amesbury is a plain, old-fashioned wooden struc- 
ture, such as may be seen anywhere in the country 
towns of New England. It is painted a neutral 
tint, anil stands a couple of rods from the street, the 
intervening space being tilled with shrubbery. Be- 
yond it strelclies a small garden, rich in fruit-trees 
iind grape vines, and showing in its trim order the 
careful hand of its owner. The room which for 
very many years was the poet's library looks out 
u)i(">n this 'i;a"rden, and also has a view of Pow-wow 
Hill, which is familiar to the readers of his |ioetry. 
In this apartment there is a Franklin stove, and one 
of the sides of the room is occupied by a desk and 
book-shelves filled vv-ith such books as may be found 



OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 



537 



in most libranes. The room is now mostly tenant- 
less, for since the death of his sister tilizabeth, who 
for many years was the mistress of the poet's l)aelie- 
lor household, he has passed much of his time at 
Dauvers, but it has been the gatherin^-phiee of 
noted men and beautiful women, s(jine of whom, 
like Alice C'ary and Lucy Larconi have caroled 
songs that will echo along the ages. Near the; 
house, on the borders of a tangled grove, is a little 
Quaker church, resembling much an old-fashioned 
country school-bouse. There, when he was a con- 
stant tenant of his home, Whittier twice on every 
Sunday resorted for quiet worship with a few de- 
scendants of the old Quaker families; for lu: docs 
not disregard religious forms, though his life is a 
constant worship. His creed lias one cardinal doc- 
trine — " God is Love" — belief in which has permeated 
his entire being and has had a constant overllovv in 
love for his fellows. To a corre.sponihait he once 
expounded his religious faith as follows: " 1 am 
not a Uuiversalist, for I believe in tlie possiliilily of 
the perpetual loss of the .soul that persisleutly turns 
from God in the next world as in this. But I dcj 
also believe that the Divine love and comiiassiou 
follow us in all worlds, and that the lleaveul)' 
Father will do the best that is possible for every 
creature He has made. \Vhat that will be must be 
left to his intinite love and goodness. I would refer 
thee to a poem of mine, ' The Answer ' — ' Spare 
me, dread angel of reproof.' etc. — as containing, 
in a few words, my belief in tliis matter." There is 
no estimating the boon which such a man as Whit- 
tier is to this country and the world. His genius is 
a beacon set above the confusing currents of modern 
thouglit, and to its light we may look as a safe stan- 
dard by which to test our ideas anil measure our 
progress and that of our time. An eminent Italian 
has recently said, "Happy Atncrica, whose great 
poets are also great .saints." Whittier is a .saint, 
though one of a genial, human type, with hopes 
and aspirations like other men; but be stands habit- 
ually on a height which ordinary men only on rare 
occasions attain, and hence he is fitted to guide and 
uplift his fellowmen. 

BABNES, Catharine 'Weed, artist, w.asbornin 
Albany, N. Y., .Tan. 10, 1S.")1. She is the eldest of live 
children of Hon. William Barnes and Emily P. Barnes, 
the youngest child of the late 
Thurlow Weed. After grail- 
uation from the Albany Female 
Academy and the Friends' 
School of Providence, R. L, 
she spent two years at Vassar 
College, but from ill health 
couid not com])lete the course, 
and went abroad with her par- 
ents, accompanying tluMn to 
Russia, where Mr. Barnes was 
an official delegate to the In- 
ternational i^tatistical congress 
at St. Petersburg. Several 
years later she again went to 
Europe, and has traveled nuich 
over her own county also. Fond 
of literary and artistic work, 
she was attracted by the in- 
creasing interest in photogra- 
phy, taking it up in IS.sii, and 
has built a fine portrait studio for herself at Albany, 
■where is her labor.atory and printing room. She is 
a member of the New York Society of An\ateur 
Photographers, of the Brooklyn Academy of Pho- 
tography, of the Chicago Camera Club, and is one 
of the editors of the "American Amateur Photog- 
rapher," besides writing for other magazines on 
camera work. Since February, 1889, slie has kept 




;t«/' 




t^CL^e.4t.^tt4^ . 



house for her father, owing to the death of Mrs. 
Barnes. She is a member of Sorosis, and occasion- 
ally speaks at its meetings. Her grandmother, 
Catharine Weed, was the child of Moses Ostrander 
(whose ancestors came from Utrecht, Holland), and 
Clarissa Montfort, of Huguenot descent. Mr. Weed's 
family were English, as was that of Mr. Barnes. 

HEARN, Lafcadio, author, was born on tho 

Island of Santa .Maura. Ionian islands, Greece, about 
1850. His mother was a Greek, and his father a 
surge(m in the army of Great Britain, whose regi- 
ment was stationed in Greece during the period of 
the English protectorate. Lafcadio received a 
liberal education in England, Ire- 
land and France, and after the ^^- 
death of his father in India 
came to America. Being in re- 
duced circumstances, he learned 
the printer's trade in Cincinnati, 
and after holdmg various subor- 
dinate positions in a print ingollice, 
he was employed as rejiorter anil 
traveling correspondent on sev- 
eral newspapers in that city. 
During one of his vacations he 
went South. The soiuhern blood 
in his veins responded to the 
warmth, beauty and jioetry of 
the country, and he resolved to 
remain where things were so con- 
genial to his tastes. He found more 
agreeable jouriuilistic work in New 
Orleans than he had followed in Cincinnati, and 
greater leisure for the gralitication of his literary 
tastes. Oriental literature pos.se.ssed for him a pe- 
culiar fa.scination, and he made exhaustive researches 
in ancient Egyptian. Indian and Buddhistic writings, 
investigating among the material of Edwin Arnold's 
"Light of Asia." His ■■ Stray Leaves from Strange 
Literature" is an interpretation of certain Eastern 
stories and legends. This book, though not in metrical 
form, is a prose poem. His "Chinese Ghosts " is an- 
other successfid elTort in poetical jirosc. his handling 
of the legendaiy lore of I he ( 'clestial Empire being ex- 
tremely graceful. He has al.so translated and publish- 
ed "Oiie of (;ieopatra's Nights," from the French of 
Theophile Gauticr, 

TODD, Charles Scott, .soldier and diplonuitist, 
was born near Danville. Ky., ,Ian. 22, 1791. the son 
of .ludije Thomas Todd (q.'v.). He was graduated 
from William and Mary College, Va.. in 1809, 
studied law with bis father and at Litchfield. Conn., 
and began luacticc at Lexington. Ky.. in 1811. He 
entered the army in 1812, was .sent bvGen. Harrison 
as division judgV advocate to Gen. Winchester, was 
on .statT duty uiider Gens. Harri.son and McArthur, 
won high praise from both, rose to be colonel and 
inspeclorgeneral, but resigned in .Inne, 181"), to 
practice law at Frankfort. Ky. In 1817 he was .sec- 
retary of state and a member of the legislature. He 
was sent to Colondjia in 1820 on a contidential mis- 
sion, and ag.'iin in 1S22 with the recognition of its 
inde|iendence. Returning, he declined otlice, retired 
to a farm, was vice-i>resiilent of the Kentucky Agri- 
eultinal Society for some years, and in 1837 a dele- 
gate to the Presbvterian General Assembly. He was 
a friend of Clav and Harrison; to siijiiiorl the hitter's 
candidacy in 1S4() he wrote, with 15. Drake, a cam- 
liai^'ii life of that ollicer, and edited for a lime the 
Cinciimali " Rejiublican." President Harrison meant 
to reward him with the mis.sion to Vienna, but Tyler 
.sent him in 1841 to St. Petershiirg, where he re- 
mained until 1845, and was the tir.st foreigner ever 
admitted to membership in the Imperial Agricultural 
Society. His later life was ]>a.ssed in retirement. Uo 
died at Raton Rouge, La., May 14, 1871. 



,5:^8 



THE KATIONAL OYCLOI'.EIHA 




/ 0- O ty^'TLCrUxtL, 



SIMONDS, William Edgar, author mid com- 
missioucr (if p,ilciits, was l)(>rii at Ccilliiisville in the 
towu uf Cautoii, Ilaitfonl Co., Conn., Xov. 24, 
1843. He received his education in t)ie high school 
at Collinsville, and was graduated from Uie State 
Normal School in New Hritain in IHtiO and 
taught until 1863. He enli.sted in the 35th Connect- 
icut volunteers as a private and rose to be a ser- 
geant major. At the battle of 
Irish Hcnd. La , Apr. 14, 18()3, he 
was made lieutenant for gallantry 
on the Held, and was dischargeJl 
Aug. 20, 1863, at the end of his 
term of service He was gradu- 
ated from the Yale Law School 
in 1805, and afterward pnicticed 
law in Hartford, Conn. Mr. Si- 
monds was state representative 
in 1S.SM, and chairman of the 
committee on railroads. Since 
1884 he has filled the lectureship 
on patent law in the Yale Law 
School. He was a member of 
the stale legislature and speaker 
of the house in 1885, has been 
trustee of the Storrs Agricultu- 
ral School, .since 1880. and was 
elected representative in 1888 to 
the fifty-first congress. Yale Universitv gave him 
the honorary degree of A.M. He is the author of 
the following books on patent law: " Design Pat- 
ents," " Digest of Patent (Ktice Decisions."'" Sum- 
mary of Patent Law, "and " Digest of Patent Cases " 
This able gentleman hasslcadily added fresh honors 
to his name by laborious stud v aiid .scientitic research. 
His crowning distinction is the fact that he was the 
author of the long-agitated copyright measure which 
passed the house, and whicli the authors of the 
couutiy have so long striven to engraft upon our 
national statute book. For his .service in this mat- 
ter he was made a Chevalierof the Ijcgionof Himor. 
In July, 181II, I'residcnt Harrison appointed him 
commissioner of patents, bis elevation to this posi- 
tion being a recognition of his fitness. 

ROBERTSON, George, jurist and educator, was 
born in .Mercer county, Ky.,'Nov. 18, 1790, the .son 
of Alexander Uobertson, who settled in that region 
in 1779, became sheritf, and died in lsn2. He studied 
at Transylvania rniversity, began legal practice at 
Lanca.ster, Garrard Co., Kv., in 1809, rose rapidlv. 
and wa.s in congress 1817-21. Here he drafted the 
bill to give Arkansas a territorial government, and 
was chairman of the land committee which devised 
the plan of selling the public lauds to bona-fide set- 
tlers in small parcels at ^1.25 per acre. Wishing to 
devote him.self to this iiractiee, he declined a third 
terra in congress, and, soon after, the attorney-gener- 
alship of Iventucky, the governorship of Arkansas, 
and the mission to Colombia (1824) and loPeru (1S2:S); 
but he could not escape the public service Elected 
to the legislature in 1822 a;;ainsl his will, he served 
there for five years, wassjieakerin lS23and 1825-27, 
and led tlie fightof the " olii court, "or honest-money 
party, against the intiatioti or " relief .act " which 
sought to make the notes of .state banks legal tender. 
His protest of 1824 against this in-oceedinsr was a 
main cause of its defeat. He was acting secretary of 
state and ju<lge of the court of appeals'in 1828, eliief 
justice of his slate 1829-43. and profe.s.sor of law in 
Tran.sylvania University 1834-57. He received the 
degreeof LL. D. from (Vulcr College. Danville, Ky , 
and from Augusta College (now extinct), Hracken 
county. Ivy. lie wrote a memoirof Hon. .lohn Boyle 
(1838), anil included many of his speec-hes, etc.. in a 
" Scrap-Book on I^aw and I'olitics, Men and Times " 
(1856). He died at Lexinirton, Kv , .May 17, 1874. 



OLCOTT, Simeon, senator, was born in Con- 
necticut Oct. 1, 1735. He entered Yale College, 
whence he was graduated in 1761, and then began to 
study law, and being admitted to the bar, practiced 
at Charle.stown, N. H. He was appointed chief 
justice of the state court of common pleas, Dec 2.5, 
1784; a judge of the superior court, -Jan. 25, 1790; 
chief justice, JIarch 28, 1795, and in 1.801 was chosen 
to the U. S. .senate iu place of Mr Liveriuore, who 
had resisrned, and served until March 3. 1805 He 
died in Charleslown, X. H., Feb. 22, 1815 

VAN COTT, Cornelius, postmaster New York 
city, was born in New York city Feb. 12, 1838. 
He conies of old Knickerbocker slock that settled 
upon Manhattan island before the revolutionary war. 
His great grandfather and liis sons were soldiers in 
the war. Cornelius was educated in the cimimou 
.schools, and his father dying while Cornelius was 
yet very young, he was early thrown upon his 
own resources, He began Ids career by running a 
hand jirinling press for the Amei'icaii Trad Society, 
and at the age of fifteen was 
apprenticed to a carriage-trim- 
mer and soon made himself 
master of this trade, which he 
was quietly pursuing when he 
was suddenly brought into 
prominence by being elected 
a director iu the ^-Eina Fire 
Insurance Company He show- 
ed great business ability and 
eminent fitness for the posi- 
tion, and in a short time was 
made vice-president of the 
company. His first jiolitical 
ollice wa.s inspector in the cus- 
tom house. His name became 
a familiar one in political cir- 
cles, and he look an active part 
in the campaign that resulted 
in the overthrow of ihe Tweed 
ring. Mr. Van Colt was made 
fire commissioner by Mayor Havemeyer and after- 
W'ard elected president of the board. He served the 
city in that capacity from 1873 until 1SS5, with 
the exception of four years. It was during his ad- 
ministration that the fire department of New York 
city was recon.structed and organized on a jilan that 
has made it the wonder and pattern of the cities of 
the world. He made vigorous protest against the 
use of overhead wires in connection with Ihe electric 
arc light system, as dangerous to firemen, and his 
fe;irs in this respect have unfortunately been verified. 
He spared no effort to compel compjiance with the 
laws refjuiring suitable fire-escapes to be attached to 
all hotels, tenement houses, and like structures. 
]Mr. Van Cott served in the state senate of New York 
in 1SS8-89, and was a member of the committees on 
commerce and navigation, cities, poor laws and 
grievances, and chairman of the committee on |iub- 
lic health. He was appointed postnia.ster of New 
York city on May 1, 1889. He at once began active 
TTieasures for improvements and facility in di.strib- 
uting the mails in the New York post-office. The 
clerical force was largely increased, new substations 
were established, and a Sunday S|)ecial delivery 
was put in operation He approved of this, of 
course, but had nothing to do with its adoption, the 
department at Washington having determined upon 
the change. The business of the office rapidly in- 
creased until its profits exceeded §4,000.000" per 
annum. Mr. Van Cott is most considerate of the 
employees, and manages the affairs of the postoftiee 
with the .system that a general marshals his army. 
He is a self made man, and his wonderful success 
has been achieved through his pluck, energy, and 
indomitable will. 




OF AMERICAN HIOGRAPHY. 



539 



(^t 



WASHINGTON, Bushrod, jurist, was horn in 
Wcstindivlaiiil ciiuiiiy. Y;i.. .Iiin'i^ Ti, 17f)3. son of 
John Augustiup, yoiinjror hrolhcr of George Wasli- 
ington. Graduating from William and Mary college 
in 1778, he read law in Pliiladeljihia in .James Wil- 
son's office. In 17*^0-81 lie served in Col. .1. F. 
Mercer's troop, whicli was disbanded after the sieno 
of Yorktown. He practiced at liome, at .Vlexandria, 
and at Kichmond, was a member of the house of 
delegates in 1787, and of the convention which rati- 
fied the Federal constitution, and from Dec. 20, 1798, 
■was a judge of the U. S. supreme court, receiving 
his appointment from President Adams. He was of 
"small and emaciated frame, and countenance like 
marble," but eminent for learning and ability. He 
published reports of the Vir;;inia court of apjieals, 
1790-9fi, in two volumes (1798-99), and of the X . S. 
court for the third circuit, 1803-27, in four volumes 
(182()-29), partly edited by K. Peters; these, in the 
opinion of Iiis biographer, did him but imperfect 
justice. At the organization of the colonization so- 
ciety in .June, 1817, he became its president. As 
tlie .general's favorite nephew, he inherited >Iount 
Vernon, which afterward pas.sed to R. K. Lee through 
the Curtis family. He died in Philadeljihia Nov. 
2(i, 1829. His I'ife, by H. Binney, was privately 
printed in 18.18. 

S'WAYNE, Noah Haynes, justice of the su- 
preme court of the United States,' was born in Cul- 
peper county, Va., Dec. 7, 1.S04, the son of Joshua 
Swayne, of Quaker descent. The first member of the 
family in America wa.s Francis Swayne, who came 
over with ^Villiam Peun, and settled near Philadel- 
phia, his farm having since re- 
mained in the possession of some 
of his descendants. Noah received 
liis early education at Waterford, 
Va., studied law at Warrenton, 
and at the age of nineteen was ad- 
mitted to the bar. Disapjiroving 
of slavery he removed to Ohio in 
1815, and opened a hiw otlice in 
Coshocton. He soon acquired a 
good practice, wa.s appointe<i pros- 
ecuting attorney for the county, 
and elected to the legislature as 
a JetTersouian democrat. Gen. 
Jackson appointed him U. S. dis- 
trict attorne.y for Ohio in 1831, 
when he removed to Columbus, 
and served in tliat capacity for ten 
years. He was one of three fund 
commissioners appointed to re- 
store the credit of the state, was a member of the com- 
mission appointed by the governor to go to Wash- 
ington and effect a settlement of the boundaiT line 
between Ohio and jNIichigan, and one of a commit- 
tee to investigate the condition of the blind. He 
was counsel in several fugitive-slave cases, liberated 
the slaves that came into his possc.s.sion by his mar- 
riage in 1832 with ]\Ii.ss Wager, of Virginia, and 
was one (>f the first to join the repidili<'an parly. 
In the Fremont campaign he made speeches against 
the extension of slavery. In 1862 he was ap|)ointed 
by Presicient Lincoln justice of the su|ireme court 
to (ill the vacancy made by tlie death of Justice 
McLean, in accordance with the latter's wish, and at 
tlie unanimous recommendation of the Ohio delega- 
tion in congress. In 1881 he resigned on account of 
his age. Dartmouth and Marietta in 18l>3, and 
Yale in 1865, conferred on him the deirree of LL.D. 
Judge Swayne obtained a high reputation as a jury 
lawyer, and in skillful analysis of testimony. lie 
died in New York city June"8, 1884. 

S'WAYNE, 'Wag-er, soldier, was bom in Colum- 
bus, O., Nov. 10, 1834, son of Noah H. Swayne, as- 
sociate justice of the U. S. supreme court". The 




^fe^^T^^ 



founder of the Swaviie family in America was Fran- 
cis Swayne. an English physician, wlio .sailed from 
East Hampstead, in Herkshire, Eug.. in 1710, set- 
tling in p;.a.st JIarlborough, Chester county. Pa. 
Gen. Swayne's mother was Sarah Ann AVa.irer, a 
Virginia lady, who celcliraled her marriage to Judge 
Swayne by freeing lier slaves, and throughout her 
after life in Ohio, was a consistent friend of the 
blacks, imparting her principles 
to her son. Wager Swa3'ne was 
educated at Yale college, .irrad- 
uatingin 18.56. Among his class- 
mates was an unusual miinber 
of .students who afterward be- 
came distinguished, including 
Channcej' M. Depew, Judges 
Hrowii and Brower of the L'. S. 
supreme court. Judge McGruder 
of the Illinois suiireme court, J. 
H. Halleck. publisher of •• Chris- 
tian at Work," and others. After 
his cour.sc at Yale college young 
Swayne entered the Cincinnati 
law school, from which he was 




'!MK^\y yi^yv^^-yi'-J^ 



graduated in 18.59. He formed v , 
a law partnership with Iiis fa- yjc 
ther, and practiced two years, 
until the war of the rebellion 
broke out. Notwithstanding that botli his father 
and mother were Virginians by liirth. their sympa- 
thies and his were with the cause of Lincoln. He 
offered his services to the government, and in July, 
1861, was appointed major" of the 43d Ohio volun- 
teers. He was lirst staiioned at cam]) Chase, near 
Columbus, then took part in the Missouri campaign, 
under Pope, in 18fil-(i2. He assisted in the capture 
of New Madrid and Island Number Ten, and was 
engaged in the battles of Corinth and Iiika. During 
the CVirinth engagement the colonel of the 43d Ohio 
was killed, the "command devolving upon Maj. 
Swayne, who was subse(|uently comrai.s.sioned as 
colonel. He continued with his regiment until the 
fall oi 1863, in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama, 
and accompanied Sherman on his march t(j the .sea. 
During this campaign Col. Swayne lo.-it his right leg 
by the explosion of "a .shell, in aii affair at the cross- 
ing of the Balkahatchie river. South Carolina, and 
"for gallant and distinguished services" in that ac- 
tion n-as commissioned brevet brigadier-general, and 
later promoted to the rank of brigadier-general. 
Gen. Swayne w.as invalided initil June. 186.5, when 
at the reqiiest of Gen. O. O. Howard, chief of the 
Freedmcn's bureau, he was detailed by the war de- 
jiartment to dulv in Alabama, as as.sistant commis- 
sioner of the bureau in that state. During the ne.xt 
three years the history of the Freedmcn's bureau in 
Alabama and the history of Gen. Swayne's life are 
almost coincident. In isso he was. at his own request, 
lilaccd on the retired list of the army, and resumed 
the ])ractice of law, locating himself at Toledo. O. 
Ib^re Gen. Swayne soon had among his clienls such 
concerns as the .\iiiericaii Inioii teU'graph company, 
and the Wabash railroad company, and in 1879 the 
growth of his railro.ad and telegraphjinsiiiess made 
it neces,sarv for him to remove to New York city, 
where hisclients were. In May. 1.881, he entered 
into partnership with Judge John F. Dillon, and the 
tirm soon became general counsel for the Western 
Union telegraph eomi>any, the Mis,souri Pacific rail- 
wav companv, and other" great commercial and rail- 
way interests. Gen. Swiime is a member of the 
executive committee of the American tract socictj-, 
and also of the board of domestic and foreign mis- 
sions of the Protestant Episcopal church. He was tlie 
second president of the ( )liio society of New York, and 
is commander of the New York commandery of the 
loyal legion. 



INDEX. 



Abercrombie, James, 170G, 102. 
Abercrombie, James, n33, 102. 
Abbott, Lyman, 519. 
Adams, Abigail S., 108. 
Adams, John, 105. 
Adams, louisa C. J., 168. 
Adams, John, Q., 165, 
Adler, Felix, 496. 
Akerman, Amos T., 349. 
Alcott, A. Bronson, 478. 
Alcott, Louisa M., 380. 
Alden, Henry M., 449. 
Alden, James, 318. 
Alexander, William, 44. 
Allen, Ethan, 45. 
Aikens, Andrew T., 466. 
Amherst, Jeffery, 101. 
Andre, John, 48. 
Andrew, Samuel, 500. 
Armstrong, John, 48. 
Arnold, Benedict, 53. 
Arthur, Chester A., 375. 



Bacon, Leonard, 512. 
Badger, George E., 208. 
Bailey, Jacob, 46. 
Bailey, Theodore, 320. 
Baker, Edward P., 304. 
Balbach, Leopold, 524. 
Baldwin, Henry, 469. 
Bancroft, George, 432. 
Barber, Francis, 43. 
Barbour, James, 176. 
Barbour, Philip P., 470. 
Barnes, Catherine W., 537. 
Barry, William T., 186. 
Barton, William, 74. 
Bates, Edward, 299. 
Bayard, John, 71. 
Bayard, Thomas F., 386. 
Bayley, James R., 486. 
Beach, Moses Y., 513. 
Belknap, Wm. W., 343. 
Bell, Chas. H., 318. 
Bell, Henry H., 317. 
Bell, John, 207. 
Berrien, John M., 188. 
Bibb, George M., 213. 
Bingham, William, 110. 
Black, Jeremiah S.. 263. 
Blaine, James G., 403. 
Blair, John, 23. 
Blair, Montgomery, 298, 
Blatchford, Samuel, 36. 
Borie, Adolph E., 345. 
Boggs, Charles S., 320. 
Boudmot, Elias, 444. 
Boutwell, Geo. S., 340. 
Bradford, William, 14. 
Bradford, William, 110. 
Bradley, Joseph P., 33. 
Branch, John, 185. 
Breckenridge, John, 127. 
Breckenridge, John C, 261. 
Brewster, Benjamin H., 379. 
Brewer, David J., 37. 
Bristow, B. H.. 343. 
Brooks, Phillips, 520. 
Brown, Aaron V., 268. 



Brown, Alexander, 464. 
Brown, Alexander, 465. 
Brown, George, 464. 
Brown, George S., 464. 
Brown, Henry B., 38. 
Brown, John, 44. 
Browning, Orville H., 327, 
Buchanan, James, 257. 
Burbeck, Henry, 71. 
Burnet, Robert, 270. 
Burr, Aaron, 123. 
Butler, Benjamin F., 187. 
Butler, Edward, 44. 
Butler, Percival, 44. 
Butler, Pierce, 422. 
Butler, Richard, 44. 
Butler, Thomas, 44. 
Butler, William 0., 241. 
Butler, Zebulon, 52. 

c 

Cabell, Samuel J., 524. 
Cabot, George, 109. 
Cadwalader, John, 89. 
Calhoun, John C, 157. 
Calhoun, Patrick, 528. 
Cameron, James D., 345. 
Cameron, Simon, 289. 
Campbell, George W., 150, 
Campbell, James, 379. 
Campbell, John A., 478, 
Campbell, William, 62. 
Carpenter, Matthew H., 350. 
Carroll, John, 480. 
Carter, Samuel P., 318. 
Carver, Jonathan, 466. 
Cass, Lewis, 261. 
Catron, John, 470. 
Chandler, William E., 378. 
Chandler, Zachariah, 346. 
Chapin, Alfred C, 525. 
Chase, Salmon P., 28. 
Chase, Samuel, 24. 
Childs, George W., 440. 
Chilton, Horace, 196. 
Chipman, Nathaniel, 114. 
Clap, Thomas, 502. 
Clark, Geo. R., 82. 
Clarke, Daniel, 297. 
Clarke, James F., 240. 
Clay, Henry, 171. 
Clayton, John M., 235. 
Clifford, Nathan, 473. 
Cleveland, Frances F., 384. 
Cleveland, Grover, 383. 
Clinton, George, 125. 
Clinton, James, 47. 
Coan, Titus, 459. 
Cobb, Howell, 266. 
Cochran, John, 47, 
Cockerill. John A., 449. 
Coffin, Joshua, 453. 
Colfax. Schuyler, 334. 
Collaraer. Jacob, 229. 
Conrad. Charles M.. 239. 
Conway, Thomas, 50. 
Corwin, Thomas, 238. 
Cowan, Edgar, 306, 
Cox, Jacob D., 346. 
Crawford, Geo, W.. 229. 
Crawford. William H., 176. 
Creswell, John A. J., 347, 



Crittenden, John J., 216. 
Crowninshield, Benjamin W., 151. 
Crowninshield, Jacob, 125. 
Curtis, Benjamin R,, 472. 
Cushing, Caleb, 253. 
Cutler, Timothy, 501. 



Daggett, Naphtali, 502. 
Dahlgren, John A., 315. 
Dahlgren, Ulric, 315. 
Dallas, Alexander J., 150. 
Dallas, George M., 222. 
Dana, Charles A., 513. 
Dana, Samuel W., 114. 
Daniel, Peter V„ 470. 
Davenport, Franklin, 112. 
Davenport, John, 497. 
Davenport, William F., 254. 
Dawson, John, 524. 
Day, Jeremiah, 505. 
Davidson, William, 80. 
Davie, William R., 77. 
Davis, David, 474. 
Davis, Jefferson, 248. 
Davis, Garrett, 304, 
Davis, Henry Winter, 328, 
Dayton, Jonathan, 17. 
Dearborn, Henry, 93. 
Delano, Columbus. 346. 
Depew, Chauncey M., 529. 
Devens, Charles, 363. 
Dexter, Samuel, 109. 
Dickinson, Don M., 391. 
Dickerson, Mahlon, 185. 
Dix, John A., 264, 
Dobbin, James C, 252, 
Dodge, Mary Mapes, 428, 
Donnelly, Eleanor C, 453. 
Douglas, Stephen A., 300. 
Drexel, Anthony J,, 443. 
Duane, William J,, 184. 
Duchesne, Leon C, 495. 
Dummer, Jeremiah, 498. 
Durrett, Reuben T., 450. 
Duval, Gabriel, 466. 
Duval, Horace C, 531. 
Dwight, Timothy, 504. 
Dwight, Timothy, 509. 



Eaton, John H., 185. 
Eccleston, Samuel, 484. 
Elkins, Stephen B., 408. 
Ellsworth, Oliver, 22. 
Endicott, William C„ 388. 
Eustis. William, 150. 
Evarts, William M., 357. 
Everett, Edward, 237. 
Ewing, Thomas, 207. 



Fairchild, Charles S,, 388. 
Farragut. David G., 311. 
Febiger, Christian, 86. 
Ferry, Orris S„ 307, 
Fessenden, William P,, 300. 
Field, Stephen J., 32, 
Fillmore, Abigail P,, 234. 
Fillmore. Millard. 233. 
Fish, Hamilton, 337. 



INDEX. 



Floyd, John B., 265. 
Folger, Charles J., 376. 
Foot, Solomon, 304. 
Forsyth, John, 193. 
Forward, Walter, 213. 
Foster, Charles, 405. 
Foster, Dwight, 110. 
Foster, Lafayette S., 307. 
Foster, Theodore, 113. 
Francis, David R., 495. 
Franklin, Benjamin, 130. 
Frelinghuysen, Theodore T., 376. 
Frost, John, 72. 
Fuller, Melville W., 31. 

G 

Gadsden, Christopher, 76. 
GofF, Nathan, Jr., 362. 
Gallatin, Albert, 127. 
Garfield, James A., 367. 
Garfield, Lucretia R., 369. 
Garland, Augustus H., 389. 
Garrett, Andrew, 422. 
Gates, Horatio, 47. 
Gerry, Elbridge, 149. 
Gibbons, James, 488. 
Gilder, Richard W., 426. 
Gilmer, Thomas W., 215. 
Gilpin, Henry D., 195. 
Glover, John, 46. 
Goldsborough, Louis M., 321. 
Goodhue, Benjamin, 114, 
Gould, Thomas R., 496. 
Grady, Henry W., 526. 
Graham, William A., 239. 
Granger, Francis, 216. 
Grant, Julia Dent, 334. 
Grant, Ulysses S., 331, 
Gray, Horace, 35. 
Greaton, John, 82. 
Green, Samuel D., 321. 
Greene, Nathanael, 39. 
Gresham, Walter Q., 377. 
Gridley, Richard, 46. 
Grier, Robert C, 472. 
Grow, Galusha A., 303. 
Grundy, Felix, 194. 
Guthrie, James, 247. 



Habersham, Joseph, 18. 
Hall, Nathan K., 241. 
Hamilton, Alexander, 9, 
Hamlin, Hannibal, 284. 
Hand, Edward, 75. 
Hadley, James, 511. 
Hale, Nathan, 51. 
Hamilton, Paul, 151. 
Harlan, James, 327. 
Harlan, John M., 34. 
Harper, Fletcher, 448. 
Harper, James, 447. 
Harper, John, 447. 
Harper, Joseph W., 448. 
Harper, Robert G., 152. 
Hams, Ira, 308. 
Harrison, Anna S., 202. 
Harrison, Benjamin, 397. 
Harrison, Caroline S., 399. 
Harrison, William H., 199. 
Hatton, Frank, 378. 
Hayes, Lucy W. W., 356. 
Hayes, Rutherford B., 353. 
Hays, John C, 196. 



Hazen, Moses, 78. 
Heath, William, 68. 
Hearn, Lafcadio, 537. 
Hendricks, Thomas A., 385. 
Henry, John, 112. 
Henry, Patrick, 141. 
Henshaw, David, 215. 
Herkimer, Nicholas, 70. 
Hillhouse, James, 110. 
Hindman, William, 110. 
Hiscox, David, 516. 
Hoar, Ebenezer R., 348. 
Holland, Josiah G., 425. 
Holmes, Oliver W., 454. 
Holt, Joseph, 266. 
Howard, Blanche Willis, 270. 
Howell, Clark, 519. 
Howe, Timothy 0., 378. 
Hubbard, Samuel D., 241. 
Hull, William, 67. 
Humphreys, David, 71. 
Hunt, Ward, 475. 
Hunt, William H., 370. 
Huntington, Jedediah, 77. 



Ingham, Samuel D., 184. 
Iredale, James, 23. 



Jackson, Andrew, 179. 
Jackson, Rachel D., 188. 
James, Thomas L., 371. 
Jasper, William, 52. 
Jay, John, 20. 
Jeiferson, Joseph, 460. 
Jefferson, Martha W. S., 123. 
Jefferson, Thomas, 119. 
Jewell, Marshall, 348. 
Johnson, Andrew, 325. 
Johnson, Cave, 224. 
Johnson, Eliza McC, 326. 
Johnson, Reverdy, 229. 
Johnson, Robert TJ., 427. 
Johnson, Thomas, 24. 
Johnson, William, 467. 
Johnston, Harriet L., 269. 
Johnston. Richard M., 192. 
Jones, William, 151. 

K 

Kalb, Johann de, 73. 
Kampman, Lewis F., 444. 
Kendall, Amos, 186. 
Kennedy, John P., 239. 
Kenrick, Patrick F., 485. 
Key, David McK., 363. 
King, Horatio, 269. 
King, Preston, 305. 
King, William R., 247. 
Kinnersley, Ebenezer, 532. 
Kirkwood, Samuel J., 371. 
Knox, Henry, 14. 
Kosciuszko, Thaddeus, 54. 



Lacey, John, 57. 
Lafayette, Marquis de, 63. 
Lamar, Lucius Q. C, 37. 
Lamb, John, 58. 
Lament, Daniel S., 392. 
Langdon, John, 16. 
Lamed, Ebenezer, 78. 
Latimer, Henry, 114. 



Laurance, John, 112. 
Laurens. John, 67. 
Lawson, Robert, 70. 
Lee, Charles, 14. 
Lee, Charles, 66. 
Legare. Hugh I., 212. 
Lewis, Andrew, 75. 
Lincoln, Abraham, 273. 
Lincoln, Benjamin, 62. 
Lincoln, Levi, 129. 
Lincoln, Mary Todd, 283. 
Lincoln, Robert T., 369. 
Lincoln, Sarah B., 283. 
Livermore, Samuel, 112. 
Livingston, Edward, 183. 
Livingston, Henry B., 467. 
Logan, Thomas M., 516, 
Longfellow, Henry W., 418. 
Lowell, James B., 436. 

M 

Macdougall, Alexander, 91. 
MacVeagh, Wayne, 372. 
Madison, Dorothy P. T., 148. 
Madison, James, 147. 
Macomb, Alexander, 196. 
Macomb, William H., 196. 
Manning, Daniel, 387. 
Marion, Francis, 59. 
Marechal, Ambrose, 482. 
Marshall, James W., 347. 
Marshall, John, 25. 
Marcy, William L., 223. 
Mason, James M., 305, 
Mason, John Y., 216. 
Mason, Jonathan, 111. 
Mason, Stevens T., 113. 
Matthews, Stanley, 476. 
Maxwell, William, 73. 
Meigs, Return J., 83. 
Meredith, William M., 228. 
McClelland, Robert, 252. 
McCrary, George W., 361. 
McCullough, Hugh, 377. 
McCutchen, Cicero D., 515. 
McElroy, Mary A., 379. 
McHenry, James, 13. 
Mcintosh, Lochlan, 72. 
McKinley, John, 470. 
McLane, Louis, 183. 
McLean, John, 469. 
Miller, Samuel F., 473. 
Miller, William H. H., 409. 
Monroe, Elizabeth K., 157. 
Monroe, James, 155. 
Montgomery, Richard, 100. 
Moore, Alfred, 467. 
Morgan, Daniel, 84. 
Morris, Gouverneur, 113. 
Morris, Robert, 116. 
Morton, Levi P., 400. 
Moultrie, William, 96. 
Moylan, Stephen, 56. 
Muhlenberg, Fred. A. C, 17. 
Muhlenberg, John P. G., 67. 

N 

Nash, Francis, 54. 
Neale, Leonard, 482. 
Nelson, John, 215. 
Nelson, Samuel, 470. 
Niles, John M., 194. 
Niles, Nathaniel, 152. 
Nixon, John, 82. 



INDEX. 



Noble, John W., 412. 
North, William, 111. 
North, Williani, 52. 



Olcott, Simeon, 538. 
Olmsted, Fred. L., 322. 
Osgood, Samuel, 18. 
Otis, James, 17. 

P 

Palmer, Albert M., 514. 
Parker, John, 96. 
Parmenter, Roswell A., 465. 
Parsons, Enoch, 74. 
Parsons, Samuel, 4. 
Patterson, William, 24. 
Paulding, James K., 194. 
Pickens, Andrew, 70. 
Pickering, Timothy, 12. 
Pierce, Franklin, 245. 
Pierce, Jane M. A., 246. ' 
Pierrepont, Edwards, 349. 
Pierpont, James, 498. 
Pierson, Abraham, 500. 
Pike, Albert, 527. 
Pinkney, William, 151. 
Poe, Edgar A., 445. 
Poinsett, Joel R., 193. 
Polk, James K., 219. 
Polk, Sarah C, 222. 
Pomeroy, Seth, 54. 
Poor, Enoch, 76. 
Porter, Andrew, 77. 
Porter, David D., 312. 
Porter, Noah, 507. 
Porter, Peter B., 175. 
Porter, Thomas M., 215. 
Porter, William D., 315. 
Pratt, Orville H., 459. 
Prescott, William, 91. 
Preston, William B., 229. 
Proctor, Eedfield, 407. 
Pulaski, Casimir, 69. 
Purinton, Daniel B., 270. 
Putnam, Israel, 87. 
Putnam, Rufus, 58. 

Q 

ftuincy, Josiah, 19. 

R 

Ramsey, Alexander, 361. 
Randall, Alexander W., 328. 
Randolph, Edmund, 12. 
Randolph, Edmund, 143. 
Rawlins, John A., 343. 
Read, Jacob, 108. 
Reed, James, 76. 
Reed. Joseph, 74. 
Reid, Whitelaw, 417. 
Revere, Paul, 83. 
Richardson. Wm. A., 339. 
Robertson, George, 538. 
Robeson, Geo. M., 345. 
Robinson, Conway, 465. 
Robinson, David, 466. 
Robinson, Edward, 144. 
Robinson, Mrs. Edward, 144. 
Robinson, Samuel, 519. 
Rochambeau, Leon B., 58. 
Rodney, Casar A., 129. 
Rowan, Stephen C, 313. 
Rush. Richard, 174. 
Rusk, Jeremiah, 413. 
Rutherford, John, 114. 



Rutledge, John, 21. 
Rutter, James H., 531. 



Saint Gaudens, Augustus, 516. 
Saltonstall, Gurdon, 499. 
Schurz, Carl, 362. 
Schuyler, Philip J,, 97. 
Scott, Harvey W., 380. 
Scott, John W., 400. 
Sedgwick, Theodore, 112. 
Sergeant, John, 446. 
Seward, William H., 287. 
Sheafe, James, 114. 
Shepley, Ether, HI. 
Shepley, John, 111. 
Sherman, John, 358. 
Shiras, George, Jr., 477. 
Simonds, William E., 538. 
Slidell, John, 305. 
Smallwood, William, 72. 
Smith, Caleb B., 298. 
Smith, Daniel, 111. 
Smith, Robert, 129. 
Smith, Roswell, 425. 
Smith, Samuel, 73. 
Southard, Samuel L., 161. 
Spaulding, Martin J., 486. 
Speed, James, 299. 
Spencer, John C, 213. 
Spencer, Joseph, 76. 
Stanbery, Henry, 328. 
Stanton, Edwin M., 293. 
Stark, John, 80. 
St. Clair, Arthur, 94. 
Steuben, Fred. W, A., 57. 
Stevens, Edward, 52. 
Stevenson, Adlai E., 392. 
Stiles, Ezra, 503. 
Stockton, Richard, 111. 
Stoddert, Benjamin, 109. 
Story, Joseph, 468. 
Stringham, Silas H., 314. 
Strong, William, 33. 
Stuart, Alexander H. H., 240, 
Sullivan, John, 56. 
Sumner, Jethro, 57. 
Sumter, Thomas, 79. 
Swayne, Noah H,, 539. 



Taft, Alphonso, 344, 
Tallmadge, Benjamin, 90. 
Taney, Roger B., 27, 
Taylor, Margaret S., 228. 
Taylor, Zachary, 227. 
Tazewell, Henry, 110. 
Teller, Henry M., 378. 
Ten Eyck, John C, 307. 
Thomas, John, 81. 
Thomas, Philip F., 264. 
Thompson, Jacob, 268. 
Thompson, Richard W,, 362. 
Thompson, Smith, 162. 
Thompson, Smith, 4. 
Thompson, William, 70. 
Tilghman, Matthew, 463. 
Todd. Charles S., 537. 
Todd, Thomas, 467. 
Tompkins, Daniel D., 157. 
Toucey, Isaac, 265. 
Tracy, Benjamin F., 411. 
Tracy, Uriah, 109, 
Trimble, Robert, 469. 
Tyler, John, 211. 



Tyler, Julia G., 212. 
Tyner, James N., 348. 

u 

Upshur, Abel P., 213. 
Usher, Jacob, 298. 



Van Buren, Angelica, 192. 
Van Buren, Martin, 191. 
Van Cott, Cornelius, 538. 
Van Schaick, Gosen, 78. 
Varick, Richard, 80. 
Varnum, Joseph B., 70. 
Vest, George G,, 322. 
Vilas, William F., 390. 
Vining, John, 109. 

w 

Wade Benjamin F., 306. 
Wadsworth, Jeremiah, 78. 
Wadsworth, James, 55. 
Wadsworth, Peleg, 76. 
Waite, Morrison R,, 30. 
Walker, Robert J., 223. 
Wanamaker, John, 409. 
Ward, Artemas, 67. 
Warner, Seth, 86. 
Warren, Joseph, 58. 
Washburne, Elihu B., 336. 
Washington, Bushrod, 539, 
Washington, George, 1. 
Washington, Martha, 7. 
Watson, James, 109. 
Wayne, Anthony, 55. 
Wayne, James M., 469. 
Webb, William H,, 523. 
Webb, William S,, 532. 
Webster, Daniel, 202. 
Welles, Gideon, 296. 
Wells, William H,, 113. 
Wheeler, William A„ 356. 
White, Anthony W., 69. 
Whitfield, James, 484. 
Whitman, Walt, 431. 
Whitney, William C, 389. 
Whittier, John G., 535. 
Wickliffe, Charles A., 245. 
Wilkins, William, 214. 
Wilkes, Charles, 319. 
Wilkinson, James, 56. 
Willard, Frances E., 492. 
Willett, Marinus, 270. 
Williams, Geo. R., 349. 
Williams, Eleazer, 68. 
Williams, Elisha, 501. 
Williams, Otho H„ 91. 
Wilson, Henry, 335. 
Wilson, James, 22. 
Windom, William, 414. 
Winslow, John A., 316, 
Wirt, William, 162, 
Wolcott, Oliver, 108. 
Wolfe, James, 102. 
Woodbury, Levi, 193. 
Woodbury, Levi, 471. 
Woodford, Stewart L., 532. 
Woods, William B., 476. 
Woolsey, Theodore D., 506. 
Wooster, David, 82. 



Yale, Elihu, 499, 
Youmans, Edward L., 254. 
Youmans, William J., 254. 



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